Looking around me, I see children in colorful clothes walking the steep uphill path effortlessly. Of course, they are used to this terrain, but still, their stamina is amazing. I, on the other hand, stumble my way up, sweating like never before.

It’s around 9 AM on a Saturday in March in Verapaz, a small village in Nicaragua’s Matagalpa Department. This morning, I join Pastor Álvaro on a long walk through the forest to pick up children who will attend a Bible study meeting later today.

Dented Truck

Reaching the children of Verapaz with the love of Christ, that’s what Pastor Álvaro and his wife Miriam are passionate about. Each Friday, they leave their high-end jobs as lawyer and accountant, load their dented truck with Bible study materials, food, and drinks, and drive to their ministry location in the forested hills of Verapaz.

Off the main road between Matagalpa and El Tuma, an unpaved track leads to Pastor Alvaro’s place. A few feet beneath the road, there’s a corrugated steel awning covering a flattened stretch of land. At the far end is the couple’s simple home. As I was standing under the overhang, overlooking the deep valley, I marveled at the idyllic scenery. However, the couple was quick to point out that behind the natural beauty hid a great deal of sorrow.

Erratic Behavior

“Materially, people here lack many commodities,” they explained. “There is no water or electricity, and the food is insufficient.” Sadly, the social and economic distress in Verapaz often pushes parents to all sorts of erratic behavior.

• Sexism
• Machoism
• Alcoholism
• Domestic violence

“These are the influences Verapaz’s children grow up with,” the couple summed up.

“Girls often get pregnant in their early teens and marry very young. You’ll see 14-year-old boys staggering drunk at the roadside.”

The Love of Christ

Álvaro and Miriam know that the people of Verapaz need more than just a solution to their social issues. What they need is spiritual transformation.

“If the parents don’t have Christ in their hearts, they are not going to give love to their children,” they stressed. “As they don’t give love, things like envy and revenge will grow. We need to make them understand that they must love God in order to love others. We want to break the chains that come through the generations. Through God’s Word, we want to transform the mentality, starting with the children. We want to fill them with the love of Christ!”

“We want to fill the children with the love of Christ!”

Zeal

It’s that godly love that motivates Pastor Álvaro to undertake the exhausting forest hike each Saturday. His zeal deeply impresses me as I struggle alongside him.

For the first part of the journey, we use his truck until we reach a mountain stream. We disembark and walk down a slope to a suspension bridge that can only be crossed on foot. Some children are already at the bridge, but instead of continuing their way to Pastor Alvaro’s place, they join us as we move deeper into the woods.

Pastor Álvaro leads us from the river up a slope that is so steep and long that I’m panting like a steam engine when we finally reach the top. A fresh bottle of water helps me regain strength. At the top, we find more children.

Steep Slopes

The area is known to be rainforest, but it’s the dry season, and there’s no lush green canopy to protect pedestrians against the scorching sunlight. My, it’s hot! The dirt road winds across the landscape, following the curvature of the hills. While climbing the steep slopes, my feet often slip because of the loose gravel. Still, I make sure I’ll take in as much of the scenery as I can. Large, colorful butterflies flutter around us while cicadas produce an almost deafening, uninterrupted noise.

Then, finally, we have assembled all the expected children from their simple huts. We can return to Pastor Alvaro’s place. As we descend all the way to the mountain stream, I ponder the measureless vastness of God’s grace. Every single one of these children that surround me is precious in the eyes of the Lord. He doesn’t want them to perish. He wants them to receive the light of Christ in their dark and difficult lives. That gratifying notion makes the strenuous, sweaty hike more than worthwhile.

Mandarin Juice

Around 1:30 PM, 120 children, youth, and some mothers have found a place under the tin roof. Reinvigorated by a cup of fresh mandarin juice with ice cubes, offered by Miriam, the children sing a few songs at the top of their lungs. Subsequently, they pray together and listen quietly to Pastor Álvaro as he leads them through a chapter of the Bible study booklet.

“We are using Bible League materials because they are great tools to make the children participate,” Miriam pointed out. “We don’t want the children just to listen, but we want to actively involve them in the lessons. The booklets help us deal with the children’s emotions, positive or negative.”

Fruitful Partnership

Before they became acquainted with Bible League, Álvaro and Miriam bought Bibles with their own money. “That was very expensive,” they told me. “We couldn’t afford it. Also, there were no children’s materials available at all.”

