Realizing that was a sad thought for me, and I pray that I would not be a living example of that. I hope that I can be one of those who remembers those in need always, and works to help those who need help, even when I'm not daily faced with those problems and situations.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Flipping the Switch
Getting back to Michigan was like flipping a switch. It's like the flight from Nicaragua back took me to another world. It is so different here, it's hard to even compare the two places. I don't really like that the change is so instantaneous, like flipping a switch. The sad thing is that I feel like for so many of us it is so easy to flip that switch in our hearts as well. Living in a place like I was it is so easy to feel compassion for the people there and fall in love with them. It's nearly impossible to not feel a strong desire to do something, to help them. When we flip the switch and come back to the comforts of home, where we don't necessarily see visible examples of poverty and suffering daily, it can be so easy to forget that it is so common in the world, and lose that desire to help. I don't think it's that we don't want to help those in need. I think it is more likely that because we aren't faced with those need daily, we forget that they exist and are so important, so we lose the sense of urgency to help solve the problems that exist.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
One Last Adventure
Tuesday night we embarked on one last adventure. After finishing with adult education classes at 8pm, a group of 10 of us headed out for a walk. When we left, I was unsure as to our exact plans, knowing only that we were going to go walking and not knowing where we were really going. We walked, and walked, and walked, and having walked for over and hour, decided we were sick of walking. So we got a taxi. Now this was not a normal full size car taxi like we have here in the US. This was a motorcycle with an extended body that has two benches, and is really more of a mini-car on a motorcycle frame. Somehow, we managed to cram all ten of us into this taxi, a feat I'm still not sure how we accomplished. We finally arrived on the outskirts of Managua at a restaurant called El Quesillero. Here we ate Quesillos, which are tortillas filled with cheese, sour cream, and onions, a fairly famous food in Nicaragua. They were delicious, and afterwards we started for home. On our way we passed by a police post, where a cop was sitting by the side of the road. One of the girls asked if we could take some pictures with him, so I got a picture of myself being held in handcuffs by a Nicaraguan Cop.
We managed to snag a taxi for the way home, this time an actual car, though still not a big one, and we again crammed all ten of us inside. We finally made it home at about 11:30, quite late for my time in Nicaragua. It was a great last night in Nicaragua, and a fun way to say goodbye to my new friends. I'm so thankful for everything they showed me during my time there, and the blessing they were to me.
Monday, June 7, 2010
An Adventure of Sorts
This afternoon I had a bit of an adventure. After church this morning, (I’ll go off on a short tangent about church first). Church here is quite different from what I’m used too, but also different from what I’ve experienced in other Latin American churches. It starts off normal, with singing, scripture reading, etc. Once we reached the time for a sermon however, it changed. Rather than the preacher give a sermon to the entire congregation, we were divided up in age groups (adults, youth, kids) and each had our own lesson and discussion. I actually quite liked this, because it allowed the lessons to be specifically directed a each individual age group, and allowed for discussion among the groups.
Now back to my story. This afternoon I went out with a bunch of friends to a local rec center. They have basketball and volleyball courts, soccer and baseball fields, etc. After walking partway down the mountain we live in, and down some side roads, this took about an hour, we arrived at the rec center. We played basketball and volleyball, which was quite fun. Next we wanted to play soccer, but the soccer fields were closed, so we decided to walk to nearby Nicaragua Christian Academy, hoping to play soccer there. We arrived there, after another 35 minutes walking, to find that it was closed. Unable to play soccer, we started our journey home, about 5 km by now after walking away from home, then partway back but on a slightly different route.
At one point on our way home I experienced something new: drinking Coke out of a plastic bag. We had gotten thirsty, so we bought at 3 Liter bottle of Coke. Not having cups, we improvised with plastic bags. It’s actually pretty cool. You pour the pop into the bag, tie the bag, then bite a hole in the corner of the bag and drink from it. Next time I can’t find any cups, I hope I remember this, it really is pretty cool!
We continued back up the mountain, though on a different road than usual. At one point we decided to cut through on a shortcut. This lead us first down a dirt two track through the jungle, then across some fields where beans and corn are grown. At the end, we had to cut through some jungle, off the beaten path. This was quite interesting, and a challenge for me. At various points we had to squeeze through spaces between trees or under branches that were quite small. We joked that this path was made for Nicaraguans (it was a Nica-path) not Americans, because I had trouble fitting through some of the spaces. After trudging through the jungle for awhile, we half slid, half jumped down a hill, squeezed through some more trees, climbed up a bank, and arrived back at Monte Hermon. We were home after our adventure through the jungle.
