Nicaragua Update & Travel to Dominican Republic! - January 25, 2023 (Baylee)

 Hello everyone, I hope this newsletter finds you well!

I’d like to give a brief overview of my time in Nicaragua, as I have not been able to post a blog about it thus far. It is impossible to convey all that the Lord has done and taught me during my time in Nicaragua, but I will do my best to share some highlights for now! 

MINISTRY UPDATES:

For the first two months in Nicaragua, my squad and I were part of a ministry called REAP Granada. Our ministry looked different every day, as our teams would split up to participate in various ministries throughout the community. Some of these included bringing food and the Good News to locals who live at a garbage dump, praying for the sick in the hospital, helping the ministry on their farm, and doing discipleship and evangelism through house visits. 

One of the most beautiful parts of my time in Granada was getting the opportunity to visit and disciple a couple for 6 weeks (I will call them Joseph and Emily for privacy reasons). The first time we visited their home, they shared with us that they desired to get married to honor the Lord, even though they already had three children and getting married was financially impossible for them. At the time, Joseph had a severe blood infection stemming from his kidneys. They had put all of their money into finding treatment for him, and his condition was only worsening. We decided to pray healing over him, and when we came back the next week, he wept while telling us that he had been healed and all of his tests had come back normal! Praise the Lord! We continued to visit them each week and had the opportunity to love them and pour into them, and by the end, we were able to fund their wedding and see them step into so much more life and freedom! Emily shared with us that it had been her dream to have a wedding dress, so our team had the opportunity to take her shopping and make sure she felt beautiful on her wedding day. The Lord used us to bring healing, physically, emotionally and spiritually to this family, and it was an absolute honor to be part of it. This is just one of the many, many testimonies of the power of the Holy Spirit transforming lives in Granada! 

Additionally, our squad split up for three weeks and went to different parts of Nicaragua to serve alongside other ministries. My team went to Ometepe Island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua to serve in an orphanage and school called CICRIN. During our time there, my team and I were able to disciple the children who lived at the orphanage and help the orphanage make updates to their campus. I learned so much about loving through language barriers and finding God in the mundane through our time there! 

PERSONAL GROWTH:

The Lord has taught me so much about living freely in His love during our time in Nicaragua. God doesn’t desire me to perform for Him or do things for Him, He simply wants to be with me. This is the whole story of the Bible; God doing everything He can to be with His children. I encourage you to ask the Father to show you this side of His heart; He doesn’t desire striving. Only your heart. He calls you first a son and daughter. 

“The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength.” - Psalm 23:1-3

PRAISE REPORTS:

• Our squad got to see several salvations & rededications during our time in Nicaragua! 

• We were able to be part of a few baptisms for women we discipled! 

• My team was invited to be part of a funeral as well as a wedding for locals we had met and prayed for! 

• The kids in our children‘s ministry grew so much in their confidence in the Lord by the time we left! 

• The Lord has been doing both physical and spiritual healing! 

• The Spirit has prompted us to have conversations with locals despite language barriers, and the love of Christ has been transforming lives even in small interactions. (“By this everyone will know you are my disciples, if you love one another” -John 13:35)

WHAT’S NEXT?

I am currently writing from Jarbacoa, Dominican Republic! During our time in the DR, we will be working with Mission of Hope to minister to Haitians who are fleeing their country, doing evangelism, teaching English in a local school, and helping our ministry hosts establish their brand new base. Our team is the very first to ever work at this ministry, so we have the unique opportunity of being part of establishing this base for the generations to come! 

PRAYER REQUESTS:

• For grace and patience as we once again adjust to a new culture and adapt to new ministries and languages

• For love and patience to grow amongst my team and squad

• My teammate Ryann and her family. Her mother is currently in hospice care, as she has been suffering from kidney failure. Ryann went home to be with her family during this time and could certainly use extra prayer as she grieves. She was one of my closest friends on the Race as well, so it has been very difficult to say goodbye to her and go on without her here. 

• That we would follow the Spirit and do our work with excellence as we establish this new ministry base as well as minister to locals!

• Above all, that we would walk out the Greatest Commandment (“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” -Mark 12:30), and from this place of loving God first and receiving His love, that we would also walk out the Great Commission (“Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” -Matthew 28:19)! 

I have some very exciting updates coming your way very soon! From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your prayers and support. Lives are being transformed through the love of Christ, including mine! My prayers are with all of you continually, and I am so excited to see you all again so soon! I pray that each of you would be awakened to the things the Lord is doing in your hearts and that you would welcome His love more deeply than ever before! He is waiting with open arms to love you! Until the next newsletter, I will leave you with the words of the prophet Isaiah: 

“But now says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine . . . remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” - Isaiah 43:1, 18-19

All my love,

Baylee