A letter from Leslie Clay in Nicaragua
January 2012
Dear Friends,
Our family enjoying a home-cooked dinner with friends from Delmar Reformed Church, Delmar, New York.
We are just days away from wrapping up an amazing journey throughout the eastern United States, and we are preparing our hearts, minds and luggage for the return flight to our home in Managua. We have been blessed with the opportunity to share our work in Nicaragua and to thank our many supporters. We can’t begin to tell you what it has been like to be the recipient of such gracious hospitality. But we want to try. Many friends have asked us how do you stay in the homes of people you have never met, or met only briefly in Nicaragua. One would assume that this would be difficult, not knowing our hosts. Our greatest surprise was how comfortable each homestay in the U.S. turned out to be. All of our many hosts were mission-minded, thoughtful people who made the effort to welcome us with every comfort you can wish for.
We remember sitting down to home-cooked dinners. We remember our children playing with the children of host families and we remember wonderful tours of each city and church.
God is so present in hospitality. In the connection of personal stories and in the sharing of personal spaces, the God-given gift of hospitality glows, offering warmth and comfort. Our Nicaraguan friend Erika will no doubt go back and share her stories of her experience with our gracious hosts.
Caught in a freak October snowstorm in Pennsylvania, we might as well enjoy the moment!
We began our Interpretation Assignment in Chicago, arriving in mid-September. A few days after our arrival we bought an old conversion van, which we plan to sell after our Itineration Part 2 in 2013. After 12,000 miles and 17 states, we can report that the old van didn’t let us down.
We spent the first three weeks with my boss, Anita, the director of CEPAD’s Nehemiah Program in Managua. In September we visited participating churches in the Partnership Program, and Anita and I shared a presentation called “Two Lives, One Mission.” The presentation was a joy to share, because it was a reflection about how two such different life stories can be joined to fulfill God’s mission. We showed "family pictures" like they often do with a bride and groom, the story of the childhoods and their lives coming together.
When preparing the presentation, I remember asking Anita how to talk about our partnership, and she said it reminded me of a song, “It only takes a spark to get a fire going. That is the way it is with God’s love, once you experience it, you want to pass it on.” When I heard her sing this, I got chill bumps because it brought me back to a time when I was about 8. I was at Camp Sequoia and we would sing Pass It On at the final bonfire. I remember feeling God’s presence so profoundly as I shouted from the mountaintop: You want to pass it on. Now more than 30 years later, I was hearing Anita recall the same sweet song from her childhood in Puerto Cabezas, on the East Coast of Nicaragua.
The new Washington Memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. was a highlight in many ways, and brought home our theme of global partnership.
This trip has been a reminder to me about how interconnected we all are. We are not so different. We share a desire to connect with God, feel God’s presence, try to be good people and connect with one another. I believe that partnership has such untapped potential, because in partnership we can be the community God is calling us to be.
So we close by offering our humble thanks for the outpouring of support, love and hospitality. We are thrilled to have you with us on this journey.
Many blessings for the New Year,
Leslie
The 2012 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 11