The real adventure parts of the day were drinking Coca-Cola from a bag, and trudging through the jungle. All in all we were out for about 5 hours, just hanging out, having fun, joking around, and enjoying life.
Las promesas del Señor son puras ¡son come la plata más pura, refinada en el horno siete veces! Tú, Señor, nos cuidarás; ¡siempre nos pretegerás de tales gentes!
-Salmos 12:6-7
Now back to my story. This afternoon I went out with a bunch of friends to a local rec center. They have basketball and volleyball courts, soccer and baseball fields, etc. After walking partway down the mountain we live in, and down some side roads, this took about an hour, we arrived at the rec center. We played basketball and volleyball, which was quite fun. Next we wanted to play soccer, but the soccer fields were closed, so we decided to walk to nearby Nicaragua Christian Academy, hoping to play soccer there. We arrived there, after another 35 minutes walking, to find that it was closed. Unable to play soccer, we started our journey home, about 5 km by now after walking away from home, then partway back but on a slightly different route.
At one point on our way home I experienced something new: drinking Coke out of a plastic bag. We had gotten thirsty, so we bought at 3 Liter bottle of Coke. Not having cups, we improvised with plastic bags. It’s actually pretty cool. You pour the pop into the bag, tie the bag, then bite a hole in the corner of the bag and drink from it. Next time I can’t find any cups, I hope I remember this, it really is pretty cool!
We continued back up the mountain, though on a different road than usual. At one point we decided to cut through on a shortcut. This lead us first down a dirt two track through the jungle, then across some fields where beans and corn are grown. At the end, we had to cut through some jungle, off the beaten path. This was quite interesting, and a challenge for me. At various points we had to squeeze through spaces between trees or under branches that were quite small. We joked that this path was made for Nicaraguans (it was a Nica-path) not Americans, because I had trouble fitting through some of the spaces. After trudging through the jungle for awhile, we half slid, half jumped down a hill, squeezed through some more trees, climbed up a bank, and arrived back at Monte Hermon. We were home after our adventure through the jungle.
The real adventure parts of the day were drinking Coca-Cola from a bag, and trudging through the jungle. All in all we were out for about 5 hours, just hanging out, having fun, joking around, and enjoying life.
Las promesas del Señor son puras ¡son come la plata más pura, refinada en el horno siete veces! Tú, Señor, nos cuidarás; ¡siempre nos pretegerás de tales gentes!
-Salmos 12:6-7
An Adventure of Sorts
This afternoon I had a bit of an adventure. After church this morning, (I’ll go off on a short tangent about church first). Church here is quite different from what I’m used too, but also different from what I’ve experienced in other Latin American churches. It starts off normal, with singing, scripture reading, etc. Once we reached the time for a sermon however, it changed. Rather than the preacher give a sermon to the entire congregation, we were divided up in age groups (adults, youth, kids) and each had our own lesson and discussion. I actually quite liked this, because it allowed the lessons to be specifically directed a each individual age group, and allowed for discussion among the groups.
Now back to my story. This afternoon I went out with a bunch of friends to a local rec center. They have basketball and volleyball courts, soccer and baseball fields, etc. After walking partway down the mountain we live in, and down some side roads, this took about an hour, we arrived at the rec center. We played basketball and volleyball, which was quite fun. Next we wanted to play soccer, but the soccer fields were closed, so we decided to walk to nearby Nicaragua Christian Academy, hoping to play soccer there. We arrived there, after another 35 minutes walking, to find that it was closed. Unable to play soccer, we started our journey home, about 5 km by now after walking away from home, then partway back but on a slightly different route.
At one point on our way home I experienced something new: drinking Coke out of a plastic bag. We had gotten thirsty, so we bought at 3 Liter bottle of Coke. Not having cups, we improvised with plastic bags. It’s actually pretty cool. You pour the pop into the bag, tie the bag, then bite a hole in the corner of the bag and drink from it. Next time I can’t find any cups, I hope I remember this, it really is pretty cool!
We continued back up the mountain, though on a different road than usual. At one point we decided to cut through on a shortcut. This lead us first down a dirt two track through the jungle, then across some fields where beans and corn are grown. At the end, we had to cut through some jungle, off the beaten path. This was quite interesting, and a challenge for me. At various points we had to squeeze through spaces between trees or under branches that were quite small. We joked that this path was made for Nicaraguans (it was a Nica-path) not Americans, because I had trouble fitting through some of the spaces. After trudging through the jungle for awhile, we half slid, half jumped down a hill, squeezed through some more trees, climbed up a bank, and arrived back at Monte Hermon. We were home after our adventure through the jungle.
