Upended by Grace

Hola! It's Katy, or "Kaht-ee" as the women in Nicaragua call me! We have had such a fabulous day! We were all up and ready for our devotion at 6:40 and spent the morning laughing (as usual), crying (as usual), and preparing our hearts for our last day with the Nueva Imagen women. We talked this morning about how difficult it is to "understand" what these women have been through and how it is so hard to try and give them hope. Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full". We all have been trying to figure out how we communicate this concept with women who have been through so much and live in a place where "abundant life" seems so impossible. Jesus also said, "Everything is possible for him who believes." We have so much hope for these women... each one of us has been drawn to different women and they now have a permanent place in our hearts. We find ourselves talking about them like they are our friends..."did you hear what Candida said this morning about her daughter?"..."Ruth needs us to pray for her granddaughter, Helen"..."Xiomara's niece is a mess of messes!" However, at the same time we find ourselves cracking up about how we have totally messed up trying to say something to them in Spanish or trying to understand what they've said. You'd think 6 years of taking Spanish would have helped! Our interpreters have been troopers dealing with this group of sarcastic and wordy girls!
After a morning of sharing testimonies, we explained to them the concept of "The Cross". We brought a wooden cross and asked the women to think about something specific that might be holding them back (shame, guilt, fear...) from living a life of freedom in Christ. After asking the Lord for forgiveness, they could write down that "something" and pin it to the cross- leaving it there as a symbol that we are free of sin because Jesus died for all of us. We spent lots of time praying over all of these women. Although they think we were ministering to them, we all know they have ministered to us. wow. "And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us."Romans 5:5
After lots of hugs and kisses, we said our good-byes! We ate a yummy lunch and went on a bus tour of Managua! Kim and Lee Anne braved the "Canopy Tour" and zip-lined through the trees!

Zack, don't worry, I haven't packed any children in my bag... yet.

Love to all!