“You know, as Christ-followers, we realize we are now in a post-Christian era, where living out your faith and standing true to biblical principles is more and more unusual and less and less understood. In fact, in many ways we see how a strong Christian faith is demeaned or ridiculed by many. Sometimes it can feel like you’re swimming upstream, can it not?
But when I’m tempted to wish for “the good ‘ole days,” I’m reminded that God in his sovereignty chose this time in history for me-and for you-to walk on this earth. So instead of focusing on the difficulties of living out my faith in this culture, like Queen Esther of old I want to recognize that God has put me here “for such a time as this.” And indeed to count it a privilege to courageously show my world the transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the love of God.
You know, the first-century Christians had a much more difficult culture to navigate than we do today, at least here in this country. They were literally persecuted and martyred for their faith. But they stood strong. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers:“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong”(1 Corinthians 16:13).”
~Mary Whelchel, Founder of The Christian Working Woman
Yesterday, we had lunch at a fundraiser for the church. Here, they were selling Nicaraguan foods to fund Iglesia Espiritu Santo, as well as several different churches. We had rolled “Nicaraguan tacos” and a bottle of Coca-Cola here. Their Coca-Cola here is made with sugar, which makes it much healthier and tastier than our corn syrup version.
Yesterday afternoon, we visited Chris and Carmen McBeath, with whom we served last time. They were originally busy at the time of the planning of this trip, so they didn’t host our trip. They are not busy now because the trip canceled, so they were able to see us. We got to talk for a while about a number of different things, including one of my favorite talking subjects: aviation. I won’t get started.
Last night, we had a Sunday service at the iglesia and we were able to pray for many. We also had one salvation! It was very exciting!
After Sunday service, we made our way to dinner with Pastor Jairo, his wife Nohemy, their two sons, and Erwin. I had the most delicious cheese quesadilla with fresh, seasoned veggies. They were wonderful, although I didn’t want to eat the veggies for safety’s sake.
I am finally going to be caught up! I’ll talk about today right now, and the overflow I’ll blog about tonight.
This morning, we went back to the church to help lead preschool. We sang songs, taught the children about basics like the ABC’s and colors, and gave out many hugs.
After this, we made our way to a store to buy 100 pounds of rice, 100 pounds of beans, 100 pounds of sugar, and oil. We then packed these items into personal-sized bags. We also did the same with a kind of powdered mix they call cereal, as well as a similar mix made of potatoes, and also one of soy. We put all of these individual elements into their own personal bags and then put one of each of the smaller bags into larger bags, which we put in bins.
Later, my dad felt our work for the Lord was not yet done in the area at the time. We exited the area, however, and made our way to our interpreter’s house. Here, we met Erwin’s parents. We shared the Gospel with his Catholic mom and atheist dad, who are divorced. They both accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior about 3 hours ago!! These were the second and third salvations our family has witnessed in the past two days. What un milagro!
After these salvations, we went shopping for lunch, came back to the hostel, ate, and I am now blogging and my parents are taking a siesta. Well, now that we are caught up, there’s not much else for me to say. I hope you have enjoyed this post, and please check out the prayer requests and praise reports below.
Prayer Requests:
- Reconciliation
- Love
- Wisdom
- Strength
- Health and healing
- Safety on the roads, as drivers here are sometimes a bit loco
- Anything else that the Spirit leads
Praise Reports:
- The 3 salvations we have experienced in the past two days
- Good health
- Wisdom
- Safety
I must go, but I do so sadly. I have no more updates to bring you, so I must say good-bye! I will talk to you tonight or tomorrow!
Elle's Everyday 