It’s been a month of living in Nicaragua, and I am just now unfortunately getting around to an update! So sorry! I also can’t believe it is already July. For real, where in the world did the time go?!
Here’s a little synopsis of some of the things we have been up to: our first week here, we worked with a team that was here from the States. Last week, Journey lead the ministry team through a trauma workshop. Grace and I have been learning to lead worship together. Grace has been playing guitar, and I’ve been learning to sing lots of songs in Spanish. We have been helping to lead worship at some of the micro churches throughout the week, including one church that meets at the city’s garbage dump. We spend a lot of time hanging out with the kids on the farm, playing uno, volleyball, pickleball, and baseball. We’ve also been prayer walking and visiting some homes of people connected to the ministry. We’ve been cooking lots, sharing lots of meals and precious time together around the table. Life here definitely moves at a slower pace, but time has also blown by so fast! It’s crazy. Hopefully for those of you who have iphoto, you’ve been able to see some of the photos/videos I’ve been sharing in the shared album – let me know if you would like to be added
What a joy it has been to be around people that I met 3 years ago. There’s been a lot of laughter and hang out. Lots of time to sit in a hammock and read, and to listen to podcasts, to play guitar, and to rest. I’m feeling the Lord renew me and I feel like I’m beginning to be still, learning to listen once again. After a semester that was so hard, I am so thankful for the Lord allowing me to dwell in this time and space. He knew what I would need back in January when I began to pray about being here this summer. I feel so content and at peace – it has been such a gift.
One of the biggest themes that I feel the Lord continuously inviting me to pray for is reconciliation. I am both learning and being challenged to allow the Lord to build my prophetic imagination for what this reconciled Kingdom looks like. I keep finding myself coming back to a question that has stuck with me since last July when I read a book called “Mirror to the Church: Resurrecting Faith After Genocide.” If you don’t know much about the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, one of the most startling realities was that just days after people gathered together in sanctuaries to celebrate Easter, the genocide broke out. Members of congregations were killing other members of their congregations – fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who they had been worshipping next to the Sunday before. In this book, Emmanuel Katongole writes about how when he was present in Rwanda, he asked the Christian pastors this poignant question: “Do you believe that the waters of baptism are stronger than the bloods of tribalism?” to which every single Rwandan pastor that he talked to replied, “no.”
As I think about what it means to live in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Christ, especially cross-culturally, cross-racially, cross-nationally, etc. I find myself asking myself this question a lot. Do I really live according to the truth that the waters of baptism are stronger than any kind of perceived barrier or divide? I want to be able to say 100% of the time that I both believe and act according to this truth, but I’m not even sure that I can honestly say that I do this 50% of the time. As I’ve sat and prayed, the phrase “romper barreras” frequently pops into my mind. This means “to break barriers” in Spanish. I have felt so challenged to think about this. What is the Lord inviting me into? As I sit and read about the ministry of reconciliation that Scripture talks about, I keep seeing how breaking barriers is an important first step in reconciliation. What does it mean to sit at the table of the Lord, next to a diverse group of people who are my brothers and sisters in Christ? And what does it mean to intentionally sit next to people at the table of the Kingdom, who I normally wouldn’t sit next to? I am so thankful for opportunities to be in spaces with people who worship in a different language than what I am used to, read/interpret Scripture in different ways because of language and cultural perspectives, show me radical and beautiful pictures of hospitality that remind me of the church in Acts, etc.
It is an honor to be here. Thank you never seems to feel like an adequate enough phrase to express my gratitude for the support and encouragement that Grace and I received to be here. God is kind and faithful and true. My biggest thanks is to the God who is faithful to lead me and mold me and challenge me and guide me, that I might live more faithfully according to who He has called me to be. I’m thankful for the invitation into the reconciled Kingdom – I want to know it more fully alongside my brothers and sisters of all nations.
En la paz de Cristo,
Elena <3
Elena, thanks for sharing. I am very challenged by your question, "Do I really live according to the truth that the waters of baptism are stronger than any kind of perceived barrier or divide?". I also can say I don't always live that way. I pray for God's grace to do better. We are praying for you!