I thought it would be cool if I could scribble down some things that have happened in 2013. Good things, bad things, life changing things, faith building things, trust things.....
About 3 & half years ago, God was telling Caleb that we needed to get into mission work, well when you have a good job and you love doing what you do, it wasn't easy giving it up and telling God, ok, I'm yours God, what's next?!! Well, to fast forward a year and half later, the time was approaching for us to start this Journey of Mission work. In January of 2013 we went to California for a long weekend of *New Staff Training*. It was a great time of fellowship, learning about Students International and meeting the new staff that came onto SI, along withI the SI Cali base. It was a lot of fun, we really enjoyed our time there. We were home for a couple weeks and than packed up our car and headed out to Colorado for 5 weeks of intense missionary & language training. It was *Life Changing* for me. At first I wasn't so sure of it because #1, it was 5 WEEKS of being away from *home* and that was the first time I've ever been away from home, the longest I've ever been away was for like 10 days. So it was scary in my mind, my family is super family orientated, and we ALWAYS get together for birthdays, anniversaries, Holidays, and just for the kix&cheerios. I didn't really think nothing of it about being away for two years and only possibly seeing my family once a year, that thought never really crossed my mind until the time got closer for us to leave, and than being in Colorado for 5 weeks. My time during Colorado was amazing, it was hard the first two weeks, but I just prayed that God would help me.....And HE DID!!!!!! The last 3 weeks there changed my life. I experienced God in a whole new way, looked at life differently, my outlook was changed. I realized so much and I am forever grateful for that time in Colorado. Of course when we got home the first thing I did was run into my parents house and give everyone hugs, because I missed them :) We were home for two weeks before we left for Nicaragua which was our *new home* for the next two years that we've committed.
We moved into our host home a couple days after arriving in Nicaragua and began learning the wonderful Language of Spanish. We built new relationships and shared about what God has done in our lives and talked a lot about our culture and different things like that. There were times *a lot of times* when we were both exhausted and ready to give up, but God continued to give us strength and we'd pull through those tough times. Caleb and I both got really sick during our home stay, we got parasites and bacteria, NOT FUN!!!!! The times I was sick, made me think a lot about wishing I was back in the States and able to get comfortable and have my momma only a phone call away, but I knew that I was where God wanted me and that's what mattered, I eventually got over it :)
A couple months of being in Nicaragua we decided that Caleb would do this test to see if we could figure out why he always was having headaches and joint & muscle pains, well he did this test and it was concluded that he has had Lyme's Disease for a very long time and that's what's been causing a lot of his problems, so right away he was put on this medicine for one year to clear it all up. It's been helping him a lot and he doesn't complained about any joint or muscle pains since, but he still suffers from terrible migraines and we had a guy here who was on a team and he's a physical therapist and Caleb told him about his terrible migraines and stuff and he started doing some work on his back and neck and it actually brought some relief for Caleb. This guy showed me some things that I can do to help, and I've been trying to keep up with them, but sometimes it doesn't always happen. But we know what we can do to help relief some pressure. It's such a heart breaking sight when I see how much pain he's in when he has a migraine, he's to the point now where he's adapted to the pain and doesn't stay in bed all day, but you can really tell when he has one.....He can't fully function, forgets easy....We continue to pray for complete healing in the name of Jesus!!!!!! God's timing is perfect.
A couple weeks after we found out about Caleb, I had found some lumps on my breasts. So we prayed about it and talked with some staff and decided I should probably get them checked out just to be on the safe side and also for peace of mind for myself, the first ultra sound found 3 lumps *cysts* in my right breast, B9 so nothing cancerous...PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!!! Our staff Doctor told me that I needed to be on Vitamin E pills probably for the rest of my life just to help shrink them and stuff, or until they are gone. Well 6 months had passed and I found a couple more, so I went back in and did another ultra sound and sure enough, there was 2 more, he said they aren't cancerous or anything like that and it's normal to continue to get them, he said if I find anymore I can come get them checked out to be on the safe side, so I've been taking my pills and just praying. It was a scary experience for me, that's been a huge fear of mine, *breast cancer* and of course the devil took advantage of my fears and ran with it, I cried a lot and of course thought * I wonder if Caleb will ever look at me the same* just stupid little lies that the devils puts in our minds. I shared my news with some close friends back in the States and asked them to pray for me, they did and it worked, I got a peace about it. Jill's mom who was here at the time is a Doctor and that morning when I found them, Caleb suggested that I talk to her to see what her opinion was, so I did and she really calmed me down and it gave me peace of mind. I was so thankful for that, It's like God's timing was so perfect. I learned to trust God more, even when it's scary. He knows what He's doing, know matter what...
