The Pulverin

On Tuesday our whole family joined the group of interns and went to an area called the Pulverin. This is a very impoverished area of Ometepec—in many ways it reminds me of the slums of Africa. There is a large dirt soccer field in the center of the community, so we went to just play and hang out with kids there. After about 10 minutes, I was told to bring Chayce up to this woman’s house—she apparently had been trying to get my attention to tell me to get my baby out of the sun! So, I went up and met a woman named Julia. She was so generous and so sweet, and we enjoyed trying to understand each other! My Spanish is slow and minimal, but we still communicated a bit. We decided to work together—I will teach her some English and she will teach me some Spanish! I am excited to spend more time out in this area. I have not been able to go back the last two days—but I pray the Lord will open many doors of ministry in this neighborhood over the next couple of years.

I was really touched by Julia’s generosity. They sent their son out to buy a coke for us! Her family of five lives in a one-room home with one bed. Later that evening it just poured rain, and we had several areas in our home where our roof was leaking. But all I could think about was Julia and her family, and whether or not they were really dry at all. This home here is not what I am used to, and it has lots of bugs, lots of holes, and lots of dirt! And yet we are still so blessed compared to so many.

So, I began this a couple of days ago, and then had the chance to go back out to the Pulverin on Friday. Pray for our ministry there. The numbers greatly diminished over the course of the week! In fact, Julia’s sons were not allowed to go play on Friday, and she and her husband stayed inside their home. We learned that there is real opposition from the Catholic Church if they hear that we are from a Protestant church. Pray that we can know how to love on these people in ways that are effective here—not just in our American ways. So, pray that we can have open doors just to build relationships! May the Lord give us the opportunities to reach people’s hearts.