Nicaragua 2012 - Questions Answered

Reflection by Ignite Founder Judy Fox - September 4, 2012:

This summary will be a little different from past summaries of a trip as it will not be a rundown of where we went and what we did.  I'm actually stuck in the midst of processing all that God did and the ways He very clearly answered some questions for me in the past few weeks.  One question in particular has haunted my mind since the end of 2008.  Regardless of how many times I am thanked and regardless of how many people offer honor to the impact of Ignite International or myself in Nicaragua, I have had a question that has not let me go - "are we really making a difference?"  I wanted the answer.

On August 2, I met the team in Miami and we boarded for our 24th group to Nicaragua.  I knew that the following week I would be met by group 25 to Nicaragua, and although I could remember amazing details of each previous trip - that question was stuck.  And so we began the journey. 

Saturday evening, August 4, we enjoyed a powerful time of worship together at our hotel.  It was led by my precious friends who are worship leaders of the church we always visit in Matagalpa.  During this time, one of these friends began to speak of the impact that Ignite has made in Nicaragua.  He spoke with tears in his eyes.  It was both translated and received through tears as well.  The next morning at breakfast, I commented to my "voice" and dear friend Claudia that I wanted to ask this church if Ignite teams might be able to participate with them in outreaches. We have visited their church for 6 years - now I wanted to go deeper and partner with them to minister to their city  I would wait for the right time, but I wanted to pose that question at some point.  As we were leaving the morning worship service, the Founding Pastor (she and her husband founded the church - he passed away in 2005) asked if I would be willing to take our teams with their church to another city about 2.5 hours further into Nicaragua to help them with outreaches in the future.  One of her other sons pastors a church in a smaller town and she wanted to know if we would be help.  Ummmmm - YES!  The very question I had wanted to ask......answered before I ever brought it up.  New open door, new territory, new ground.

And yet.......even after hearing those moving words the night before.  After seeing a clear answer to a door I hoped to open.....even then I asked the question - Are we really making a difference? 

Here is what followed:

1. The second team arrived a few days later and we traveled with both teams to a government run orphanage in Rivas.  I had learned in 2011 that they had some of the kids relocated from the orphanage we used to visit that had closed in September 2009.  Our Ignite team had been the final group of any kind to spend time with those kids at La Villa in August 2009, and at the end of that trip, I had privately told a brother and sister, "I will find you........"  By March 2011, with the help of a friend, I was able to both locate the boy and get permission to visit him.  When we pulled up to the security gate I heard my name yelled from a girl's voice.....then a second voice.  "IT'S JUDY FOX!!"  Two girls from La Villa were beaming!  As they ran over to the car, a group of teenage boys were standing to our right - and one with his back to me turned around.  It was Alex....he came to the window and grabbed me around the neck with a hug.  I said, "I told you I would find you........."  He smiled and said, "I know...", and we spent the next 2 hours catching up to encourage him.  By April 2012 when we returned, I was informed that Alex had run away.  I committed to return to this place again because there were at least 3 other kids from La Villa who I knew we could continue to encourage. And I was determined to find him again!  And so we returned August 9th with two volleyball teams and asked the National Team and the Junior National Team to meet us in Rivas for competition - my purpose was to hopefully find Alex.  I was very glad that I got to see the three kids from La Villa, but my mind was on Alex.    During our visit, I wanted so badly to find him but I had no idea where to turn.  Through some very random conversations, Claudia and I were introduced to a couple of people that know Alex.  One of the guys left on his motorcycle to go find him.  Alex was not home but a message was left that I am here, and we play at 4 pm at the court in the city.  As things sometimes go, both we and the National Team did not arrive until closer to 5......and as I got off the bus, Claudia caught my eye and directed me to notice a young man standing at the entrance.  There was Alex - promised fulfilled.  I will not go into details of the conversation that followed the next several hours, but suffice it to say - we MUST be present for those kids.  We MUST follow-up.  It DOES make a difference when a promise is made and kept.  Leaving Alex behind that night was the single-most hardest "see you next time" that I have had on any trip anywhere Ignite has gone.  I will find him again.......and again......and again. 
2. The next weekend we were back in Matagalpa and had another evening of worship.  This time I had invited the Founding Pastor to also join us, and her words will stay with me forever.  "I am so thankful for you and your ministry......you reach the people that we as pastors cannot reach, and the only word I have to describe how I feel toward you and what you do is adoration."  We MUST and we WILL fulfill the request to join this church in reaching new territory.
3. We began to identify potential leaders and initiate conversations that will lead us to launch discipleship training for those who make decisions.  This will be a project that will reach so many who might never otherwise receive training.  We MUST and we WILL provide this opportunity for growth.
4. Our last evening in Managua I was approached by leaders of one of the associations within the National Basketball Federation who shared that they see the women of the volleyball federation as an example of what they want their women to become.  He asked me to begin to help them as well.  I responded that it's absolutely critical that they understand that while it is exciting to see the increased professionalism and quality of the volleyball federation, our ultimate objective is to teach them of God's love for them and His purpose for their lives, to lead them in how they can have a closer relationship with Him and through that to better their lives and their character.  He smiled and answered, "I am a Believer too....that is my purpose.  Will you help us?"  We MUST. We WILL.