About 2 months after we arrived in Nicaragua, my great grandpa Yoder passed away, it was a hard decision to make, because I didn't want to make the wrong one and regret going or not going. I prayed about it and Caleb told me he was ok with me going if that's what I felt. His only concern was being back there and being home sick and wishing I was there instead of Nicaragua....I knew it would be great to be back home an see everyone again, sad it was under those circumstances, but it was an amazing time and God really confirmed to me that Nicaragua is where we are suppose to be right now. It was a confirming trip for sure, I seen family I hadn't seen before in a while and yea, it was just great all around. It was during a team, so I was able to jump right back into work. I felt like I got a boost of energy too :)
So August comes around and we were Blessed to have Caleb's parents and two siblings here for one week. They were able to help a lot with Seth & Leslie's house. It was awesome fun having them here, there was a small team here during their time here and they were able to see how SI works and they went with Caleb to the market to buy stuff and just really see how our schedule is, it changed millions of times, but hey, that's all apart of it :) Than in September, our pastor and his wife came for a short visit and really blessed and encouraged us, that was a God thing because that was around month 5 that was super tough for me, was struggling with some things, which I'll talk about later on....But yea, it was amazing having them here, they didn't only ministry to us, but to our WHOLE SI staff. And than October rolls around and my parents decided to get smart and Surprise me for my 25th Birthday, they stayed for the weekend, I was in complete shock for a couple hours. We showed them different things, ministry sites, Volcano, the prison, it was so much fun having them here and just being able to connect with them again. After we dropped them off at the airport, me and Caleb looked at each other and just laughed, we still couldn't believe that they came. My dad said he would never come, he knew this is where God wanted us and he was good with that ;) Well, I must say.....NEVER SAY NEVER ;) God might do something ;) Hahaha!!!!!!! November rolls around and my cousin and his son came for a couple days also to see what we're all about here at SI, it was awesome fun showing them around and just sharing with them what all God is doing, they really Blessed us too. My friend Alison came on a Saturday night and my cousins left the next morning. It was awesome fun having her here too, she stayed for one week. Sooo much fun being able to sit down and just chat with a good friend about whatever.....Much needed girl time :) And than three weeks later we headed for the States.....
During months 4&5 was probably the most difficult for me. It was from being homesick or anything like that, because God took care of that for me when I was in Colorado, don't get me wrong, I MISS my family, but it's not how I thought it would be. I don't feel like we're thousands of thousands of miles away from them, I feel like I could walk to their house and being able to stay connected via facebook and Viber has been a HUGE help. But month 4&5 were more of a Spiritual battle for me. Caleb and I have been attending the church SI has partnered with, and it's of course all Spanish, when we have teams, there's a translator but the sound is terrible and it's really hard to hear, so for those months for me I had felt like I hadn't been in church for that period of time and I was beginning to feel empty and worthless, like I wasn't enjoying church....It was to the point that Caleb would have to tell me I was going, even if I didn't want too because I wasn't understanding ANYTHING, so why waste my time in going?!?!?!? We had some heated discussions over it all, caused some issues, but praise God we overcame them and that was the time that our pastor and his wife came, they really spoke into my life and encouraged me. Don said some things that really changed my mind set on how I looked at everything that I was struggling with going to this church and feeling worthless........You can't count on just church to fill your spirits, you need to do a personal devotions and work at it, I felt like that wasn't enough and I was wanting more, I was hungry for more, and I felt like if I was empty, how in the world was I going to help someone else?!!!!! But thank God that all changed.......God's timing is so perfect. My personal devotions has meant sooooo much to me this past year, I can't even begin to tell you how IMPORTANT it is. My life has changed from it and I'm so grateful for that. God has opened my eyes to see some wonderful things and also things in my life that I need to work on.
It's so hard to imagine that next Spring our two year commitment is up. Where has time gone? I remember when we started this whole process back in 2010. It's always been a dream of mine since I was a little girl to be a missionary and when Nate & Maggie Slabach & Lowell & Cheryl Troyer and their kids left the States to be missionaries, I wanted to be just like them one day. Who knew that years later I'd be working with them :D Isn't God awesome like that :) We serve one awesome Father.
During times when we weren't studying Spanish, Caleb & I were at different Ministry Sites, practicing our Spanish as much as we could. It was a lot of fun to build relationships with the people and kids in the different Communities we work in. Seeing lives transformed before your eyes and young people giving their hearts to God, it's a beautiful thing and we're so amazed and blessed to be apart of this mission here in Nicaragua.
2014 is here and we're sooo excited to see what all God is going to do in SI Nicaragua, in our staffs lives and the people in the communities. We've recently welcomed two new staff, Jimmy and Holmans wife Elianor. Jimmy will be working in Boy's Club with Joseph and Elianor will be working with Nate in starting an Education site, but right now she'll just be working in the other sites, seeing how they do things and getting ideas, visiting other communities and stuff, so looking forward to working with them. They are great people and we're all excited for them...
I could write about soooo much more things, but these are things that really stood out to me when I was thinking about this past year. It's been a fun year and I'm really looking forward to seeing what all God has for us. We don't know when we'll be back to the States for a visit, only God does. But you can definitely be praying for us that God would reveal to us what we're suppose to do as far as staying in Nicaragua OR moving back to the States, it's kinda scary the unknown of it all, but we know right now this is where we're suppose to be and we're trusting God. So yea, that's about it :)
We can't begin to say how THANKFUL we are with all the love & support we've gotten since we started this Journey. It means so much to us all the support we've gotten from our family & friends. We have an amazing church family who supports us 110% and we're so grateful for each one <3 Again, thanks so much for everything <3 Blessings to you all!!!!! Hope everyone has a safe 2014.
Mrs Fletcher.
