Why You Should Go To the Nicaragua Journey of Compassion

Hello Impact Network,

I thought I would chime in as somebody who has gone to Nicaragua 3 times now to work in the same villages and beside the same Nicaraguans as you would if you participated on the JOC in August.

I can personally attest to the work for God's Kingdom that is being done there by Pastor Carlos Mayorga and the rest of the El Shaddai team in the village of Limonal.

We spent multiple days with Carlos building latrines and roofs on some houses recently as part of the Journey of Discovery (an offshoot from the Journey of Compassion). He is a kind and caring man that is passionate for God. One day he drew me a triangle in the sand and explained Limonal.

The three sides of the triangle were: A Cemetary, Garbage Dump and Sewage Plant. This was Limonal.

Carlos then re-drew the triangle and said that Limonal will have new sides to the triangle: Jesus as the foundation, El Shaddai ministries on one side and the groups that come (Impact Nations) to show compassion for the poor and oppressed on the other. Together we made the three sides of the triangle that would transform Limonal.

I also have a funny story.

One day he was playing a joke on our group and someone remarked that Carlos had a funny "evil laugh". Carlos asked me to explain evil laughter to him which I did through a translator. He loved it. The rest of the week him and I would share evil laughs together like we were taking over the world!

Going to Nicaragua will change your life. Going to any country on a JOC will. But Nicaragua is in my heart because I have been able to go back year-after-year and truly see disciples of Christ being made there. Do they have problems like any other church in North America? Of course they do. But Jesus is at the core of that ministry.

We just got back in May and we saw people who had accepted Christ three years ago now serving in the ministry. One was a sex trade worker who now served our team. We hugged her and praised God.

Carlos Mayorga did not have to choose the life he did. He is training to become a civil engineer and his talents could be used in many other ways. Yet we find him leading a church in a garbage dump and building homes and latrines for the poor. He loves God, his family and the people he serves with all his heart.

Go and meet this man. He will admit to you he has gained weight since we last saw him which is hilarious. You will learn what it means to serve from him and the rest of the ministry down there.

Go on the Journey of Compassion. It changed my life and has rippled through our community. The best way to become like Christ (our highest calling in our faith) is to hang out where he is and sacrificially love the way he loved.

If you have any question, feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,

Ed Kang