Magnify Him

As a social worker, I work with some of the poorest of the poor in Wake County. I see poverty everyday in our country. I have been to their homes, heard their stories and struggles and frustrations, cried with them, found resources for them, and loved them. I consider my job as a social worker one of the biggest blessings in my life. Before I became a social worker, I was clueless about poverty...that quite possibly the student sitting beside me in class in high school hadn't had a warm shower in a few days because their utilities had been cut off because his or her mom couldn't make ends meet at her job at Big Lots...even when working overtime....that even though my classmate's mom may have wanted to help with homework or get the supplies for a school project, she didn't have the time because she had to work too many hours to keep her family fed...because paying the bills and putting food on the table was more important than buying poster board and other supplies for the project (she couldn't afford to do both)....that this student might have had to get up hours before school even started because they were bussed across town to go to school even though there was another high school just seconds from their own home. Why is it that the kids they always seem to bus across town up to 30 minutes or more away from their homes are the ones that already have so little resources? Why do they make it even harder for these people...harder for the kids to stay after school for help sessions or basketball practice because they have no one that can drive across town to pick them up...harder for the parents to come for meetings and actually be involved? Being a school social worker has opened my eyes and even though I could NEVER fully understand their struggles, the Lord has humbled me and given me much greater compassion and understanding than if He hadn't blessed me with this job and these people.

All that to say, the Lord showed me a kind of poverty that I had never seen in our country while I was in Nicaragua. What I saw is unimaginable unless you go and see for yourself. MOST of those living in poverty in our country would be considered rich or at least middle class in Nicaragua. I have been to many poverty-stricken areas in Raleigh and Greenville, and I have not seen anything that even compares to what I saw in Nicaragua. And most of the country lives that way. Not like in our country that has plenty resources to help the poor. The resources there are slim to none. We traveled on a 5 hour bus ride from one orphanage to another, so I got to see areas from the beach to the mountains. Shack after shack after shack. Many still use outhouses. And those that do have toilets cannot even flush the toilet paper. The water is too dirty to drink. Homes without doors. No security and safety. Death and disease that could be prevented with the proper medical resources. Schools with no electricity, old run-down buildings with no textbooks. I heard stories about the corrupt government and the awful crime. Parents sending their children out to sell their bodies in order to make ends meet. Desperation. Feelings of fear and hopelessness. Keep in mind that most of the country lives in this deep, deep poverty.

But I saw so much thankfulness and humility in its children. They have so little, but they have no knowledge of anything different. The children from the community that came to Vacation Bible School were so attentive and even almost in awe of the songs, puppet skit, relay games and crafts. These are things that quite honestly many of the children I know...rich, poor, and middle-class...would have lost interest in after a few minutes and taken for granted. At VBS, the children were given T-shirts and given the opportunity to decorate them with markers. Many did not even want to write on them because they were so thankful to be receiving a brand new, clean t-shirt.

I saw orphans working harder than I have ever seen a child work in our country...planting crops, chopping weeds, planting flowers. They are disciplined, more disciplined than me. I saw the teen-age girls caring for their younger fellow orphans in such a sweet, nurturing, and mature way. The children I met in these orphanages are learning and living out Jesus' love. They are getting a second chance. And it began with one lady answering God's call to serve Him, the orphans, and this impoverished country. Beautiful Nicaragua.

Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together.--Psalm 34:3

I am not saying that every believer is called to do something like that. But I do believe that we are called to serve him and be a missionary whether it is in another country on our own with our daily lives. There is so much we can do, so much I can do, to share the priceless love of our Savior. The Lord reminded me of this in such a new and special way while in Nicaragua.

13for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
14How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"--Romans 10: 13-15

On another note, I have often heard people question missions in other countries because we have people in our own country that need help. While that is true, please realize that there are many countries in which the entire country needs help and many countries that have never heard the precious Name of Jesus. The opportunities for those living in America to hear about the love of Christ are endless with churches on just about every corner. God loves us ALL and wants us ALL to be His. He loves each human and each country the same, none more than the other. I very strongly encourage every believer to go on a mission trip to a country like Nicaragua or China or Nigeria....It will change you. It changed me. He changed me.

18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

--Matthew 28:18-20