Out with the old, in with the new

      Hello again! If you read the last blog, you know that about 2 weeks ago I arrived into Nicaragua and have already started my ministry and am adapting into my new life in the mission field. And life is fantastic. Despite all of the tarantulas, scorpions, massive beetles and other various animals we find in our showers ad bedrooms, it is very nice here. I also have a pretty bad heat rash on my arms and legs and had to go to the doctor today. With medication I should be fine soon, but with no relief from the intense heat it got bad really fast. Besides that the people and culture are beautiful, ministry opportunities endless, I am surrounded by a community of amazing Christians that are challenging me and each other to grow daily, and I am right where God wants me.

      These past 2 weeks here in Nicaragua have gone by so fast. It has been a time of firsts, of adventure, of healing, of growth, abandoning the comforts of home and trading what was once familiar for the calling God has placed on my life for this season. A couple years ago while I was still living in Mexico with YWAM, God took me through a process of learning what it truly meant to abandon myself and false securities in my life that kept me from him. I learned how to give him my baggage, burdens, and comforts in exchange for more of his presence in my life. This might not make too much sense, but the explanation was made clear to me by a friend. She said “just look at Jesus”. Jesus left the father and became flesh into a fallen world to minister and heal the broken and the sick. To live in a world where he was accepted by some, but tested, hated, and sent to death by others. It was all out of love. It was the father’s plan and Jesus’ calling. Now that’s just some of the story. Jesus had to abandon Heaven and the father to come here. Now he is glorified, all mighty, and at the right hand of God. He had to abandon everything and enter into what the father had called him to. For me this looks like giving up to God my relationships I left back home, trusting God that he will protect my family and my friends. It is living without wifi and spending more time involved in community and seeking the Lord. Forgetting what air conditioning, carpet, and ice are. It is giving up control of my life and the security of a routine life back home for the next chapter in my life God has called me to that is somewhat unknown, unpredictable, and uncontrollable. It is dealing with all of the tarantulas and scorpions in the bathroom. It is embracing the fact that I will be drenched in sweat at all times and have a heat rash for the next 3 months. It is giving up what I think I need and what keeps me comfortable. To be brought into a state of brokenness and dependence on the father. Which is what we all want-relationship with our father in Heaven.

      So that’s what is going on with me right now. It is a time of healing and transformation as I grow deeper into my relationship and intimacy with the Lord and rest in his freedom and provision.

      I also want to ask everyone to be praying for the community of Bethel, a village just a few miles away from where I am living. As we were at church last Sunday night, one of the pastors collapsed as he was worshipping. We later found out that he had stopped breathing and had passed away. There is really no explanation as to why and there is a lot of brokenness and confusion in the village. It is our main place of outreach and ministry so please pray for comfort and peace as we walk with them through a time of grieving and minister to them in their brokenness. Pray that God uses us to help rebuild the broken community as they build up new leaders and search God for direction. It is a very sad and unexpected event, but he went home worshipping his savior Jesus. And we can only thank God for that.

      Thank you for keeping up with me and my team and I will update everyone on what God is doing, our ministry experiences, and the village of Bethel next week. God bless.