During my first week here in Nicaragua, I quickly had to grasp the concept that ministry is the most unpredictable thing you can get yourself into. In preparing for this trip I often wondered why AIM was so vague with the details and why they never gave solid answers regarding what our ministry would look like. It’s now clear that our days change so much it’s impossible to plan even one day ahead, let alone months ahead.
Our first full day of ministry was eventful. That was two weeks ago and looking back, I think I was in a little bit of shock just being here. My wonderful and amazing (I hope you guys read this bit) leaders planned out a sort of schedule and grouped us up for ministry rotations: prayer walking, garden/construction, and the school. I was in the first group to prayer walk which was somewhat exciting because I was ready to explore the island. Honestly, prayer walking wasn’t something I was familiar with so I didn’t know what to expect. (My first mistake was trying to expect something other than the unexpected). So we head out on foot and walk about a mile or so into town. As we walked we prayed for peace and comfort for the families we passed and for the chains of addiction ( which is a big issue here) to be broken. We hadn’t walked very far when we came to a road and an elderly woman approached us. We asked how her day was and she explained that she was working on clearing some plants in her back yard. This is a prime example of how life is here. In the States, we ask “How are you?” as a rhetorical question. Here, people want to tell you what’s going on. She then surprised us more by asking if we wanted to come see her progress. Without hesitation, our group of five followed this little old woman to her house.
When we got to her house the woman, who we now know as Juana Maria, introduced us to her daughter, Kenia, and let us sit down inside for some watermelon. The whole time I’m thinking “this is weird. Why did we follow a stranger to her house? Why did she invite us here? I’m uncomfortable”. Back home, if we see some foreigners walking down the road we shut our blinds, we don’t welcome them inside. Anyway, Juana Maria and Kenia told us a little about their lives and the island. Kenia works as a women’s advocate and she is in school. She’s also 7 months pregnant and expressed her worries about labor. She mentioned that the only GY/NO on the island isn’t always around. Juana Maria told us that she has Osteoporosis in her hip and is having trouble getting around.
After more conversation we asked to pray for the two women and in return, Juana Maria prayed over us. It was in Spanish, but I felt the love radiate from her the whole time. We left the two shortly after that and headed back to CICRIN.
Lauren and I plan on stopping by again to drop off medicine for Jaunas hip and baby clothes for Kenia. I will update how that goes.
That was just my first day here. I totally did not expect to be sitting in that house eating watermelon and praying over strangers. Everyday has been a surprise and I’m so excited to see what else gets put in our path as a team.
Also, just a side note: I know this is two weeks late posting. We don’t always have wifi, so I’m doing my best. Thank you to all my supporters who got me here, please be in prayer for my team as we continue loving on Isle de Ometepe.
