This is truly an experience like no other.
Yesterday afternoon, we came back to Oscar´¨s house and got a little rest. It really was great to have an hour of down time because the day had been a long one.
By 4:30p.m. we headed back to one of the schools we had visited. It¨s really hard to describe the experience we had but I will give it a shot. The school is about a 10 minute walk from the baseball field and we were met by our opponents for the evening along with a band, drum line, a great crowd lining the streets, and three other things that you just had to see. I am sure they have a name but I can only describe them as 3 very large women costumes approximately 15 feet tall. These large ladies led the procession with the band and danced the entire time. You just have to see the video when we get home.
After the parade march through town, we arrived at the field and the crowds started pouring in. Thanks to Council Road Baptist Church, we were able to hire a sound system and a Christian Band in Nicaragua to come out and play for the games we are playing. This is an instrumental tool for us because it allows us to clearly communicate to the crowds that come.
Remember in yesterday´s blog when I mentioned that we prayer walked on the baseball field. The guys walked all over the field for 20 minutes asking the Lord to bless our time that evening. We asked that people would be able to hear His message and that God would use us.
Well, an amazing thing happened right before our eyes and it was directly from God. There is no doubt about this. We had blue skies all day long. The temp is about 90 and it is pretty humid because it is the rainy season in Nicaragua. All of a sudden, very dark clouds formed all around us. Coach V was mad at me because I had commented 30 minutes earlier, ¨I am really glad it hasn´t rained today.¨´ Right after I said that, here comes the clouds, lightning and the big time rain. The temperature dropped about 15 degrees in a matter of minutes so we loaded up our stuff in the bus and prepared for the deluge. To make matters worse, all of the lights at the field suddenly went out. We were done and it was all my fault for commenting on the clear skies. (Why are Baseball people so superstitious about stuff? Have you noticed that?)
After we had finally accepted the reality of the rain due to the fact that the sprinkles had begun, for some strange reason, the clouds and lightning seemed to just move all around us but not over us. Within 30 minutes, the lights began to flicker again and come back on, the music started playing, the people started coming back and the umpire said, ¨Juega¨ which is translated ¨Play Ball¨. It was truly awesome. Our opponents were the championship High School team from Leon. They played hard and played well. God chose to supernaturally answer our prayers.
As the game commensed, people were coming out of the woodwork. I wish all of you could experience a baseball game in Nicaragua. It is unlike anything you have ever experienced before.
(Momma P, Wacey just said hi. He said that he was fine even though his mouth still hurts from the minuture pepper eating contest that we had this morning. Kyle Vail won first, Sydni Sullivan came in second and Ramon got third.)
Back to the baseball game. It truly is an experience like none other. The field, the atmosphere, the band that never stops playing, the backstop that is more holes than fence, the people that gather dangerously close to the action on the field, the dogs that ran on the field in the middle of the game, outfielders making catches while running through the crowd watching the game, the cart vendors walking around, the experience is just absolutely amazing. You gotta come and experience this some time. I don´t want to make you all feel bad at home but it´s an experience you don´t want to miss in your life. especially if you are a baseball person.
In the middle of the 6th inning, we gathered all of the crowd together by the stage and asked if we could share with them. We brought some extra baseballs and some old Ambassador shirts for give aways and the crowd gathered quickly and closely to take advantage of the Ambassador gear. It got a little interesting when Oscar decided to give a way a new bat and chunked it into the crowd. We probably shouldn´t do that again because the 14 people who all grabbed that bat simultaneously really wanted it. I actually videoed the entire ordeal and it was a little crazy.
After the bat had finally been secured and all the gifts had been given, Coach V got up to share the gospel. It was a powerful thing to listen to Coach V share our story and the message of Christ to all those people gathered on that baseball field. For four years now, I have watched the Lord create supernatural moments on baseball fields both in the United States and abroad. I am convinced that in our post-Christian society, we are experiencing a modern day revival as we take the gospel to the world rather than sitting in our churches waiting for the world to come to us.
