You’d be surprised what you can accomplish in three days. Jesus resurrected in 3 days. We ended our 3rd and final day of ministry in La Rama. It started kinda rough, but ended up wonderful!

Mud, Mud, Mud!

The day actually started with a power outage. Power, lights, and fans finally came on about 2AM and we had a short night’s sleep. Then the rain when I woke up at 5AM. It was just getting dry.

Thinking we could back the bus into the village, we ran over some newly placed gravel and giant stone. However, it was muddier than expected and the bus rear tires got stuck. We tried to push it, but it was too bad. We went back to the church, had a short devotion (you can read my devotion ‘She Did What She Could”), prayed and got on the internet to ask all our friends to pray. Within a few minutes missionary Max Kennedy came to tell us that the bus got stuck without a truck’s help. God answered prayer.

The entire day was completely muddy. I’ll tell you about traveling around town later.

Healing the Sick.

We came for a medical missions trip and in spite of a stuck bus we were going to have a great last day! We started a little late, but eventually we got our medical team together.

Because this was the last day, the crowds seemed to be greater. Many people came from far away. Here’s some of the patients seen:

• A girl with a growth in her mouth caused her tongue to protrude through her lips.
• A baby had an abscess on his forehead and Dr. Mike drained it.
• A lady came in to and saw she had gall stones through the portable ultrasound.
• One girl came in with post-partum depression and was suicidal. Dr. Cherfan was able to talk to her about the peace that Jesus can give (all through translator). The pastor’s wife was able to led her to trust Jesus Christ as Savior.

Passing out Relief Baskets.

We passed out some baskets of food that will feed a family for 7-10 days. We walked through muddy ‘streets’ and paths to houses that were little more than shacks. Doghouses in the U.S. are in better condition than these homes.

It was such a blessing to bless these people. They were all very grateful and friendly. It is amazing to see people who have every right to complain and be down, but are happy and upbeat. Even in the rain, they were still in a good mood.

We were able to see where the floods came in. This community is right by a major river. Max said that it rained hard for about 8 days straight. When the river came over its banks, these people had nowhere to go. It is still the rainy season but we’re praying that nothing like this happens again this year.

While we were passing out baskets, David Ross and Jim were putting together water purifying units. This is a 2 gallon bucket with a spigot at the bottom leading into a filter. It can take about any kind of dirty water and filter to drinkable water. Of all the things we did, this will probably lead to better health for the entire community than anything else we did. All their water comes from a pump that does not have drinkable water. A dozen were put together and will be passed out during the next group mission trip.

Everyone was a little sad to leave. We left all our left over medicines, a foot locker full of candy, and lots of games. We even left our muddy boots at the end of the long driveway. By the time we drove away, the boots were gone to a person who needs them very badly.

Soon our muddy footprints will be gone, the food will be eaten, our medicines will be used up, and even those boots will wear out. But the friendships we made and the conversions we witnessed will last for eternity. We may not see them on earth, but I pray we will see many of them in heaven. One young mother we will see for sure.

You can read about all the other days at: Nicaragua Missions Trip 2016.