Unlikely Servants + A Little R & R Wednesdays - a linky party #26

“You know, we honestly aren’t quite sure what to do with you all.”  
Those were the words that we heard from the Mission’s Director in our home church when we were preparing to move to Nicaragua in the spring of 2008.  We weren’t at all offended by that admission.  As a matter of fact, we completely understood that sense of puzzlement because we were experiencing it somewhat ourselves.  After all, we really didn’t fit the typical missionary profile.  Thankfully, the Lord doesn’t seem to require much other than a willing heart and obedient feet.  
My husband and I had both been divorced as non-believers and had not come to know the Lord until after we were married for several years.  Neither of us had grown up in Christian homes and we each had lived lives of moral failures.  We were far from being spring chickens with us both being in our fifties.  We owned our own business and home and were very settled in our community.  We were active and quite happy serving in various capacities in our church.  Our grandchildren lived relatively close and we loved family time.  We had wonderful friends and we were really pretty satisfied with life in general…until we began to take God’s Word seriously and acknowledge the burning that was beginning to happen in each of our spirits.  
We did try to satisfy that sense of being called by going on short-term state-side mission trips, helping in various local outreaches, and even going as far as leading several teams to Nicaragua for week-long serving opportunities.  But, the “call” began to weigh on us more and more and we finally realized that what we were doing was simply trying to pacify God instead of being obedient to Him.  We also knew that if we did take this step of faith of going in to full-time missions, it would change our lives forever.  What we didn’t know was how much we had to learn about trusting God.  Moving to a third-world, socialist country, which also happens to be the second poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, has helped us greatly in that area!       
To make a very long story much shorter, we had been offered a three-year position in Budapest, Hungary serving with our denomination’s international mission’s agency.  It would have been a wonderful opportunity for us…a relatively short time for service, room and board, insurance and monthly salary all provided, language skills not required, paid moving expenses, travel expenses paid for a trip home during that time, etc.  A great opportunity!!  A person would be crazy to turn that down.  Make that two people would be crazy to turn that down.  But we did.  We knew that we knew that we knew that Budapest was not where the Lord was calling us as tempting as that missionary package was.  We also knew that if we were to move to Nicaragua, we would be funding that move and all that it encompassed out of our own monies.  We also knew that if we didn’t make that move, we would be living in disobedience.   The decision became much easier to make.  The living out of that decision was a bit more difficult.  
Five and a half years later, we are still here, by the Lord’s sustaining hand.  We have lived through a pretty rough spell of illness, our home being robbed once with a second robbery attempt, learning a new language (which is not a piece of cake at our age, I might add), constant car problems, sweltering heat, dishonest “friendships”, tarantulas, scorpions, monsoon rains, tropical storms, mild earthquakes, high fevers, severe dysentery, skin fungus, parasites, bedbug bites, spider bites, countless mosquito bites, no see-um bug bites, homesickness, loneliness, discouragement, doubt, the loss of both of my husband’s parents, four moves, a near-depletion of our savings accounts, and so on.
We have also had the glorious privilege of being able to share the gospel with so many people through our words and our actions and to see the Lord work in ways we would never have seen if we had ignored His voice and His Word.   
We currently live in the northern part of the country in a small typical Nicaraguan town which is nestled down in a mountain valley.  Our home that we are renting is on the edge of town and is a semi-Americanized modest house, with flush toilets, electric showerheads for hot water showers, and screens on our windows.  We also live with bars on all exterior doors and windows and with a high concrete wall that is topped with broken glass and razor wire that surrounds our property.  Donkeys, cows, horses, pigs, roosters and dogs are frequent visitors on our dead-end road.
I teach English in a small, rural one-room government school two mornings a week and return in the afternoons to teach an English class that is open to the community.  This is a very poor community with a very high dropout rate.  We also oversee a feeding program for the elderly (a largely neglected part of society here) Mondays through Fridays where the folks receive a nutritious hot meal every day plus hear a daily devotion, have a time of singing praise and worship songs and a time of prayer.  Jim has a Bible study once a week with three young men in a small village not far from our town.  Those are the major areas of our ministry.  But the Lord is faithful to provide daily opportunities to minister to the hurting, the hungry and the lost.  It is not unusual to go to town to buy medications, shoes and food for others and get home and realize we forgot to get something for ourselves.  
We laugh a lot.  We cry a little.  About the time we get to feeling a little puffed up and prideful, He is faithful to humble us in a way that breaks our hearts.  Truthfully, neither of us could ever imagine living a life that looks any differently than the one we live.  We love these people.  We love Jesus.   And we love this amazing adventure of serving Him in this way.   
My final word is that although we are very unworthy and very unlikely candidates to be full-time missionaries, the reality is it’s not about us at all…it’s all about Him!!!                
Jim and Lynne Curtis from Cassville, Missouri, grandparents of five and business owners, sold everything they owned in 2008 in order to go out as independent Christian missionaries.  They currently live in Somoto, Nicaragua where they are challenged daily to trust God for His provision, His protection and His power.  Their daily prayer is that others will see Jesus in them as they minister through English classes, feeding programs, Bible studies and meeting a myriad of needs.  They love the Lord, hosting mission teams and swatting skeeters in their spare time.   
**********
 
 And now for the party!!!!
Here are the "rules"

1. Link up as many posts as you'd like (even giveaways!)
2. Link up old posts you wish would have received more attention!
3. Link back here by posting my button in your post or sidebar - or with a link
4. Visit the post just before yours

The party runs through next Tuesday evening!
So have FUN!

Click here to receive a weekly reminder about this party!

      




  Do you have a question related to missions?  Feel free to contact me via email, comment below or visit my Facebook page to ask your question.  It will be featured here during our fall Answer the Call series!




 
Receive more articles like this from A Little R & R right in your mailbox!

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

#mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */
Receive blog posts via MailChimp!* indicates requiredEmail Address * Email Format
htmltextmobile '+msg+'


Linking up with some these blogs:
M: Motivation Monday, Gracelaced Mondays, Playdates at the Wellspring, Mom's the Word; Matrimonial Mondays, Momma Notes  T: Time Warp Wife, Titus2 Tuesdays, Women Helping Women, Mercy Ink, Character Corner W: Women Living Well, Wisdom Wednesday, Wholehearted Wednesdays, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, Deep Roots at Home, My Daily Walk In His Grace Th: Hearts For Home, Thrive at Home, Serving Joyfully, I Choose Joy F: Faith Filled Friday, TGIF Fridays, Faithful Fridays, Christian Fellowship FridayClick HERE to find out how you can receive a copy of my book 14 Days of Agape for free and purchase Worship the Father and Discovering True Identity .