from Sasha

So, I’ve waited so long to blog that I don’t even know where to start. Here’s one of many stories of how God has been changing my thinking this week.

The first full day here, Sunday, we went to the beach with the orphan kids from next door. Right away I met a girl named Santa. She’s 14 and acted as my tour guide for the day, staying right at my side. The beach was AMAZING and we all went in, dressed fully in our clothes. Santa and I walked along the beach and I learned more about her story. We talked about all kinds of things, first little fun stuff, like what we like to do for fun and then moving towards the more serious, our families, our walks with God, and the future. I was really curious what the future looks like for a 14-year-old orphan in Puerto Cabezas. She has big dreams and wants to be a missionary. I pray that those dreams for her will come true and God will provide the resources. She doesn’t want to get married and is afraid to because of the divorce and abandonment she’s seen here. Most of the girls her age that I know in Oregon want to be mothers and wives foremost and it was sad to hear Santa tell me about the abuse and pain she’s seen from men upon women in her community. She wants to adopt children, but no men involved. I tried to tell her about the importance of a godly man who sacrifices for his wife and the picture of marriage as Christ and the Church, but she just said, “Some, but not all. I won’t risk it.”

Santa and I have gotten to know each other pretty well and have spent most evenings together. She asked me one day if I was ready for Jesus to come back and I felt so convicted by my lack of a “heaven mindset.” Santa is SO ready for heaven. Her hope is FULLY in heaven and God’s restoration there. I feel like I have seen with my eyes and experienced what Jesus meant when he said that it was harder for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. I have so many options of things to give my life to: my job, my stuff, money, an obsession with the Bachelorette, shoes, my reputation and the list goes on and on and on. But Santa is invested in her ONE hope.

 Santa asked me what my favorite Bible story was so I got a hold of one of our Spanish-English Bibles and shared it with her. My favorite is the woman at the well, and we read it together in Spanish and then talked about it and why I like it so much. Then she showed me her favorite verse: Revelations 21. We read it together in Spanish and English and cried through the whole thing. Here’s a taste of it for you: “’He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!”’ -Revelations 21:4-5a

How can I live for things here when this is what’s next? My time with Santa has made me ready for heaven. We both agreed this was our favorite verse of the whole thing as it carries the best promise for us. As I think about leaving here and leaving her, and all the people I’ve met here, I look more forward to that day when Christ comes down and makes everything new. At that time it will be all joy and there will be no language barrier between us. As I see and experience the pain and sadness that Santa has, more than I could ever imagine before coming here, I can’t help but pray “Come, Jesus, come.”

There are so many more stories, but others waiting for the computer, so this will have to be it. You’ll have to ask for more stories and details when you see me. J

Sasha