Suffice it to say - 25 groups later, the work is just beginning.  This is a long-term effort.....it continues to require a long-term commitment......and there will be long-term fruit.  Of that, I have no doubt.  I came home with so much to process.  I came home having left a new part of my heart in Nicaragua.  I came home thankful for relationships that grow deeper and are strengthened in spite of time and distance.  I came home with questions answered.

I Don't Get It...

Your word says that while "we were yet sinners" - smack in the middle of intentionally choosing to do what we know to be wrong and enjoying every minute of it.  That is when you chose to die.   That is when you chose to take that beating.  That is when you allowed them to scourge you and rip your flesh right off of your back.  That is what was on your mind when you prayed in the garden, "...not My will by Thine be done.".  That is why you hung on the cross.  That is why you let them put a crown made up of a vine that had long, sharp thorns that dug into your head and caused you to bleed from your head all the way down.  That is the time when you allowed them to drive those rusty old nails through your hands and through your feet.  That is when you chose to be silent as they accused you. That is when you let them spit in your face.  That is when you found the strength to carry that heavy cross, when you knew the excruciating pain that would be required to hang on it.  That is when you refused to call the legions of angels to rescue you.   

And THAT is when you said, "Father, forgive them........they don't know...."

Your love, Jesus.........I really don't get it.

But, thank-you.

  

Why Did You Come, Jesus?

It's a logical question, especially after having seen firsthand the PLACE He chose to call His earthly home.  I never knew there were that many shades of khaki!  It's a beautiful place, full of beautiful people.  And yet I wonder, Jesus, why exactly did you come?  Why did you leave all "that" to come to us in the middle of "this"?

I often hear speakers give reasons for which they believe Jesus came to earth.  Some offer their suggestion as that - suggestion.  Others state their suggestion with conviction and it serves as a foundation for all that they teach.  And I find myself wondering "when did Jesus say that?"   As I do with everything, I go to His Word and check for myself.  After all, it's the responsible thing to do.  I decided that as my personal daily reading has reached the time to step back into the New Testament, I would be extra attentive to see exactly what HE said and what HE felt was important enough to put in His word as it pertains to HIS reason for coming to earth.  I guess I'm simple enough to believe that if there was any other important reason why Jesus came, He'd have said it while He was here - because throughout the Gospels, He did leave a pretty extensive list of His reasons for having come.  If it's ON the list, I will try my best to be like it.  If it's NOT on the list, I'm not interested in trying to force an interpretation to make it "fit" things that will serve me well.  I don't see the need or have the right to add to or imply my own agenda into His words......instead, I will live every day doing my best to show Him my gratitude. 

The Gospel according to Matthew 

• 3:11 - to baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire
• 4:19-22 - to teach His disciples how to be "fishers of men"
• 5:17 - not to do away with the law or the prophets but to fulfill them
• 9:13 - to call sinners to right standing with God
• 10:34 - not to bring peace, but a sword
• 18:11 - to save that which was lost
• 20:27-28 - not to be waited on, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many

As I proceed through the Gospels and the New Testament, I will choose to keep my eyes wide open for additional reasons that He discloses, but as for right now - this list itself is enough to blow me away.  That the Creator of all that we see, the God of this universe and all that is in it....the ONE to whom every knee will bow and every tongue confess - that HE came for such a simple list above.  WOW.  'Nuff said. 

How many kings throughout history would come like this?  Most kings expect to be served, most kings expect to be catered to, waited on, picked up after, honored everywhere they go, bowed to, and worshipped as they sit on their respective thrones.  Not this one - He came to empower us.  He came to teach us to be like Him so that we could share the same with others.  He came to fulfill everything that had been previously required of man.  He came to give us a way to return to right standing with God.  He came to divide the religious from those of simple faith.  He came to find the lost and save each one.  He came not to be waited on hand and foot, but to serve and to give His life for us all.

What a Savior.

I desire nothing but to be like HIM.

You amaze me, Jesus.  Thank-you.  I'll serve You forever. 

What Good Is It?

"If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all His mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love."

I Corinthians 13:1-3

The Message

What good is it, really?  In other words, if I have the ability to influence people by my speech or I have the skills of a world-class athlete, but I don't treat those around me properly, I am nothing.  If I have the opportunity to travel the world and "minister", but I disregard those who have been placed in my life, it is of no value. 

Relationship is everything. 

The words of MY coach ring in my head almost daily - "If you are a Christian, you are in full-time ministry."    It's not a profession.  It's not a way to get rock star status within my circle of influence.  It's not reserved only for those whose place of employment is a church or religious affiliated organization.  It's a mandate required of each who has surrendered his or her life to Jesus Christ!! 

