Acts and Nicaragua

Have you ever had one of those moments when something incredibly obvious wasn't so obvious, until WHAM! it hits you?  I was just reading a commentary on the book of Acts when something struck me as a topic to talk about in Nicaragua.

Luke (the author of Acts as a continuation of the Gospel of Luke as well as a very accurate, well-researched history of the beginnings of the Church) made two things obvious:

1) The undeniable fact that Christ rose from the dead, and
2) there's an undeniable presence of the Holy Spirit at work.

Without these two things, everything we believe, all the Gospels, the prophetic references to Jesus, and everything that came after Jesus' appearance and teaching of the twelve after he arose would be absolutely worthless.  In fact, it's these two things that are proof of hope and of the church at work, expanding, changing lives daily.

If we work this backwards,
lives are changed daily with the acceptance and belief in Jesus as the Son of God,
so the church is expanding,
which is the church at work,
and we have hope,
BECAUSE
the Holy Spirit is at work with us,
BECAUSE Christ rose from the dead
This is most encouraging!

How does this fit with Nicaragua?

The entire reason we're going to Nicaragua is because Christ rose from the dead and the Holy Spirit is at work within each of us.  Not just us, but within our brothers and sisters in Nicaragua.  These two facts bind us together; they are what we have in common despite living in a different lattitude, practice different customs, eat different foods, experience different climates (although today is preparing me for the heat and humidity!), and live under very different systems of government.

Our belief in Christ's sacrifice and love, being sent by God because He loves us so much.  The Holy Spirit has sent us.  And those who welcome us, welcome us by the Holy Spirit.

Amazing.  Amazing.  I can't wait.