Beauty and Injustice
We often laugh until we cry about the extremes of Nicaragua. On any day we could post beautiful pictures of beaches, sunsets, and palm trees swaying in the breeze but it could never capture the poverty, insects, and challenges surrounding us. We hold the beauty in one hand and the injustice in the other. We rely and depend on the Lord to keep us daily. We cannot possibly handle the challenges of the day with grace in our own strength. About five years ago I remember praying over and over, “break my heart for what breaks Yours.” He began preparing my heart to see the poor with new eyes and realizing my own deep poverty. As we begin to work in our community, we recognize our mutual brokenness with all of humanity.
Duct-tape to the rescue
Last week we were in a car accident. As we were turning left a motorcycle tried to pass us on the left. He went flying and his helmet flew off. As we ran to him we realized his injuries were minor and we called an ambulance to come care for him. In Nicaragua if a person goes to the hospital in an ambulance then the person who hit him has to go to jail until he is released or the accident has been processed (even if it's not your fault). We had a friend who lived just down the street who was able to quickly come help us translate, talk with a lawyer, negotiate with the police, and was able to pay off the police this time so Dustin didn’t have to stay in jail. The next day the motorcyclist was released and Dustin was able to sign the documents stating what happened in the accident. The motorcyclist would like to appeal the documents so we are waiting in limbo hoping it will be resolved soon. These types of things are extremely unnerving to negotiate when you cannot clearly state or argue what happened in Spanish, and then dealing with a corrupt police system trying to make extra money. We are thankful that no one was seriously injured, we had supportive friends to help us navigate, and the damage was minimal (duct taped mirrors are hip here). It was best case scenario in a scary situation.