Buenas tardes friends!
As I mentioned in my last blog, I just went to the coastal town of Masachapa where a fight promoter and friend of mine has a hotel. I am still on Easter vacation, so two of my training buddies and I went there to work out and relax by the sea. We slept outside in hammocks beneath the cloud covered stars beside the incoming waves. It was a pretty eventful trip including a trip through a resort in search of a place to eat, a broken window, and a boxing match with a burrito vendor on the beach early this morning. He fed me fists, and all I wanted was shredded beef wrapped in a tortilla. There were a lot of small lessons and funny side stories to tell, but more importantly there is a testimony to give. Seasoning gives good flavoring but provides no sustenance. This is a meat and potatoes meal.
At about ten o'clock last night my friends and I finally found our way back to the hotel. Earlier that day another guest at the hotel approached me asking if I was "the missionary". He had seen me sparring with my friends on the beach and joined the crowd that gathered to watch us duke it out. I told him that I was who he was looking for. He said he wanted to talk to me when I had time because he was interested in my mission. I told him I would love to. When we got back, he was waiting at the gate.
I figured he might be a potential sponsor and wanted to know more about the projects I am working on here in Nicaragua. The conversation went in a very different direction. He asked me about why I was in Nicaragua, how I ended up in the ministry, what got me started in martial arts, and a few other questions. after explaining the basics, he started to open up. He said that he was going back and forth between whether or not he should believe in God. He is an older retiree, who came down from the States to live here to escape the pressures and the pains of his past along with a drug addiction. He explained all of the successes he had, the land he owns, and his list of achievements. Yet he said there was something missing. He had trouble in developing relationships and felt that he had no purpose. He thought that by selling everything and changing scenery that he would escape his problems. You can take yourself of a house, a city, or even out of your own country, but the internal problems you face will stick with you wherever you go if you don't let them heal.
We talked for four hours until about 2 a.m. as the tide was getting higher. He opened up about the traumas of his past. He seemed to be fighting the possibility of good coming out of his life.
I on the other hand am aggressively optimistic. We seemed to be debating whether or not he could do something positive for others and if God could do something positive for him. I could see his desire to do what was right. The question was how to communicate it in a way that would click with him. There was one instant that I think sums the conversation up very well.
He said, "I was raised understanding that your past makes you who you are."
I replied, "Your present is what makes you who you will be."
On that thought he went to the bathroom. As he was away I had to pray to thank God for the opportunity to speak into his life and to be the listening ear he needed. He came back, and we prayed. He grabbed me by the forearm, shaking and crying as we prayed. When I finished, he said one himself. He said with a smile that he felt lighter afterwards. He even found the next steps about how he could serve the people of the community. He wants to teach people there how to make furniture to sell from driftwood. A great idea especially for a community with 80% unemployment and a lot of driftwood!
Ironically, it has been me who has felt a little lost this week, but God always amazes me in how He shows His presence in my life! Where can I run from His presence? I am truly thankful for this man. He reminded me of God's purpose in my own life.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. Submit to him in every way, and he will make your paths straight." -Proverbs 3:5-6
"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." -Psalm 119:105
Que Deus te abençoe!
Seth
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