A Legacy of Love

On one of his early trips to Nicaragua, our Founder Rev. Wendell Mettey visited the Managua Cathedral. He came upon a group of people inflicted with every kind of malady calling out, “Have mercy on us!” He turned and saw a little girl carrying her brother on her hip. 

Later, he shared this story:

During one of my early trips to Nicaragua, I came upon a ghastly sight. I knew it would haunt me the rest of my life. Huddled in a small, restricted area outside the Managua Cathedral was a group of people truly reminiscent of scenes from the Bible. They were afflicted with every kind of malady: There were the blind, the crippled, those missing limbs, others diseased and covered with sores. Since then I have seen many such sights, but this was my first. The people cried out to those entering the great Cathedral, “Have mercy on us!”

Someone was tugging on my pant leg. I turned, and there stood a little girl carrying her baby brother on her hip. They both were covered with dust. They were shoeless. The little girl wore a tattered dress; he was naked. Holding up a hand full of trinkets, she motioned for me to buy some. “The cross,” I said, “I’ll take the cross.” She smiled and gave it to me. I paid her and put the unusual looking cross around my neck. When I looked up, she was gone, just vanished.

I have visited that spot many more times since then. I have looked for the little girl but have never seen her or her brother again, nor have I found a cross just like the one I have now worn every day for more than 20 years.

Many wear a cross as jewelry studded with diamonds, made of gold; others wear it as a good luck charm. Still others wear a cross as a symbol of their Christian faith. I wear the cross as a sacred reminder. When I put it on each day, I think of those two children selling their wares so the family could eat that night, and I remember those calling out for mercy, no longer praying for healing but just a few crumbs from those passing by.

Some days I do not want to remember what I have seen, but then I think of Jesus dying on His cross and His promise that He will never forget us, just as we never forget the impoverished people wherever they are found.

Rev. Mettey’s encounter with the children at the Managua Cathedral, who were huddled at the base of the only protection they could find, inspired him to continue the work of Matthew 25: Ministries. He transformed that image of a church sheltering people in need into an organization dedicated to serving people in need through compassionate actions. Now, Matthew 25’s chapel and multi-purpose facility extends this commitment and outreach.