Hey, y’all. Thank you for subscribing to my blog and for checking in! The past few weeks have been awesome.

I left for training camp in Gainesville, Georgia on August 27th. Camp was a sweet time of listening to sermons, walking through scenarios we could encounter on the field, and building community with the other members of my squad. On August 31st, my squad left the States for Nicaragua. We landed in Managua and were shuttled from there to Granada.

The ministry that our squad is working with is called REAP Granada. Instead of specializing in one type of ministry, REAP seeks to love and serve the community of Granada by meeting its physical, relational, and spiritual needs. The broad nature of this mission has allowed my squad and I to minister to the community in a variety of ways. 

Here in Granada, there is a local dump that provides work for the community of people that seek it. By salvaging materials to be sold, these individuals are able to make the money necessary to provide for themselves and their families. I have had the privilege of serving lunch to this community a few days each week and—on one occasion—to  preach a short message with our squad leader, Sam. 

Prayer walking has been another staple of our time here. This has consisted of walking through rural Granada to pray for people, deliver food to those that need it, and to tell people about Jesus.

On our first day of prayer walking, we stopped at a couple’s house. After listening to us speak, the husband—an older gentleman who had some trouble walking—expressed his hesitancy towards pursuing the Lord. He feared that his struggle with alcoholism would discount him from having a relationship with God. 

I resonate with this man’s fear. I have made countless mistakes in my life. I’ve hurt people with my words, my actions, my immaturity, and my ignorance. How could God want anything to do with me? 

??Matthew? ?9:10-13?: While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

The whole point of Jesus living the perfect life that we couldn’t live, dying the death that we deserve, and being raised back to life was so that it would be possible for anyone who calls on the name of Jesus to be saved. This invitation—for salvation and relationship with a God that loves us deeply—is open to ANYONE. Not some people, or just people that are “good.” Anyone. Jesus loves you and He wants a relationship with you. 

I am grateful to be reminded of this truth today. My love goes out to anyone reading this. Cheers from Granada!