Living on Dayspring Lane: Mission Trip to Nicaragua

(To read the entire article, be sure to click "Read More" at the end.)

We just returned from a mission trip to Corinto, Nicaragua - an adventure that I have looked forward to for a long time. It was one of my post-retirement goals that I thought I would accomplish before now. It was such a joy to be able to finally participate in such an inspirational event. You can see all my photos documenting the trip on my Facebook page.

Gralyn and I were on a team consisting mainly of members from Milton First Assembly of God, Billory Baptist Church and Wallace Baptist Church, led by Cheyenne Bodie who is a missionary with International Gospel Outreach and leads Light and Life Missions.

It was a God-orchestrated team, each one fulfilling a specific ministry. Different ones participated in construction, home visitation and prayer, Pastor's conference and Pastors' wives conference as well as regular church services at Luz y Vida Church (Light and Life Church).

The barrels are the foundation columns for the future new roof.

The construction consisted of pouring concrete for foundation columns for a new roof structure that will be erected on the next trip to Corinto.

This is a view of the rear of the building. The new structure will extend
out to the last blue barrels on the right side of the photo.

While there, our team experienced two funerals, five weddings and ten people baptized in the Pacific Ocean. We visited many local homes to pray for the sick. I personally participated in two people giving their hearts to the Lord and prayed over many more.

View of the beach from the conference room.

One of the main activities of this trip was a Pastors and Wives Conference. Men on our team ministered to the pastors and myself, Molly Maxwell and Debra Gilmore spoke to the ladies. The conference was awesome! We had around 25 ladies and it was a beautiful setting in an open-air second floor building. We had a view of the volcanoes on one side and the Pacific Ocean beach on the other side. The ladies were so receptive. My topics were "A Woman and Her Identify" and "A Woman and Her Struggles." You can hear a recording of them here if you like. At the end of the conference each pastor was given a bicycle and a large bag of staple food. You should have seen the joy on their faces. They were obviously blessed.

Volcano view from the conference room.

The ladies praying for us Americans.

At the women's conferences, Molly Maxwell and I prayed for each individual lady and especially Molly was greatly used in the gifts of the spirit to give them words from the Lord. But the biggest blessing of all was when they prayed for us Americans. Oh, the spirit of the Lord was there, you could tell that they are praying women.

Gralyn putting together the bicycles.

Some of the pastors with their bicycles and pink bag of food
given to them at the end of the conference by Light and Life Missions

The funniest thing that happened to me there was when I was beginning the second session I said something like "In this session we are going to talk about sex." My interpreter (a young single lady) looked at me and said, "Are you sure?" I cracked up. Evidently she had not read the notes! But, yes, we did talk about sex and other types of intimacy. The topics were chosen by the Luz y Vida pastor's wife and her daughter (Arellys Bodie).

On Monday, the lady pastor of Rivers of Living Water Church came by the mission house and asked if we could come to her church to have a Women's Conference. On Tuesday afternoon at 2:00 we went to Rios de Aqua Vida and 21 women were there for the conference. It's amazing how they get the word out so quickly about events. We had a great time with them.

Serving queque to the newly married couples.

Another funny thing that happened was on Sunday night after we had had a full church service and 5 weddings, we went back to the mission house with the married couples and I was helping to serve them cake. After everyone was served I asked if anyone wanted "mas caca." I didn't know that I had said it wrong until I heard Cheyenne laughingly say "She just said 'caca'! I found out later that there is a lot of difference between the meaning of "caca" (poop) and "queque" (cake). That'll teach me to try to speak Spanish!

Helping to baptize the oldest baptism candidate.

It was very humbling to be asked to minister to the people in Corinto. It was indeed a pleasure to get to know them. One lady we prayed with in her home was hooked up to an IV for fluid because she was very weak due to a bad heart. On Sunday, she walked out into the Pacific Ocean to be baptized. She refused to sit on the beach and let us bring the water to her. She came up out of that water with such a smile on her face!

One of the quilts we made was given to this beautiful baby.

One of houses, beachfront property.

Wednesday night we walked around the community in the dark, going into many of the houses to pray for people. Some of the houses had dirt floors and not much furniture. The beds did not have mattresses on them. There were no doors on the rooms. The houses are constructed with just anything the people can get their hands on, some concrete block, some panels of roof tin, some just visqueen plastic.

One of the ladies we prayed for had uterine cancer. On Friday she came by the church and told someone that something had flushed out of her body and she was going to the doctor to let him check her. She felt like she was healed. We did not get a report from her before we left.

One fellow that we went to pray for a couple of times was suffering from kidney disease. Sadly, he passed away on Saturday. We went to his house to visit his family on Saturday night. There were so many people around the house, lining the streets holding a wake for him. He was still in the bed. While we were there, the undertakers came in with a casket and placed him in the casket. They stayed up all night for the wake, then had his funeral the next day. His wife was back on Monday cooking for us at the mission house. They had three children, the youngest one around 9 years old. Her name is Sylvia. I will never forget her face.

One young man we prayed for was a 19-year-old who had taken sick on Feb. 28. They said it was a brain infection. He was lying on the floor in the front room of his house on a foam mat. He did not talk or move very much. He was almost unresponsive. We visited him several times while we were there. His mom was one of the cooks at the mission house, she would be there bright and early each morning, lunch and dinner, and take care of him in between. Her name is MonaClarisse. She said she thought he was getting stronger before we left.

Elementary school children listening to the gospel.

Me with the some of the elementary school students.

On Wednesday, we visited an elementary school and they let all the children come out into the courtyard to hear about Jesus. They enjoyed the candy we passed out to them and they liked getting their picture made. The girls were fascinated by my pink fingernails.

The men visited the jail on Wednesday afternoon. They reported that there two holding cells made to hold about 8 people each, but there were over 40 men in the two cells. They said there was poop smeared on the walls of the cells, and it was very unsanitary. The men do not get fed in the jail unless a family member brings them food.

Speaking in a high school classroom with Anna as my interpreter.

The local high school.

On Thursday we went to a high school and they allowed us to go from classroom to classrom sharing the gospel with the students. The students were very respectful and receptive.

On Thursday afternoon, we visited the hospital and took food for the patients. Like the jail, they do not eat either unless a family member brings them food. We went to each bed and prayed for each patient. We also gave each of them a small quilt that was made by the ladies of Milton First Assembly of God church. They loved it.

Besides the hospital, we took food to four other feeding centers in and around Corinto. It is amazing how the word gets out without telephones and the children show up when we get there. Somehow they just know to come. The ladies of Iglesia Luz y Vida did the cooking for the meals and we helped serve it to the children, then shared the gospel with them.

It was so sweet to see the children responding to us. Children are the same everywhere - they love to play and they love to have their picture made. And they love for you to talk to them, even if you can't understand what they are saying!