Nicaragua: Katelyn's Perspective
Wow, where to start. I have felt the pull to go on a mission trip for a few years but haven’t been sure where to start, where to go, or really where I could even be useful. When Briana asked me to go on a couple Christian Veterinary Missions trips, I was
excited about them but my schedule never quite lined up where I could go. So, when she told me about a small group going on a pilot trip to Nicaragua it just felt right and I decided I was going no matter what. God’s timing is always perfect, and it was an amazing pilot trip. I will be doing everything in my power to go back every year with the group. This was definitely where we were supposed to be.
The trip started off a little less than ideal. We had to be at the airport at 3:30am (thank you Billy for driving us!) so we started out being exhausted after working and packing all week. After checking in, we realized that the seats we requested during booking had changed and we were no longer sitting near each other from Miami to Managua – which ended up being a huge blessing. I ended up beside a guy who has lived in Miami most of his life but was born in Nicaragua and lived there until he was 8, then went back and stayed in Nicaragua for a few years as an adult well. Our plane got delayed on the runway to check something and then we lost our pilots and had to get new pilots…so for the extra almost 3 hours sitting on the runway plus the almost 3 hours in the air, I had a wonderful talk with Rodimiro. I learned some new words, tips, tricks, landmarks, history, and what fruit was in season right now. Honestly such a blessing, he was a God send as well! Then once we got there 3 hours late, we were stressed going through customs. We have said several times God definitely put blinders on those x-ray machines because we should never have made it in the country with all the vet supplies we brought!
Then we had a ride waiting for us to take us 4 hours from the airport to where we were staying. So, we hop in the car with Carlos, who speaks no English, and off we go. This was definitely my biggest anxiety moment, not because of hopping in a car with a stranger we can’t talk to, but because I get motion sick so bad and the front seat was not an option. So, I’m frantically digging for my Dramamine and praying it works really quick. It was fine but I slept most of the drive and missed a good bit of the sights. What I did see though was so interesting – horse drawn carts, fruit stands, people sleeping on the backs of trucks, so many motorbikes, stop signs are just a suggestion, everyone beeps at everything (but it’s usually just letting you know they’re passing), seeing the trucks that cattle are hauled in – just a very vibrant and interesting city. So, it gets dark and I’m asleep for most of it. Well, apparently our driver is tired too because he pulls in a gas station (but on the side, not at a pump), says “un momento”, hops out and is exchanging something with another guy towards the back of the car.
Immediately Bri is checking to make sure our satellite location is on and Ginger is texting Matt to let him know where we are and I’m just trying to keep my eyes open. Then a younger guy hops in the driver seat and says “Hey, I’m Carlos” and we are all three side eyeing each other trying to figure out if this is okay or if maybe we’ve just been kidnapped. Ginger asks how long until we get to Meg’s and his answer is “si” to which we’re all really internally freaking out now. But a few minutess later he follows that up with 40 minutes from here and shows us that google maps has us going to the right place. It also turns out he speaks pretty good English, so we were able to talk with him much easier. It all ended up being completely fine but we are all definitely working on our Spanish way more for next year!
Nicaragua – let me start with the people. They are absolutely precious and we can learn so much from them. Their houses may not be fancy, they may not have all the modern-day conveniences that we take for granted, and they may not have a lot of material things…but they absolutely have the biggest hearts. They work as a community, they care for each other, they are kind, gracious, self-less, hard-working people. When asked what we could pray for with them, it was never about themselves but for their family. They were so thankful to be handed a Bible. They would hug that Bible like a precious gift, but then when asked if they could read most of them couldn’t, or at least not well. They were just so happy to have the Word of God in their hands regardless.
So, when that was followed up with a rechargeable mp3 audio Bible they would cry and hug you and thank you over and over. It is so powerful to see how much people crave the Word of God, especially when we take that for granted every day.
These people also take church seriously. We were able to go to church Tuesday evening with Matt and his family for them to present Norman (their newborn) to the priest. Everyone was dressed in their Sunday best – women in dresses with their hair covered, men in long sleeve collared button up shirts tucked into slacks. Most churches I see in the US are very comfortable and relaxed in their attire, and while there’s nothing wrong with that, it is wonderful to see how seriously the Nicaraguans present themselves, especially in church. I was taught that you always give God your best, so you always show up to church looking your best as a sign of respect – and this was a very good reminder of that for me. I don’t know much of what was during the 3-hour service, but you could absolutely feel God moving. Lots of praying, lots of singing, lots of preaching - we were able to catch some of it on google translate! The music was great – of course the drummer was my favorite! He played beautifully but towards the end during the alter call (in which every single person went to the front of the room to be prayed over – goosebumps!) there was a new voice and I look over to see the drummer holding a microphone in his left hand and singing better than anyone else had, while never missing a beat with his right hand and playing some pretty difficult rhythms! We were also called to the front and prayed over, and again, not sure what was said but you could just feel God moving.
