Featured Story

Love That Words Cannot Express
August 2002

The following articles were written by a short-term ministry team from Horizon Community Church near Sacramento, California.  The team spent a week at the Arms of Love Children's Home in Nicaragua at the end of June doing children's ministry, landscaping around the children's home, and evangelism in the community adjacent to the project.

First let me say that I don’t want to do this.  This is supposed to be a reflection of last week and the ways in which I saw God work while we were in Managua, Nicaragua.  I think that’s what a ‘reflection’ would best be:  a first-person account of how the hand of God changed my life, how He worked in the lives of those we met, and how He acted through us as we ministered during our trip.  But I don’t want to write about this, and let me tell you why. 

I think a reflection should inspire you to want to experience a trip like this, but I don’t think I can write words that will bring you to that point.  I can’t write the words that will make you feel the sorrow and anger I felt when I looked at the timid smile of a ten-year-old that had been abused for years by her uncle and aunt in preparation for a life of prostitution.  There are no words to describe the angelic face of a four-year-old, mothered by a prostitute who has five other children, who will never know her mother and is probably forever scarred by her rejection.

I knew people lived the way they do in Nicaragua and many other countries throughout the world, including ours, and at the risk of sounding narcissistic, the trip changed my life in a way that I expected.  I thought my perspectives, my thoughts about life and it’s purpose, and my idea of joy and peace would change – and these things did change.  But I can’t describe what I felt when I looked into the eyes of these children.  I’m frustrated because I know this must sound ‘syrupy’ and overly dramatic … but the lives that impacted me deserve more than these words can convey.

While I’m frustrated about writing my reflections, let me encourage you in that I saw so much of God during the ministry trip.  I saw the hand of God make a way for us to go on this trip, with indisputable providence in my work schedule.  I saw the smile of God in the joyfulness of children who have been rejected all their short lives, yet remain joyful and responsive to Love.  I caught a glimpse of God Himself in a humble man who worked for the shelter, who brought every conversation back to the amazing attributes of a God he regarded and talked about as if He were a friend standing right next to him. 

I’m sorry if reading this is frustrating, because writing it sure is.  If I can leave you with one thing, let me encourage you in this way – if it is at all possible for you to do something like this, please jump at the chance.  Not just for the sake of orphaned kids, homeless people or people in need of a Savior – but for the sake of yourself, for the sake of letting God work on you.

This past week I saw what an orphaned, homeless, destitute person I am, and how much I truly am in need of a Savior.  I can’t wait to see that again.

By Rob Joseph

  

Making Room for What God Has Planned for My Life

As a leader of a short-term mission team, one of the greatest blessings I receive is seeing others succeed.  It was amazing how well we worked together.  Unlike some of the other trips I have been on, everyone was sensitive and respectful towards each other’s needs and our marriages were greatly strengthened by the experience.  This was significant to me because whenever we try to work together on our own strength for any cause, there is always friction between us.  The lack of such friction was one of the many signs that God was with us and that we were not embarking on this trip on our own energy or will.  

One part of our itinerary was to conduct a service project to beautify the grounds of the children’s home.  But the landscaping turned out to be so much more than planting trees, flowers and bushes.   Not only did we bless the children with nicer grounds, but God used us to make a lasting change in the hearts of the house fathers.  While we were landscaping, the fathers came out to help us on their own initiative.  They were really encouraged by our willingness to serve, and saw it as an opportunity to get involved and help.  They were blessed to be able to do something that they could take pride in and found much joy in it. 

Experiencing God working in so many unexpected ways helped me to evaluate my own outlook on life.  I have been struggling these past few years with finding meaning in my life.  I’ve been praying that God will provide me with direction, to give me a sense of calling.  Although I’ve had a lot of experience in the past with seeing God use my spiritual gifts of service, evangelism, discernment, and loving people where they are in life, I was single then.  Since I became married, I’ve had to learn all over again how to use my gifts.  I had been praying for direction, and through this ministry trip, I believe God finally began revealing it to me.  As I used my gifts during this trip, I realized that all of these gifts are still alive in me and that I just need to break the season of apathy and enter a new one of joyful service, one where my gifts are still being used alongside those of my wife.

During this trip I also got a renewed sense that God is always with me.  It is not any different when I’m at my seemingly meaningless job or rushing through traffic to get to the next “important” event.  I just have to trust God with my time and energy instead of trying to own and manage every bit of “my” time, “my” money, and “my” life.  It’s amazing what God can do when I trust Him with everything that is mine.  I want to learn to give up “my” things in the daily routine of life to make room for what God has planned for me.

