Nicaragua Measure of Success

It is hard to measure success. In Nicaragua where everything you do requires that you solve a problem first or reschedule it for later, success is even harder to gauge. On April 13th, our Region mission team left to help build a church and school on the Mosquito Coast in a community called Kukra Hill. Kukra has a population of about 17,000, with very little industry, high unemployment, no running water or sewage, and very few prospects of a better future. The daily wage of a palm oil worker is about $1.25.

The mission team had three main tasks: to help build the church/school, to lead a Bible school program for children, and to teach adults in the evening. We were welcomed by Pastor Joel, the church planter and pastor of this new church, and Vital, our American Baptist missionary. Joel’s vision is built around the church, but it is aimed at empowering children with education and skills they will be able to use in the future. He is somewhat pessimistic about the ability of adults to change. So not only is the church new, but very young as well.

Although we were successful with all three of our missions objectives, other things emerged on the trip that became more important to us than the reason for being there.

One of the first was the emergence of a fellowship of Christians. The first couple of nights sleeping in a common room were a little stressful, but by the end of the week we could identify each other by our snores and steps. Soon we set aside all the triviality that we use to keep one another at arm’s length and began caring for each other. Soon we felt like a family. The sense that we were family gave us a unique ability to work together and to support one another. One could be passing cinder blocks to the one setting them on a scaffold or pouring water while one shampooed her hair. We miss that closeness in our sometimes busy society. A warm shower might have been an added comfort, but it was not really necessary.

On one of the nights, Joel showed a movie on the side of the house for anyone who wanted to watch. As it played on the green boards, no one seemed to be concerned about the quality of the picture or the plastic chairs, the heat, or the bugs. One tried to stay away from the fire ants, however. We were all enthralled in the moment, although most of us had seen the movie before. I doubt that I would have even considered watching a movie on the side of a house had I been stateside. I found myself wondering how much of my life is governed by distractions. There were no phones, TV, or internet. We did not have our cars to take us to the mall. There was no mall. There really wasn’t anything to buy. And yet we felt remarkably connected. I found myself wondering if the lack of distractions allowed our team to become more connected. No one complained that they missed any of the modern conveniences. Although I am sure that there were times when we all wanted to catch up on our e-mail.

You didn’t have to look hard to find a problem. I had the opportunity to visit other parts of Nicaragua after our team returned stateside. I found wide spread unemployment, poor health conditions, little hope for the future. I found myself thinking that I do not have problems. I have annoyances and speed bumps. Americans do not understand our connections to the rest of the world. When we enter into a recession, the rest of the world, especially impoverished countries, enter into a depression. They wait for us to recover because that indicates they will recover. It is in this arena or poverty and difficulty that our missionaries try to bring a message of grace, hope and future. It is surprising how well they do it.

Will the church and school be successful? Will the money that we poured into the project yield a return? A mission is an exercise in faith. We cannot measure it in the same way that we would one of our commercial ventures. I already see success, the success of love and hope. If that is all that I would ever see, that would be enough. However, I think that more is coming and I plan on seeing that as well. We have set the stage for success, because we have empowered others to teach, create, give, and make disciples. The way God works seems odd to us. God takes the collected efforts of a few and turns them into great things.

One of our team members said that this work was the first worthwhile thing he had done in a long time. In the heat and humidity, sweating profusely, and dirty, I sensed a deep meaning to what I was involved in building and teaching. I found myself rejuvenated and experiencing Christ again. Sometimes we get so bogged down in our very busy culture that the sense of Christ’s presence is lost. One of the ways I view mission is that it is a ‘reset; button on life. Missions have a way of resetting our priorities, revealing what is important, renewing our sense of direction and faith. The work at Kukra continues. Success was not that we went and completed an effort, but that we participated in something that will go on long after us. I was reminded of a comment on of my seminary professors made many years ago. “God did not call us to be successful. God called us to be faithful and to leave success to Him.”


John Turnage
Mission Trip Leader
First Baptist Church
Loveland, CO