"Even if surrendering means leaving everything behind" is a line from the video song "I Would Die for You". When God first called us to serve in Nicaragua, we never imagined that we would be leaving all behind. There were personal possessions which we knew would be helpful in our work here, but we sold or gave them away. Our children, grandchildren and now a great grandchild remain in the US.
Prior to coming to Nica, we had an acquaintance ask us "Do you have to do this?" "Have to? We GET to" was our reply. We never dreamed that surrender would come at such a cost. Each day brings a new set of challenges, but it also brings rewards beyond measure. Many days we feel that we receive far more than we give.
It's hard to put into words the love that we have for the nation of Nicaragua. Only God can bring a person to respond with this kind of love.
We came to Nica to provide vocational training to the young men. We are teaching the poorest of the poor. When we say poor we are not talking only about their economical condition but also their mental and spiritual condition. Most of the boys have lived without parents, either living with extended relatives or on the streets. They've learned how to use manipulation to get whatever is needed for them at the moment. They are lonely, untrusting yet they desire to be recognized, validated and most of all, loved. They are young teen age boys who have never had the opportunity to be teens. All they've known is hard times and intense responsibility to either keep themselves alive or help keep the people they live with alive. They are proud, in spite of their living conditions, they keep themselves very clean. They are God's chosen children who have been given a chance to "change their destiny".
In early 2011 we will be starting the next phase of the ministry. It's in this phase that we hope the greatest growth in the lives of the boys will take place. In the beginning, we will have a residential facility that will accommodate 4 boys. The original vision of the ministry was designed to encompass a residential facility to house the students with the greatest needs or where distance from school would be a problem. The vocational training is the practical side of what the ministry does. What the ministry is really about is "the whole being". The bible teaching and discipleship that we do during class is elementary. We want to speak into their lives on a deeper level.
Having boys live in the school's residential facility will allow for deeper biblical teaching, model Christ-like behavior one to another in a home setting, teach them the life-skills needed to effectively manage their lives on their own and give them the attention, acceptance and love that they so desperately want. Our days in class are interrupted on a regular basis because of a boy acting out only for the need to be reprimanded - someone pay attention to ME!
We are including with this blog a video recapping our experiences during 2010. It shows our life as we live it everyday along with the boys from the school, our purpose for being in Nicaragua. We've been blessed beyond anything that we could imagine. God is so amazing!
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