Missions in Nicaragua - 2008

Hey everyone! Well, let us apologize for how long it has taken me to get this post up…hopefully, after reading about our adventure, you’ll understand why I needed a little bit of time to digest it all!

The most difficult part about good story is deciding where to begin…so, here we go!

Before we left the country, we were able to spend about a day in Houston with Emily’s family. It was a good time for her to reconnect with them and it was a good chance for me to repack our stuff since we left ABQ in a quite a mad rush. Then, after a phone call or two back and forth with our team from Fredonia Hill, we went to sleep dreaming of all that God was going to do during this trip…and, the Bible doesn’t say that He’s capable of doing “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20) for nothing. We had NO idea the ride for us that He had planned.

DAY ONE: Team Williams (Emily, Adam, and Baby Williams, aka li’l Pumpkin) woke up at the crack of dawn to make sure we could get on our 9am international flight…and, oddly enough, we met the rest of our team for the first time zigzagging through the security line! Since our compadres from Fredonia Hill Baptist Church (in Nacogdoches, TX) had to drive an ADDITIONAL 2 hours just to get to the airport, they were all understandably tired. It was an exciting time in the airport, however, since it was the first chance that Team Williams got to know the kiddos from Fredonia Hill…oh, and I do mean kiddos! Our team consisted of 5 kids from the Fred Hill youth group, their youth pastor (B.J.), the official “team mom” (Mindy), and George – guru of all things related to Operation GO: Nicaragua. In the mix of kids, you had your super goofy guy (Jeff), your super funny guy (Brian), the quiet-until-you-play-her-in-cards girl (Alli), the fun-to-mess-with-girl (Katie), and the fun-to-mess-with-girl’s-friend/sidekick (Emberlen). All of these kids were SO EXCITED about missions – that in and of itself was a Day One Blessing! All of them had done some kind of missions before, but the extent of international experience was border towns in Mexico. For some, in addition to this being the first time REALLY out of the country, it was their first time on an airplane. Despite some nerves, anxieties, and flat out fear, everyone boarded the plane and we had an uneventful flight down south.

Praise God…the flight went ok, no one got sick or scared and everyone seemed excited about the adventure set before us. Shoot…the TEN of us got off the plane, through customs, AND got all of our luggage in about a 15 minute span (now, if you’ve never flown overseas, you won’t truly appreciate that last sentence…but, WOW!). After that, we met up with Loren (the husband of the husband and wife team that lead Operation GO: Nicaragua), Callie and Stephen (2 of the 5 summer missionaries), and headed on our way to lunch. Well, even though Team Williams had remembered how crazy the driving was in Managua (I kinda misses those crazy driving days from last summer!), the kiddos from Fred Hill were an odd mix of scared and fascinated. Fifteen minutes or so into our adventure through the heart of downtown Managua, God decided to teach us all a lesson in spiritual warfare and the reality of being in the mission field…and it’s a lesson we will not soon forget.

For now, I don’t want to go into any specific details so that we can protect those who were directly involved and those who might be tangentially effected. While the specifics of the incident don’t necessarily matter (if you have our number, call us and we’ll tell you in person, we just don’t want to post it), what matters is the reality of what career missionaries deal with probably much more so than the rest of us…spiritual warfare. That day, God made the spiritual battle real, He put flesh on it, and He made it sting right at our very hearts. In this single attack, the Enemy was trying to destroy a powerful missions project in Nicaragua and damage other missions efforts in South American. How? He was attacking the missions FAMILY. You see, our dear friend Lydia (with whom I was summer missionary in Nicaragua last summer) was in Peru as a summer missionary and suffered through a terrible ordeal because Satan knows God is using her as a powerful force to spread the Gospel. Satan must have thought the same thing about what was happening in Nicaragua…but we, as believers, know that Christ has already defeated evil – once and for all – by His death, burial, and resurrection. Thank you Father for reminding those of us on the trip of your power, grace, mercy, and love. (NOTE: I have to take a moment to brag on my wife. Her natural, God-given gifts of compassion and comforting people who are hurting were perfectly suited to match the needs of the moment! It warmed my heart to see my beautiful bride use her talents to glorify God – and comfort a sister in need – in a crisis situation. I love you Emily!!!)

That afternoon, after the initial incident, our team ended up at the IMB’s Guest House. Everyone had been shaken by the events of the day – the youth were digesting their rude-welcome to foreign missions, the adults were trying to figure out how to explain things to the youth, and Team Williams was hurting for those involved. But, through this time of confusion, anxiety, uneasiness, and even fear, God worked a miracle. God began a work in all of our hearts that day to prepare us for what He had planned. Isn’t it amazing how His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:9).

DAY TWO: The next day was a low-key day of rest, reflection, and team-building. Basically, in His infinite wisdom, God allowed all of us to more completely process the incident; help folks most affected by it to reflect on and deal with some other spiritual issues; and gave our small team a chance to spend some time getting to know each other better. We had some sweet time of fellowship…and though some of us were chomping at the bit to get out and start distributing the Gospel, God blessed this day to make us a more cohesive unit, ready to seek His plan and spread His glory. It was, for me, a HUGE blessing because I got to know see how missions-minded God has made the kiddos from Fred Hill. I also got to learn first-hand how to seek God in the face of immediate and potentially devastating circumstances. Spiritual warfare, when it puts on flesh, makes it absolutely clear that life is not about US and what WE can do, but rather life is about submitting to Him to see what HE will do.

