Saturday Decompression

Leyda signals from the house that the food is ready. Marlo and I leave the  outdoor swing where we have been swaying, alternating silence and moments of slow conversation.

It’s been an overflowing week with the Faith church team. This  week, like the rest of life, was lived forward but will only be understood backward.*

Leyda joins us for dinner. Across languages, we tell Leyda about our lunch with Chinandega pastors and their work in their neighborhoods. We recount our visit to the young husband-and-wife pastor team in San Matilde who launched a church among the poorest-of-the-poor, funded only by faith, prayer, and a sense of calling.

“They touched my heart,” I say. “We have much to learn from Nicaraguan Christians.” Not knowing the Spanish words, I stumble though a list in the simplest English sentences I can create. “We learn to trust God. We learn to depend on him. We learn to. . . to want to do his will.”

Ricardo, who speaks more English, joins us, and Leyda asks me to repeat my list. “ I do, then add, "I think Nicaraguan Christians understand these better than North American Christians."

The conversation ambles along. Then they tell us a story. In Nicaragua, apparently, after course work is complete, there is a $1,700 fee for a university diploma—a very important piece of paper for employment.

Their son Ariel had completed his business finance course work, but they had no $1,700 for the fee.

So they prayed. And prayed some more. And yet again.

They do not advertise their guest house, they tell us, but they rely on the guests God sends.

God sent a team of 15 people, who needed food and housing for 10 days. The Hernandez family was able to pay the diploma fee. And in a country of rampant unemployment, Ariel now has a job.

We sit in silence a moment. Then Marlo asks if Leyda and Ricardo would like us to tell our friends coming to Nicaragua what a great guesthouse they offer. They smile and nod.

“Americans know how to plan. Nicaraguans know how to trust,” I say. “We can learn from each other.”

…

*I think I learned this lived-forward, understood-backward concept from C.S. Lewis. Based on past experience, I trust that Pastor Ryan Faber will be able to tell me which C.S. Lewis book—and which chapter of that book—upon my return to Pella.