small part of a BIG picture

A few months ago, I had the opportunity to travel to Managua, Nicaragua on a mission trip. My husband and I were kind of added to the trip pretty late in the game, so it seemed a little chaotic at first. I knew God had big plans for us because he had worked it out for us to be able go. However, I was overwhelmed with so many other things going on around that time, that I had no idea what to even think or expect on this trip. I had very little time to prepare myself for what we were about to do.

After a few down-to-the-minute ordeals like trying to get a passport and it arriving 5 days before the trip, we were finally on our way! Of course, the week started out in complete chaos as well. Our first flight was delayed, and therefore, we missed our connecting flight in Atlanta by less than 5 minutes. Delta only has one flight per day to Nicaragua, so we were stuck there for 24 hours. When we finally arrived in Managua, the chaos certainly did not end. Intense storms caused power outages, I got peed on by a 5-year old, we got locked out of our room & had to break open the door, dogs and chickens were fighting in front of the stage during a church service… I mean everything that could have gone wrong pretty much went wrong. But, we were not about to let that stop us! God used all of those things to make our trip unique, and still allowed our team to do amazing things there.

What I really wanted to share from our trip is about an opportunity I had to council a young teenager. Another leader and I got to listen to several girls open up and share really difficult, broken stories of abuse, neglect, sexual impurity, and oh, so much more. My heart was already so broken by the time Ismalla came up to us. She was very embarrassed and had to giggle to keep herself from crying (at least that’s what our translator told us!). She revealed that she had just found out she was pregnant and assumed she was close to 2 months along. Her boyfriend was 18 and unaware of her situation. She was terrified to tell him and even more terrified to tell her mother. She had only told a couple of her close friends– unfortunately the wrong ones. I almost lost it when she told us that they wanted her to have an abortion. She was considering it, but she just didn’t know how or what to do or who to talk to.

As she continued to pour out her story, I silently prayed that God would give me the strength to hold it together and wisdom to point her towards His grace. (I have to interrupt her to say that I was absolutely petrified and knew that I was not qualified for this kind of thing. I knew I needed Jesus to speak through me because there is no way on this earth I could have handled that on my own. It was way too close to home for me given the fact that I had found out literally 3 weeks before that I had lost my second baby.) To this day, I still remember how completely overwhelmed I was as she poured out her heart. I was stricken with fear, disbelief, pain, hope, humility, and probably more emotions than I could put into words.

I don’t know the exact words that were said or the prayer that we prayed, but I know the Lord worked in her heart. Through His grace, we were able to convince her to keep her baby. We encouraged her and gave her some advice on informing her mom and boyfriend. We prayed over her, loved on her, and even bought her some prenatal vitamins. I told her that if she ever changed her mind or if she wasn’t able to provide for the child, that I would adopt that baby in a heartbeat and love it as my own.

I think about Ismalla all the time. I pray often that she is in the middle of a healthy pregnancy and is able to get the medical help she needs. I pray that her boyfriend is still in the picture and being supportive. I pray and look forward to the time when I get to go back and visit Ismalla and hold her baby in my arms. And I thank God daily that he put me in that situation. Despite how incredibly difficult it was, I know it happened for a reason. I know I will see her again one day, and I can only hope that she will have that baby with her.

I do not share this story for praise or to “toot my own horn.” In fact, it’s just the opposite. I share this to point out just one of the many ways God works so powerfully and carefully to use each and every situation for His own glory. I am more than honored and humbled to be just a very small part of how He can change lives. Regardless of how difficult this season is, I am thankful and confident that He is using it in ways that even I may not be aware of.

***UPDATE*** Our church sent another group to Nicaragua a couple months ago, and my friend Kaylie was able to find and talk to Ismalla. She ended up keeping her baby girl (Praise God!!) and both were doing well. I wasn’t able to attend the trip, but I did get the opportunity to send a care package and write her a letter to encourage her and also share my good news about the triplets. She was very grateful, but I feel that I am even more blessed just knowing that her little girl has the chance at life. God is so powerful, and I’m so glad I didn’t shy away from the opportunity to share his love with her.