We have to stop waiting. We have to start going both at home and across the globe. Shouldn´t we all be speaking up about Christ? I pray that you begin today right where you are.
God moved last night and it was an awesome sight to see and event to experience. After we shared our faith, we finished the game. We had to stop in the 8th inning because we were out of our 2 dozen baseballs allotted for this game. Since the score was 17-2 in favor of the Ambassadors, we went ahead and called the game.
Did I mention that we brought magic baseballs with us to Nicaragua. It´s amazing because everytime there is a foul ball, a home run or a ball that gets off the field, it miraculously disappears. We have the opportunity to play with these magic baseballs every game and we just love it.
I was very grateful last night because, before the game was over, Juliann and Sydni Sullivan, Brian Holt, Ryan Lenaburg and Codey McElroy all showed up. I am glad they got to see some of the baseball game. It was fun to see their surprise, awe and excitement about the experience.
We came back to Oscar´s last night and had an amazing time together processing the day. I wish all of you could hear the many amazing things God is teaching these boys. The Lord is truly allowing us to shape leaders in this ministry. Our prayers and dreams are being answered becasue each and every one of these guys are starting to see the value of their influence, a vision for the world and the true and amazing power of the God of All Creation. I just love it.
We got to be around mid-night or later and tried to get some needed rest.
I know this is long but since I have a few more minutes, I need to go ahead and catch you up on this day so far.
After breakfast, we took some time to go to the hospital in Nicaragua to pray for kids in the children´s unit. This was a moving experience. We don´t have pictures because there are some things in life that are meant only for your heart. We passed out candy and simply prayed for children. It was moving, it was significant, it was difficult, it was powerful. I am so thankful the Lord gave us that opportunity.
After the hospital, we went to one of the neighborhoods where this ministry feeds children. We went door to door connecting with people passing out flyers for our clinics and baseball games. We divided with our translators into 6 or 7 groups and walked around this little neighborhood.
It was moving to see our guys love people who were proud of their homes even though their floors were dirt. These people have pride in their lives in spite of the economic status. They smile, they love their children and they are content in their lives. All of this helps us understand that stuff really doesn´t bring happiness. We all ought to stop seeking after things that don´t matter.
I was particulary proud of Jared Sterling and Coach Nation. We were in a group going door to door and we had the opportunity to lead one guy to faith in Christ. God really used Jared and Larry as they shared their journey with Jesus. God can and use anyone who is able and willing to be used. There really is nothing like jumping out of your comfort zone and allowing the God of all creation to use your life as His instrument. Once you start doing that you gotta keep it up. You should start that today and not let any more time go by missing out on that experience.
As we gathered back to the area where the hundres of kids were going to come together to eat today, Coach Savedra pulled out his clump of little peppers. It was then that the pepper eating contest commensed. It was one of the more comical moments of the trip. As these guys came together to challenge each other´s manhood on their pepper tolerance, every Ambassador mouth was soon on fire. I have already told you who one the contest but it was a great event to witness. I only ate 2. Since I already have a beautiful wife, I have nothing else to prove in my life. That is my conviction and I wasn´t about to put more than 2 of those little fireballs in my mouth.
The rest of the day will be a blast. In about 30 minutes, we are off to our first baseball clinic and it is going to be packed out. It will be the biggest clinic of the summer by far. After the clinic we are going to church tonight Nicaraguan Style. It´s gonna be a blast and I can´t wait. We have three more baseball games, one more clinic and a lot more experiences that are not on the agenda.
We are pumped and having a great experience. Thanks for praying and thanks for being patient with all my typing errors. I don´t have my lovely wife with me to correct all my grammatical mistakes so please for give my errors.
Have a great day today and keep lifting us up to the Lord.
Chris Wall
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Posted on
Wed, July 27, 2011
by Chris Wall