ATL, Baby

Long time no blog! Life has been crazy here in Nicaragua! There is so much to talk about; God has been doing some super awesome things in our lives and the lives of people around us! I just want to focus on one day in particular, where God really revealed himself to me.

Background story: A few weeks ago, we went to a city called Matagalpa, about 3 hours from Managua. Here we did a little outreach and then went to a church service. There, I bonded with a bunch of kids, including the Pastor's son, Kevin. Moving forward …

Last week Curt and Hilary told us that on Monday we were going to have an "ATL" day (ATL meaning "Ask the Lord"). We spend the next few days praying and just really seeking God about what he wanted that day to look like. We had no plan, no agenda, just trust in God. So, Sunday night, we came together and were asked to share if God had given us any specific visions or ideas or anything of the sort as to what Monday should look like. When I first started praying, I saw the face of a little boy. I knew that he was someone I had met before, but I couldn't quite place him, so I asked God to reveal more to me. Over the next few days, God showed me who this boy was, made to me, it was made rather clear what I needed to do. The boy I was picturing was Kevin, the Pastor's son whom I previously mentioned. I knew in that moment that I needed to go to Matagalpa. I shared this with Hilary before anyone else, and she was extremely encouraging and excited. When I shared it with the rest of the team, I'm pretty sure they all thought I was totally insane, and thought it was not feesible because it was a city 3 hours away. God thought otherwise. With everyone's support, Hilary, Lydia and I planned to leave at 7AM the next morning on our adventure.

I am so overwhelmed by everything that occurred that day. I will try to keep it short and sweet, because I could go into excruciating details.

We were protected all day long. We tooks long bus rides, rode in taxis, walked the streets of a city we were 100% unfamiliar with, and not a hair on our heads was harmed.

God has more in store for us than we can imagine. We set out assuming we were being led to the church we had previously been to. We hiked mountains, and used photos from the last time we were there to try to piece together the view and where we were supposed to go. We asked countless people if they had heard of the church, and they hadnt. We finally came across a man who's reponse to our question was "Si Si! Casa Betel!" We just assumed that maybe that was what the people there called it, and excitedly accepted verbal directions and a hand drawn map, and set out on our way. Again, sparing lots of details, we walked about three miles and came to a church called Casa Betel, just as the man had told us. The only problem was that it wasnt the church we thought we were supposed to be at. At this point, I was extremely discouraged and was about ready to call it quits for the day. Luckily, Lydia always looks on the bright side and was like c'mon guys lets just go check it out! (the church was still under construction). Hesitantly, I headed up the hill with Hilary. We were greeted by a young girl named Darlene. Lydia and Hilary had an awesome conversation with her, as I sulked in defeat. They asked her if there was anything she needed prayer for. While we were praying, a boy came up and sat next to us. When we finishes praying I went up to him and asked his name …. Anyone want to take a guess what it was !? …. Kevin!! In that moment, my attitude completely changed and I knew that God led us there. It's funny how I thought we were supposed to be one place, but God knew we were supposed to end up elsewhere. I ended up talking one on one with Kevin for quite some time. I told him how God gave me the vision and led us to Matagalpa, and then he opened up and basically told me his whole life story. I found out that he loves worship, just like I do, and we really got to bond over that. It was awesome because he was listening to Lecrae. Skillet, and Toby Mac, and then he played some awesome Spanish Christian Rap for me as well. It was honestly one of the most encouraging conversations I have had on this whole trip. I also talked to one of his friends, Yoe, for awhile. He told me how they have small groups throughout the week, and on Saturday nights, about 400 youth gather at the church. It was just so cool to hear about how God is working there.

So we left the church, after, of course, exchanging Facebook info! And were rushing to make our way to the bus station. On our way, we encountered an elderly woman and a very young girl, carrying a huge log! We asked if they needed help and they dropped the log and looked extremely relieved. I'm sure it was quite a site for the neighbors to see three gringas carrying a huge log up a ridiculously steep hill. We endured it, and the woman was so grateful. We grabbed a cab, and got to the corner where the bus station was, just in time to see the bus to Managua driving off. Luckily, a random man (our knight in shining armor) ran up to the taxi and hearing that we needed to be on that bus, he ran and stopped it. We were all relieved to be on the bus and headed home after a super long, but amazing day.

Little by little, the people started dwindling, and there was enough room for us to each have our own seat. We sprawled out and tooks naps. As I fell asleep, there was a rather creepy looking man sitting behind me, and I was super relieved to see he had been replaced by a less threatening looking man as I woke up. I sat up and rubbed my face a little, and the man behind me asked, "Cansada?" (tired). I just shook my head yes and smiled. That moment opened up a crazy line of communication between him and I. He ended up asking me about my life and why I'm in Nicaragua. He asked if I have always gone to church, and I was able to share part of my testimony with him. He also was extremely open and shared a lot about his life with me. Best part: I got to pray for him. I just assumed that once I was on the bus, my day was over, but again, God had other plans.
Long story short: God's plan is always better than our plans. The fact that I clearly heard God spoke to me in itself is overwhelmingly incredible; But seeing Him be so faithful as I walked in obedience completely blows my mind.

We have about six days left of ministry here, and I'm so excited to see what else God has in store in the final stretch of this adventure!