A Month of Prayer and Gratitude

It was almost 2 weeks ago we were received some bad news. The doctor had seen something suspicious on Stacy's dad x-rays. He was really concerned and scheduled a body scan immediately. We were told to expect cancer of some kind, but they just didn't know how serious it was or where it originated.  We began looking at plane tickets home and planning for the worst.

 Of course, the tests and the results took several days to come back. In the meantime, he had a arterial ablation on his heart, something he already had scheduled. They expected to find problems there too, but it turned out to be just fine.

We asked our friends to pray. I felt strange asking people to pray for someone they don't know very well. I have to admit I'm a little bit cynical when people ask you to pray for their cousin's best friend's husband's brother's co-worker's cat. I feel like their should be a relationship and not just an excuse to tell a sad story. However, my dad visited twice this past winter and our Nicaraguan friends were happy to pray for him (probably agreeing to it just to make me stop crying for a moment).

I was blown away by HOW MUCH they prayed for him. One family fasted lunch all week and prayed. Our entire church prayed together. The missionaries we know out at the Miskito Coast held a special prayer service for the entire afternoon!

I was so humbled. When someone asks me to pray for them, I usually agree (unless it's the above mentioned cat) and then do my duty of praying for about 15 seconds. I might repeat that for a few days. I know I didn't pray like I believed it would change things.

We got his results back and the doctor said there wasn't a trace of cancer in him. He didn't find anything that needed further attention. It doesn't make any sense, unless you believe in a big God with the power to heal people. The only explanation is a real miracle. He is now touring Charleston, South Carolina with my mom and sister and feeling fine.

There are so many other things to be thankful for this past month too. It's so encouraging to see God at work and know that every difficulty along the way was well worth it.

• Raiin!!! It's finally the wet season again, which means the dust clouds will settle, the brown vegetation will turn green, and the heat will lessen. I've always loved the rain, but I didn't realize how much until we went without any for months on end. There is more excitement over the first rain than there was over the first snow in North Carolina. 

The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Isaiah 58:11

• Pastor Emilio Urbina and his family, at the church we attend, have almost finished their new house. They began work on their dream house 25 years ago. They've been working on it little by little as they had the money. Thanks to a team from California and a generous gift from my parents, it's almost ready to move in. They need only electricity, plumbing, and the outdoor kitchen. They spend all of their time and money pouring out to their community and it's so great to see this deserving family have a place all their own. 

• The Missionary Ventures family who lived in this house before us began an online seminary program for people who lived in remote locations. The first class from that new program graduated this past month. They completed the course in 2 years. Classes from other areas have taken up to 5 years to complete this program. They are a hardworking and dedicated group and we are so proud of them.

• Our good friend, Shirley is 65 and runs a girls safe home, has been without water for months. She has to haul it in or come to our house to bathe and wash clothes. They live a few miles down a dusty, dirt road near us and I get thirsty just getting there! Thanks to a visiting team last month, she now has a water pump and all of them are very thankful.

• A couple months ago we asked people to consider partnering with us financially. We just weren't getting enough each month to keep things going without "Robbing Peter to pay Paul", or as they say in Nicaragua, "Undressing Juan to dress Pedro". We had several new monthly ministry partners join us after that request. We cannot say how grateful we are to have these new people work with us here. And the kids are super excited to eat something besides rice and beans all the time (like peanut butter and jelly-really, that is the new treat). We are hoping to begin the paperwork for our residency now, which will mean an end to our crazy Costa Rican border trips for visa renewal. We are also excited about having the option to foster or adopt children here when we are residents. 

• The afternoon tutoring sessions each day in English, computer skills, and math are going very well. The students are making progress, friendships are being formed, and Gavin is doing a lot of flirting. Seriously though, it is so interesting to sit and hear the stories of our new friends and understand what they have overcome to be where they are today. They each have a huge desire to learn and stay at the house as many hours as we will teach them.

• Everyone in the family is making progress in Spanish!!! We still have much to learn, but it's exciting to be able to converse with our new friends on a deeper level.

Prayer requests for May:

• Our neighbors, Diego and Esperanza Perez, are missionaries to the Miskito Coast, or the jungle on the other side of the country. They left their 4 older children behind to attend high school and university. We try to look after them from time to time. Now that the parents are no longer working for a wage, they cannot afford to pay for the girls to continue their education. We are praying with the Perez family for a sponsor for each girl at $100 a month. Sandra is studying seminary and Jenny is studying fashion design. 

• Please pray for Dolores Aguirre, a deacon of our church, who was admitted to the hospital this past week with kidney failure. Her husband died last year and she doesn't have a good prognosis.

• Please pray for Johan Latino Urbina, a boy from our church who is 14 and has cerebral palsy. He has beaten all the odds so far because he has two parents who love and care for him unconditionally. It really is a rare and beautiful thing to see in this country.

"Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world." -Sarah Ban Breathnach