The real adventure parts of the day were drinking Coca-Cola from a bag, and trudging through the jungle. All in all we were out for about 5 hours, just hanging out, having fun, joking around, and enjoying life.
Las promesas del Señor son puras ¡son come la plata más pura, refinada en el horno siete veces! Tú, Señor, nos cuidarás; ¡siempre nos pretegerás de tales gentes!
-Salmos 12:6-7
Now back to my story. This afternoon I went out with a bunch of friends to a local rec center. They have basketball and volleyball courts, soccer and baseball fields, etc. After walking partway down the mountain we live in, and down some side roads, this took about an hour, we arrived at the rec center. We played basketball and volleyball, which was quite fun. Next we wanted to play soccer, but the soccer fields were closed, so we decided to walk to nearby Nicaragua Christian Academy, hoping to play soccer there. We arrived there, after another 35 minutes walking, to find that it was closed. Unable to play soccer, we started our journey home, about 5 km by now after walking away from home, then partway back but on a slightly different route.
At one point on our way home I experienced something new: drinking Coke out of a plastic bag. We had gotten thirsty, so we bought at 3 Liter bottle of Coke. Not having cups, we improvised with plastic bags. It’s actually pretty cool. You pour the pop into the bag, tie the bag, then bite a hole in the corner of the bag and drink from it. Next time I can’t find any cups, I hope I remember this, it really is pretty cool!
We continued back up the mountain, though on a different road than usual. At one point we decided to cut through on a shortcut. This lead us first down a dirt two track through the jungle, then across some fields where beans and corn are grown. At the end, we had to cut through some jungle, off the beaten path. This was quite interesting, and a challenge for me. At various points we had to squeeze through spaces between trees or under branches that were quite small. We joked that this path was made for Nicaraguans (it was a Nica-path) not Americans, because I had trouble fitting through some of the spaces. After trudging through the jungle for awhile, we half slid, half jumped down a hill, squeezed through some more trees, climbed up a bank, and arrived back at Monte Hermon. We were home after our adventure through the jungle.
The real adventure parts of the day were drinking Coca-Cola from a bag, and trudging through the jungle. All in all we were out for about 5 hours, just hanging out, having fun, joking around, and enjoying life.
Las promesas del Señor son puras ¡son come la plata más pura, refinada en el horno siete veces! Tú, Señor, nos cuidarás; ¡siempre nos pretegerás de tales gentes!
-Salmos 12:6-7
Sunday, June 6, 2010
A Mixed Bag
Today I saw a couple of things that ranged from incredibly awesome to frustratingly tragic. I’ll start with the awesome, since that was how the day started. Daniel wanted to give me a chance to see a bit more of the country, so for today we headed out to the outskirts of the city of Masaya, about 30km from Managua, where lie two volcanoes, one that is still active, and one that has been inactive for years. Driving up the road to the ridge of the volcano I spotted a large cross standing near the edge of the volcano (more on that later though), which looked really cool at the top of the hill. We arrived at the end of the road, which brought us to the ridge of the volcanic crater; an active volcanic crater. Looking down into a 300 meter deep, really really wide crater and seeing smoke rising from the depths of the still active force of nature was an incredible experience. We walked up a trail to a high point at the edge of this one crater, where the cross was located, and which actually overlooks three individual craters right next to each other. The view from there was incredible. In front was the view of the triple crater. To one side was another volcano less than a mile away (this one inactive). To another side was a view of a far away range of volcanoes beginning just past the beautiful Lake Managua, and behind us was a great view of Lake Nicaragua (the 8th biggest in the world, and apparently the only one with fresh water sharks), which has multiple island volcanoes within its waters. Now back to that cross. The volcano first erupted in the 1600s, and the crater has been smoking and erupting mildly ever since (though no eruptions since 1999). Following the eruption, the natives believed the bottom of the crater to be the entrance to hell. Because of this, one of the local priests had this cross erected to keep the demons away.
After going back down the trail, we headed up another trail to the ridge of another (this one inactive) volcano. It’s crater was filled with thick vegetation, and around the ridge was a nice trail, which we hiked. This one was 200 meters deep, and 600 meters in circumference. Walking around this volcano, and taking in the panoramic view it provided, was wondrous. A laguna lay not far away, and there was an even better view of Lake Nicaragua.
