So excited to share my personal journey on the mission field over the last few days!!

Day 3-
On Saturday, we visited the National Church of God Headquarters where we had a special Christmas celebration honoring the Church of God widows. It was an outdoor service under a tent and pouring down rain. We were graciously welcomed with balloons at the gate entrance. We had incredible praise and worship, a time of ministry in the word and a very special time loving on the dear widows. Our mission team was honored to be able to bow down on the gravel and wash the feet of those precious widow ladies. Many of the ladies feet were completely covered in dirt but at that moment, nothing else mattered but demonstrating the love of Christ. We all cried and prayed together as this took place. This was the most moving experience I have ever witnessed and been a part of. To see their precious tears fall into their laps and to have them put their arms around you & hold you tight was a depth of love that I have never experienced in ministry. It is even hard writing this without tears pouring down my face.

After we shared in this time of great joy, we assisted Brother Jack and Sister Claire in distributing the Christmas bags of presents to the 28 widows. The widows were so appreciative of the beautiful gifts picked especially for them. Later, Bishop Martinez who is the Church of God Overseer, gave honor to Brother Jack & Sister Claire for their faithful missionary service to Nicaragua of 14 years. They were presented a beautiful plaque honoring their work.

We concluded with an authentic Nicaraguan meal prepared by the Overseer's wife outside on the porch of the parsonage. They are such gracious hosts and hostesses. In case you were wondering, yes, I did eat the food while in Nicaragua! I stayed clear of the meat but ate the rice, tortillas and slaw. I can't say the same for my hubby, he paid for his meat eating later that day. Bless his heart.:(

We then left and attended a wedding of the son of our mission trip driver. They had huge celebrations involving many family members and friends. It was a precious wedding! We then left and attended the reception at their home. It had been a full day and we were ready to get some rest so we headed back to the hotel.

Day 4-
Sunday was an incredible day of worship in the house of The Lord! For the first church service, they kicked it off with children holding an American flag and played the Star-Spangled Banner. Then they played their anthem while children held their nations flag. It is so beautiful to see two nations joining together arm in arm, heart to heart praising our Lord. The children had such a beautiful part in the service. The girls wore the most beautiful little dresses while they praised the Lord in song and waved their banners in worship. Their praise was so pure and authentic. To witness the intensity of the hearts for worship in the middle of their poverty stricken state and to see their level of worship & passion for God, I came to realize that they may not have silver or gold or hardly any earthly possessions but they are SO rich in their faith. Brother Jack ministered a powerful word on the 23rd Psalm to the people. The Pastor's wife gave me a word from The Lord. I understood through our Spanish interpreter, that she said, "Teach the teenagers what true worship is. Know that the Lord is preparing you in your ministry to see many things in the specific ministry to teenagers. You will experience a vast sea of teenagers" <3 Also, I will never forget what happened at the end of that service. The Pastor was calling the church to a 21 day fast. He was taking volunteers to sign up and I began to look at the people volunteering. Hands were going up and I looked to my right and noticed that a small child gladly raised her hands to join the church on a fast. A child....a precious little girl who was praising The Lord just moments before. She wanted to serve Jesus in such a sacrificial way, she truly understood the meaning of coming before The Lord with a sacrifice of praise as David did. It takes some Christian adults a lifetime to figure this kind of praise out. I witnessed child-like faith in its most authentic form.

We were blessed to be able to take one of the families home after church in the shuttle we had for our missions team. I will NEVER forget the sight that I saw. The homes on the street that they lived on was constructed by remnant pieces of tin and whatever else they could find to help protect them from the ailments of weather and crime. The streets were filled with garbage and raw sewage running past the front doors of their homes. As we opened the van door to let the family out at the doorstep of their home, they began to joyfully and cheerfully (with the biggest smiles I have ever seen) tell us goodbye with hugs and heartfelt appreciation for the ride home. They ordinarily walk wherever they go. As I watched them through the van window walk to their home, I thought, "How can another human being actually live life like this?" I noticed a little boy probably around the age of 6, playing on the street corner by the sewage drainage in the middle of a trash pit, in the middle of a trash pit! I could not believe what I was seeing. Tears would not stop pouring.
The living conditions are unbelievable and totally indescribable in words. I mean, I have seen commercials and ministry efforts on TV but it never hit ME as true reality of something that I would ever see, smell and experience for myself. In fact, as we continued driving, I began to see families outside their doors joyfully waving at us as we passed by. Many of those people were the very same people we saw earlier in our church service worshipping God with every fiber of their being. They had a right to complain for all that they lacked in life but yet chose to give praise to God in the middle of a life of poverty and hardship. They have taught me and modeled what a true worshiper looks like. In America, we complain because the air in our churches is not cold or hot enough, we complain that the music is too loud or too soft, we complain because the service goes too long. All this junk gets in the way of our worship. As Christians, we have got to grow in our gratitude and in our thanksgiving for God's many many blessings every day of the year.

My husband and I spoke at another beautiful Nicaraguan church Sunday night. I was so grateful and privileged to use my grandmothers bible to minister with. She was a missionary, church planter and evangelist to Central America. I felt as if a special part of her was with me on my first mission trip and will be with me on future trips as well. In this service, it was so cool to see the musicians and singers were teenagers who had talent & gifts that were astounding! I would LOVE to have a teen revival here one day and bring a fire-up group of teens from Buford to help me!! Their praise and worship was electrifying to my spirit! The people loved Scott playing the saxophone and I must say my husband adored playing with their musicians which was totally unplanned and unrehearsed but it was as if he had played with them all of his life! So awesome!

Day 5-
This entire trip has been a major tidal wave of emotions for me. I am laughing one minute and crying the next. I knew it would be a totally different experience and went with the intentions of helping to change lives but never dreamed it would be mine that was remarkably changed, forever.

As we are preparing for takeoff on the runway to come back home, I looked back across the land of Nicaragua and began to cry again. I saw the dear faces of the orphans, widows and new found friends before the eyes of my heart. I can't wait to hug them again. I can't wait to prepare for another mission trip. I thank you God for leading us in safety on our trip. Thank you for leading us in your mighty anointing and your grace that fills our lives at every moment!!

God, you truly ARE MY SHEPHERD and ALL I want is YOU.