June 19, 2013

June 19, 2014
The rainy season has started! I am sitting in the house in the middle of the day. Cool wind is blowing through and I still marvel at how we live in the elements. Whatever happens outside we are keenly aware of inside. What was a routine to stay cool is now a routine to also keep things dry. I am definitely not complaining though. The rain is something to look forward to each day- it cools the air and the storms are impressive.
With the rainy season also has come more interaction and need in our Nicaraguan community. The majority of our fellow missionaries have gone home for June and July, so we are some of the few who are filling in the gap. Stephen has taken on the leadership of two men’s Bible studies. I am helping out with a women’s study. This means that Stephen and I are the ones these individuals come to in need. In many ways this is financial need. These are fellow believers who have situations like a child needing medicine because he is having difficulty breathing, a man needs money so he can get a police report so he can get a job, a couple has no money for food because he used the money for alcohol. The list continues.
The other needs are emotional. This week we have listened as people have share about alcoholism, abuse, broken relationships, no jobs, not having food, and suffering with physical pain.
The need is big, AND the need is bigger to respond graciously, to respond with what we have, and to be available. I am very aware of God asking us to give and care for our fellow believers, but to be honest; I am still overwhelmed with it all. I hear many of the Nicaraguans and other missionaries say, “God will provide”, and on one hand I believe that, but on the other I wonder how that can really happen. How will God be the “husband” to a woman who has suffered 32 years of mistreatment? How does he find work for men in an environment where unemployment is 40-50%? How does He make it possible for a child to see the doctor when the parents literally do not have money?
These requests come to us, we give and do what we can, I see my heart changing toward these people, but behind it is still a frustration. What if these situations are more for me to walk through than for them? This is tough stuff, but we take it a step at a time…I just have to remember that!