By C. Sampson
In just less than a month, I will be heading off to “La Tierra de Lagos
y Volcanes” Land of Lakes and Volcanos in
Central America, better known as Nicaragua.
For one week I will be serving as a missionary with Baptist Medical and
Dental Mission International’s (BMDMI) Hope For Nicaragua program in the town
of Rancho Grande in the central mountainous region of Matagalpa. The group I’m
going with consists of 50 or so other Christians from across the U.S. Of
course, the primary goal of the journey is to share the Word of God with the
people of the town. But, as James writes in chapter 2, verses 14-17 of his
letter “ What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has
faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a
brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and
one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving
them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So
also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” With that in mind,
we will be putting works with our words by providing free medical and dental
services to the people of Rancho Grande.
This is an exciting time for me having never been on such a trip (it’s
exciting for our church too as this will be our first foreign missionary
sending ). I am looking forward to experiencing a new culture, meeting some new
people, seeing healing and sharing the love and hope of God (plus I can
practice my slightly better than bad Spanish). I know that the Nicaraguans will
not be the only ones impacted by our visit. Each member of the team will be
stretched and challenged in ways that might not have happened otherwise,
including me. I am curious to see how this trip will expand my relationship
with God. What parts of His character will I gain more insight into? In what
ways will I see need for improvement? Will I be permanently changed after only
one short week?
If you’re a person who likes to live vicariously through others, is
curious about a short-term mission or Nicaragua, or simply has nothing better
to do than read blogs, come back and visit this site later in August and I’ll
have a follow up article about the trip. If you want more info about BMDMI or
Hope For Nicaragua, you can check out hope4nic.com for additional details and
links to related ministries they have. If you’re looking for a church in the
Denver metro area, we’d love for you to visit goldencommunity.org (ok, another
shameless plug).
Well, that’s all for now. ¡Nos vemos, pronto!
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