1996 Jorge Valverde

Jorge - Mi Amigo!Ten years ago I went on my first mission trip. That trip rated in the top 5 for most change of all the events in my life. It was both horrible and wonderful at the same time. It was horrible in that we were left for all but a couple of hours a day without a translator. Yes, that is correct – I was stranded in Leon, Nicaragua with three other first time foreign mission trippers for the trip of our life.

We used Spanish to English dictionaries to have 10 minute conversations over 2 hour periods. Our hosts were most gracious but it was frightening to be split among three houses all blocks apart in a small city far from home. I ate black beans, rice and one egg or piece of meat each day for 9 days.

In my office I have two wooden spoons carved by the son of my host family – they gave them to me off of their wall as a gift. I will never forget that trip. It was the first time I preached with an interpreter and I really hadn’t preached that much. It was my first evangelism based trip. It was the first time I wandered through neighborhoods with my testimony printed in Spanish so I could share the Gospel. It was the first time I led people to Christ without being able to communicate. It was the first time I prayed over a woman dying in her bed with no help of medicine. It was the first time that I saw a baby guarded by barbed-wire in the ghetto. It was the first time I preached ankle deep in sewage. It was the first time I sang in Spanish to share my heart.

It was easy to sit in the United States and question why so much money was being spent to send short term foreign missionaries to the field instead of simply sending the money until I went to Leon. It became very clear that this country was well over 100 years behind the US in development overall. I could not fathom the fact that in the entire community there were two phones. It blew my mind that people lived without power or water and that sewage was run into street ditches for disposal. The reaction of those people to the Gospel brought on the feet of foreigners was incredible. The encouragement to the churches was incredible. The fellowship of believers from there and from here was incredible.

Jorge will probably never know the impact that he made in my life. I met him at the church in Leon – he was the Pastor with whom I spent 8 days of my life. He lived in a lean-to that was built adjacent to the back wall of the church with a total of maybe 50 square feet. His wife and two children lived there as well with outdoor plumbing. He was called but he was tired. I wanted to encourage him but language proved tough so we prayed together each in our own language each day at the altar. Then we found the gift of music – I knew one Spanish song (Con Que Pagaremos?) and he taught me many more that I translated, understood and sang as prayers with him. Renuevame (Renew Me) was another one that I learned.

To this day, I miss Leon and Jorge and pray for them both. Ten years of missions abroad and across my street have neither watered down nor faded the love that I have for Jorge and his church.

If only I will always live in a lean-to, then I to will know what it is like to serve with a heart for God.

If only I will be open, I will always be able to communicate with other believers in the Spirit.

If only I will go, someone will find the Gospel and another brother might find encouragement that is lacking in a desperate situation.