We are home, back in Abbotsford safe and sound. I’m writing this final blog post on day 1 of our 14-day quarantine at home. As one of the four leaders on this trip I wanted to offer some final thoughts on this very memorable and unusual 10th anniversary of the Nicaragua School 2 School trip.
“Yes Sir”!!! We are back home and “It is what it is…” Those were just two of the many quotable quotes repeated frequently by the Nicaragua 2020 team. Let me share some of the other themes that God allowed to be repeated on this trip.
God is faithful: God always is and certainly was in full control from the first moment we started planning this trip back in May 2019. Everyone that applied and came with us contributed to a group dynamic that was so incredibly positive throughout the highs and lows of this journey. Amid the daily up and down news, our teens continued to put their trust in God’s faithfulness even when things looked bleak (which seemed to be the case every 12 hours or so). We heard it in comments like this: “God’s got this”, “Jesus brought us here for a reason”, “We have to keep trusting God even if we can’t see why”, “Let’s keep shining the love of Christ every chance we get”, “I don’t want to go home, but if we do then we know there has to be a reason God wants us home too”… Time and time again the resiliency and resolve of these students was a declaration of God’s faithfulness in their lives. These teens did not just get a dose of a “resiliency vaccine” at the travel doctor before they went. These teens have clearly seen and experienced the faithfulness of God in their lives before this trip. Then, in these tense, yet fruitful days of ministry they fully trusted in the faithfulness that God has revealed to them and emulated the trust their faith influencers (family, friends and mentors) have modeled for them. Till the minute we arrived back at YVR this team did not waiver in their belief that God was guiding them the whole way through. It is impossible for me to believe this trip was a mistake or lapse of judgement.
Partners in ministry: Wow! In times like this you see the beauty and blessing of partnership at its greatest. Parents, ACS Executive, Edu Deo (Hamilton), Edu Deo (Nicaragua), Centro de Fe and Marlin Travel. You are evidence of God’s rich blessing of community. I sit here at home and I am in awe of the unwavering care, concern and support that you have provided during each step of our journey. We do not take your discernment process lightly. It consumed hours of your time and I imagine there was even some second guessing involved. Yet, we pressed on in the call that God placed on us to minister to Centro de Fe and receive ministry from them. As we did so you provided the support we needed exactly when we needed it. To know you were there making decisions in our best interest enabled Roy, Terril, Sarah and I to just be present with the team. I have to be honest and say it was not always an easy to live with one foot in Canada and one foot in Nicaragua, but I don’t know how we would have done it without your constant support. I must give a special shout out to Lester, our Edu Deo host in-country. This man was so gracious, so at peace and so accommodating that we simply followed his lead. Yet as a leader we knew he was in the same boat with us. Lester is a father concerned about his own family and kids and he is a Nicaraguan citizen concerned about his own country’s response to COVID19. If that isn’t already enough in a global pandemic, he was a ministry leader responsible (along with Nilda) for 34 foreigners and their daily schedule (changing rapidly), their daily transportation, daily meals and translating all the while being ever aware of the fragile political climate. Lester is a shining example of what it means to be doing what you were created to do. Thanks Parents, ACS, Edu Deo, Centro de Fe and Marlin Travel for all your support in this unprecedented time.
Agape love: This is the covenant love of God for his fallen, redeemed and loved creation. We experienced that love in Nicaragua. As an ACS team we felt it for each other as our world was rapidly changing. We needed each other despite our idiosyncrasies and foibles. Really? If you don’t have to shower with 3 other people in a 4x4 foot shower space, why would you? Is it necessary to catch the geckos and love them so intensely? Why don’t some parents send melatonin along with their teens? Have you even tried NOT to flush the toilet paper? Why does Koen wake us up like that? We did ask those questions in our minds, but not out loud (well not very often). These little nagging concerns seemed not to matter so much on this trip. What did matter was loving each other with grace and mercy every chance we got. One of our teens summarized this reality well when she said, “I sure hope this doesn’t change when we meet each other in the hallways whenever it is that we get back to school”. I agree, I hope it doesn’t either. We experienced something special as a team.
We experienced agape love in each moment we spent with the kids, youth and staff at Centro de Fe. We delighted in each other with such enthusiasm. That kind of Agape love is a love that grows over time. Over 10 years you can see the authenticity of our love for one another. Sandra (the principle at Centro de Fe) joked that it could be measured in the number of tears of joy, and sadness that have been shed over the decade. (Let’s admit that Roy has contributed his fair share
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