As I sit here pondering how to share my stories with you, I realize it is a challenge. I say this because my adventures are so much more than just words. I pray that as you read your heart will be touched, not by my words, but by Gods power. Bethel, a village full of brokenness, is where the Lord has placed my heart at the moment. I recognized this the first Sunday of being here in Nicaragua. Gathering together for church we all worshiped our wonderful God. Soon after, the pastor came up to speak and after a few words he fell to the ground...and passed away. People all over began to weep. Prayer filled the room. The next night 2 girls and I went to his “viewing” where they worshiped the Lord, and praised God for the life the man had been given. The next morning we attended his funeral. They don’t have tombstones here, but we watched the casket be put into the ground and be covered by dirt and a little bit of cement. Some flowers may be put on top, but most graves are just a big pile of dirt. This is when my heart broke for these people. Since then we go into Bethel about 3 times a week. Some days I play and love on the children in the big open field. Other days I go and hang out with families, who show me their houses that consist of one bedroom, dirt floors, and roofs that don’t stop the rain from coming in. The more I learn the more I want to bring light into the darkness. 

Romans 13:12

The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 

 On other days our ministry consists of manual labor. For example we went to an orphanage and weeded and planted trees. Another day we fixed the road in Bethel. At times my bones feel weak and I have no energy, but I remind myself constantly that it is all for the Lord and he gives me strength. 

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecution, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.