Imagining these volcanoes prior to their eruptions, and seeing pictures that had been drawn before the eruptions, put me in a state of awe at the force of nature. I’ve seen Mount St. Helens, and that was a huge eruption and destructive force, but this was different. It was different because here I could stand at the edge and look into the depths of where this eruption had come from. I could stand on top of the now much shortened mountain and imagine how high it had once risen, and how much mountain had been blown from its place in the eruption. Thinking about the power of nature, and that our God created and rules over all of it, makes me even more awestruck at the incredible power of our God and Creator. I truly am thankful for the opportunity to take in more of His beautiful creation in a setting very different from what I’m used to.
I also saw something today that angered me and hurt as well. Holly is one of the boys who Daniel and Darling recently adopted (4 months ago). His mother had basically abandoned him; while she was present, he was given very little care. He is 6 years old. Because of the lack of care he received prior to his coming to live here, he has a (suspected, though not yet confirmed) condition that causes him to bruise incredibly easily, which can also cause internal bleeding from even light contact. This past week it seemed worse than normal, so Daniel took him to the doctor. This morning he was to be brought in again for some blood tests. However, yesterday afternoon Holly’s birth mother came to his school as class was getting out, and without telling anyone or asking Daniel’s permission, took Holly, and brought him to the hospital. Apparently this is now the second time she’s come and taken him without permission or without even telling them. The first time she just wanted money. This time, while she may have done so out of legitimate concern, Daniel was still visibly angry. First of all, this woman who had not shown the responsibility to care for her child had come and disrespected Daniel, who is caring very well for Holly, and broken their trust yet again. Second of all, while Daniel had taken Holly to a private doctor who was quite good, organized, efficient, and in an overall good situation, Holly’s birth mom brought him to the local public children’s hospital. It’s chaos there. We went and visited today, and the entrance was a mess, people everywhere waiting for slow service. Also, Holly doesn’t even have a room, because there aren’t any open, which means he’s in a large room, with a surface to sleep on, but it’s a hard surface, not a bed. He’s being cared for adequately, but had he been left with his new family, he would have been cared for just as well if not better, and under better conditions.
Besides being upset that his son (Daniel and Darling very much consider Holly and his brothers their sons, which they truly are), had been taken from him without a word, he also told me that the health care situation in Nicaragua always upset him. In the 1960s, 70s, and even into the 80s health care here was actually quite good, he told me. However in the 1990s, and recently, things have actually deteriorated, and the government has spent tons of money on failed projects, while apparently mostly ignoring health care.
It was sad for me to see the situation at the hospital, and what happened with Holly upset me as well. Holly, Axel, and Gerald have become as brothers to me, and not having Holly around last night and today was sad. Seeing Axel and Gerald visibly upset (crying at various points because they missed their brother and weren’t sure about the situation) hurt. Seeing how this woman (Holly’s birth mother) seems to be taking advantage of the situation was angering. When Daniel confronted her about this at the hospital, she said she could do what she wanted with the children because she hadn’t signed any document giving up any rights over them. This is true, she hasn’t singed any document, so legally she still has rights to them. This, as far as I can see, leaves the Aragon family in a tough spot. If they want her to give up her rights to the boys they can ask her to sign a legal document, but if she doesn’t want to there’s no way to pressure her to do so. It’s not like they’re going to say “If you don’t sign we won’t care for the boys.” They love these boys and will care for them no matter what.
I was going to continue on and share some thoughts about this situation specifically, as well as the general problem that I see, but it’s making me upset, so I’m not going to right now. However, I will say that seeing the way that Daniel and Darling care for these boys, how they’ve taken them in, and are fighting for the right to give them a good life, a solid education, and a Christian upbringing is inspiring. The love that this couple has for these boys, for the Church, the school, and the community, has been an inspiring example for me to see these past few weeks.
Asi fue, y Dios vio que todo lo que habia hecho estaba muy bien.
-Genesis 1:31
After going back down the trail, we headed up another trail to the ridge of another (this one inactive) volcano. It’s crater was filled with thick vegetation, and around the ridge was a nice trail, which we hiked. This one was 200 meters deep, and 600 meters in circumference. Walking around this volcano, and taking in the panoramic view it provided, was wondrous. A laguna lay not far away, and there was an even better view of Lake Nicaragua.
