Loving life with Jesus

Two months felt like two weeks, and before I knew it, I was back in Canada, living the rich life again. What am I suppose to do now? Go forwards and leave everyone and everything I saw behind? Because I can not, what I had seen and experienced changed my life, and my heart is so full of joy but also filled with sorrow that I had to leave these people behind in those conditions, while I get to go back and live comfortably again.  I have been back for four months already, and it was a hard adjustment back, and I felt like I could not put the right words down on paper about the last leg of the trip, until now. The last two weeks in Nicaragua were full of sight seeing, building deeper connections with the people there, and soaking in everything we could before we had to say goodbye and drive away, not knowing if we would ever see them again. I did not think I would become so attached to the people there when I could not even speak to them without a translator, but I did, and seeing the...

             Miriam Adeney says that “ You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That's the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place”. I can not agree more with this statement, and I can see it becoming more relevant the more places I go to. A piece of my heart lies in Ontario, Saskatchewan, and now Nicaragua, and the longer I am here for, the more I feel at home and attached to the people. I guess that is why they say its a price you pay for loving and knowing people, because it sure does not feel good to have to say goodbye, not knowing when you will ever see them again, always having a piece of you that longs to go back. This week, we moved into a little village house to become immersed into their everyday life and learn how to live the way they do. This was a huge step for me, throwing me way out of my comfort zone, putting yourself into a survival m...

                                 And just like that, I am in Nicaragua, already done my first week. This past week has been full of stressful and unexpected but also amazing things. We have seen so many new sights and parts of this culture, giving me such a bigger picture of how amazing God has created this world! The volcanoes, all the different kinds of trees and plants, sunsets, and city structures have just been breathtaking to see! Nicaragua really is such a beautiful country. But coming here has also come with a lot of struggling and culture shock. I have heard of how different these parts of the world are compared to North America, but never really understood it, until now. When you go to living down with some of poorest people, your perspective gets completely changed on what life is really about and how rich a lot of us actually are. Driving down a road, where half of the traffic is people, car...

Street lights shine into the darkness of the night all around the city. Above, the sky is sparkling bringing off the radiance of perfection, but down below, I don't see perfection, but pain and brokenness everywhere I look. I see broken families, wounded hearts, addictions, homelessness, lost souls looking for some comfort, but unsure of where to find it. Hunger coursing through their bodies, holding on to the little belongings they posses.  Most of my life, I have been pretty sheltered from a lot of things, including homelessness. You briefly see a homeless person sitting alongside a building, but most times you pass by not thinking much of it. A lot of the darkness is hidden away from the eyes of the public throughout the main streets you drive or walk on everyday. When you don't intentionally go out looking for the people who are living on the streets, you won't see it and most times it will get pushed to the back of our heads.  I was given the opportunity to go out with...