DAY THREE: We woke up to a beautiful morning, and finally hit the road! We spent the day driving out to Las Communidades de Los Pimones – a set of small, rural, mountainside (and mountain-top) villages just northwest of Matagalpa and San Ramon (if you’re looking for it on a map, it’s in the north-central mountains of Nicaragua). Fourish hours, lots of bumps, a few bruises, and quite a bit of four-wheel driving later, we arrived at our home for the next few days. We settled in, set up our cots, made some dinner, enjoyed the sunset, and then spent an evening reflecting on a wonderful devotional led by Cody on spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6). The evening ended with all of us spending time with the Lord and listening to some praise and worship music – it was a great way to continue (for me at least) to let God work on our hearts in preparation for the next few days.

DAYS FOUR & FIVE: HALLELUJAH! We finally made it into the field, we were finally able to become the beautiful feet who spread the good news (Romans 10:15)! Now, typically what happens is that Loren and/or Karen will work with the US team leader and the local Nicaraguan pastor to split us (both the US team and local Nica believers) into small groups of 6-8 and tell us which group will distribute to which area of the community. Well, due to our previous incident and some other events out of our control, neither Loren nor Karen were able to come with us to Los Pimones! That left the summer missionaries (Cody – who is fluent in speak Spanish; Stephen – who is a work horse; and Hakim – who is the pirate) and me to run the show! Ha…God has such a sense of humor! We ended up splitting into 3 groups – Cody was the translator for one group; Emily was the translator for another group; and yes, YOURS TRULY was the translator for the last group! I know both Cody and Emily did a MUCH better job translating than I did, but God got the job done through me!

Even in just the hiking portion of our trip, God was able to reveal to some of our team just how much MORE we are able to do, even physically, when we stop trying to do it all on our own and we trust in His strength. On mission, when you really get to deny yourself and focus on Him, you see SO MANY BLESSINGS each and every day! Such blessings weren’t contained to just my group, folks in Emily’s group came back proclaiming how good God was to support them and help them finish after each hard day of hiking. (NOTE: I'm really proud of how far my wife and baby-mama hiked!!! After what I saw in Nicaragua, I think she's ready for Everest!)

And alas, after hiking the mountains of Los Pimones for two days…our ministry was completed! Even though we did not get to minister to the larger numbers of people that I am used to (my first trip here in Spring 2006 we handed out thousands of Gospels!), it was a blessing to continue to be faithful to the great commission to reach the ends of the earth (Matthew 28:19-20). We were able to share the Jesus Film with about 200 people from Los Pimones – and at least one person got saved! Hallelujah! I know God is going to continue working in those communities through a strong church in nearby Matagalpa.

It truly is amazing how quickly God can meld our hearts with His when we serve Him! Even after only two days in Los Pimones, none of us wanted to leave! We grew attached to the wonderfully kind local believers that worked with us, the gracious homes we where we were able to share the Good News, and the absolute splendor of God’s creation! Here are just a few pictures that will hopefully begin to convey what is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful locales in Nicaragua…

The rest of the trip was basically a day of recuperation and site-seeing. It was really good for Emily and I to spend some time with Loren and Karen…we really do miss them! We got to share with them about newlywed life and swap married-life stories and what not. For Emily and I, it was an extra special time of reconnecting with some folks who were indirectly involved in the creation of Team Williams! And, of course, they were both excited about their first missions grandbaby…man, EVERYONE’s going crazy for this kid!

The highlight of the trip, at least for me, was a very special ceremony that we (Loren, Karen, and the summer missionaries) put on for the high school students. In short, we had a sort of “Young Missionaries Commissioning Service.” While Loren read some scripture and began to talk about what it means to be on career missions and spread the Kingdom of God, the four summer missionaries and I each washed the feet of and prayed over one of the high school students. Loren explained to the students what it truly means when Paul says “how beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news” (Romans 10:15) and encouraged them with some stories from his own missions experience. It was a beautiful time of pray, fellowship, and allowing the Holy Spirit to move in all of our hearts. It is a moment in the mission field that will always be on my heart and a great set of memories that I will never forget.

So, what else can I say…we had a FANTASTIC trip. God is amazing and even though Emily and I had been on this trip before and “knew” what to expect, God still stretched and shaped us further than I ever could have imagined. We get to see spiritual warfare in its basest form…and we experienced God’s faithfulness in ways like never before. I am excited to see how much more my life changes as I learn to walk – and learn to lead our family to walk – in closer intimacy with our Lord and Savior.

And so, to Erle...Kathy...Saltamontes...BriON...Alli G...Bejota...Uncle George...Stephen/Billy/Cid...Dr. Cody...Hakim the Pirate...Poppa Loren...Mama Karen…

From Team Williams...Thanks for a great trip.