Hop Off The Chicken Bus

Wow, there is so much to say here! The Lord is stretching, pruning, using, and loving on me. We moved to our village where we get to live within the community we serve in. We stay in our avocado house (it’s on an avocado farm) that has the best view ever! You can see two volcanoes if it’s clear enough! It’s my favorite spot. Ministry is a variety of things. Anything from shoveling dirt on prayer mountain to kids club to house visits. It is so cool to get to experience the Lord in so many different ways. Kids club is probably my favorite. Monday and Friday we gather the children in the village to play games, teach them about Jesus, and love on them. My team has planned out a serious where we teach them different roles Jesus plays in their life. Monday was Jesus is the light and Friday was Jesus is the good shepherd.

Monday – Friday are ministry days. Saturday and Sunday are ATL days. ATL stands for ask the Lord. We pray and see where the Lord wants us to go and do that day. This last Saturday I went to Antigua with some of my teammates and went grocery shopping. Here’s what happened…

We were in the market buying vegetables for the week. “Cuánto cuesta?” I say as I am pointing to some potatoes. That’s one of the few Spanish phrases set in my vocabulary. “Morgan!” I hear from a distance. Lexy was calling for me. I run over and she is standing by a man with the first aid kit open. I look down at this man’s hand. It had become deformed from an old burn to the point bones were on top of each other. His hand was shaking (my guess is from pain) and had a deeper open wound. I put on a pair of gloves (always PPE) and began to bandaged him up. We moved closer to Elijah (who speaks better Spanish) and asked him how long his hand had been like this. He said the burn had happened 4 years ago. The wound was fresh though. He would walk up and down the streets asking for help. Most people ignored him. 

I finished cleaning and bandaging his wound before praying for his hand. I prayed for protection from infection, for pain relief, for healing over his deformity, for the shaking to cease, and ultimately that this man would know God more. I prayed the blood of Jesus over him and we left to catch the first of two chicken bus back home. We were sort of pressed in time because it is hard to find a bus back to our village after 5:30. As I was sitting on the bus and the bus is pulling away, I felt it…

I had to go back. My heart broke for this man. This man needed medical supplies that he didn’t have. He needed prayer. He needed to be seen. This man needed more. So what do you do? Well, you hop of the chicken of course! I turned to Lexy and said “I gotta go back” so we sprinted off the chicken bus with a bag of groceries and a mission. Find the man the Lord wants to help. 

We must have been a sight, two people frantically look around for this man. I think we passed the same guys 4 times. We finally found our guy after walking down most of the market. His hand was not shaking anymore. Praise God! Our phones were dying and Spanish slime but we ask him if he would come with us to a pharmacy to get some supplies. He seemed confused and walked the opposite direction. We decide to go get the stuff he needed and come back. 

We hike a couple of blocks to the nearest pharmacy. I tried to ask for what we needed but didn’t have the words. Soooo it was show and tell time! I pull our first aid kit out and begin to ask for what we need. Praise God medical supplies are universal and we walk out with what we need. At this point we are praying that we could find him again in the busy market. It felt very much so like leaving the ninety-nine for just one. This one was in the Lord sight. 

We find him, yet again, by the grace of God. He might have been confused to see us again but the Lord radically pursues and so will we. I begin to pull out the supplies and show him how to clean his wound. Lexy begins to use “Brother Google Translate” (our bff) to explain the process. After, we tied the bag that held the rest of the supplies and handed it to him. We prayed over him again and as we were praying he prayed too. We left and the Lord provided our way home. 

The Lord answers our prayers. Sometimes you are the answer to someone else’s prayer. You just have to be open to saying yes and not know what’s next. Jesus calls us to help “And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons.” Jesus would and so should we. My question for you is this… are you going to hop off the chicken bus when the spirit prompts? Look around today and see who you can help. “Bless – that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing” – 1 Peter 3:12 MSG. It is also is always such an adventure with the Holy Spirit! 

Help Keep Me on the Field! 
I am $3000 short of my fundraising goal that is in November. Would you consider prayer and donating to keep me on the field? Would you partner with me in the work the Lord is doing? 

Here is what I need…
5 people to donate $100
10 people to donate $75 
15 people to donate $50 
25 people to donate $40 

Any donation helps me to reach my goal! You can Venmo me @Morgan-Maple-1 or use the link to donate. Please be prayer for my team and I as we are walking in step with the Holy Spirit and are desiring his will. Also, if you want to know more you or need prayer totally message me separately! 

-Morgan K Maple