Senior | UCI

In the past four years of being and serving in KCM, I can confidently say that going to STSM was the most important decision I made in KCM. It allowed me to experience a more abundant life with and for God. While training and preparing for STSM, I subconsciously believed that going to Nicaragua wasn’t going to be as difficult. I didn’t have much of a heart for the nation or expectations. This mindset would later be challenged by a series of humbling circumstances, many lessons, and an overflow of blessings. 

Lesson #1 : You are not meant to work/serve alone. The Church works as a body. 

“But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them as he chose.” 1 Corinthians 12:18 

Day #1 I scraped my knee, not healing until the last week of ministry. On day #3, I got body aches, headaches, and bad coughs. The second week, I started developing heat rashes that had never occurred before STSM. It seemed like there was always something wrong with my body for the first 2 weeks, and I was getting frustrated. However, through this experience I was blessed because I had a team that I could rely on. I learned that I am not the only one on the team and that depending on others is an important aspect of being part of the church. 

Lesson #2 : The Great Commission isn’t only about reciting the Gospel to a stranger. 

“Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” 1 John 3:18

“Isn’t Nicaragua a Catholic nation? Wouldn’t they have heard about Jesus and the Gospel in some way, shape, or form? Wouldn’t it be better to share the Gospel in a different nation?” were thoughts that I had before and on the trip. A reality I faced was that although Nicaragua may be more open to hearing about Christ than other nations, it is still very broken with issues regarding idolatry in Catholicism, corruption in government, and problems in families. Our team had the opportunity to spend time with a group of high school graduates for a few days. They graduated from a Christian academy, but many questioned their faith or did not have one at all. For people like me who could not speak much Spanish, it was difficult to converse with many of the students. However, the love of Christ speaks much louder than my own words. It was important that I die to my own fleshly desires in order to serve the students, living in a way where my actions would preach the Gospel. This doesn’t only apply on the mission field, but also to my circles back home.

Lesson #3 : A large part of missions is supporting the missionaries!

When it came to missions, my goal was this: to share the Gospel with as many people as I can in order to make the most out of this opportunity. While an aspect of that goal is good, I realized that many parts of that thought were selfish. I wasn’t the only one sharing the Gospel with people and I hadn’t considered supporting those who had a similar heart. I made it more about myself and how many people I can reach. In Nicaragua being with the missionaries helped me understand how important it is to support them in what they do. I had to grasp the reality that I was only going to be in Nicaragua for a month, while the missionaries will remain. I also had to realize the difficulties that the missionaries go through. After many years of serving in a foreign nation, discouragement and difficulty is inevitable. However, I had the privilege and opportunity to give myself as a resource of help and encouragement to the missionaries, which is not something they have all the time. Now that I understand the hardships of missionaries, I want to be an encouragement to the missionaries I know, keeping in contact and sharing life with them.

Lesson #4 : You don’t have to, you get to! So, rejoice!

“Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.” Habakkuk 3:17-18

I can hear my leader say to our team, “You don’t have to, you get to!” Hearing this phrase about a dozen times a day, it became a cliche and I thought I understood. However, this was tested when a teammate and I stayed at a church leader’s house. On the first night there, I had already begun to think “How much longer do I have here?” It was difficult to converse with the mother and son and there wasn’t much to do. However, I came across the passage above, being reminded to rejoice in the Lord, knowing that I had the privilege to be there. By the end of the trip, I came to realize that staying at the church leader’s house was one of the most blessed experiences I had in the entire trip. I had opportunities to converse with the mother and son, share my testimony, and learn from theirs. 

If I wrote down every lesson I learned from Nicaragua, I would need a few more pages. I thought that this mission experience was going to teach me one big, recurring theme. However, I ended up with a list of lessons and blessings that I can reflect on and apply back home. I believe I was blessed with many different lessons so I could experience God more in multiple areas of my life. The mission is not over and God still wants to reveal more about His work and will to me. I pray that I would continue to die to my desires so He would work through and in me. In the end, it was all His work and He let me go. I thank God for allowing me to see the work that He is doing in Nicaragua.