I was led to spend this past Christmas with the orphans and poorest of the poor in Nicaragua, again. I had no peace to just stay in my blessings at home. Thank you for supporting the Lord’s work in Nicaragua and entrusting me to go. 3 orphanages, 3-garbage dump “communities”, various neighborhoods, several churches, and a school throughout Managua, Leon, Matagalpa, & Bluefield’s jungle were visited, encouraged, & blessed. Everyone entered into the presence of the Lord in worship-where miracles happen and battles are won. After worship we prayed for those who wanted it. Miracles happened. Then we fed them and gave them gifts. Most important, we loved on those society has forgotten. We got to experience 1st hand the joy of the raw power of the Gospel in action. This was a different mission trip than last year’s Christmas with the orphans. Last year we had stayed at a hotel. We were able to cut costs considerably by staying at the orphanage this time. This meant no hot water…sometimes no water at all in the entire bathroom. We were told to brush our teeth with bottled water. No drainage in the shower sometimes meant standing in a puddle while showering. Then an assortment of bugs & spiders, sometimes no electricity, open air dormitory rooms full of old metal bunk beds, etc. If Jesus, the Lord of all Creation, King of Kings, was born in a manger, who are we to want a hotel room. He probably had a dirt floor like most of the people in Nicaragua. Surrounded by livestock (may have smelled,). But He came to give all access to Him. He is the same today. I was challenged by the scripture: Not I that lives, but Christ that lives in me. I can assure you that when you hold someone like an orphan or garbage dump resident in your arms, you are well aware of the Lord using your body, voice, & smile to let His love flow through you to them. (After all, it is written that we have this treasure in earthen vessels.) What an honor that the King of Kings would want to use our arms to hug & hold the forgotten & poorest of the poor. (Theirs is the kingdom of heaven- Matt 5). This trip gave me a different perspective on priorities. They have no TV’s, computers, cell phones, or other distractions. What they do have are these wonderful relationships. This was obvious. Their eyes look for signs of affection. You think you go to do a good work, and God ambushes you and does a good work in your own heart. You think you are bringing some kind of substance to the poorest of the poor, and God reveals the wealth they have in their heart. So they imparted to me and my life was enriched. Sometimes the biggest garbage dump is our own heart. So we had constant interaction with the orphans, they even traveled with us all over the country to help us. I heard the Lord tell me thank you for your love and I broke & cried. It was His love that saved a wretch like me. On Christmas the Holy Spirit wrecked me right after breakfast at the orphanage. I was undone in His presence, completely dismantled. This was His infilling to equip me for the week ahead, regardless of whatever conditions we were in and whatever food was put in front of me. We did a praise parade through the local community we call the “River of Joy” (We serenade them with songs from heaven, ask them if there is anything we can pray for them, give them gifts and love on them. We visit several homes and go inside to pray and bless the family when it is appropriate.) Then we came back to the orphanage and had a large fiesta style worship celebration with the orphans and locals. We have the traditional piñata loaded with candy. I gave out many wristlets of colorful ribbons for worship, which engaged idle people to join the party. We did lots of fun group dances with the kids and young at heart. We had an altar call for those who wanted prayer. Team members & I prayed for a guy with a broken leg and he said he felt healed. Various people that received prayer reported miracles. At the end of the evening we gave out presents to the kids. Children with nothing were given cuddly gifts and told that Jesus loves them. We served over 1000 meals that day alone. Happy Birthday Jesus!
One of the experiences that stood out to me was when we went to our first garbage dump. The place looked like the apocalypse. The whole dump looked gray from the smoke of natural combustion and ashes. Small fires popped up in various areas and columns of smoke were visible. The children were timid here, barefoot with dirty faces. Something that gets me every time is the sight of baby clothes hung on barb wire. You don’t need any clothes pins if you hang your laundry on barb wire. Even people that live in a garbage dump like clean clothes, like you & me. We did our usual praise parade through the dump, getting the attention of those that live there, attempting to engage them and loved on families and then prayed for them. I spent time with a 10 year old carrying an infant. Yellow gold Glory dust began to form on the infants scalp. The Lord of Glory was at the dump. (Psalm 113:7 He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump…) Some of the dump homes had been flooded out, and the people were moved to a shelter. We went to the refugee location for the flood victims and did a street outreach of food evangelism. The neighborhood was there. I had a captive audience of people on line for food, so I went down the entire line and prayed for each person in who let me. Almost everyone wants a touch from God. And God wants to touch every one. You get to be the conduit to pull the 2 together. (So who wants to go with me to Nicaragua?)
