AIM Trip 2010
Matthew 25:34-36, “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
Last Saturday I returned home from Nicaragua, the host country of this year’s AIM Trip. Nicaraguasits between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea on the Atlantic Coast. Catholicism makes up for 75.91% of "Christians" in this country. The majority of Nicaraguans have been so ravaged by war and Hurricanes that they are consumed by hopelessness. The Spiritual need is overwhelming; immorality, alcoholism and spiritualist practices are widespread. But God is moving in Nicaragua and thousands have heard about the love of Christ through the ministry of our host missionaries, Troy and Ginette Doudy, who have been in the country for 12 years.
Our team consisted of 27 individuals, made up of 6 churches from all over the state of Oregon. It took our team three days of travel to arrive at the villages we ministered to, in the jungle, on the Atlantic Coast. While there we spent 5 days holding crusades in 5 of the 10 church plants our host missionaries have planted. We cared for the hungry and thirsty. We invited the stranger in and clothed the naked with God’s love. We prayed for the sick and visited those in the prison of their own hopelessness. And in some supernatural spiritual way, that I don’t totally understand, we did this unto Jesus. You know what always catches my attention in this parable? The innocent reply of the sheep: When? When did we do this? They didn’t respond to the need around them out of duty or for personal recognition but simply out of love. This too always needs to be our motivation.
