X-Rays and Sad Goodbyes

Nicaragua – Last Day

September 27, 2017

X-Rays and Sad Goodbyes

Our trip has come to an end. Another success, the team all stayed safe, no one got sick, everyone had a true “Nica” experience. Goodbye's are always hard, but they are also full of promise. That statement may not make a lot of sense on its surface, but it does if you dig a bit deeper.

So, let me explain. Coming to Nicaragua is what you could call a “total body experience.” It is physically uncomfortable. The heat is often oppressive. The showers are more like trickles of cold water. You can't even flush toilet paper down the comode. Yet, the food is out of this world, the fruit alone will leave you wanting to return here even if just to taste what a ripe banana is supposed to taste like, and the coffee, oh, the coffee is so amazing that words can't describe it. While the discomfort is obviously discomforting, it is not a negative thing. It makes you stronger, it makes you heartier, it makes you more human.

More than the physical aspects of the trip, the experience is emotionally exhausting. Everyone in the US has seen commercials on tv of starving children. Those commercials are heart-wrenching. But actually seeing that type of poverty face to face can haunt you. It makes you much more aware of just how lucky you are. It also gives many people a passion to work to help correct the ills that humanity has created. Working with a team in a place like this creates an emotional bond that can't be broken. The experience is a collective one, and it changes you, inside and out. I had done some traveling before arriving for the first time in Nicaragua. I got here just a few months after the devastation of Hurricane Mitch and that experience changed me. It made me a better person, at least I believe it did. It left me with a passion to help others heal when their lives are touched by disaster. Whether that be the disaster of natural origin like a hurricane or earthquake, or a disaster of human origin, be it the effects of war, the brutality of poverty, or even the disaster of a broken heart that leaves everything in its wake. I almost certainly would not have ended up in ministry had it not been for Hurricane Mitch. An event almost 20 years ago is what made me, and it is what has made the city of Nueva Vida that still suffers from its effects. It is what made the thousands of families who call it home. It is what made my desire to help those in my church and elsewhere aware of this reality and through that, hopefully to ignite a passion within them selves to listen for God calling them and pursuing that, wherever it may lead.

It is true that not everyone who comes here will come back. But it is also true that everyone who comes here will never truly leave here. You carry it with you. It becomes part of who you are and part of who you are becoming. That is how God works. God invades us. God invades us in wonderful ways. Like when get married, or when we become parents, or when we achieve a great milestone. But, God also invades us in experiences like this mission. God grabs our hearts when we are here, and when God grabs someone's heart, God never lets it go. That is maybe the best gift.

Please don't think I simply am talking about God grabbing a heart as a euphemism for salvation, because that is not what I mean. Rather, what I am speaking about is that when God grabs a heart, a change is created in the deepest part of that person's identity. A change that cannot be undone. A new person has been created, with parts of the old and parts of the new. There is no going back. There is no holding on to what was, because what is now is so much more awesome. When God grabs your heart, God is saying, “I know you see me know, I know you feel me know, I know you need me now.”

There is no better feeling in the world. There is also no worse feeling in the world, because from that point on, it is no longer about you. Everything takes on a different shade, a different reason, a different constitution, everything takes on more meaning! That is what God does when God grabs your heart and won't let go. That is what happens when you come to Nicaragua. You go back home, but you never truly leave here. You will carry it with you and you will remember it for the rest of your life. The decisions that you make day in and day out take on a different quality and direction. Sometimes in small ways that you don't initially notice, but they are there.

This week, this amazing team has helped a lot of people, many of whom they may never meet. They have made it easier for kids who have broken arms and legs to get an x-ray without having to leave their town and go to a big hospital in the capital. They have made it easier for doctors to catch a life-threatening illness before it becomes too late. They have made the lives of the people in this community that much better. They take that accomplishment with them, and they should celebrate that they were and are part of it. They also did what the world tries to tell us is impossible. They worked side by side with three guys who speak no English and they got things done, enjoyed doing it and even laughed with each other. They formed a connection that will be with them forever. Where politics and economics and social status divide, these six wonderful people during the past six days said through their actions that we no longer see those division as insurmountable. They can say this because they experienced it in a profound and life-altering way. I thank them for their ability to open themselves up to the opportunity to serve and I know that as we return home they will continue to serve in countless ways. Today they should be proud, because I couldn't be prouder of them and while I am thankful to call them my parishioners, I am even more honored to call them my friends.

To the staff at the JHC, thank you for everything. Mike and Kathleen and Becca, we missed you this time, but we thank you for all you have done over the years and we are proud to know you. Pat and Kathy, we don't always get to see you that much, but you are angels behind the scenes and we are blessed to know you. Sarah, we were so happy to spend time with you this week, and I am so glad to see you after such a long time. You are amazing and we thank you for literally everything. I look forward to seeing you in Harrisburg in the spring and for you to meet our families. I have told my wife and kids so much about you and they will be thrilled to finally meet you. All of our families look forward to your visit. Autumn, I have enjoyed all the Volunteer Coordinator's that I have had the privilege of meeting here in Nicaragua, but you are the best. Thoughtful and kind, keeping everything running smoothly which is no easy task. We enjoyed your company and your passion. Good luck for the rest of your stay here. I look forward to seeing you again at Bucknell or Harrisburg, or wherever it may be. Just please, when you go to the Eskimo restaurant, please watch where you are walking! Carolyn, you are an amazing person with an absolutely infectious smile. It was wonderful to meet you, to spend time talking in the Ambulancia and during the trips to the Laguna de Apoyo, Masaya and through Managua. You have a passion for what you do and we all can see that. Plus your English and your Spanish are much better than you give yourself credit for. May the rest of your stay here in Nicaragua be blessed, and please know that we have been blessed to have met you. On a personal note, I do hope that at some point in the future we can meet up and drink some Mate and each some Dulce de Leche together. It was wonderful to talk to someone who loves Latin America as much as I do and who had spent time in Argentina, the other country I love; I don't get to do that very much at all.

Finally, I have a message to the entire staff at the JHC. The work you do is important, more important than words can explain. I know you get lots of groups over the years, that you have met countless people. I couldn't have been easy to have so many people living in your home for a week or more at a time, but you did that and never once made anyone feel unwelcome. You built an extra building just to make the groups of volunteers more comfortable. At the same time, you have done the impossible. For decades you have put the well-being of Nicaraguans above your own and have worked tirelessly to help all of them. We thank you for all those things. I know you must get thanked a lot, but I want to thank you for something that maybe gets glossed over. You have had a huge impact in Nicaragua, but you have had an equally huge impact in the lives of all of us. If I had never come down here right after the hurricane, I doubt I ever would have found my love of ministry. You inspired me to look at my own life and ask myself what more I could be doing for others. I know that countless others feel the same. You have made hundreds of people aware of what life is like if you live in poverty. You have guided many, many students to think long and hard about the reality of poverty, of underdevelopment, and of the history of Nicaragua and its relationship with the US. And you have inspired so many others to help in Nicaragua and throughout the world. You have made life better for Nicaraguans as well as making life better for every member of every delegation that have come here. For all of that I thank you. May your work continue to be blessed.