manna

Greetings from Nicaragua- the land of lakes and volcanoes!

I’m currently with part of my squad serving with a ministry called REAP in Granada, Nicaragua. The ministry has been up and running for the past 10 years by our ministry host Scott, his wife Jen and their daughter Journey. Scott challenged us within our first day here to grow in our relationship with the Lord during this season and to let ministry be an outpouring and overflow of that. He gave us new perspective that this ministry doesn’t actually need us and instead we simply get to join in on what the Lord is already doing here!! Their main focus is on the great commandment: to love the Lord with all of your heart, soul, strength and mind and then to love your neighbor as yourself— and then to let Christ’s love compel us to live out the great commission. Each morning starts out at 5am with an hour of prayer and then an hour of devotion. Yep, that’s 2 hours spent with the Lord all before 7am. 🙂 

This past week was our first full week of ministry. Each day looks a little different but so far we have gotten to join in on kids ministry, prayer walking, manual labor on the farm, loving people at the local dump and feeding them, sharing at local micro churches and praying/encouraging those in the hospital. Honestly, a lot of these ministries have been heavier for me and my squad. It’s easy to compare the situations that we are seeing here in the community with what it would look like in America and feel a sense of guilt that we can’t do more or that people find themself in these situations in the first place. Through it all, the Lord continues to teach me that if I’m walking in love and trusting Him, I can be obedient to what He is calling me to do/say and trust Him with the rest (kinda hard for someone who just wants to make it all better all at once.)

Personally, the past 12 days have carried a lot of unexpected circumstances and the challenges that come with that. My co-leader is currently still in Costa Rica with a squad member due to covid (but hopefully will be coming soon!!!! PRAYERS FOR THAT) that has caused me to be stretched in ways that I didn’t really expect coming into this season. The other day I was feeling weary and a little discouraged thinking of how I just went from this season of God giving me big “aha!” moments to now a season of feeling like I have just enough to get by daily. Earlier this week during our time of prayer, the Lord brought me to Exodus 16: the story of God providing manna and quail for the Israelites while they were in the wilderness. 

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.” Exodus 16:4

“That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor.When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.’” Exodus 16:13-16

 It was in this moment that the Lord showed me that He’s still been providing and giving me daily strength. It’s usually been in the most unexpected, random but sweetest ways that make me ask “what is this?” but a knowledge that it’s from Him! It’s easy to take comfort, trust the Lord and want the seasons of life where you feel like you’re feasting in abundance. It’s a lot harder to trust that the Lord will provide when you find yourself in a wilderness season. BUT the Lord still provides! Sometimes it comes in manna form where there is just enough for that day. And sometimes He uses it to test our faith to see if we will use what He gives us to give it away and trust that He will provide again for tomorrow when tomorrow comes; or if we will hold onto it, unwilling to give it away and in the end it become wasted for its intended purpose  

“The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed. Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.” However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.” Exodus 16:17-20

 My prayer recently: May we be people that know how loved and deeply cared for we are by the Creator of all. And Let that knowledge allow us to live our lives in a way that risks giving it all away, trusting that He will continue to provide all that we need.

Some God moments the past 12 days I’m thankful for:
•Being in a season where I get to know God more as my sustainer
•Getting to live in community with 14 others who love the Lord- loving them and being loved by them!! 
•CAKE- yes I’m calling this a God moment (our first night here, there happened to be leftover cake from a celebration earlier and I literally woke up from resting my eyes to eat a piece and then go back to sleep)  
•Playing in the rain one random night (honestly, this has been my favorite night so far. We danced, we ran, we sang, and I got knocked down in mud by 2 of the girls who feel like little sisters to me) 
•Watching my team step out in so much vulnerability and faith while prayer walking and seeing how God used their words to intentionally impact and encourage the person they were speaking 
•Rides in the back of a truck again that remind me of all the truck rides to ministry from last year 
•Waking up at 4:10 for a sunrise hike— it reminded me of my last sunrise hike that was in South Africa
•Having some really sweet conversations with the locals with broken English and Spanish  
•Another missionary family just moved here from London!! It reminded me so much of when I was in Albania and was with a family from London  
•ALL OF THE SUNRISES AND SUNSETS! honestly these all feel like the biggest and sweetest gift from the Lord to me daily. 

Thanks for reading this! I’m praying that you can see in your own life where the Lord is providing and sustaining- whether in those seasons of feasting and abundance or the seasons of active trust for the daily manna- be encouraged that He will provide because you’re so loved and cared for the God of all!!!

MK