Daniel Kim

My decision to go to STSM started my freshman year of college. During freshman year I wanted to go to STSM, but I missed the deadline because I was unsure of myself. I questioned whether God could use me and struggled with self-doubt. Entering my sophomore year of college I already had STSM on my mind. I knew this year would be the best year to go to STSM. When the time came to apply, I turned everything in early to avoid repeating my past mistakes. I remember telling myself that if I wanted to drop out of STSM, I could, but if I didn't apply I would not have the chance to do anything. Even though I decided to go, I still had thoughts of self-doubt and questioned if I should even go on a mission trip. I realized that I am not going on the mission trip because I am worthy, but because God is inviting me to do his kingdom work. With this in mind, I knew that God would use me in any way he wanted to. The entirety of training went by fast and before I knew it, I was in Nicaragua.

I was very nervous yet excited because I didn't know how to speak any Spanish, I didn't know what the kids would be like, or how many there would be. However, part of me was saying “Don’t worry about it, just do what you came here to do”, which was to serve God and love the people. The first two weeks were filled with VBS. Anytime I was tired I would look at the kids jumping up and down and get energized. Not only were the little kids following the moves, but even the older juniors were following the dance moves to children's VBS songs. This moved my heart and energized my body. There was one church plant that blessed me, it was called Los Trejos. The reason was because of Steven, who was a normal kid coming out to VBS. He wasn’t even serving in the church yet he helped me so much during my time at Los Trejos. The kids here were very rowdy and did not want to listen, and the craft we were doing required us to take pictures of the kids. I was trying to find the kids to give them their picture but I could not match the faces, and Steven just came up to me and offered help. I rejected at first because I was there to serve him, but he kept insisting. This made me realize just how kind-hearted the kids can be. They were not rowdy because they wanted to be rude, but they were just very excited to do crafts and have fun. During the whole craft time, Steven kept helping, by handing out stickers and tape and even helping the kids do their craft. After the craft was over I wanted to pray for him, I didn't have anything to offer besides a prayer. He took it seriously, and after the prayer, two girls came up and asked to be prayed over as well, and this made me feel so much love for the children. Even though I was speaking in English and they didn't understand what I was saying, they still wanted to be prayed over. It was a very heartwarming experience. This week was also the week where I was starting to be comfortable. At one of the church plants called Iglesia ClÍnica Espiritual, Missionary Kim noticed the team was less energized and not focused. She reminded us of why we came on this mission trip and wanted us to check our hearts. This was a wake-up call for me because I realized I was being very comfortable during the trip. I was being ungrateful for the food given. The food that the church members received was a very special meal, but I treated it like any other meal. I realized that I have a lot in this life, yet I fail to be grateful for it. This helped me to always keep my heart in check for the rest of the trip. 

Throughout the whole trip, I realized that God’s love was present everywhere. I felt God’s love through the children, parents, teachers, pastors, missionaries, and locals. The children would always come up and hug us. The church leaders would trust us very nicely when we visited them for homestays. Anywhere I went I could see how God was working with the people and just how much God loves the country of Nicaragua. On the last day of the trip, we were saying bye to the main church, Jesus Esperanza. Seeing all the leaders wave their hands bye to us filled my heart with so much love and compassion. On the plane ride back to America, I remember thinking that my mission work had not been done yet. With the love, I felt and the lessons I learned I realized God’s kingdom is working locally as much as it is globally. If I could sum up my trip in one word, I would describe it as beautiful. God’s beauty and majesty were shown through everything in Nicaragua, from the clouds to the people. The whole trip was just beautiful.