A hunger, deeper than food

  It is 5am in Granada, Nicaragua ; Some of the Nicaraguan people have already gathered in the community center to begin the day in worship and prayer. They are on their knees, weeping before the Heavenly Father, calling on the name of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is dwelling in the midst.   

The sun is beginning to rise over the volcanic, mountain wilderness. The vast greens of the landscape display such beauty. The birds and animals are up and moving and so are the people.

        This populated region is poverty stricken to us, but hard to believe seeing how happy the people are.  

A group has been going to the landfill each week to feed the people there. The people at this dump are resilient. They are the third group of people to shift through trash and sell what they can find, on average they make $1 a day. $1 for working all day! They use that $1 to provide for their big families. Men, Women, and Children all have to work together to live. 

    We leave the farm we live on and drive over in the back of a truck, across the lively city. To the other side and pull into a mountain range of trash. Preaching begins and almost 100 people come up and listen. These people are intently listening, their eyes are wide open, they are taking in the word. Then they ask deep questions about faith.  

    Rice, Beans, Juice, and Fish are provided for each person, and some people were able to receive seconds. I tried to walk through the line and talk to as many people as I could.  I would shake their hands and smile. My broken Spanish was enough… although I wanted to say more.  

Then a man came up to me, speaking in Spanish. Another man was able to translate. “ I want to be Baptized” “ I want to follow Jesus”.  So many people here wanted to be baptized. These people were hungry not just food, but something far greater. Jesus… The true satisfaction.  

      We got to go back two days later, and share encouragement and the Gospel to the crowd.  This crowd has so much Hope  and Joy despite their circumstances.

Across the street from the farm we live at is a neighborhood… The Cosecha.  This neighborhood surrounds and climbs into this hill.

We load up the trucks and drive. We spend five hours in the neighborhood, going to different houses, handing rice and beans to those in need while sharing a word from the Lord at each house. I want to share some stories of a couple houses we went to……

The first  is a house with a older couple.  They tell us about their past and about how they are not perfect and don’t deserve Jesus.  How they want to be good examples to their children who are grown. 

   After speaking a while, the man tells us about his alcohol problem. The real problem is most people here seem to not understand the Grace of God. They think when they choose to follow God and mess up that they are cast out, they lost the love of God.  We got to encourage them and explain truths about Gods love and grace, about what happened on the Cross! The man wanted to follow Jesus. We prayed over him and his wife and invited them to a local Bible study that was happening later that day.  The man was older and could not walk, so some people were going to come and carry him up to Bible study!  God is Good. I love seeing the church walk in love for on another.  

      Next door was a man in his late 20s, he had two friends on his front porch, one in early 20s, the other in his 30s. They had music playing and were passing around a cigarette.   They also had a huge misunderstanding on the Grace of God. One man had worked with a church, but got drunk one night and then fled the church.  He had felt like he could not return, that his sin was too big and God no longer accepted him. 

The other man explained he wanted to follow Jesus so badly, yet was scared that he too would sin and God would hate him. So he decided to not follow God, scared that he would mess up.  Once again, question after question. Teaching the Truth to these men. We must’ve opened almost every book in the Bible.  Scripture after scripture.  Two more men showed up and listened intently as well.  All were so hungry for the word.  We encouraged them to call on the name of Jesus and give their lives over to him. We prayed and continued up the dirt path to multiple more houses.

    Two more houses we had Bible studies, answered questions, taught and shared scripture.  Each wanted to understand the word of God, so confused by imcomplete teachings.

      The ministry we are partnered with now uses around 11 local church groups in the area.  No mega church, but having “micro“ local churches and Bible Studies.  The people are Hungry, and the Harvest is Ripe.  

     So many people just want to hear the good news. It is greater than anything, it changes not only their life but their eternity!   God is calling his people and I am blessed to see them coming to him!   

   Jesus tells a parable, which can be found in Matthew 13:44. This parable talks about a man finding a treasure. It is worth so much he sells all he has to get that treasure.   I see the people of Nicaragua stepping out and finding the value of this  treasure.  This treasure is Jesus.  He is worth it all, he changes lives. 

   The image of the Men and Women at the dump is stuck in my mind. Their eyes were so big and their souls were so hungry. They wanted more than anything to hear what was shared. I am blown away by their faith and hunger.  

    Thank you for partnering with me, but thank you for more for partnering with God and his mission to bring all people’s back to him.  Pray for us here! 

 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field”  Matthew 13:44

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” Matthew 13:45-46