The kids were my favorite. They were so well behaved, but when you broke out a soccer ball, beads, or any of the arts and crafts they got so excited! They loved having your attention, loved getting to play soccer with you, loved getting to make bracelets and necklaces for you and for their friends and family. And they just wanted to love all over you and they love freely and openly. Again, another reminder that we are called to be like little children – open and loving and innocent.
What is our bridge to connect with these people? Their animals. We were able to spay/neuter almost 50 dogs and cats in 3 days. We also got to help several sick dogs and cats, treated a few wounds on horses, gave vaccines, got to do a physical exam on a foal (my favorite!) And we got to play with two baby opossums and a spider monkey!!
The locals we were able to collaborate with were all nothing short of God sent and just phenomenal people!
Matt is who facilitated all of this and who owns the animal rescue. Him and his helper, Javier, are amazing with the dogs. There are 30-40 dogs at his rescue and they are mostly all out together, so to see how calm and efficient they are handling all these dogs at once and being able to prevent/stop dog fights is pretty wild! Matt definitely has a passion for the dogs and the people in the community. It’s been great to watch Matt’s faith grow this week and to see him excited about continuing to reach people through the great work he’s already doing.
Angel was our translator and we have already requested him for every year forever and ever. He has the biggest heart and it’s so fun to watch him interact with the community. As soon as you meet him, he makes you feel like family and he’s like that with everyone he meets. Even driving down the road he’ll be yelling at everyone we pass to say hello. He had no idea what he was getting into this week, he just knew he was translating – so when he showed up the first morning and we had him sit down for our devotional before we started the day and prayed for everyone he was so happy and was telling about his morning and how that was just what he needed.
If you need a picture of what joy from God looks like – he would be a perfect example. Always happy – true, deep, contagious, joy from God happy; never afraid to laugh at himself, quick to make others laugh, and always ready to jump in and help however he can, and such a hard worker as well. I also loved learning some Spanish from him. If you ever go to Nicaragua and need classes he teaches both English and Spanish, as well as how to surf and has rentals, so go check him out!
Torii does a lot of the social media for the rescue, and she is such a joy to work with. She is quick to jump in and do anything that needs to be done – recovering dogs after surgery, picking up local people and their dogs to give them a ride, pulling ticks, cutting nails, cleaning up, playing with the kids, bringing snacks, literally anything and everything and she does it all with a smile. She was so much fun to hang out with, and I can’t wait to do it again next year!
We had the pleasure of working with a local vet, Lester, who was absolutely amazing and we are looking forward to working with him and his team again in the future! It was pretty cool to watch Bri and Ginger (who I think are both phenomenal) both be amazed at how quick Lester was at surgery as well as some of his techniques and their eagerness to learn from him as well.
Meg or “Margarita” was our host. She was gracious to give us a place to sleep and had food ready for breakfast and dinner every day. Her whole crew was wonderful. It was awesome to watch how she interacted with the local community and see how much trust she’s built with them. She has a big heart for the people and her passion is to use her nursing background to offer affordable health care to them.
Meg’s house was pretty cool too – I feel like it deserves its own paragraph. We were blessed that she had running water and that we were able to shower every night. The frogs in the bathroom every night were probably my favorite! Bri caught one for me the last night and its body was almost the size of my palm.
There are geckos everywhere – the two in the kitchen especially loved to sing in the evenings. The one that really caught me off guard the first time was when Bri and I had a bat fly by in front of us in the dark. Apparently, these fruit bats lived in the ceiling above Ginger’s bedroom and patrolled the kitchen every night – totally normal there! My favorite was being able to go out to the hammocks and listening to the ocean in the mornings before anyone was up. That was also the perfect spot for our morning devotionals. We did get to go play in the ocean and watch the sunset one evening. It was spectacular – a gorgeous sunset and the water was amazing (pretty much the only time we weren’t sweating this week). There is no air conditioning. The fans are a life saver, but when it rains the power goes out, in this case for 12+ hours two nights in a row. We are so spoiled, and again, we take so much for granted here in the US and complain about such nominal things.
Our last day was our fun adventure day. There are rainforests, many volcanoes, and Lake Nicaragua – which is the largest freshwater lake in Central America and has freshwater sharks (thank you Rodimiro for this info!) We hiked one volcano in the rainforest and it was absolutely breathtaking. God’s beauty knows no bounds and his creation never fails to take my breath away. We are talking about riding horses around the top of the volcano next year and I am soooo excited for that!
This trip has been absolutely amazing! It certainly puts life into perspective. We definitely need to lean on God’s understanding, not ours; to trust him to provide for us, rather than say “I did” and “I can” and “I will” to everything; to not complicate life, but to see the beauty in the simple things and to abide in God. I can’t wait to go back next year!
Dios te bendiga! (God bless you)
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