Vacation Days

In Nicaragua, they take the Holy Week seriously. It's the main vacation for most people. In other holidays, people visit family or stay at home, but during Holy Week, most of the country heads for the beach. So that's exactly what I did, too, with a bunch of other people connected to the Christian Reformed Church and working in Central America.

We spent four days at the beach near Managua. Believe it or not, the beach was empty. Nicaragua has been experiencing a series of earthquakes, so the country was on red alert. Most people stayed home last week, fearing for their houses or fearing a tsunami at the beach. Our group continued on as normal, but we paid attention to the news.

I took long walks on the beach with friends.

Some of us stayed up late to watch the lunar eclipse and see the Blood Moon. I've decided that I'm too old to stay up until 2 am, but it was fun to see the moon on fire.

We had several good reflections and exegesis on Romans from a Canadian theologian. She helped me reflect on the stories of Israel, Rome, and the lives of the Roman Christians. It was a good time of learning and fellowship with fellow Christians.

Then I went with the new family to visit friends in the cool climes south of Managua called Diriamba. We spent a few days eating leaves, taking walks, touring farms and gardens, and enjoying life together. 

Friday we returned to León to see the sawdust murals they make in the streets to celebrate Good Friday. Artists put frames outside of their houses, make a bed of sawdust and sand, and then put colored sawdust and other materials on the base to depict a scene from the Bible or Nicaragua. There were some really creative depictions. I enjoyed seeing all the different materials that people used, including flour, rice, sea salt, beans, corn husks, and more.It was nice to spend the afternoon with the new family in León and some other friends we had made at the spiritual retreat who were visiting from Managua.

Saturday was an early morning because my host family and I went to their church service at 4:30, and then we went on a church outing 2.5 hours northeast to a cloud forest called Selva Negra, near Matagalpa. When we got there, I wished I had worn more than my lightweight long-sleeved shirt! But soon I was warm again because we hiked around the mountain there. We heard monkeys, but we never got to see one.

Then we went down from the mountain to explore the central park of Matagalpa. My family and I had a picnic in the park, and then we walked around a little. We'd hardly gotten started exploring when we got a call that everyone else was bored and wanted to go home, so we got back on the bus to León. We were all pretty tired that night!

Easter Sunday started before the sun for us because I went with my host family to church at 4:30 again. Then I went for a run in the early morning sun, took a nap, and went to church at my church, Promesa at 10. The rest of the day was spent relaxing, hanging out with my family, and getting my batteries recharged. I was thankful for a restful day after a busy but fun week!

Daily Bread

Lately, I have been feeling a little overwhelmed by all the things on my plate. This past week, I went to Managua three days in a row for different reasons. They were good reasons, don't get me wrong. There was a baby shower on Tuesday, and I spent the night with a friend. Then I returned to León on Wednesday with a new family that has just moved to Nicaragua as partner missionaries. Thursday I returned to Managua for a meeting with Missionary Ventures International about IMPACT Clubs. I decided to write out all the stuff that's going on for me lately:

This coming week looks just as crazy. Monday in Managua for meetings at the Nehemiah Center. Tuesday to Managua for Cohort related stuff, helping Josiah, the husband of the new family, drop off Gordon and Peggy before they go on a trip for their anniversary. Wednesday I go to Chinandega for a church partnership meeting. Thursday I'm in charge of logistics for the biblical worldview trainings we have every week for a group of 13 churches who will be part of the second phase of ETU, our community development program. Friday, back to Chinandega because I'm in charge of the logistics for the domestic violence training that ETU is starting there this week. Saturday we're off to Managua for a Christian Reformed Church spiritual retreat for several days.

Considering my schedule over the past few weeks and the work that is ahead of me, I feel intimidated, like I put on a "shirt 11 yards wide" (as the saying is in Nicaragua). In church this morning, I brought this mental list before God and asked for Him to work through me. The sermon was about living as children of the king, with all the privileges of royalty because God is taking care of us. Then the pastor invited us to the front to be changed people. It was a struggle for me, but I finally joined the rest of the congregation (about 40 people) at the front of the room. And that's when I asked God to help me love in a ridiculous, outrageous fashion. I asked Jesus to help me give away my power and empty myself of any illusion of control. I asked the Holy Spirit to dwell in me richly. But they were just words, a prayer. I didn't feel a big change, I didn't cry or speak in tongues or anything.