By Steve Gallo

  

A Universal Language: The Language of Love

Having the conviction to go on a short-term mission trip is not the easiest burden to carry, especially when you are comfortable.  I am enmeshed in a seemingly comfortable environment, yet I have had the burning desire to participate in missions for many years.  Unfortunately, I did not make fulfilling this calling a priority, and over the years I formulated many justifications for my failure to go … until this recent trip Nicaragua. 

Just as I anticipated, I was uncomfortable — the dozens of mosquito bites, the termites in our bed, the sweat that dripped from my body just after taking a shower, and the days of diarrhea — yet for some reason or another, God touched me.  God touched ME.  Essentially, I learned the power of love and the universal nature of this language.  It seems so cliché to think “love is all you need,” but that is ultimately what I realized. 

I vividly remember thinking about how ill equipped I felt, and I pleaded with the Lord to speak through me.  Not speaking much Spanish, most of what I did that first day was smile — I smiled until my cheeks were tired and my lips were numb.  Soon after having met some of the children, a young girl named Diana came up to me and gave me her bracelet and said “regalo” (gift).  Why was she giving me her bracelet, one of her few possessions?  I could barely understand her as she gave me her bracelet, and after having felt completely disappointed in myself that I could not communicate with her, I was humbled.  All I did was smile.  And that is all I continued to do — smile, hug, kiss and play, and of course, confuse myself and the children by my fragmented knowledge of Spanish.  This first experience calmed me and made me realize that I can love these children through simply being with them. 

At the end of the week, as we were going to do our last activity with the children, the children surprised the team with a skit, dance, and word of thanks.  Why were the children thanking us?  Why did they seem so anxious for us to come back?  Needless to say, I was overwhelmed and became tremendously cognizant of the power of the language of love.  The children did not know English, and I was not proficient in Spanish, but the language that we were able to show each other was love.  God’s Love became our ultimate translator. 

I know this must sound extremely trite, but this is one of the most important lessons I learned.  These children – their beautiful faces, their innocent smiles, their powerful hugs, their soft kisses – have been burned into my memory, and I hope that I never forget the feeling of being honored to have been a part of their lives.

By Asha Joseph

   

God Called Me To Go

This trip was an eye opener for me.  Not because it opened my eyes to the poverty that exists in third world countries or because I saw the children’s great need for love, but because God showed me that He had called me to go to Nicaragua because He needed me there this summer.  Before going on this trip, I had the attitude that anyone could go in my place and the job would get done.  I was not looking at the reality that if I did not go the kids would not benefit from the love I had to give them.  Perhaps I wanted to believe that God could use anyone, rather than admit that God was calling me specifically to go and love these very needy children. 

After arriving in Nicaragua and commencing the activities we had worked so long and hard to prepare, I began to realize that I was doing what God had been calling me to do.  Every time a child came and hugged me or looked up into my eyes with an expectation for love and affection, I began to realize that I was using the gifts God has given me and that I was fulfilled in doing this.  I no longer saw this mission trip as a trip to support my husband, but as a time to allow God to use me completely for His purpose.  Though every day it seemed that I spent all the energy and love I had to give, somehow there was always more left over.  It is amazing how God works.  At the end of every day I could reflect on my day and consider it completely fulfilling in every way.  I had done nothing for myself, yet somehow everything I had done benefited me and filled me with great joy.

Perhaps one of the most surprising blessings God gave me during this trip was a deeper relationship with my husband.  Before leaving for Nicaragua, he warned me that we might struggle to get along while we were away.  But as we interacted with the children and reached out, side by side, to the neighboring community, I felt closer than ever to my wonderful husband.  God showed me how much love my husband has for people in need.  I have seen his desire to bless the cursed several times throughout the three years I have known him, but never as powerfully as I did in the seven days we were in Nicaragua.  I felt like I was getting to know the man that God created Steve to be, and it brought me to tears several times during the week we were there. 

I really cannot put into words what this meant to me, as it brought me closer to Steve but also brought me closer to God.  Truly we were so blessed to obey God’s call on our lives.  I believe that we are simply blessed to have heard His call, but in sacrificing so much to obey, God has blessed us beyond our wildest dreams.

By Ruth Gallo