I serve a Great God, a Good Father, a Great Provider. Of course my biggest concern coming into missions was $$$. Will I have enough? I knew God will provide, but will He for me? That was the truest test in my mind whether it was His will for me to go/come. So here I am for five months and He has provided everyday. All my physical/material needs are more than adequately met. God has provided me with ministry partners whose generosity enables me to be in a beautiful place where I am getting to know some amazing kids (and adults too), and I periodically get to meet and work with beautiful members of the family of God who are always a big blessing to me spiritually, socially, and ministerially as they offer their labor in the garden. My work would be much more taxing on me if I didn't get teams to help carry out pending projects that require significant amounts of manual labor.
So I want to thank all the teams who have come from Wisconsin, Washington, D.C., Texas, Kentucky, New York, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Maine, Massachusetts, Ohio,and California.
I thank YWAM for Laura from England, Nelta from Haiti/North Carolina, and Adam from Alabama.
I also want to thank my generous sponsors who God has literally brought out of the woodwork and have become major sponsors, one of whom I have yet to meet. I also want to mention some new sponsors that have responded in a big way to help send the kids to a retreat at the end of this month.
Thank you John Wells of Massachusetts
Brian Stuart of Corona
Jerry and Juanita Allen
Gloria Lopez
Tommy and Erin Arzate
Rehel and Valentine Hinojosa
Laura and Alex Guillen
Mary Lou Ruiz
Roy and Sylvia Castro
Armando and Frances Arzate
Reynaldo and Silvia Garcia
Ivette Garcia
Marcelo and Nilsa Juarez
Danny and Marty Carillo
Michael and Leticia Ruiz
Gustavo Gonzalez and Consuelo Anaya
Jose and Mary Martinez and Family
Eric and Adriana Adams
Jeff and Pilar Olave
Alex and Veronica Cornejo Castro
Kitty Fortner
Mac and Eileen Galvan
Templo Calvario
this list will have to be added to, it's late and I need to get some sleep so that I get a good start to a new day.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
What a difference a day makes.
What kind of day will you have? It is up to you, at least if you are an independent adult, what kind of day, what kind of life you will have. I just reread my last post and was at first a bit embarrassed. I sounded so negative. What can I say? I was having a real tough weekend. Can't believe how many grammatical errors I made. You know I had to be off (Mari, I know you were worried. Please pray that it doesn't happen again.) Anyway, no more rash, just a little but it is mostly gone. Turns out the banana-flavored Ketotefine, or whatever it's called, must have helped. I went on-line to see what it is and found out it is used for child asthmatics, but apparently it works great on skin allergies too. I just want to publicly thank God and pharmaceutical companies for good medicines and itch-free skin.
So back to your day. How is it? How will it go? Tonight was Family Night at CICRIN. Hellen, the director is in Costa Rica taking care of personal business so I led the Bible study. We read from James 4:13-17. The point of the passage is to not to carelessly plan your life out when you don't even know if you will live to see next week. We are supposed to seek God's will to be done in our lives as we think about the future. So I asked the kids, "What would you do if you knew tomorrow was your last day to live?" Again, for the most part we decide what kind of life we're going to live, what kind of day we're going to have. Most of the kids said, 'Arrepentirse--repent'. I was disappointingly surprised. Why repent when you're already saved, or supposedly saved? Others answered generally about making amends, visiting family, taking care of business, behaving so God would let them into Heaven (Heaven should be capitalized!) Again, I was worried about their thinking. Some made some real thoughtful statements about just enjoying the day because their lives should already be in order and they should not spend their last day scrambling to make it into Heaven. Doña Dalila said we should live our lives being prepared for our last day of life. She said we should take advantage of our time to use it wisely to enjoy every aspect of life. But of course, she emphasized putting God first to do things right. To the one who said she wanted to live right and be right by others but always couldn't because her good intentions weren't reciprocated I suggested that her behavior and conduct should not be controlled how others behave. To the one who said he would behave I recommended he spend his last day finding out the truth about how to get into Heaven. To the one who wanted to make sure she repented because if she had any unrepentant sin remaining at the deadline she would go to hell I explained God was not a callous judge clenching his palms just waiting for the chance to reject unaware Christians that had unknowingly failed His perfect performance evaluation.
