We’re in Nicaragua!! It’s been almost a week that we’ve been serving at REAP Granada! Our days look like waking up at 5 for group prayer followed by personal devotions at 6, then breakfast, ministry, lunch, ministry, dinner, and ending with team time. Each day we have a different set of ministries. So far we have done prayer walking/evangelism, landscaping & playing with kids at REAP, and visiting the local dump ministering and feeding the workers there. The Lord has been present in every moment and I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to be here, to meet the people and to love them.

On Thursday we went prayer walking and delivered food in a nearby neighborhood. When we got there we split into two groups, but only had one translator. Interpreting in prayer has been a dream of mine for a few years now, so when the question was brought to the group, I offered to try to do it. It’s crazy how the Lord knows so well the desires of our hearts and longs to give them to us. 

At the third house we visited, there were two young women. As we talked to them with our group leader Hernando* they began to open up about the struggles they had been facing. We shared verses and encouragement with them and after a half an hour of talking I felt the Holy Spirit telling me to share a part of my testimony with them. I usually avoid this part of my testimony because it’s uncomfortable to me, but in this moment I realized that the Lord could use it to speak life to them. As I shared, they intently listened. And while I may not have seen the fruit of my encouragement in that moment, I trust that God will do exactly what He wants to with it.  *name changed for privacy

Soon after this, the girls’ father returned home. He is currently in a battle with alcoholism , a battle in which our group leader Hernando also had faced. Hernando went on to share his testimony with the man of how Jesus had touched him and freed him. After one encounter with the Father, Hernando stopped drinking and dedicated his life to Christ. Praise God. We prayed over the entire family and left them with the call to continue to pray over their pain and trust that God will meet them there.

What the Lord taught me was this: Your testimony matters- every single part of it. There is power in sharing what God has done in your life. Our battles can be used to reach others and guide them through similar battles. And if you’re still not on the other side of this part of your testimony, trust that Father is walking beside you and that He will use it to touch others. He’s always working, even when we don’t see it.

Please pray over my squad and I as we continue to serve in Nicaragua and remember that your testimony holds power. 

“Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony…” ??John? ?4:39? ?