Reflections from our visit to Camenish’s in Ometepe

Reflections from our visit to

Camenish’s in Ometepe

The people: Because of the language and culture differences it’s hard to communicate with the local people but it is not hard to connect. They are gracious and grateful you care enough to come or to send help. To them, moving your family to live among them is the very image of Jesus in Phil 2 who set aside his place in heaven to become serve, die and bring life.

The Environment: Besides the beauty and peace you deal with inconveniences that slow life down to a crawl or create more stress, You more appreciative of simple things we take for granted: the internet barely works if at all so you don’t spend time googling this and facebooking that. There’s no air conditioning but you are thankful if the electricity is on so you can run a fan. There’s no hot water but showers are temporary relief from the humidity anyway so you get used to feeling “sticky.” You don’t have to haul water from a well and you may not have water that day for showers or to flush the toilet but you are fortunate if you have a toilet in your house. You are blessed if you have a house with four walls and something besides a dirt floor. You can’t drink the water and you are careful about what you eat, and you do watch out for scorpions when the rainy season starts, or you might even have a snake come up through your shower drain. A doctor is far away and a hospital is very far away. but there is no persecution, and you have freedom to share Jesus with spiritually hungry and largely untaught people.

Hearing from US and traveling: The people around you are glad to have rice and beans to eat so that makes meat a treat. On the other hand you have to drive 40 minutes just to go to a store half the size of a 7-11, and travel a 1/2 day, one way, including an hour long ferry just to go to a store like Sam’s. You are glad to get fresh fruits if in season along the roadside nearby. You have to drive 40 minutes to get mail but don’t get any mail–not even junk. We have no idea what it feels like to not hear from people and to be so isolated from friends and family.

You don’t have to worry about fashion or hurry to grab fast food (there is none). You don’t bury yourself in tv programs or even busy yourself in the evening news because when the sun goes down at 6:30 you’re glad to read a bit or play a game and go to bed. You are wise to go to bed early because the rooster crows at 3:30, the geckos and frogs sing cheerfully at night, and the sun is fully up at 5:30.

Faith, Word and Fellowship with Jesus: So you value things that truly matter like family and friends and faith, and sharing because you are surrounded by people who need these things. You are especially thankful to know Jesus Christ and his eternal kingdom, because all this materialism is going to pass away anyway. You are so glad to sometimes actually sing worship songs in English, to hear the Word preached in English, to fellowship with someone who understands you tell what God is doing in your life, and how important the Scripture is to you – in fact Jesus, the Word and prayer become a real source of life to you instead just a daily “discipline” of devotion. So instead of being lazy, distracted and taking the Bible for granted, you are thirsty and hungry and you are asking Holy Spirit to some fill you.

Worship: The people in Ometepe don’t have all the distractions we have so coming to church often is central in their lives. They pack out these hot dimly lit buildings. They walk or ride a bike and often are late but they come. And they sing loud and out of tune and very simple songs but this trip I was continually asking God to show me where He was in what was going on. So He opened my eyes a bit to see how He sees them, and hear what He hears – Sometimes I felt God was laughing and enjoying their simple songs like adults enjoy little children. Sometimes I felt his deep love for them. Sometimes I felt deep intercession for the division between churches here in America or the way most Protestants there are so hostile toward the Catholics. I also sometimes wept for loved ones who aren’t seeking God – yet. So let us be grateful to God and not take prayer and Word and fellowship for granted. God help us remember our brothers and sisters and pray for them.

Pray for missionaries and our persecuted brothers.