Nicaragua is simply a beautiful country. Lying on the 13th degree latitude, the flora and fauna reminded me of Hawaii. We travelled a few hours up from the valley, where the huge city of Managua lies, up to the base of the rainforest where we met the cooler temperatures and tall canopy of trees that dripped with Spanish moss. Our purpose is not to sightsee, but to minister to the most basic needs of the people there. Too poor to afford doctor visits and medication, we came to them bearing the blessing of both because of the kind generosity of our supporters back home. Our church donated the vitamins, the pain relievers, and the money to buy all the prescriptions. The most precious donation being the doctors and nurses themselves, who donated their vacation time to fly down and treat these remote and needy, precious people. We drove from the town of Matagalpa two hours each way some days, where we met just 7 or 8 trucks passing us by. The mountains and the valleys are all covered in the brightest green covering—crops of corn, banana, coffee, and squash, all planted along the steep hillsides. Some of the views reminded me of Shangri-La. So lush, so fertile, the huge trees with vines and orchids growing on their very trunks. I didn’t have the same wonder when I looked at the “homes” of the Nicaraguans. The nice ones had cement or brick walls with that wavy metal for roofs. The poorer ones were just makeshift shanties, pieces of wood barely holding together, with the same kind of covering over their heads. This was the rainforest, where it rained every day we roamed the countryside. Dirt floors meant mud everywhere. It was such a paradox of beauty and poverty. Splendor and squalor. Magnificent creation to soak into your soul, yet mass privation that grieved me to the core. After spending many hours in the hot and humid buildings, where we set up our jungle medicine clinic, I found I had to just go outside and stare at God’s creation. The butterflies, birds, and territorial views were enough to renew my energy to keep looking into each of their hurting faces. Such a paradox of suffering and loveliness.
My responsibility along with Katia was to pray for the patients after they had seen the doctors. There was a family of 3 women who eagerly came to us for prayer. They consisted of a 75-year-old grandmother, a 30-year-old daughter and a 6-year-old granddaughter. Right away we noticed something very special about them. They had such a genuine, tender affection for one another. The young, beautiful mother sat her own daughter gently on her lap, while she kept her hand on her mother’s knee at all times, affectionately patting it and keeping her close. They all had radiant, glowing faces, bright brown eyes, and such an enthusiasm to hear every word Katia and I shared. Early on, we noticed the mother closed her eyes a lot, yet her mouth was always smiling. Rommel, our Nicaraguan dentist, came over after a short time and explained to us that the grandmother was deaf, but she could read lips. Katia then talked slowly and articulately enough so the grandmother could understand every word she said. She shared how the Lord loved them so much and asked how we could pray for them. The young mom wanted prayer for her own daughter to know the Lord, as both her and the grandmother were believers. Whenever Katia mentioned the Lord, the grandmother would grin widely and hold up her fingers pointing upward to Heaven. Katia asked the young mom how long the grandmother had been deaf, thinking she might have been born that way. The daughter went on to explain that her father had taken his machete and hit the back of her mother’s head, severing her nerves, and consequently she had lost her hearing. Discovering this tragic pain, Katia and I, at the exact same time, looked at each other with tears in our eyes. We couldn’t even talk as we were so choked up. It was their love that left us speechless, not their past tragedy. We had a glimpse into a piece of Heaven on earth, where the Lord met these women in their pain and brought a bliss I’ve rarely seen. It was a sight of perfect happiness in God’s love. We were sitting in the presence of royalty and we both knew it.
Such a paradox of suffering and loveliness. Our God is in it all.
The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell
