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Glorious

We are in the barrio that has become known to us as Neverland. The sun is beating down on the cracked basketball court. A dozen dirty faces stare at the colorful pictures of our Spanish Children´s Bible. We flip through the story of The Prodigal Son, and the kids ask for another. As Sarah begins to read the next story, we hear an older boy reading along with her. Sarah invites him to read and he excitedly takes the Children´s Bible and continues reading with confidence and poise. I notice the younger children perk up and pay more attention as their peer and compañero teaches them. He finishes one story and begins another. And another. Five stories later, he is just as involved as he had been at first. But we see the younger ones fidgeting and poking each other, so we transition to pato pato ganzo (duck duck goose).

The older boy hung out of the circle, so Jenny and I went over to make conversation. We found out his name is Erik, he´s 14 years old and is one of the older boys of the barrio. We quickly realized he had something specific on his mind as he wrung out his hands and shifted from one foot to the other. ¨I need a Bible,¨ he told us. Jenny and I smiled and promised we would bring him his own Bible that he could read for as long and as often as he wanted to.

People like Erik remind me that God has been working in these barrios long before we arrived. He has been preparing Erik´s heart, calling him closer. And I´m so thankful that our gracious Lord has allowed us to be a part of His story here in Nicaragua. We are doing nothing but jumping on board with the work God has already begun. And what a glorious work it is!