NIC MISSION DAY #1

Today was our first day in Nicaragua… It was our get to know each other, see the city, experience the culture day. This place is awesome.

Leon is the city we are staying in and to say the least… The people are poor. It’s heart wrenching to walk the streets of a main town and see people shoeless, sagging eyes, and hopeless hearts. The sad part is we aren’t even in the impoverished part. It’s Monday we begin to make our trek out to the villages where homes are made of nothing but sticks and visqueen. That’s where the real gut check begins.

On top of this experience, our team sat in a huge circle tonight and some shared their testimonies. A few of them shared about how they knew God was calling them to missions, some didn’t go, some did, some hesitated and then went… But they all ended up where God was calling them. Foreign missions. A little background info…my entire life I’ve wanted to be a physical therapist. I love seeing/helping people progress and I love being around athletes. If I were to be real I was probably more ecstatic about the amount of money coming in. During spring break, Doug(the guy I’m here with) was speaking, and it hit me that night that I was in PT for the wrong reasons. I wasn’t in it to glorify Christ; I was in it to purchase all the Nike I wanted. It was at that moment God said “Halley, you are supposed to be in ministry.” That scared me. I mean I know that people in ministry make hardly any money and that worried me. God was persistent…. The next morning Doug was speaking again and he spoke of this mission trip he was going on in July. He was taking a team to Nicaragua and if any of us wanted to go, let him know. My heart pounded… My mind raced.. And I knew. I was being called to this trip. As soon as he was done speaking, I turned around and my 5 other friends and I all exclaimed at the same time “WE ARE GOING!” It was confirmation.

Ministry.

So here I am…sitting in Nicaragua, writing this blog, and here to gladly exclaim that I am being called to missions. These adults testimonies hit me like a ton of bricks. The whole time my heart was just pounding because I knew… God is telling me to go into missions. I don’t know if it’s foreign, I don’t know if it’s in Arkansas, I don’t know if it’s all across America, but I do know one thing… God is calling me to live a life of serving him through mission work.

I’m scared. If I have a family, will I be able to provide? Will my kids be okay with living in a foreign country if that’s where he’s calling us? How will I go months without being close to friends and family? How willing is my heart to leave everything behind and take up my cross for Christ? This isn’t something that is setting easy on my heart, but I do know that God utilizes people that are willing to get out of their comfort zone and are willing to say “God, use me. No matter the cost.” Tonight, that’s what I’m proclaiming. Take me there, God. Take me there. G3.

P.S. PLEASE BE PRAYING FOR OUR TEAM THIS WEEK! THANK YOU.