Calvary Chapel of Managua
On July 6th I'll be leaving home with a team of 14 adults and teenagers to travel to Calvary Chapel of Managua, Nicaragua. We are a short term missionary team comprised of two churches: Calvary Chapel Chelmsford, and Carlisle Congregational Church. Some of us met only a few months ago, and 10 of us have never been to Nicaragua before. We all come from various walks of life and vocations, and only one of us is fluent in Spanish.
We'll be leaving at 2:30 am in the morning to catch our 5:30 am flight. When we arrive, only the simplest of accommodations will be available. We will live much like the native Nicaraguans do. There will be a dormitory style bedroom, on the third floor of the church, where we all sleep together (non-coed). There's no clean water - we must drink bottle water at all times. There's no air conditioning and no windows. For 10 days we will live in the open air of a city which has no pollution control. The city is powered by diesel generators. On a hot day you can smell the ozone. Every morning the rooms needs to be swept clean of all the soot and dust that has settled during the night. It covers everything. There are toilets and showers but the municipal sewer system is so bad that we are not allowed to flush anything but human waste down the toilet. (You dispose of your used toilet paper in the waste paper basket). At this we are living better than most of our neighbors, who have no plumbing. Every morning you see small fires burning in the gutters. This is how most families dispose of their waste from the night before, which serves to enhances the air quality. The municipal systems are bankrupt and unable to meet the demand for water and power. Public water and electricity are turned off everyday, for hours at a time; without notice or alarm. Without your own private, backup water and electrical systems you never know when you will have water and electricity. Managua is a city of 1.6 million people. This is not a vacation.
The truth be told, I am not looking forward to going on this trip. Commitments at work and at home are pressing, there are many preparation to make, and I am running out of time. Moreover, I don't feel spiritually prepared at all. I have no great sense of spiritual peace or calling about this... I'm just waiting for the time to come so I can leave and come back.
So then, you may ask: why do you go? The answer is simple. I go because I can. I go because I have the opportunity to go. I go because, having been on many missions trips like this before, I know I won't regret it. It's like going to the gym to workout. Nobody wants to exercise, they do it because they know they'll be better off when they do. No trial seems pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Heb 12:11).
I don't go to Nicaragua because I have any great purpose or calling. I have nothing to offer my brothers and sisters in Nicaragua. The truth is, I am just as impoverished as they are. I go to Nicaragua to be taught. I go there to see and to learn of the body of Christ. This is what it means to be a missionary. I go to Nicaragua knowing I will receive more than I can give. This is what it means to be a Christian. For all of us have received far more than we can give.
You may ask: is God calling me to go too? How will I know? The answer is found in prayer, but I may not be speaking of the kind of prayer you're imagining. The Westminster Larger Catechism defines prayer as follows:
Q: What is prayer?
A: Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, in
the name of Christ, by the help of His Spirit, with
confession of our sins and thankful acknowledgement
of His mercies.
Prayer involves offering up our desires. Going on a short term missionary trip usually involves giving up the desire for comfort. It involves giving up the desire to keep your money, or to spend your vacation time enjoying yourself. Going on a trip like this always involves leaving one's comfort zone... but then that's exactly why we go. We go because the very act of leaving our comfort zone is a prayer unto God.
In His Mercy,
John Meneghini
Scenes from Nicaragua, 2008:
A young girl, one of Katerina's neighbors, watches us pass by.
Katerina's home. Katerina is very proud of her home,
and she asked us to take this picture, as any
proud home owner would.
Katerina, a member of the the church, poses for
a picture with one of her children. This was taken one day
as we went to her neighborhood to visit the church school. Katerina
lives in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Managua.
A scene from the school yard.
A veiw from the roof of the church, which stands
two stories above all of the other buildings in the
neighborhood. Calvary Chapel Managua is a thriving
center of community. A landmark in the city.