In closing I told all of them that if they had all these issues that are apparently pending in their lives, why wait until they think they're going to die to settle them? Why not do these things tonight, tomorrow? I explained that they are not truly living a free life if there are people they need to talk to, people they need to apologize to, people they need to forgive. I explained that until they do they are not living a full life. To begin the lesson I told them that we are a group of young people, although I definitely an outlier I am still young. They have their whole lives ahead of them. Yet, according to the Word all our lives are but brief vapors, like a blade of grass, a flower who is here today and tomorrow leaves no mark of it's previous existence. So the point is God wants us to make the most of our lives in Him! And we can't have a great life in relation with Him if we live our lives bound in guilt, bound by pride, unable to humble ourselves and make right with those whom we have offended or hurt, or to confront someone for that matter who has done us wrong, but with the sincerest intention of forgiving and releasing so that both they and the other(s) can be free to walk with God (and live with themselves). That's true love. That kind of love is possible with God. He is Love and He fills us with that love if we ask. He promises us that whatever we ask, according to His will, He will freely give it. I know that this is His will. We cannot walk with Him with any degree of depth if we are filled with hate, anger, bitterness, hardness of heart, sin, selfishness, this list can go on for too long. Why not just throw all that junk away and instead just make room for love, all the rest of the goodies will be added with just this first ingredient--indeed they are all part of this one ingredient. So I need to take my own advice and really be careful about what kind of day I am going to have tomorrow. I will not be negative, impatient, judgmental, cynical, too careful. I will be more loving, more understanding, more empathetic, more concerned, more patient, more HUMBLE. Life is amazing, I hope we all live it to the fullest extent that God intended.
EVERY DAY.
So back to your day. How is it? How will it go? Tonight was Family Night at CICRIN. Hellen, the director is in Costa Rica taking care of personal business so I led the Bible study. We read from James 4:13-17. The point of the passage is to not to carelessly plan your life out when you don't even know if you will live to see next week. We are supposed to seek God's will to be done in our lives as we think about the future. So I asked the kids, "What would you do if you knew tomorrow was your last day to live?" Again, for the most part we decide what kind of life we're going to live, what kind of day we're going to have. Most of the kids said, 'Arrepentirse--repent'. I was disappointingly surprised. Why repent when you're already saved, or supposedly saved? Others answered generally about making amends, visiting family, taking care of business, behaving so God would let them into Heaven (Heaven should be capitalized!) Again, I was worried about their thinking. Some made some real thoughtful statements about just enjoying the day because their lives should already be in order and they should not spend their last day scrambling to make it into Heaven. Doña Dalila said we should live our lives being prepared for our last day of life. She said we should take advantage of our time to use it wisely to enjoy every aspect of life. But of course, she emphasized putting God first to do things right. To the one who said she wanted to live right and be right by others but always couldn't because her good intentions weren't reciprocated I suggested that her behavior and conduct should not be controlled how others behave. To the one who said he would behave I recommended he spend his last day finding out the truth about how to get into Heaven. To the one who wanted to make sure she repented because if she had any unrepentant sin remaining at the deadline she would go to hell I explained God was not a callous judge clenching his palms just waiting for the chance to reject unaware Christians that had unknowingly failed His perfect performance evaluation.
In closing I told all of them that if they had all these issues that are apparently pending in their lives, why wait until they think they're going to die to settle them? Why not do these things tonight, tomorrow? I explained that they are not truly living a free life if there are people they need to talk to, people they need to apologize to, people they need to forgive. I explained that until they do they are not living a full life. To begin the lesson I told them that we are a group of young people, although I definitely an outlier I am still young. They have their whole lives ahead of them. Yet, according to the Word all our lives are but brief vapors, like a blade of grass, a flower who is here today and tomorrow leaves no mark of it's previous existence. So the point is God wants us to make the most of our lives in Him! And we can't have a great life in relation with Him if we live our lives bound in guilt, bound by pride, unable to humble ourselves and make right with those whom we have offended or hurt, or to confront someone for that matter who has done us wrong, but with the sincerest intention of forgiving and releasing so that both they and the other(s) can be free to walk with God (and live with themselves). That's true love. That kind of love is possible with God. He is Love and He fills us with that love if we ask. He promises us that whatever we ask, according to His will, He will freely give it. I know that this is His will. We cannot walk with Him with any degree of depth if we are filled with hate, anger, bitterness, hardness of heart, sin, selfishness, this list can go on for too long. Why not just throw all that junk away and instead just make room for love, all the rest of the goodies will be added with just this first ingredient--indeed they are all part of this one ingredient. So I need to take my own advice and really be careful about what kind of day I am going to have tomorrow. I will not be negative, impatient, judgmental, cynical, too careful. I will be more loving, more understanding, more empathetic, more concerned, more patient, more HUMBLE. Life is amazing, I hope we all live it to the fullest extent that God intended.
