Missionary Photos: My Trip to Nicaragua
photos by Tiffany Dillard

Missionary Story by Tiffany Dillard

Dear Diary,

Day 1: Give me three words to describe Nicaragua and I’ll say give me three more. Gorgeous doesn’t even begin to describe the land here. It is so lush and green and promising. But sitting here on the balcony of my hotel room makes me think. How can there be slums here? In this paradise? Traveling from the airport to Matagalpa, where we are staying, was overly stimulating. Rich, colorful graffiti. Skin and bone dogs. Fruit pushers on the street. Plastic shacks in parks. Bikes. Buses. People. City. Farm. Carrots. Goats. Bones. Stone. Oasis. Calm. Lights neon. Pitch black night. Stars. It is such a rush I can’t help but to feel overwhelmed. I can feel that what is going to happen is indefinite. Incredible. And I think I like it this way.

Day 2: The children in La Laguna, a village we visited today, are heartbreaking. Just one smile from them and they have your heart. They have such a light around them, despite the extreme poverty they exist in. They smile, they play, they talk a mile a minute. They love without limit or reason and tell you over and over again that God loves you and me and him and her too. Oh, and don’t forget the dog! The adults here are no different. Constantly thanking us and the Lord for what little they have been blessed to have. It is hard to believe that such wonderful, God-loving people can be living here, in a place like this, like they do. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone so full of hope and love as these people. Dios te bendiga.

Day 3: And I thought I saw poverty in La Laguna. El Plomo is worse. The people who live in this village have been hardened though, by rough lives in hard places. They are unforgiving and selfish people. And all of this was exhibited just through the food line. We were ushered out of the building because we ran out of bags and the people began to riot. But there is hope. There is always hope. A new pastor recently began a new church where the corrupted old one once stood. I believe he is willing to do whatever it takes to turn El Plomo around. And I pray that he can.

Day 4: Today we went to a nursing home that John 3:16 ministries supports to take supplies. We took things like sheets, blankets, old clothes and then took some of the extra food leftover from La Laguna and El Plomo. It wasn’t anything special, just rice, beans, dry milk and sugar. But when we got there you would not believe how excited the little nun who ran the nursing home was! Apparently that very morning they had run out of milk and had no money to get anymore. So all of the sisters got together and prayed for something to happen and, of course, we walk on in thirty minutes later with enough dry milk to last them at least a week. God’s timing is perfect.

Day 5: Nicaragua is different from what I remember it being last year, for better or worse. They recently elected a new president, Señor Daniel Ortega. They call him the president puebla because he grew up in a little village outside of Managua, the capital city. So far he seems to be moving in the right direction with new policies to protect villages and farmers. They created a stronger police force and are working to get clean water all over the country. However, poverty is raging all over the country. The citizens of Nicaragua are still paying the debts of previous rulers and living in horrible conditions. And Nicaragua is not an evil country ruled by the Sandinistas either. They are just a country trying to rebuild themselves.

Tiffany Dillard served with John 3:16 Ministries. She translated, helped build a community kitchen and gave out food and clothing to two villages. It was the second time she has traveled with this group. Story and photos by Tiffany Dillard.

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