Rio Coco 2013

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A Missionary Kid... Josh McGrew

Chink, chink, chink! That was the feeling of chiseling, which at first seemed unbearable – I didn’t know what to make of it. All I knew was that it really hurt. I would only discover its purpose almost four years later.

When I was 14 years old, my parents told me that we would be moving to the Central American country of Nicaragua. My first reaction was anger; I was supposed to be the captain of our hockey team that fall. We were moving to Nicaragua in order to do volunteer missions work, helping the poorest of the poor, and I would go to a small private Christian school. I soon learned that our financial state would be uncertain as well.  Chink, chink, chink! My life, it seemed, dropped of a cliff.

            On June 29^th, 2010, our family of five left our town of Edmonds, Washington and began the trek to Managua, Nicaragua, my “home” for the next four years. I couldn’t shake this feeling of resentment – I was disgruntled that I had to leave hockey and my friends in Washington but little did I know, those things would soon fade in importance.  I haven't had all the opportunities as students in the U.S would have, including music, varsity sports and AP courses. But because of my time at NCA I have become fluent in Spanish and have had the opportunity to travel to Panama to debate in HACIA Democracy, an event organized by Harvard students in order to provide youth the opportunity to represent member nations of the OAS, and get a taste of the diplomatic profession. These combined experiences have been much more valuable than any education I could have received back in suburban Edmonds.

A couple of months after the move, I started attending class at Nicaragua Christian Academy. I have been attending NCA ever since my first year of living in Nicaragua, and have grown to love it. Since the school was created for American students living in Nicaragua, U.S. curriculum is taught – not by Nicaraguans – by North Americans. This has always been my breath of fresh air whenever I just need to talk to somebody who enjoys the same “American” things I do. At NCA, I was and have been able to participate in many of the same activities

            While in Nicaragua, my life has not been lived only among people of my same social status; in fact, much of my time has been spent with the impoverished locals of Managua, those whose poverty is unimaginable to most North Americans. I have ventured into the dirtiest parts of the city dump just to share some bread and coke with men, women and children who live among the mounds of trash. I have had the opportunity to hug kids and care for them in a situation where it is unlikely that anybody else does. I have seen people with nothing and I feel the chink, chink of the chisel again and again.

Different from many international students, I have had this opportunity to develop my perspective by stepping out of my comfort zone – stepping away from being fully North American. Not only have I learned a lot, but I’ve also grown to have a genuine thankfulness that is difficult to develop without experiencing such poverty firsthand.

            Though life has not been easy, I have come to understand it this way: I started my life as a misshapen block and every difficulty in it, every chink, has been equivalent to the blow of an artist’s chisel. Each blow may have been painful, but in the end, something amazing and unique has formed: me. Experiencing hard times and different challenges in life has made me unique. Moving to Nicaragua has forever changed my life because of my education and grown perspective. I have been well crafted and made into a person that people can connect with very easily, something that I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.

He Alone Is My Rock

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.  He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress;  I shall not be shaken.  On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.  Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.
Psalm 62:5-8

God alone.  Jesus plus nothing.  He is my rock. When we are shaken in life we can remain standing because our foundation is God.  He holds us up when we can't stand on our own.  He always gives us another chance, even when we don't deserve it. 

For the last few months I have been meeting with a small group of women every Friday morning.   The most beautiful thing about this group is that each one of us is aware of our desperate need of a Savior.  We know that apart from Him we cannot stand.

A couple of weeks ago my friend Karla said to me, "I know God wants me to share, He wants me to do more".  I want Karla to do more.  I want her to know that God has put that desire in her heart and when she responds He will give her more.  It was beautiful to be with Karla as she responded to her Savior.  He gave her confidence to share His Word.  She wants to share with other women that God has redeemed her and made her new.  There is always hope when we put our hope in Jesus alone.  

 

Jesus + nothing = everything

 

O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!  Let the redeemed of the Lord say so... Psalm 107:1, 2

 

 

Because God put the desire in her heart to do something and she was obedient...

Abby

Last spring Abby from Virginia came to stay with us for a month.  God revealed many things to her in the month she spent in Nicaragua.  Abby came with one expectation and God had something very different.

Abby sharing with a group of children.

"When I think about my time in Nicaragua, I think about joy.  It’s hard to relay the feelings that I have when I’m there, but when I am there I feel God’s joy.  There is a profound joy that comes with serving because the Holy Spirit is in you using you to bring glory to God.  When I’m in Nicaragua, everything stops. My worries go away; my distractions are gone; my mind stops spinning a hundred different directions; and I stop thinking about myself.  There is nothing that is keeping me from focusing on God and serving him.  The presence of the Holy Spirit is there and I feel it every time I’m there.  I can’t help but to smile as I’m writing this because Nicaragua has a big place in my heart.  When I’m there, I am happy.

 

Abby and her team praying for a single woman with 5 daughters.