Imagining these volcanoes prior to their eruptions, and seeing pictures that had been drawn before the eruptions, put me in a state of awe at the force of nature. I’ve seen Mount St. Helens, and that was a huge eruption and destructive force, but this was different. It was different because here I could stand at the edge and look into the depths of where this eruption had come from. I could stand on top of the now much shortened mountain and imagine how high it had once risen, and how much mountain had been blown from its place in the eruption. Thinking about the power of nature, and that our God created and rules over all of it, makes me even more awestruck at the incredible power of our God and Creator. I truly am thankful for the opportunity to take in more of His beautiful creation in a setting very different from what I’m used to.
I also saw something today that angered me and hurt as well. Holly is one of the boys who Daniel and Darling recently adopted (4 months ago). His mother had basically abandoned him; while she was present, he was given very little care. He is 6 years old. Because of the lack of care he received prior to his coming to live here, he has a (suspected, though not yet confirmed) condition that causes him to bruise incredibly easily, which can also cause internal bleeding from even light contact. This past week it seemed worse than normal, so Daniel took him to the doctor. This morning he was to be brought in again for some blood tests. However, yesterday afternoon Holly’s birth mother came to his school as class was getting out, and without telling anyone or asking Daniel’s permission, took Holly, and brought him to the hospital. Apparently this is now the second time she’s come and taken him without permission or without even telling them. The first time she just wanted money. This time, while she may have done so out of legitimate concern, Daniel was still visibly angry. First of all, this woman who had not shown the responsibility to care for her child had come and disrespected Daniel, who is caring very well for Holly, and broken their trust yet again. Second of all, while Daniel had taken Holly to a private doctor who was quite good, organized, efficient, and in an overall good situation, Holly’s birth mom brought him to the local public children’s hospital. It’s chaos there. We went and visited today, and the entrance was a mess, people everywhere waiting for slow service. Also, Holly doesn’t even have a room, because there aren’t any open, which means he’s in a large room, with a surface to sleep on, but it’s a hard surface, not a bed. He’s being cared for adequately, but had he been left with his new family, he would have been cared for just as well if not better, and under better conditions.
Besides being upset that his son (Daniel and Darling very much consider Holly and his brothers their sons, which they truly are), had been taken from him without a word, he also told me that the health care situation in Nicaragua always upset him. In the 1960s, 70s, and even into the 80s health care here was actually quite good, he told me. However in the 1990s, and recently, things have actually deteriorated, and the government has spent tons of money on failed projects, while apparently mostly ignoring health care.
It was sad for me to see the situation at the hospital, and what happened with Holly upset me as well. Holly, Axel, and Gerald have become as brothers to me, and not having Holly around last night and today was sad. Seeing Axel and Gerald visibly upset (crying at various points because they missed their brother and weren’t sure about the situation) hurt. Seeing how this woman (Holly’s birth mother) seems to be taking advantage of the situation was angering. When Daniel confronted her about this at the hospital, she said she could do what she wanted with the children because she hadn’t signed any document giving up any rights over them. This is true, she hasn’t singed any document, so legally she still has rights to them. This, as far as I can see, leaves the Aragon family in a tough spot. If they want her to give up her rights to the boys they can ask her to sign a legal document, but if she doesn’t want to there’s no way to pressure her to do so. It’s not like they’re going to say “If you don’t sign we won’t care for the boys.” They love these boys and will care for them no matter what.
I was going to continue on and share some thoughts about this situation specifically, as well as the general problem that I see, but it’s making me upset, so I’m not going to right now. However, I will say that seeing the way that Daniel and Darling care for these boys, how they’ve taken them in, and are fighting for the right to give them a good life, a solid education, and a Christian upbringing is inspiring. The love that this couple has for these boys, for the Church, the school, and the community, has been an inspiring example for me to see these past few weeks.
Asi fue, y Dios vio que todo lo que habia hecho estaba muy bien.
-Genesis 1:31
Thursday, June 3, 2010
The Substitute Teacher
Today one of the high school teachers was sick, so rather than my usual task of assisting in teaching classes, I was given the opportunity to teach classes by myself. I taught 2 hours of English class to 8th grade, 1 hour of English to 10th grade, and then helped teach 2 hours of Social Studies to 9th graders. It was quite fun. I enjoyed teaching the students, and for what seemed like the first time since I’ve been here, they actually paid attention and did all of their work.