EVERY DAY.
Monday, April 19, 2010
I SEE THE LIGHT, DO YOU?
These are the days you know you can't escape. Being on the mission field is not supposed to be easy by any accounts. It all started last Saturday. I have slowly been redeveloping the heat rash I had gotten at the beginning of my stay here in Nicaragua. Now it's back again. This time mostly on my legs, particularly around my knees. There is just no convenient place to get a rash. As I write this piece my ankles will not stop itching. It seems like there is hardly anything there but the more I scratch the more it itches. Hydro-cortisone cream is a joke. It has never worked for me. I just stared at the doctor today as she prescribed it for me. I reminded myself I could not lose my testimony over a tube of cream. I waited for two hours in the sweltering heat of the waiting room as I watched the intense sunlight of the Nicaraguan sun pouring through the door. The view of the coconut palm outside in the distance did not provide any sense of being in a tropical paradise. Two hours later I had prescriptions for hydro-cortisone cream 1%, prednisone 50 mg, and some banana flavored syrup called ketotifeno. I already was self-medicating with the first two. I hope the syrup makes me sleepy like she said. In fact I know it will. I tried it when I got home and I crashed in a hammock after dinner. I hope I can make it last until this rash is gone. Why didn't she just give me the cortisone I.V. like the last doctor did that I told her about the last time I was there.
Well, to go on with the rest of why these are The Days Like These Would Come. So back to Saturday, it all started out like normal. A slightly warm morning that I know will grow into a hot and sunny day. I, Jimmy, Darel and the YWAM team took the ferry to Rivas to buy paint for art projects around the grounds. The ferry was packed as if it was evacuating the island. I looked back at the volcano to be sure we hadn't missed a warning siren. Nope, no smoke or ash. So we're out in the lake and I look outside and I see a swarm of gnats hovering over one of the trucks in back. I thought it was an isolated incident. Later I found out that the annual swarm is on. By the time we get back to CICRIN there are gnats everywhere. My room is filled with hundreds of dead gnats and they smell like dead fish. I mopped and cleaned and it still has a slightly fishy smell. So my room besides always being hot now smells like a can of cat food. Back to Rivas. I don't understand how or why the Spaniards chose to found Rivas where they did. I guess I would say that about most of the cities here. What could they do. It's hot everywhere. I would have just made it one block wide and clinging to the entire lake shore. Well, a trip to Rivas is the same as working in the fields all day. By the time you get back to the island with all your purchases you are dripping with sweat, thirsty, exhausted, deranged, and wanting a shower. To add to this all the sweating exacerbated my rash and now it's moved to the next level. I don't want to wear clothes; not an option. I hardly slept that night. The electricity keeps going out so the fan stops. I can't be in my room without a fan so I walk outside in the middle of the night several times. Needless to say I had little sleep. In the morning I could not eat breakfast from the heat and lack of sleep. I changed pants twice to find the coolest ones and for the first time I didn't wear shoes. I don't care if they judge me or I cause someone to stumble, I wasn't about to put shoes on too. I wore chanclas. Probably the first brown-skinned man to do so in that church. I guess it didn't phase anyone. I also slept through part of the sermon. I couldn't fight the heat and lack of sleep. Back to the orphanage; back to the sayules (gnats) and the heat. This had to be the hottest evening of the year. I helped Hellen set up a Pay Pal account in here air-conditioned office. I decided I wanted to spend the rest of my time in Nicaragua in that office. I forgot to mention that there were hundreds of sayules in the office. They were on the computer screen, covering the desk (I kept blowing them off onto the floor) and continually pouring in through the a/c vent--seeking the light too. There is so much spiritual parallelism going on here that I fail to mention. The sayules are seeking the light. They are a pestilence and they swarm in with you whenever you open a door-or a window. Earlier in the day while I was pacing the rancho trying to find the coolest place with the least amount of sayules I kept thinking, but this is God's creation in action. These little gnats are glorifying God in a way that I am unable to appreciate. I see that they demonstrate is power to mass produce life. They drop dead by the hundreds every minute that they're on the move. Such an insignificant creature. Such a successful creature. God is so good. I'm told that when the sayules come they stay for a while, a temporada, at least until it rains. That night it poured. He does answer my prayers. I have been praying for the early rains. You don't know what it meant to me to not have to irrigate that day. It's not as easy as just turning on the faucet. We didn't work very long today. Until this rash goes away I have to try to sweat as little as possible--I know, what a joke. Still, with the itching and the sweating, and the renewed appearance by the white fly once again attacking our garden I have to say I am greatly blessed. If my biggest complaint is I itch, I have no problems. Even though I was seriously contemplating making this a five months on-five months off missionary life just yesterday. The best part, the sayules are gone. No gnats in my teeth, covering my white tank top, in my coffee, in my eyes. I don't know if they will come back, but I don't think so. I just stepped outside to give Magdaleno, the night watchman a cup of coffee, and the night sky repeatedly lights up from a distant storm. It is quickly moving towards us. I hope it pours again tonight. Insurance that the sayul swarm is over for this year. I'm told that they are followed by swarms of leaf-cutter ants, the ones you see creating trails of green in the rain forest documentaries, and finally by thousands of frogs once the rains are regular. Bring them on. I already know I have the privilege of praising God for being able to witness some of His spectacles of nature, even if they resemble the plagues of Egypt.
