By Zach Dodd, WEGO Director
“I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.”
Romans 1:11-12
One of the great misconceptions of missionary work is this: there is only one giver and one receiver. There is an “us” way up here, and there is a “them” somewhere down below.
In contrast, some of the most precious jewels of ministry, on any continent, are discovered through mutuality, when the power scales feel a little more balanced out. The Apostle Paul, while delivering his richest and most theologically dense letter, expressed his desire to be encouraged by the very people he was trying to teach. Even Jesus, God Himself, called his disciples His friends (John 15).
In my 25+ years of vocational ministry, the Vasquez family in Nicaragua sits high atop my list of people I went to serve but ended up ministering deeply to me.
The generosity of our donors has enabled WEGO to be a blessing to the Vasquez’s for years:
Both of their boys, Roberto and Yisar, were educated, fed, and discipled through New Hope School. Roberto was the very first high school graduate in their family. How incredible?! Yisar just became one of our college scholarship recipients in hopes of becoming a doctor one day. And we are beyond grateful that their father, Benjamin, will be a founding participant in our brand-new Adult Literacy Program. (More on that very soon!)
Yet, with all of the ministry gifts WEGO has given to them, I am certain they have us beat. I first met the boys years ago when I spent the summer in Nicaragua with my family. Near the end of our trip, they just kept bringing us gifts: a beautifully hand-drawn sketch of Jesus, a handmade fish key chain, and way too many bags of bread that their mother had baked for us. More than presents, they had a generosity of spirit and eagerness to bless that made me know I’d never catch up with their kindness. My next visit to Nicaragua started a tradition of visiting their home, trip after trip. Every visit since has had the same three elements…
One, we dine.
I’m talking fresh bread, pastries, hot coffee, and nacatamales!
Two, we make chicken jokes.
This inevitably happens for a minimum of one hour per visit, spurred on by the chicks running around their house under our feet. On a side note, my last visit was truly the highlight of my life as I showed them my favorite party trick – hypnotizing a chicken by drawing a line in front of its face. Yes, that really is a thing. And it gloriously happened on my first try, right there on their kitchen floor.
Third, I seek their counsel on the reality of life in Nicaragua.
I used to get their opinions on how our school was doing or how we could improve. But after my latest visit with the chicken trick, I pressed a little further about the complexity of poverty in their community. Specifically, we talked about why so many families were struggling to provide food for their children. As we dug deeper together, one of the core issues came to light:
Parents are not able to adequately feed their children because they cannot find jobs. And many parents cannot find jobs because they never learned how to read or write.
In that moment, a new WEGO ministry vision was born to do all we can to help parents provide food for their own children, not just fund a feeding program. Now, over a year later, we are working hard to launch an Adult Literacy Program this month to help parents learn to read and write. And it was the Vasquez family that helped dream it up. Not just support receivers or ministry recipients, but as mutual encouragers, sharing in the same blessing and faith together.
Will you help me even out the mutuality scales a little more? Let’s really bless this family back through prayer.
Thank Jesus for this incredible family of givers in Nicaragua.
Praise Jesus that recipients of ministry can also be the greatest teachers of it, too.
Seek Jesus in prayer for their family, that they might know the richness of Christ in every season.
Let’s pray! We have some catching up to do…
Let's Pray Together
Benjamin – Father
How You Can Pray:
1) I want better health and strength to keep working hard to provide for my family and be there for them
2) Pray that I receive more wisdom
Elisabeth – Mother
1) Please pray that I have more life to see my kids’ success
2) For better health to be there for them and be their support
3) Pray that my little store in my house can be a blessing
Roberto – Son
1) For the strength to be able to help my family through my studies
2) Pray I can get a good job
3) Please pray for my spiritual growth
Yisar – Son
1) Pray for wisdom to be able to finish college and do something for my family and me
2) I want to be able to help people by becoming a doctor
Perla – Daughter
1) Pray for my studies and to get good grades
2) For my spiritual growth
Join With us!
We are working to launch our new Adult Literacy Program this month. We have the staff, plan, and 8 participants lined up for a 3-month pilot program! The only thing left is $1,800 in seed money to get started. We will be making an official announcement next week, but if you want to be an early adopter…
Designate to “Nicaragua” and be part of this beautiful work. Write “Reading Club” in the comment section. Let’s go teach some parents to read.
