by Trish Krider
October 15, 2011
It was a small but mighty group of missionaries who met before dawn at the Tampa airport to begin our journey to Nicaragua. This year we are all “veterans” so we boarded the plane with the confidence that, although we were a smaller group than in the past, we had a good idea of what the week had in store for us. But we had never been to El Ayudante in October – the tail end of the rainy season.
The flight was uneventful, arriving on time, and we were greeted by the smiling face of Mario, familiar to all of us as one of El Ayudante’s translators. We were encouraged by the weather in Managua, cloudy and humid but no actual precipitation, and Mario chuckled. In León, our destination and a two hour drive away, it has rained every day for the past month and is expected to continue daily through our week here. The question is not whether it will rain, but at what time of day and for how long. This should certainly present some unique problems for one of our construction projects – repair of a leaky roof. Well at least we will be able to identify where the leaks are!
We arrived at the mission house and were greeted by Vanessa who will be directing our activities this week. Our first order of business was a trip to town to try to procure a poncho for one member who neglected to pack one. Unlike in years past, we were not adventurous enough to walk to town given the forecast and that turned out to be a wise decision as the skies opened up at one point. Fortunately, we were inside at the time so we joined the locals in the doorway and waited out the worst before heading back to our bus. We never did find a poncho, but, as will happen often this week, one of us needed something and someone else had brought along something to fulfill the need.
After enjoying our first dinner at the mission house, Vanessa shared her story with her. A few years ago, after having miscarried a baby, she suffered a serious depression and questioned God. In her anger and despair, her faith “was broken”. In the midst of her suffering, she felt called to read the Bible and, through study and prayer she shared with us these things that she learned. “I am simple and life is hard. If you have God in your heart, God will see you through the difficult times because it is at your lowest he loves you most”.
A year later, after having been told by her doctors that she would never have any more children, she gave birth to her youngest who she calls a “milagro” – a miracle. Shortly thereafter, having worked behind the scenes at El Ayudante for many years, Bill asked if she would fill the position here of managing the mission house. She had made up her mind when God brought her out of that dark place that she would do whatever he asked of her, and that is what she is doing today. She calls it her mission to work in partnership with the missionaries who serve here to aid her people.
She knows that this is an amazing ministry, as do we. That is why we return here year after year. As she says, “I can see the love” and tomorrow as we begin our real work here, we will endeavor to continue making God’s love real to the Nicaraguan people.
And as the Pentecostals across the road continue to raise their voices in song, it is raining yet again.
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