Last night before it rained, I stood outside the first time the electricity went out. For the first time this year I saw the fireflies signaling each other above the tallest trees. Again, God shows His symbolic glory through His 'insignificant' creatures. Their flickering now reminds me that His light will always shine through the darkness. Their appearance immediately before the first rain storm of the season seems to remind us that His light comes before the storm. I didn't know it was going to rain last night. It's a good thing to take notice of His light before the storms hit.
Well, to go on with the rest of why these are The Days Like These Would Come. So back to Saturday, it all started out like normal. A slightly warm morning that I know will grow into a hot and sunny day. I, Jimmy, Darel and the YWAM team took the ferry to Rivas to buy paint for art projects around the grounds. The ferry was packed as if it was evacuating the island. I looked back at the volcano to be sure we hadn't missed a warning siren. Nope, no smoke or ash. So we're out in the lake and I look outside and I see a swarm of gnats hovering over one of the trucks in back. I thought it was an isolated incident. Later I found out that the annual swarm is on. By the time we get back to CICRIN there are gnats everywhere. My room is filled with hundreds of dead gnats and they smell like dead fish. I mopped and cleaned and it still has a slightly fishy smell. So my room besides always being hot now smells like a can of cat food. Back to Rivas. I don't understand how or why the Spaniards chose to found Rivas where they did. I guess I would say that about most of the cities here. What could they do. It's hot everywhere. I would have just made it one block wide and clinging to the entire lake shore. Well, a trip to Rivas is the same as working in the fields all day. By the time you get back to the island with all your purchases you are dripping with sweat, thirsty, exhausted, deranged, and wanting a shower. To add to this all the sweating exacerbated my rash and now it's moved to the next level. I don't want to wear clothes; not an option. I hardly slept that night. The electricity keeps going out so the fan stops. I can't be in my room without a fan so I walk outside in the middle of the night several times. Needless to say I had little sleep. In the morning I could not eat breakfast from the heat and lack of sleep. I changed pants twice to find the coolest ones and for the first time I didn't wear shoes. I don't care if they judge me or I cause someone to stumble, I wasn't about to put shoes on too. I wore chanclas. Probably the first brown-skinned man to do so in that church. I guess it didn't phase anyone. I also slept through part of the sermon. I couldn't fight the heat and lack of sleep. Back to the orphanage; back to the sayules (gnats) and the heat. This had to be the hottest evening of the year. I helped Hellen set up a Pay Pal account in here air-conditioned office. I decided I wanted to spend the rest of my time in Nicaragua in that office. I forgot to mention that there were hundreds of sayules in the office. They were on the computer screen, covering the desk (I kept blowing them off onto the floor) and continually pouring in through the a/c vent--seeking the light too. There is so much spiritual parallelism going on here that I fail to mention. The sayules are seeking the light. They are a pestilence and they swarm in with you whenever you open a door-or a window. Earlier in the day while I was pacing the rancho trying to find the coolest place with the least amount of sayules I kept thinking, but this is God's creation in action. These little gnats are glorifying God in a way that I am unable to appreciate. I see that they demonstrate is power to mass produce life. They drop dead by the hundreds every minute that they're on the move. Such an insignificant creature. Such a successful creature. God is so good. I'm told that when the sayules come they stay for a while, a temporada, at least until it rains. That night it poured. He does answer my prayers. I have been praying for the early rains. You don't know what it meant to me to not have to irrigate that day. It's not as easy as just turning on the faucet. We didn't work very long today. Until this rash goes away I have to try to sweat as little as possible--I know, what a joke. Still, with the itching and the sweating, and the renewed appearance by the white fly once again attacking our garden I have to say I am greatly blessed. If my biggest complaint is I itch, I have no problems. Even though I was seriously contemplating making this a five months on-five months off missionary life just yesterday. The best part, the sayules are gone. No gnats in my teeth, covering my white tank top, in my coffee, in my eyes. I don't know if they will come back, but I don't think so. I just stepped outside to give Magdaleno, the night watchman a cup of coffee, and the night sky repeatedly lights up from a distant storm. It is quickly moving towards us. I hope it pours again tonight. Insurance that the sayul swarm is over for this year. I'm told that they are followed by swarms of leaf-cutter ants, the ones you see creating trails of green in the rain forest documentaries, and finally by thousands of frogs once the rains are regular. Bring them on. I already know I have the privilege of praising God for being able to witness some of His spectacles of nature, even if they resemble the plagues of Egypt.
