How do you solve a problem like Maria?

Oh, how do you solve a problem like Maria?How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand…... Song from the Sound of Music

I woke up at 3 AM the other day with Maria on my mind. Actually – she is haunting me daily since we have returned from Nicaragua. I am overwhelmed by her courage and emotionally drained because I can’t personally help her. I am literally exhausted from it. Ever hear the saying….be careful for what you pray for?

I read a Hole in the Gospel by Rick Stearns (the leader of World Vision) before I left. He encouraged us to pray that our hearts be broken just like Jesus’ for the Impoverished children in the world. I am here to tell you – the prayer worked!

Maria is an amazing young lady that I first met last year in Nicaragua. She can’t be much older than my daughter Ashley (20) – and she is a mother of 2. Two small girls, - 4 and 2. She lives in the Limonal area of Chinandega (by the city dump.) I met her last year – and her little baby caught our attention – because she was swinging in the hammock of the feeding center amongst the smoke of the fire and the chaos of the children waiting to be feed.

Coco is the woman whose home is on the Limonal Feeding Center property. She faithfully feeds the children several times a week. Coco told me that Maria is the only woman in the neighborhood that faithfully helps her day in and day out. Other women come out when the Rotary comes in hopes of getting favors from us (you can see them in the photos of our trip)– but she pulled me aside so I would know that Maria is the only one that really helps her when there is nothing to gain.

Maria is sick. As she chopped carrots or stirred the soup pots – she would clutch over in pain. Not it a dramatic – look at me kind of fashion. As soon as the spell stopped – she would continue working. If you weren’t paying attention to her – you would never know something was going on.

Maria has blood in her urine. The doctors say she has a bad kidney infection. She needs to take strong antibiotics to get better. But Maria is nursing her baby……and the antibiotics will pass through her milk. In order to take the antibiotics – she has to stop nursing.

Easy decision in the United States– the baby is 2 years old. Stop nursing and take care of yourself. But this is the poorest of the poor in Nicaragua…..and Maria’s baby has parasites and refuses to eat solid food. She will only nurse. Maria fears if she stops nursing her baby – her baby will die.

What is a poor mother to do with so few options? Maria does the only thing she can do. She keeps nursing her baby as she keeps getting sicker. Is it a matter of who dies first? Only God knows. All I know is this sweet young lady with a huge servant’s heart – is faced with a horrible dilemma. And all I can do to help her is pray…..

It worked Jesus…..my heart is broken now.

Maria is not a unique story by any means. Each mother in the Limonal area has a heartbreaking story to tell.
But just because the sheer volume of the heartbreak is overwhelming – we can not shut down and be immune to the pain. It’s so easy for us to do…..to shut everything out and live in denial.

I am making a conscious effort this year to live in the pain, to not drown out the mother’s voices….

How do you solve a problem like Maria? Oh that is too big of a problem for me to solve on my own. All I know is I have taken that first step and allowed my heart to break for her……I will not forgot her! I will hold her hand long distance by praying for her …..and I will follow the lead of the Holy Spirit…..where ever he leads me next….

Just love them like Jesus, carry them to Him, His yoke is easy, His burden is light, You don’t need the answers to all of life’s questions, Just know that He loves them and stay by their side,Love them like Jesus…………… Casting Crowns

O' Poverty....source of riches

O’ Poverty – source of riches
Jesus son of God – born in Bethlehem……Taize chant


I have had this Taize chant stuck in my head since I have returned from Nicaragua. It is a haunting chant that the monks of Taize France sing. O’ Poverty! Source of riches…..

Those words hold a truth to me about Nicaragua in ways that I think I am just beginning to grasp – and will continue to evolve the longer I work with and learn more about these beautiful people. When I attempt to tell my friends about my trip – words and pictures fail to convey the power of it. Out of my mouth come stories of what we did and what we hope to accomplish in the future……which is usually followed by the some type of accolade from the listener for what ”I am doing for Nicarguans.” I try to tell them it is I who gets far more from the experience than I will ever give. But it falls on deaf ears…..they don’t understand. They think I am just being humble.

The best way I can explain the work we do in Chinandega is that is a partnership. Each group – the International Rotarians (this is my group), the Chinandega Rotarians, and the local Chinandega community – come together with their unique talents and needs. The spirit of God blesses our union and a miracle happens – our talents and our needs blend into this beautiful symmetry and together we are able to make a change in this world and in each other. Not just the United States group infusing a change into the Nicaraguan community with our money and our sweat. Oh no! It is far greater thing than that! The Nicaraguan community infuses a change into the United States group as well. The determination and the sense of community that the Nicaraguan people have is infectious. They have a spiritual richness about them that only abject poverty can create. They are forced to trust in God to meet their physical needs on a daily basis. Words fail to convey the powerful presence of the Spirit of God in this place. I almost feel like I am cheating – getting to be amongst them – sharing in the power of the Spirit of God. It is their daily physical suffering that infuses the power of the Holy Spirit in this place – I am just a visitor with the faith of a mustard seed trying to get a piece of the action.

The United States team needs what God has blessed the Nicarguans with - spiritual richness and they need what God has blessed us with – physical richness. It's certainly not as simple as this - but it's the only way I can adequately put it into words. Working together and sharing freely with each other – what we each have been blessed with - changes all of our hearts. I like to think of it as the birth of hope. We are suddenly empowered with the belief that together we are making a difference in a seemingly hopeless situation. Lots more thoughts about this in the days to come.....