One thing that has been discouraging during my time here has been the lack of respect that the students give the teachers, and their general lack of interest in their studies. This isn’t to say that all of them lack respect or dedication, but many of them do. They routinely act way out of line in class, and repeatedly fail to complete assignments. Now I know that students in schools everywhere act out in class and don’t always pay attention or listen, but this goes beyond anything I’ve seen in any school before. For example, two days ago, during the final hour of the day, the entire 8th grade class decided not to go to class, that they’d rather stay outside and hang out. One of them even walked into the classroom, saw Reyna (the teacher) and I sitting there waiting for them, walked out and went back to socializing. Had this happened once I would’ve attributed it to simple acting out, but I was told that this had been happening repeatedly with this class.
I also realize that for many of these students completing their work at home can be challenging because of the lack of resources available to many of them. At the same time, most of these students don’t even try, and the teachers here do a good job of assigning work that the students should be able to complete without assistance. Even so, it is rarely done.
That being said, it was quite encouraging today to see that the students were actually paying attention and showing somewhat of an interest in what we were studying.
En el principio ya existía la Palabra; y aquel que es la Palabra estaba con Dios y era Dios. El estaba en el principio con Dios. Por medio de él, Dios hizo todas las cosas; nada de lo que existe fue hecho sin él. En él estaba la vida, y la vida era la luz de la humanidad.
- San Juan 1:1-4
One thing that has been discouraging during my time here has been the lack of respect that the students give the teachers, and their general lack of interest in their studies. This isn’t to say that all of them lack respect or dedication, but many of them do. They routinely act way out of line in class, and repeatedly fail to complete assignments. Now I know that students in schools everywhere act out in class and don’t always pay attention or listen, but this goes beyond anything I’ve seen in any school before. For example, two days ago, during the final hour of the day, the entire 8th grade class decided not to go to class, that they’d rather stay outside and hang out. One of them even walked into the classroom, saw Reyna (the teacher) and I sitting there waiting for them, walked out and went back to socializing. Had this happened once I would’ve attributed it to simple acting out, but I was told that this had been happening repeatedly with this class.
I also realize that for many of these students completing their work at home can be challenging because of the lack of resources available to many of them. At the same time, most of these students don’t even try, and the teachers here do a good job of assigning work that the students should be able to complete without assistance. Even so, it is rarely done.
That being said, it was quite encouraging today to see that the students were actually paying attention and showing somewhat of an interest in what we were studying.
En el principio ya existía la Palabra; y aquel que es la Palabra estaba con Dios y era Dios. El estaba en el principio con Dios. Por medio de él, Dios hizo todas las cosas; nada de lo que existe fue hecho sin él. En él estaba la vida, y la vida era la luz de la humanidad.
- San Juan 1:1-4
The Little Engine That Could
So we had a bit of an adventure tonight (Wednesday). After giving adult classes tonight, a group of us headed into Managua to hang out. The six of us drove to Metro Centro, which is a commercial center in Managua. We got there at around 8:45, and unfortunately almost everything was closed, so we decided to go somewhere else. Except there was a small problem…the car was having trouble. The cap on the engine coolant tank was broken, so it wasn’t able to contain the coolant (in this case water) to keep the engine cool. We messed around for a bit trying to figure out a way to make the cap stay on, but couldn’t come up with anything.
We had to make it home, so we made our way to the gas station across the street, filled up the coolant tank with water, as well as filling up two water bottles with water so that we could refill the coolant tank if necessary. We started making our way back to the house, carefully watching engine temperature gauge. Somehow, I’m guessing by the Grace of God, we made it back to Monte Hermon, the little car made it, and I am thankfully safely back at home.
Tu palabra es un lámpara a mis pies y una luz en mi camino.
- Salmo 119:105
We had to make it home, so we made our way to the gas station across the street, filled up the coolant tank with water, as well as filling up two water bottles with water so that we could refill the coolant tank if necessary. We started making our way back to the house, carefully watching engine temperature gauge. Somehow, I’m guessing by the Grace of God, we made it back to Monte Hermon, the little car made it, and I am thankfully safely back at home.
Tu palabra es un lámpara a mis pies y una luz en mi camino.
