The River

For the last 30 seconds brown murky water has been seeping in through the seam of the door of our Nest pickup truck. It’s now ankle deep and showing no sign of stopping. About 5 minutes ago, after a slap in the face realization that my gamble with how deep the banks of the river were had gone horribly wrong, the truck is now stalled out on the side and now part of a ferocious river, water up to the top of the tires. Large trees are racing each other downstream like an F1 Grand Prix. I just don’t want to get in their way or everything is going to go from worse to much worser. About 3 minutes ago, after my self-deprecating rant, I am resolved to do something, anything is better than sitting here feeling the water rise up my leg. I make a decision to exit via the back door as I’m on a slight angle, I step outside, into waist deep water, and oh yeah it’s raining buckets, which of course is awesome. There’s not a solitary person anywhere.

The Nest these days is a little beehive, which is what we’ve praying for, so that’s good. But it’s busy keeping track of all that’s going on. We are currently hosting an American group of late teens from a program called “world race” which is a gap year opportunity to experience world missions. They’ll be here for almost three months. Today they’re heading to a small local church to be of service, sharing and supporting the children’s ministry. They’ve also been working with our vanilla plantation and chicken egg farm production.

As we move forward into the self-sustaining aspect of the ministry, I’m discovering a newfound appreciation in caring for our animals, namely sheep and goats. You know when people say of others that they’re “behaving like complete animals”? Well, these animals are definitely behaving like animals!! We’ve birthed 9 lambs this past year. Some of them we sell, but most of them are right here. Of course, they each have names like Mary & Martha, Lazo, Star, Nala, but the latest one I’m going to name him Supper, as in knives and plates with a side of mashed potatoes.

In regard to our organic vanilla crop, we have been praying over it, taking extra special care of it for three years, and things look great for a bloom anytime now. Please pray along with us that God will bless this fragile, beautiful plant as we have invested so many resources into its growth. By faith it was found, planted, and cared for to be an important revenue stream for the Nest of the future. In faith ( which Karina has in abundance) she is putting together the network needed to get us organic certified, marketed, and to a great market of potential buyers.

Nayu continues to thrive and do well. Her and 14 of our weekend youth outreach kids, just returned from a 3 day trip to a safari and amusement park adventure clear on the other side of the country. Karina has been tutoring her along with her college courses, and I can see a posture of confidence in her as she daily pushes her abilities forward. There’s also her discovery of the Holy Spirit's fruits in her life. The chaotic and abusive home-life which she left behind over a year and half ago has left her very preoccupied with the safety of her younger brothers. The mother has now kicked her 13-year-old brother, Andres, from the house. Given the incredibly dysfunctional, alcoholic, and directionless role models at home, it’s not a surprise that the children want to leave. So now, the young boy is our apprentice. We’ve assigned him chores, and he is a good kid, with an eager appetite to learn new things. Please pray with us that God would give us insight into what to do for him.

The legal machinery up in the faraway capital of San Jose continues to spin and churn, for which we’re very thankful for. The Nest Home Shelter, which will be our branch off organization from the nonprofit Nest Corp, and the for-profit organization of the Nest Marketplace, all working in concert to care and hold each other accountable and make it a strong framework for the future, none of these entities just fell into our laps. No, the ceaseless work of Karina and her close team of friends, with God in the center, have cared for this vital aspect of the Nest work.

Years ago if you had asked me what I thought missionary work looked like I’d say it was standing on a log somewhere in the jungle and reading the Bible out loud. But it’s not like that at all, at least not for us. There are so many different strings all pulling together in unison.

Uno-Dos-Tres, and with each pull the truck inches farther away from the raging river. The three of us, me and 2 guys who just happened to appear, have enthusiastically brought the Nest truck up onto the mostly dry gravel road that borders the river. It’s still raining cats and dogs.

But I’m very happy, grateful, and relieved. The real test, however, has yet to come. If the engine sucked up enough water, then that’s game over, I’m a dead man walking and so is the truck. I hear that choir of accusations, shame and regret start to sing again in my head. I shake it off, breathe the most honest prayer in history, “please, please God help me," and then I crank the ignition……………..

With love and gratitude

James Beach.