Today, my thoughts are (and have been) sandwiched between
two passages, the first being: “Only
conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether
I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing
firm in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel”
(Phil 1: 27)
Honestly, today was another day outside of my element: we performed
one of our dramas in front of the church, did door-to-door evangelism and put
on a VBS for the little children of Nicaragua. All things that are incredibly
outside the comfort zone of my personality (and consequentially, not necessarily
things that I’m going to be talking about today, but my home-boy, Quinton will).
If I am being honest, these events are things that make me squirm and feel like
throwing up: being the center of attention is next to have the noro-virus (for
me) something I hope that I never have again. BUT if I am being honest, I have
to be grateful for these moments of discomfort and awkwardness for a few
reasons: 1) because they are GOOD
exercises - exercises that serve as a reminder
that I can’t do everything (or most
things) on my own, that in my weaknesses God is glorified and that I am a
flawed being. If there’s one thing Nicaragua has been reminding me is that
there are so many areas in which I fall short and many of these areas are
unattractive and sinful: be it an unwilling attitude before a drama, a harsh
word (or words), panic at the thought of having to actually vocalize my beliefs to a stranger, the nagging thought
that “I haven’t prepared enough/don’t
know enough to witness to anyone about my faith”, the thought that “if we get lost on our way to church, we won’t have to stand in front of
the church and do this drama and I’ll be free!”, or putting myself before
others. But it has also been soooooo good in reminding me just how much I need
the grace of God (and how easily I fall into a false view of myself) and in reinforcing
the different roles of the Church body (Romans 12). I can’t even begin to
vocalize how awesome Dore and Tricia are: watching the ease and gentle
confidence that they have as they evangelize and interact with the children has
left me encouraged, yearning for that ease and transparency and yet, so unbelievable
grateful that each team member has a unique gift.
Which brings me to the second passage that has been on
repeat (it’s a bit long, so bear with me):
“Now, for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in
your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge and
in your knowledge, self-control and in your self-control, perseverance, and in
your perseverance, godliness and in your godliness, brotherly kindness and in
your brotherly kindness love. For if these qualities are yours and are
increasing, they render you neither useless
nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he
who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his
purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren be all the more diligent
to make certain about his calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice
these things you will never stumble. “(2 Peter 2:5-10)
Just a gentle, not so subtle reminder, of what our growth in
Christ should look like. And a good konk on my head that if I am growing in
self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love (among
others) that these qualities render me useful, fruitful and bear witness that I
haven’t forgotten the depth of the sins from which I have been saved. Soooo if you only want to read a short summary of what I’m learning: I thought I already loved the people I am serving with (and some I did ;)) but as I have been praying for team unity, God has answered my prayer and grown me in love for my team. I have grown in appreciation of the gifts that each person has brought, and is bringing to the table, which has made me love them even more.
-Joanna
Today our team went to the Petra Iglesia (Church) and it is
much like many in the States. This
church was planted by the Cox family who moved back to the U.S. last fall
and now have their kids enrolled at Heritage Christian School in Bozeman.
The team with Pastor Hamilton and family and an elder and his family.
Tricia and Amber with Pastor Hamilton's wife, Jill.
Tricia with Daniel, one of Isaiah Cox's friends.
(Tricia teaches Isaiah in a couple classes.)
Our team performed the Chains play there and it was nice to
see that there were Elders at the church.
After that Pastor Hamilton and his
wife, Jill, treated us to pizza at a building near the church.
We came back to the compound and got ready for VBS. There we
split into teams and went around the neighborhood asking people to come down to
the statue on the side of the road where we were going to meet. There were
about 30 kids and parents showed up later. 
We played dodge ball in the street, played
with the parachute, made balloon animals and the little girls got their nails
painted. Amber shared the gospel with the Evangi-cube and we did the Sin Chair
drama.
Many people heard about the gospel today and we also got to
minister to the locals playing soccer afterwards! The “gringo” team included
me, Eli, Konnor, Vale, Tim and one “Nica” kid against some Nica men in the
village. That was my favorite part of the week so far! (Oh, they beat us 2-0)
Tim is giving a soccer ball to the village men, just before our guys joined them in a game.
This week, my other favorite moment was in VBS in Masaya where I was able to give
a boy who is also my age (13) my “I love moose” hat. He was looking at it all
afternoon and was really excited to have it!
I have had a changed heart to the Nica’s – they are very
welcoming and nice and full of energy…and, they love touching your arm hair J
-Quinton
Macy, knocking down a coconut.
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