- Salmo 119:105
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Prayer Request
I’d like to ask you all to pray for the Aragon family. Darling, Daniel’s wife, is leaving tomorrow for Texas to be with her mother, who is quite sick. I’m not sure exactly what she is sick with, but it is bad enough that she received a call late Saturday night, and then made the decision to leave as soon as she could, which is Tuesday afternoon. I’m so appreciative of all the Doña Darling has done for me during my time here, she has done everything possible to make me feel like one of her own children. While saying goodbye tonight (she won’t return until after I’m back in Michigan) she told me that she considers me now part of her family, and that I am welcome in this house any time. Being part of the family, seeing Darling have to rush off to care for her mother is quite saddening. My prayers are with her and the rest of the family, and I ask that yours would be too. This family has done so much for me, the least I can do is share this prayer request.
No dejen ustedes de orar: rueguen y pidan a Dios siempre, guiados por el Espíritu. Manténganse altera, sin desanimarse, y oren por todo el pueblo de Dios.
- Efesios 6:18
No dejen ustedes de orar: rueguen y pidan a Dios siempre, guiados por el Espíritu. Manténganse altera, sin desanimarse, y oren por todo el pueblo de Dios.
- Efesios 6:18
Story Time
Today during class I heard a story which broke my heart. It began with a discussion on politics, which I found quite riveting. We talked about what the government did, what the purpose of government was, and how that was carried out. The students shared their opinions of Daniel Ortega, the current Nicaraguan President, and of the politics of the country, which were pretty much all negative. They also asked me a bit about US politics, so I was definitely enjoying class. Then we got to the topic of building/fixing relationships. It began because one of the girls accused Ortega of buying votes, while another pointed out the possibility that Ortega was simply trying to mend/build relations with the common people of the country. This led to a few girls sharing about reconciling relationships in their own lives.
Guadalupe, a 10th grader at Colegio Cristiano Monte Hermon, shared about how she would go about reconciling with her friends after fights, then went on to talk about struggles in her home, where her parents fight all the time if she’s not around. When she’s around they don’t fight, she told us, but if she leaves, the fighting begins. She also talked about how her mom was never home, gone before she got up in the morning, and not getting home until almost bedtime, and how they very rarely talked more than to just say hello. Her parents rarely ever asked her how she was doing, or took a whole lot of interest in what was going on in her life. After her sister got married at a young age Guadalupe said she felt basically alone in the world that was her home. School was one world, she said, work another world, and home a completely different world in which she felt alone most of the time. She and the other girls shared stories about problems in family life and in the relationships of their parents and relatives. A lot of it seemed to stem from poor communication, which they attributed at least partially to the fact that almost none of their parents had gone through much school at all, and few were Christians.
Hearing all this broke my heart…it also gave me hope. Hearing these girls talk about these struggles was painful, but the fact that they recognized these struggles, where the struggles came from, and how to truthfully deal with them in their own lives, gave me hope that they would not have the same struggles as their parents in their adult lives. Sure, most of them will probably struggle financially for part or most of their lives. However, many will not, thanks to the education they are receiving. Additionally, even if they struggle financially, they will be much better off in their relationships and lives as a whole, thanks to the knowledge and values they are gaining through constant attendance at school and church. The work that the church and school, led by Daniel’s family, in this community is incredible. I know that this is not the only place such work is going on, but I also know that if such work could be replicated in every community of the world, this planet would be much better off.
In order to effect changes for tomorrow, we need to guide and instruct those who will decide how “tomorrow” is carried out. For this to happen, those in a position to have influence must make sacrifices, as the Aragon family has in leading this community. This applies to politics, where leaders should hold the interests of their country above their own; economics, where business owners should keep in mind the well-being of the communities in which they operate; Churches, which must take advantage of the opportunity to reach out to the community in which they are placed, serving as a beacon of light in a dark world, and all other areas of life. May we seek to be the salt and light of the earth, just as we all are called.
“Ustedes son la sal de este mundo. Pero si la sal deja de estar salada, ¿cómo podrá recobrar su sabor? Ya no sirve para nada, así que se la tira a la calle y la gente la pisotea. Ustedes son la luz de este mundo. Una ciudad en lo alto de un cerro no puede esconderse. Ni se enciende una lámpara para ponerla bajo un cajón; antes bien, se la pone en alto para que alumbre a todos los que están en la casa. Del mismo modo, procuren ustedes que su luz brille delante de la gente, para que, viendo el bien que ustedes hacen, todos alaben a su Padre que está en el cielo.