One morning we took an early am flight (on a couple of 12 seater planes) to the Atlantic Coastal city of Bluefield’s at the base of the jungle. We had an awesome time of worship in the airport. We took a bus to the Christian school/ orphanage compound where a local Pastor gave testimony of how they help the area children change lives out of things like drugs, prostitution, etc. It only costs $15.00 per month to sponsor a child through school and that includes lunch. We were served a wonderful lunch and toured the grounds. Then we headed for our 2nd garbage dump where the kids were aggressive. There were actual businesses throughout this dump. One person sharpened tools, someone was making and selling compost, a family made fresh enchiladas, and masonry was common. Children wearing boots were seen with long sticks with hooks on the end for picking garbage. We fed everyone and flew home back to Managua. We got back to the orphanage the same night very late. The orphanage had done our laundry (towels & lines) by surprise. . We had the school of the cross in the morning, then we went to the city of Leon for a service to encourage the local church there. The children were very easy to engage in worship, swept up in the joy of the Lord, and the adults followed soon afterward. The kids were rather aggressive to use the flags and be in the front. Many wristlets of colorful ribbons were given out again. Various team members gave testimonies of what the Lord had done in their lives. We prayed for everyone who wanted it. Miracles happened again. I team member was healed of deafness in 1 ear and baptized in the Holy Spirit at the same time. A lady who had suffered a stroke and was partially paralyzed was healed on the right side, her eye muscles freed up and as a result her husband was saved. Another team members’ ankle was healed the more she prayed for people-the more she got healed. The government of Nicaragua kicks the children out of the orphanages when they are 14 years old. This can be disastrous. Casa Betesda orphanage has a farm where they grow a great deal of produce. They have plans to build dormitories for the orphans to go to once they are 14 (if they want to). The dormitories have to pass inspection. The ministry has been working on building the first girls dorm and we had a service to dedicate the building. The service started with a wonderful time in worship. Then we had our school of the cross teaching with Georgian and Winnie. We toured the farm and marveled at all the tropical fruit trees (every citrus, noni fruit, banana, coconut, star fruit, etc). Then we prayed and dedicated the new girl’s dorm. We also took an offering to complete the structure to code and raised $12,000. I hung pink ribbons on the windows of the girl’s dorm. We also took an offering to purchase shoes for many of the orphans and young men involved with the orphanage. Then we went to the local neighborhood near the farm and did an outreach. We started with our joyful praise parade, ministered and prayed for those who were hungry for a touch from the Lord and then fed them. One of the local Pastors that were assisting us was a woman from the little mountain church (remember her from last year? Her tiny church with only 3 walls got seasoned pastors so full of the Holy Spirit that they couldn’t stand up ) Well, she was filled with so much of the Holy Spirit at this neighborhood outreach that she couldn’t stop laughing, and I had to hold her up from falling. This carried on for more than 30 minutes! No interpreter needed here! Just the pure joy of the presence of the Lord all over this lady. Talk about the riches of the Kingdom of God! We went back to our home orphanage at Managua and the kids gave testimonies that night. We wept. I could only video 3 of them, then I had to stop to hold & love on a couple of the kids. The stories were heart wrenching. That night we gave new shoes to the orphans. That is a very big thing for them. One day we went to a beautiful church for lunch/dinner in Matagalpa. They celebrated by setting off fireworks/rockets (la bambas). One of the Nicaraguan young men who had been acting as one of our security guards motioned to me he wanted to use my flags, so I gave them to him. Well, he danced so beautifully with the flags that he got the attention of 3 or 4 team members who actually videoed him. He was graceful/passionate/reverent, and just took our breath away. The men in Nicaragua have an anointing to dance with flags. I have much to learn from them. I know I left a huge chunk of my heart in Nicaragua. I would like to personally thank each person who made this trip possible. It would not have happened without your help. I hope this report was descriptive enough to give an idea of what it was like to spend Christmas with the orphans of Nicaragua. You can find a full journal of the entire trip at www.gods-glory.com. With much love, Joyce Serdinsky