Va Morir

"Va Morir"-you are going to die, are not the words I was expecting to hear when I arrived in Nicaragua. BUT that is exactly what I heard directed at me and my team from the missionary and the local natives. Yeah, that's comforting. At the time I was really scared. I was already completely out of my comfort zone and not sure exactly what I had gotten myself into...It wasn't until later in the week that I understand what "Va Morir" would mean to me.

I DIED IN NICARAGUA!!

...died to self that is. Okay, so maybe I'm not completely dead yet. I'm on life support right now. Not for long though. I'm letting go.

Hiking up the mountains in Nicaragua was the most physically challenging thing I have ever done in my life. There were so many times when the hills were too steep, like I honestly don't know how we made it up without falling kind of steep. There were other times when my body was reaching exhaustion, but I knew had to keep going. (We hiked three days for about 8hr a day. We had frequent breaks though.) However, I began to understand "Va Morir" on these hikes. We hiked not for our own pleasure, but with a purpose. We had to make it to the remote areas to put the gospel into these people's hands. ***It wasn't about me*** Go figure. So with each step that I knew I couldn't take on my own, I would ask God to move my feet for me. And He did. It was in those moments that parts of my flesh died. Hallelujah!

We also so 12 accept Christ and we are believing that they will spread His name through their villages and the one's surrounding.

Another spiritual thing I learned is "We preach with our feet". I never understood Romans 10:15 like I thought I did until I had a great conversasion about it with the missionary, Loren. He was telling us that even though we couldn't communicate with the people with our mouths, neither me nor my friend Sarah speak very good Spanish, we were using our feet. With each step we made we were better able to put the Gospel in people's hands. On the same note: One night I asked Loren if our guides thought we were lazy Americans. He said that He loves hearing both sides. He hears what we say and our concerns about what our guides are saying about us. Then he also hears what they say about us. His answer was different than I expected. "They do make fun of y'all. But what I really hear them saying is that it must be Jesus for y'all to be willing to come and struggle the way y'all do." Hallelujah! Just by using our feet we were encouragement to our Christian guides!!

God also gave me a gift. That was the gift of a friend. His name is Elmer and he's eighteen. His English is on about the same level as my Spanish. He was the only Nicaraguan that I was really able to communicate with. Our easiest mode of communication was through singing. It is a long story. So that will be my next post.

**This is pic of Elmer riding with us. He lives with Loren while he is going to school. His dad is the pastor of a church who really took care of us while we were there.**

Please pray for me. I have been sick since i have been home. The doctor says He thinks I have a parasite. I'm having test run at the hospital and the results should be in tomorrow. Maybe then I will be put on some antibiotics and get off this stuff.

I am also dealing with the shock of being back and other spiritual battles. Just please lift me up to the Father. I have learned too much on this trip to have any of it stolen from me!

In His Love,

Jennifer