If you are a Christian, YOUR LIFE is full-time ministry, regardless of what it is that you call your profession or from whom you receive a paycheck.  If you are a house painter, then paint with love.  If you work at McDonald's, then serve people as unto the Lord and share Him with your co-workers.  If you are a homemaker and raising young children, then share Christ with those around you and love your children into becoming exactly what He created them to be.  If you are a teacher, your LOVE for your students will go further than any piece of book knowledge you get them to remember.  If you are a coach, research proves you hold THE most powerful place of influence in the life of that young person - hold it wisely, it is a delicate place of influence.  If you are a successful business executive, then find a cause bigger than yourself or your company and serve someone else - and by all means, love the "little guy" that makes your company function day to day so that YOU can make the big bucks!

It is ALL about relationship, and it is relationship that will lead others to the foot of the cross.  If I become amazingly successful at building, at expanding, at increasing, at communicating, at being a visionary, but I have not love, respect or regard for those in my life, especially for those who I perceive to be "under" me - it means nothing.

If my ministry organization reaches the world and allows me to travel to foreign lands to do all kinds of good for people, but I become more focused on traveling to foreign lands to do all kinds of good for people than on the PEOPLE......it becomes nothing more than a show, and that's a waste. 

No matter what I say, what I believe or what I do - I'm bankrupt without love.  God, spare me please.

It's all about relationship!! 

The Untold Road To Victory

We love to sing this song, and it really is a beautiful one: 

"Lord, I lift Your name on high. 

Lord, I love to sing Your praises. 

I'm so glad You're in my life. 

I'm so glad You came to save us. 

You came from Heaven to Earth to show the way,

From the earth to the cross my debt to pay.

From the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky.

Lord, I lift Your name on high."

Very beautiful indeed.  And yet, not at all accurate.  We as followers of Christ miss out on a simple but radically life-changing truth when we adopt the belief that He went "from the grave to the sky", or from "the grave to Heaven" as the translation would be in some languages.  The truth is, Jesus did NOT go from the grave to Heaven or to the sky.

WE serve a Savior, who after having conquered Death itself, returned to the SAME earth, in the SAME city, to walk among the SAME people who just crucified Him.........in absolute, 100%, complete victory for 40 days.  And THEN He went to Heaven.

I would love to have seen their faces when they actually saw Him walking around Jerusalem.  I would love to have heard those conversations when they realized that the one they nailed to that cross 3 days earlier was now alive and well - as they pass Him on the streets of downtown Jerusalem, or in Tiberias, or wherever He chose to show up.

It is the purpose and will of Father God that His people never be defeated.  We go through stuff in this life.  We experience difficulties and challenges.  But in ALL things, God is working everything for our ultimate good and so that He will receive the ultimate glory.

It is His purpose that each of us as Believers reach the place in THIS life, and on THIS earth, where we can walk as Jesus Christ did in those last 40 days before returning to a celebration in Heaven.  It is God's purpose that WE experience that victory HERE and NOW, where things that once defeated us no longer can touch us.  Where people who once "crucified" us now see us walking around whole and glorious - and the inability to explain "how" it happened is exactly the thing that will draw them right to Him!

But in order to get to that place.......you must experience a crucifixion......you must spend time in the grave......and you must experience a resurrection.  And it all begins with a betrayal by one whom you trusted the most, immediately after you have completely surrendered yourself to the will of your Father. 

What do you do when you spend your most intimate time with the Father, only to get up off your knees and learn that those who have earned  your trust completely betray the very trust they have earned? What do you do when those who SAY they are on the same page flush their integrity for the sake of  convenience or circumstance?  What do you do when those who thrive on giving others the impression that they are the ones closest to you show clearly that they are not close at all?

Simple and yet difficult - you let Judas kiss you on the cheek, then you walk out the process of the crucifixion and the pain that comes with it, knowing that what your Savior went through was indescribably more horrific and your troubles pale in comparison to what He suffered for YOU (and for those who caused you pain).  You spend your time in the grave and then you wait.  And at the Father's signal, the stone will roll away.....and you will return to life, a life that can never be defeated again. 

At that point, walk out of that grave, head held high and smile at those who thought they defeated you.  You are now entering the best "40 days" of your life on this earth!!!  NOTHING can defeat you again, you LIVE in complete victory!!!

It's not a one-time thing.....in whatever area of your life God desires to bring you to victory, this is the process.  Embrace it, and let Him work out His perfection in you.  Because in whatever area of your life that betrayal takes place - that is specifically the area in which God is planning your greatest victory!!  And once you experience the resurrection in THAT area.......you will have complete, untouchable, glorious victory from now until the day you reach Heaven.  You will never again go through a defeat in that thing! 

To the employee that was unjustly dismissed by a boss who would not support you.  To the one who was cast aside for taking a stand for your faith even though you performed your task at a world-class level.  To the leader who was just blindsided by a freight train of unfaithfulness.  To the spouse who is walking through the pain of betrayal by the one who vowed their faithfulness to you.  To any and all who are somewhere in that process, and the road is painful......walk through it and keep your eyes upward, your resurrection is coming!!  Your victory is closing in.  Your God is faithful.

"I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death.....and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead." 

Philippians 3:10-11