Their partnership with Bible League solved both challenges. “God’s Word says, ‘My people are destroyed because they have no knowledge,’” Pastor Álvaro said, quoting Hosea 4:6. “We need those Bibles and study booklets to educate children, youth, and adults. We greatly appreciate you for providing these for free!”

“God’s Word says, ‘My people are destroyed because they have no knowledge.”

“Our principal sword is the Word of God,” Miriam added. “We thank God for giving you the passion, faith, and desire to serve the Lord and reach these souls that few people visit. Thanks to God, we have taken the materials to many corners of Nicaragua. Your support is truly beneficial for us!”

“Indeed,” Álvaro agreed. “We are very grateful for your contribution because this project wouldn’t work without you. Our Bibles and study materials come through your donations, and that’s how you help spread the Word of God to everyone here!”

Explicit Teaching

After going through a chapter of the So Choose Life booklet with the children, Pastor Álvaro teaches them about purity, based on the story of King David and Bathsheba. She was bathing on the roof, clearly visible to the king. Álvaro warns the girls to ensure no one can see them when they bathe. “And boys, don’t look at girls when they bathe!” he adds. I frown at this advice, until I realize the locals bathe in the river!

Given the low moral standards in places like Verapaz, it is understandable that Pastor Álvaro is very explicit in his teaching. In conclusion, he points the children toward the only true and good King: Jesus.

Three roaming dogs stretch themselves out on the ground near the gathering, taking a siesta break from the heat of the sun. The children, however, keep listening to Pastor Álvaro with concentration. Before the meeting, I had asked him and his wife if they saw a change in the children’s lives. They nodded fiercely.

Children’s Transformation

“The change we have seen is that the children are now disciplining themselves, taking responsibility, and attending the meetings,” Álvaro pointed out. “They have acquired characteristics such as punctuality, respect, and discipline. For instance, we invite the children to come at 2:00 PM. Now, we have in Nicaragua what we call Nica time, where 2:00 PM easily becomes 3:00 PM. But not with these kids. No, no! They have acquired punctuality and are always here before 2:00 PM.”

“The other thing is that they know what is good or bad in their homes,” Álvaro continued. “They observe that it’s not right for dad to hit mom. It’s not right for their dads to drink alcohol or to do drugs. I always tell them that when you are drunk, you’ll do things you would never do when sober.”

Faith is Proof

Faith is proof of what we cannot see, Hebrews 11:1 says. That’s precisely what Álvaro and Miriam desire to instill in the children’s hearts and minds.

“We teach them they should have faith that their fathers will change,” Pastor Álvaro said. “We tell them that God will solve their problems, that God will provide for them, that God will restore their families. We teach them to believe in what you can’t see.”

“We teach the children to believe in what they can’t see.”

Choosing Life

The meeting draws to a close. With a reference to the title of the Bible study booklet they use, So Choose Life, Pastor Álvaro tells the children:

“This is the moment for you to decide what life you want to choose. Do you want to choose a life of alcohol? A life of drug addiction? A life of promiscuity? A life on the streets? Or do you choose a life with God?”

Well, the answer to these questions seems obvious to the children. They will choose a life with God! As they process the pastor’s lessons, I scan their faces. They seem to drink in the message. It reminds me of something Pastor Álvaro had said earlier:

“When we ask them, ‘Are you coming for the food?, they reply they are not looking for that,” he had smiled. “They want to study God’s Word and ask us, ‘When will the next discipleship class be?’ They feel our Bible lessons are enriching their lives.”

Rice Soup

Nevertheless, Álvaro and Miriam always serve a proper meal for their pupils. During the meeting, I had witnessed two young ladies cooking a thick, nutritious rice soup in an enormous pot over a coal fire.

Now, with the Bible study done, all of the children receive a steaming bowl, which they empty with great enthusiasm. Indispensable fuel for their long hike home, I figure. I enjoy watching some kids wash the dishes at a water basin after lunch. They are hardly tall enough to reach the faucet, but they complete the chore with lots of chattering and giggling.

Profound Experience

Around 3:00 PM, the children head back to their homes, their stomachs filled with solid food, their hearts with God’s message of love. Álvaro and Miriam clean up the place and get ready to return home–only to prepare for a new ministry meeting next week.

I’ll probably never see the warmhearted couple again, but what a profound experience it’s been to witness Álvaro and Miriam living out the love of Christ. I pray they will faithfully continue their ministry in Verapaz, guided by the Holy Spirit.

I pray that the children they serve will break out of their multi-faceted misery and find a life of freedom in Christ.