Last night before it rained, I stood outside the first time the electricity went out. For the first time this year I saw the fireflies signaling each other above the tallest trees. Again, God shows His symbolic glory through His 'insignificant' creatures. Their flickering now reminds me that His light will always shine through the darkness. Their appearance immediately before the first rain storm of the season seems to remind us that His light comes before the storm. I didn't know it was going to rain last night. It's a good thing to take notice of His light before the storms hit.
Monday, April 5, 2010
God's creation is so full of amazing blessings to enjoy!
After an initial failure with our red beans, which were decimated by the dreaded white fly,CICRIN is enjoying a bumper crop of delicious produce in our year-round summer garden. Take a look:
Site of first planting beds with inter-crops of beets/carrots and cilantro/garlic under shade cloth followed by tomatoes and cabbage, ending with a row of cucumbers.
Ayote squash come in different shapes and sizes.
Cristian and I smile for the camera while watering and harvesting Pipián squash.
CICRIN's first sunflowers and zinnia bed
From left to right: Ayote, Pipián, cucumbers, cashew fruit, radishes, beets, yard long beans, and more ayote underneath.
I used the ayote to make a delicious ayote bread using Paula Deen's zucchini bread recipe. I have also learned to make a good thirst-quenching drink using limes and cucumbers. The boys twist off the seeds at the end of the red and yellow cashew fruits and roast them over fire to eat the cashew inside. We also make a drink from the fresh fruit. Because it is related to mangoes(and poison oak it does make your throat a little scratchy. I also made my squash and corn casserole and they all loved it. They want me to make it again.
It is a great blessing to be able to grow all of the beautiful AND delicious fruits and vegetables God created. Every time we sit down to eat we should be filled with wonder at the miracle of His glorious creation.
Friday, April 2, 2010
A 6-shower day
It's just as they told me when I got here in November. Semana Santa is the hottest time of the year. Yesterday I took four official showers in my room and one with the hose when I was watering seedlings and one at the lavandero when I was washing my clothes. It's a strange heat. It's not as hot as it gets in California, but it is an all-consuming heat that seems to cause everything to be the same temperature. There are no 'cool' spots. The rancho is the most comfortable place to be because it always seems to have a breeze flowing through it. But when the wind stops I realize that the heat is always there. It's not a heat that hits you in the face when you step outside. It's a slow, building warmth that starts from the inside out. This land never really experiences cold weather so the soil really never cools off. Consequently, it acts like a brick in a warm oven that slowly releases the day's heat of the sun in a cycle that has probably gone on since the last ice age.
A couple of nights ago the unthinkable happened. The electricity went out. My fan stopped. Again, the air wasn't hot, or even warm. But slowly, surely I began to warm. The collected heat of thousands of years of warm days, one after another, began to build and permeate every object, including me. Soon my body was covered in a thin layer of sweat. I left my door unopened to hopefully alleviate the stuffiness, the phantom heat. It helped a little, but I got very little sleep that night. Next time I'm going to hang in a hammock in the rancho--hopefully that night will never come.
A couple of nights ago the unthinkable happened. The electricity went out. My fan stopped. Again, the air wasn't hot, or even warm. But slowly, surely I began to warm. The collected heat of thousands of years of warm days, one after another, began to build and permeate every object, including me. Soon my body was covered in a thin layer of sweat. I left my door unopened to hopefully alleviate the stuffiness, the phantom heat. It helped a little, but I got very little sleep that night. Next time I'm going to hang in a hammock in the rancho--hopefully that night will never come.
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