Then we shared communion. The Lord's Supper has always been a powerful sign for me, and its power continues to grow for me the longer I get to partake in this sacrament. Today was the first time I got to celebrate communion with my Nicaraguan church. I think it was the first time I've had communion since coming to Nicaragua.

It brought me to tears.

Communion today was a beautiful sign and reminder that God fills me up. He is the one who gives me strength to continue, grace to extend, wisdom to act or refrain. By eating the bread and drinking the juice in remembrance of Christ's sacrifice for me, I was filled. In the midst of all my irons burning around me, the Lord calmed me and strengthened me through the simple act of eating a cracker and taking a drink of juice. I am in awe of how God answers my prayers in the best ways.

International Partnerships

A week ago, I was in Guatemala City, Guatemala. I was being overwhelmed by the mountains, the cool weather, the development-look of the place, the slum houses built into the hills, all of it. Still Central America, but very different from what I've been living in Nicaragua. Hot water was normal. Drinking water from the tap was not. For the first time in months, I wasn't sweating all the time, and I got to put on a sweatshirt and feel comfortably cold. It was lovely.

In our four days in Guatemala City visiting our fellow Cohort group hosted by Center for Transforming Mission, we accompanied our Guatemalan counterparts in their ministries and exploration of Guatemalan history and culture. They tried to show Mark, Guissel, Gordon, Peggy, and me what it meant to live in the capital city and experience it as classroom, parish, and playground. The Guatemalan arm of the network that is called the Cohort of Missioners seeks to listen to and learn from their cultural context with this in mind: the world is classroom, parish, and playground.

After Guissel's first flight ever (if you thought flying was fun, it's even better to sit next to someone who has never flown before and likes it!), we arrived at the airport, went to lunch at a place that seemed fancy to me and normal to the chapines (nickname of Guatemalans). In the afternoon we visited a ministry called Ciudad Esperanza (City Hope). They provide an after-school program and food to kids in Zone 18 of the city, where gangs are an active problem.

(The Guate Cohort members minus one, plus a kid from Sonrisas)

Saturday we went to a ministry in a park for kids and their mothers who work in the cemetery. It's called Sonrisas (smiles) because it was founded in a place of tears. We joined them for a snack and learning Bible verses.

(Walking around in the center plaza)

 In the afternoon we went on a historical, cultural tour of the center plaza. We visited the place where a bishop was murdered and talked about Guatemala's armed conflict (really a civil war, but terminology matters) and need for reconciliation. It was humbling to stand on the pavement, looking at a park, and realizing that a man's blood had been wiped up where my feet were.


(The site of the bishop's murder and the plaque commemorating his life and death)

Sunday was a day of church services. We visited a mega-church, the largest in Central America with a building that seemed more like an airport and capacity for 10,000 people at least. Then we went to a small church pastored by the family of the Cohort participants. We got to see Andrés leading the singing and meet his family. After lunch, we visited Ciudad de Refugio (City of Refuge), a community house and church with 30 people living as part of a big, extended family of God. Talk about city as parish!

(The megachurch Casa de Dios, during and after the service)

Monday we went to Limonada, a slum area with gang violence and poverty alongside hope and a school network. We visited houses as part of a group, praying for people and reading the Bible with them as well as hearing their stories. We spent the morning in La Limonada, trailing our Guate cohorts as they connected with the people around them. In the afternoon, we returned to the ministry offices to have a debrief meeting and talk about how we can work together in the future.

(We ordered a pizza that measured 1 meter!)

It was a good trip of getting to know each other over 4 days. Our fellow Cohort members gave us suggestions for where to spend our three free days, and we enjoyed a night and day with the Bacon-Avila family in Quetzaltenango/Xela, a night in Panajachel on Lago Atitlán, and an afternoon walking around Antigua before we flew back to Nicaragua early Friday morning.

(Enjoying fruit smoothies by Lago Atitlán)

León welcomed us back with suffocating heat, cold showers, and drinkable water. It was good to be back with my family, in my own room, knowing my own schedule after two weeks of being away (I'MPACT Club training in Managua and then the Cohort trip to Guatemala). I spent Sunday afternoon chatting with my parents on the phone, giving myself a pedicure, and slicing fresh mangos.

(Exploring ruins of an old convent in Antigua)

It feels good to be back, but it's also good to know we're not alone in this Cohort endeavor. Now we know people trying to carry out the same vision of community development, spiritual formation, and intentional living among North Americans and Central Americans. We are more aware of their situation, and they know more about ours. We can support each other as we walk alongside the least, the last, and the lost in Nicaragua and Guatemala.