Reflections on the Days Gone By

Thanks be to God for each of you and for your hearts to pray and support us on the trip.  As with all things out of His hands, the trip was exceeding, abundantly beyond all we could ask or think!  Each time we had an over the top, amazing, only could be thought of and orchestrated by the Creator of the Universe, experience...Bob would say , "If we did nothing else the rest of the trip, it would have been worth it."  

We hope to update the blog again this week to recount the few days that we haven't yet described.  Also, we hope to get some of the pictures (we took over 1000) online somehow, either through Facebook or on the blog.  In the meantime, we thought we would share a few reflections on the week gone by.  In no special order, just things worth sharing.

• We loved the corporate prayer of Christian brothers and sisters in Nicaragua.  Always on their knees, usually out loud, and often simultaneously. 
• We loved how our Christian brothers and sisters in Nicaragua greet each other.  Always by the name hermano  (brother) or hermana (sister) and always with La Paz de Cristo (the peace of Christ).  Any believer they encounter is immediately introduced as a brother or sister in Christ. 
• Anna Katherine's favorite time of the trip was our morning of teaching the children of Las Esquinas.  Pastor Aburto's lovely young wife Rosa collected one or two at a time a group ragamuffin children and we took them to the church for a morning of teaching, prayer and play. Anna Katherine got to teach how to make "God's eyes" and also painted faces.  Remember, none of these children speak English and she speaks little Spanish.  But, God gave her a heart to serve.  Who needs words?
• Elizabeth's favorite times were our trip to the beach with a group from Pastor Aburto's family and a going away party the last night we were there.  We are talking about interaction with people who could not speak a word of English with a little girl who could barely speak a word of Spanish.  But, God made her relational.  Who needs words?
• We loved seeing the transforming work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of people in a totally different place and culture and language.  Take Noe (Noah in Spanish) for example.  He is bright eyed, always smiling,  well dressed, well-pressed , friendly fellow, always the first one at the church and the last one to leave. If there was a job to be done, he did it.  If there was a person to be greeted, he greeted them.  He is a servant through and through.  We later learned Noe is a new Christian, a recovering alcoholic and his home is made of plastic and corrugated tin.  
• We saw the power and reality of multi-generational faithfulness.  Pastor Aburto, Sr. and his wife have 9 children.  Two of the sons are pastors (who also have "day jobs") and another son works two jobs, one at his local church.  The entire Aburto family serves and attends three different (related) churches in the area.  They are like an army deployed to serve God's kingdom in their community.   The Aburto's newest grandbaby is named Shalom Janice (Janice means God is gracious).  They are already praying about God's plan for her life. 
• We saw a people who's life was the church.  They were always there, always together.  One of the men's Bible Studys was on Friday night.  
• We brought a PILE of our favorite books that have been translated into Spanish.  John Piper, Spurgeon, R. C. Sproul, James Dobson, Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Elizabeth George.  The biggest hit, by far, was Pilgrim's Progress.
• The simplicity of their church.  Hope you will see the pictures. And people think Christ Church is simple!
• The Christian church in Nicaragua celebrates as a holiday the day the Bible was translated into their language.  It was translated in 1569, 42 years before the King James Version. 
• No matter the culture, no matter the language, no matter the surroundings, there is just nothing like being with God's people!!! 

There is much more to tell, but we'll hope to have the chance to do that with each of you in person.  Thanks be to God for each of you and the role you played in His work on this trip.