Hope for a New Day

This has been an emotional ride like I have never known. There is so much to love about the country of Nicaragua-it's beautiful and the people are great. The fact of the matter is, however, there has not been a stable government here in recent history. Most coups tend to take over and then plunder the country for every speck of hope that is left. The average monthly income is between $125 and $150. When you go to the mall, the prices are only slightly lower than American prices. Do the math. The malls are still open, which means somebody is buying, but at $150 US dollars, it's not the average Nicaraguan. The government is the same. The officials are the ones with all the money.

Enough said about that. Today, we started out at a hospital for children with cancer. It was so powerful to pray for these kids and watch the Father fill them up with hope. It was moving to see the mothers with tears in their eyes looking at their children and realizing that there really is hope in sorrow. The hospital is a terrible place. There is no doubt that the staff does all it can for the kids, but it's a socialized system and they have NO supplies. While we were there, we saw a young boy who had fallen out off a tree and had massive head injuries. He didn't have cancer, but they don't have a head trauma facility. His system was shutting down and he needed an enema, but the doctor said there are no enemas at the hospital. In fact, they have very few supplies at all. We bought the enema from a pharmacy for this boy. Not to get political here, but this is what you get when you have national health care. No government can run it efficiently and free of corruption. The result is understaffed, under skilled, under equipped, overworked health care systems and children die in the fallout.

This afternoon was one of the most incredible times I've had here. We went to an orphanage that has around 30 kids. I wanted to take every one of them home.. They were so full of life and joy and love. Just another time when I was blessed by the ones I thought I was going to help. After playing all afternoon, we had some worship time with them. As we were about to leave, the kids all gathered up and began to thank us and prophesy over us. It was incredibly moving and sweet. I can never get enough of those hugs.

This country is a paradox. On one corner is the specter of human trafficking. Across the street miracles are taking place and hope is being born. I'm going to leave a huge part of my heart here when I leave.

Please take the time to check out http://www.saviorstear.com. This is an incredible ministry here and is run by some fantastic, Godly people.