A Voice Behind You

In 1992 God gave me a passion, but I didn't realize that's what it was until about 13 years later when my husband and I began leading a cell group. We were studying The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren and were almost finished with the book when we got to the chapter on sharing your life's message. Warren introduced the idea of a godly passion and said that whatever your passion is, you will "feel compelled to speak up about it and do what you can to make a difference." He added that you won't be able to keep yourself from talking about it. And there it was! I realized that I had a passion, and it was Nicaragua!

In 1992 I made my first mission trip to that Central American country, and thanks to God's gift of time, finances, and good health, I've gone back every summer since then, and when I'm home, I can't stop talking about it. The team I travel with has undergone a series of gradual changes until this year when my home church became the base of the team and my pastor the captain. We are a medical-dental team with Baptist Medical Dental Mission International (http://www.bmdmi.org/), and my job on the team is to head the hygiene department. I am responsible for obtaining hygiene items and gifts for everyone who comes to our clinic. This summer in La Gateada, Nicaragua, we saw over 4,000 people so I had to collect bars of soap, washcloths, toothbrushes, combs, ball caps, flipflops, tote bags, toys, children's clothing and on and on for over 4,000 people. We shipped 472 boxes of hygiene supplies plus another 300 boxes of medical, dental, and kitchen supplies. Between collecting all the hygiene supplies and raising my own money, I spend at least part of every day doing something for the trip.

The purpose of this blog is to share what I'm doing and what our team needs, but most of all it is to share the glory of an awe-inspiring holy God who provides more than we can ask or imagine and who teaches us things that are almost incomprehensible. God has no need of our help in saving the people of Nicaragua. He can save them, heal them, and provide for them absolutely and completely on His own, but He gives us the privilege and honor of serving Him through loving them. Please pray for our team. We plan to go back to Nicaragua again next July, and we are already collecting and packing our supplies. My church is Crossroads Fellowship in Bixby, Oklahoma, and our pastor/team captain is Larry DeLay.

One other thing--the title of this blog is A Voice Behind You. It comes from Isaiah 30:21: "...your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying 'This is the way; walk in it.'" I've come to rely on that voice both in preparing for the trip and while I'm in Nicaragua, and I'll share some experiences when that voice led us directly into the glory of God.