 

            I have been to Nicaragua three different times, and each time I have learned something new.  The first time I went there I was at a low point in my life.  I like to be in control and everything in my life that I was in control of fell apart.  I needed God more than I wanted to admit to him because I was selfish and prideful.  The first trip I went on to Nicaragua changed my life.  I was taken back by the poverty, filth, starvation, and living conditions.  But amongst all of that, the Nicaragua people I met were so loving and happy.  They didn’t care about the silly materialistic stuff that our world is so caught up in, which I was caught up in and am still trying not to be caught up in.  I realized how truly blessed I am to have so much.  The Nicaraguan people didn’t care about my clothes, what kind of car I drove, or if I was going to a Division 1 school on a scholarship for soccer; they loved me for me.  God showed me that he loves me for me and that my identity is in him, not my soccer ability.  God called us to love one another just as he has loved us, so the true importance in life is relationships and bringing glory to God through that.

Honoring God by loving His children.

 

            As I mentioned earlier, the first trip I went on changed my life.  I grew so much closer in my relationship with the Lord, I became more confident in my identity in Christ, and I realized the importance of relationships and loving other people.  I needed to learn this and I’m so glad I did because I had another hard year.  When I had another opportunity to go to Nicaragua, I was the first person to sign up.  I was so excited to go back and serve.  On my second trip I was still shocked at the poverty, but I expected it.  On this trip God kind of called me out.  I just felt in my heart that he was asking me why I am so easily able to love the people in Nicaragua that I have never met before, but I can’t love my little sister.  It was kind of a wake up call for me that I really needed to work on that relationship with her and make that a priority.  

A visit to Verbo Iglesia in Rio Blanco, Nicaragua

            The third time I went to Nicaragua it was a little different.  I went for almost a month instead of a week and I stayed with Katie and her family.  This trip was different because I came by myself so it wasn’t as much physical work.  I helped out where I could and was able to really listen and try to see what God wanted to teach me.  On my trip I had an encounter with a profit that shared with me what God was putting on his heart.  He said that I am an ear of corn that is perfect in color, the right size, a good shape, super healthy, and without a lot of damage.  He said that I was ready to be eaten and used by God. He told me that God had been removing the husks in my life, but that there was one more that I needed to let go of for God to truly use me.  It was a crazy, awesome experience and I was emotional.  I went off by myself after he told me that and just prayed and asked God what he wanted me to let go of.  He put on my heart that I needed to give up my strength.  I hate being weak and I don’t cry in front of other people.  It has to do with my past and that I never had good friends that were there for me.  I was always taking care of everyone else, so no one ever took care of me.  Over the years I just faced things alone and didn’t let anyone in because I didn’t trust them.  I just finished my first year of college, and God blessed me with great Christian friends.  Around the end of my first year, one of my friends that I grew up with committed suicide.  I was torn up about it and very upset, but I didn’t let anyone in.  I faced it by myself and hid it from the outside.  That struggle really hurt me and I needed someone to be there for me, but I couldn’t open up and let someone take care of me even though I know that my friends now would have done it in a heart beat.  God needed me to let go of my strength so that I can be used by him.  He taught me how important relationships are, but my relationships can only go so far if I am not vulnerable and won’t let people in.  Relationships are a two way street, so I need to allow myself to be weak and share when God wants me to.  I am still in the process of opening up and just allowing myself to be weak so that Christ can make me strong.  It’s a difficult process and it will take time, but I am looking forward to the future and how God wants to use me.

Abby, Katie, Maggie and Josh

            Going to Nicaragua changed my life and I can’t express it enough.  I was able to learn and grow so much on each of my trips there, and I have changed.  When we take time away from ourselves and we go out of our comfort zones, God reveals himself to us in different ways.  When we search and listen, he’s there waiting and ready to show us new things.  That’s one of the coolest parts of taking time and focusing on God.  When we get rid of our distractions and focus our day on him, he fills us with joy and shares new things with us.  God’s plans for my future are unclear at the moment, but I am here waiting and ready for him to reveal them to me.  One thing I know is that I love Nicaragua and that I will be back sometime.  When he tells me to go, I will go.  I know that I am only at this point in my life because of what God showed me and taught me when I went to Nicaragua.  I am forever grateful for the opportunities I had to go, and hopefully more opportunities to go in the future.  My life is forever changed, and I owe it all to Jesus."

A friend Natalie, Dwight, Katie, William, Maggie and Abby

          

The Best New Thing

Alexa Michell 

There is no better way to start a new blog than by sharing the best new thing for us... Alexa Michell was born August 30, 2013 to Larrys and Ana.  She is absolutely beautiful, healthy and weighs just 4 lbs. 6 oz..  We are in love this this precious baby girl and I am confident that God has so many great things planned for her life!  My prayer is that she knows Him at a young age and loves him passionately all of her life.  I am thankful for the opportunity to be in her life and watch her grow.

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.  

I praise you, because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  

Wonderful are you works; my soul knows it well. 

 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, 

intricately woven in the depths of the earth.  

Your eyes saw my unformed substance; 

in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, 

when as yet there was none of them.  

Psalm 139:14-16