- San Mateo 5: 13-16
Guadalupe, a 10th grader at Colegio Cristiano Monte Hermon, shared about how she would go about reconciling with her friends after fights, then went on to talk about struggles in her home, where her parents fight all the time if she’s not around. When she’s around they don’t fight, she told us, but if she leaves, the fighting begins. She also talked about how her mom was never home, gone before she got up in the morning, and not getting home until almost bedtime, and how they very rarely talked more than to just say hello. Her parents rarely ever asked her how she was doing, or took a whole lot of interest in what was going on in her life. After her sister got married at a young age Guadalupe said she felt basically alone in the world that was her home. School was one world, she said, work another world, and home a completely different world in which she felt alone most of the time. She and the other girls shared stories about problems in family life and in the relationships of their parents and relatives. A lot of it seemed to stem from poor communication, which they attributed at least partially to the fact that almost none of their parents had gone through much school at all, and few were Christians.
Hearing all this broke my heart…it also gave me hope. Hearing these girls talk about these struggles was painful, but the fact that they recognized these struggles, where the struggles came from, and how to truthfully deal with them in their own lives, gave me hope that they would not have the same struggles as their parents in their adult lives. Sure, most of them will probably struggle financially for part or most of their lives. However, many will not, thanks to the education they are receiving. Additionally, even if they struggle financially, they will be much better off in their relationships and lives as a whole, thanks to the knowledge and values they are gaining through constant attendance at school and church. The work that the church and school, led by Daniel’s family, in this community is incredible. I know that this is not the only place such work is going on, but I also know that if such work could be replicated in every community of the world, this planet would be much better off.
In order to effect changes for tomorrow, we need to guide and instruct those who will decide how “tomorrow” is carried out. For this to happen, those in a position to have influence must make sacrifices, as the Aragon family has in leading this community. This applies to politics, where leaders should hold the interests of their country above their own; economics, where business owners should keep in mind the well-being of the communities in which they operate; Churches, which must take advantage of the opportunity to reach out to the community in which they are placed, serving as a beacon of light in a dark world, and all other areas of life. May we seek to be the salt and light of the earth, just as we all are called.
“Ustedes son la sal de este mundo. Pero si la sal deja de estar salada, ¿cómo podrá recobrar su sabor? Ya no sirve para nada, así que se la tira a la calle y la gente la pisotea. Ustedes son la luz de este mundo. Una ciudad en lo alto de un cerro no puede esconderse. Ni se enciende una lámpara para ponerla bajo un cajón; antes bien, se la pone en alto para que alumbre a todos los que están en la casa. Del mismo modo, procuren ustedes que su luz brille delante de la gente, para que, viendo el bien que ustedes hacen, todos alaben a su Padre que está en el cielo.
- San Mateo 5: 13-16
Sunday, May 30
Mother’s Day here in Nicaragua. There was a big celebration at church this morning, and both of Daniel’s biological sons spent the day here, which was fun. Their little kids are a of fun as well, and seeing them hangout with Holly, Axel, and Gerald was fun. After lunch we had a nice lunch as a whole big family (Darling, Daniel’s wife, has begun introducing me as her new son). Then we hung out around the house, talked, ate dessert, etc.
This afternoon we went over to the soccer field (which is really a concrete basketball court which has goals at each end) and played soccer for awhile. On Sunday afternoon the church/school open up their field/court to the community. This not only makes for a fun time, but it also serves as a way to connect to those in the community who are not part of the church or school.
I’m excited for this coming week. We aren’t supposed to have as much rain, so we should have school more regularly. That should keep me busier and having more fun. Last week was fun, but after so much time around the house, it began to be a bit too much of the same. This week should bring more variety, and I’m excited to see what’s in store.
Así pues, no hay ninguna condenación para los que están unidos a Cristo Jesús, porque la ley del Espíritu que da vida en Cristo Jesús, nos libera de la ley del pecado y del la muerte.
- Romanos 8:1-2
This afternoon we went over to the soccer field (which is really a concrete basketball court which has goals at each end) and played soccer for awhile. On Sunday afternoon the church/school open up their field/court to the community. This not only makes for a fun time, but it also serves as a way to connect to those in the community who are not part of the church or school.
I’m excited for this coming week. We aren’t supposed to have as much rain, so we should have school more regularly. That should keep me busier and having more fun. Last week was fun, but after so much time around the house, it began to be a bit too much of the same. This week should bring more variety, and I’m excited to see what’s in store.
Así pues, no hay ninguna condenación para los que están unidos a Cristo Jesús, porque la ley del Espíritu que da vida en Cristo Jesús, nos libera de la ley del pecado y del la muerte.
- Romanos 8:1-2
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