IMPACT in Honduras

Several times I have mentioned IMPACT clubs. They are a major part of what I do. If I'm not in meetings or writing emails about the overall program structure or trying to figure out funding with other people, then I'm thinking about what we can do to strengthen our program here in Nicaragua, or I'm heading off to my club on Monday nights and trying to plan for what we'll talk about. What is IMPACT, you ask? Well, to make a long story short it is a program that was birthed in Romania and has made its way to Latin America with a focus on experiential learning through games and stories, and an emphasis on community service-learning projects for youth from 8-25 years old. Generally a club is 10-20 youth within the same 6 year age range. They meet weekly, bi-weekly or monthly, and they are a place for children and young people to be heard.

IMPACT clubs are a place for kids to learn but also for them to speak

Exactly a year ago, we received two wonderful young women from Romania to train a group of 30 people (some foreigners, the majority Nicaraguans) how to be mentors for IMPACT clubs. They taught us about the methodology of the clubs, the reasons the program was founded in Romania, how to play the games and engage the youth in reflecting about the games and themes in each lesson. It was a very full week, but we learned enough to get started. Nearly all of the communities involved in the Nehemiah Center's community development program started an IMPACT club. Some of the trained leaders started clubs in their churches or their own neighborhoods as well. To date, we have 6 clubs in Nicaragua.

Receiving IMPACT training last March

However, a year is a long time. And after Christmas break (some even before Christmas) the clubs have been faltering. Youth don't want to come anymore. Leaders are finding it difficult to put together their own lessons. We have lost our way a bit.

My IMPACT club from Nuevo Horizonte neighborhood at the end of August. Only one guy and the leaders are still coming every week

So I went to Honduras to see their program. You see, Romania's program arrived on Honduran soil about 6 years ago, and IMPACT has really taken off there. They have contextualized it and tweaked it and built a whole extensive program around it, but they still have clubs. In Honduras they focus exclusively on children from 10-15 years old at extreme risk for poverty, gangs, drugs, etc.

Acting out the story of the Good Samaritan from Luke 10

These clubs meet in community centers, in schools or churches, or even in the street. They pray, talk about the week, play a game, listen to a story, learn about a theme, hear a related Bible story, make a commitment to do something in the following week, and then have half an hour of time to play sports - usually soccer. They also get a snack somewhere at the end of the lesson.

Playing soccer at the end of the lesson - this club has the perk of being held in a recreation center

For me as an IMPACT mentor, it was great to see other leaders doing a lesson and also to see that just because kids don't seem focused or quiet or interested does not mean that they are not getting something. The most encouraging part of the visit was to know that I am not alone in my struggles with this program, and there are other people who have gone through similar experiences. Talking with other mentors renewed my determination to stick with this program, and they gave me good ideas for ways to engage the youth more.

One of the IMPACT mentors I met was giving the lesson

As a coordinator for the program, I also come away with next steps and areas to focus on. Hopefully in the future our program in Nicaragua can figure out how to blend the two approaches to IMPACT clubs together. There are all sorts of possibilities for the future. I'm just praying that the Lord will give me wisdom in how to guide the process forward, whom to include in the conversations, and His vision for the youth that we work with in the IMPACT clubs.

An IMPACT club in Honduras where the kids said their favorite part is learning about values 

Power of Pants

Never underestimate the power of a comfy pair of pants.

Like a good pair of jeans. You know the ones. They might be brand new, or well-worn, but I can assure you that you won't give them up until you're forced to because they absolutely don't fit at all anymore or they are shredding themselves into larger and larger holes. They are the jeans that you put on after a long day in slacks, or when you finally get to peel off the grubby work clothes. Those jeans that make you strut around like the best-looking person in the world even while you slum around on the couch. Those jeans.

They turn a bad day good. A tense body relaxes. The belt marks on the belly go away as you finally get freedom.You let your hair down, be yourself, enjoy yourself. Never underestimate the power of a good pair of jeans.

Or, those crazy hippy pants that have become popular. That material that caresses the skin and looks like pajamas but has somehow become acceptable in public. You can wear them slouchy or skinny. Pulled up under the knees or down by the ankles. Pants that are like a comfy hug. Regardless of how you feel about that style, the material on your legs is fantastic.

Of course, you can also wrap yourself in a cozy blanket. But here in León, Nicaragua, it's too warm for that. So pants it is.

Never underestimate the power of the pants. They can change your world.

P.S. If you were expecting rant about gender, that could work too. But tonight it's just about pants. that are comfortable.

#Thankyoutoday

During this time of Lent, it's easy to focus on giving up things. But what about giving away things? Isn't that really the point of Lent? Pope Francis has urged people to fast from indifference as we turn our hearts toward Christ's passion. Last year I was made aware of a group in the UK called Stewardship, and during Lent they encourage acts of generosity. In fact, I even already blogged about this idea ...here... This year again I'm receiving their daily email challenges to do an act of generosity each day of Lent.

My prayer for this forty days is: "teach me to live with open hands." This has been my prayer longer than this Lent period, but it is still relevant. When I think of living with open hands, I think of sharing freely. Letting go of my phone, my broom, my computer, my task list and being able to take someone else by the hand. If I open my hands, I let go of control, recognizing that I'm not in charge anyways. The idea of open hands teaches me to be less territorial, less driven, less tense. I doubt I'll learn the lesson before April 6. But it's still my prayer.

Open hands are also a gesture of receiving. When I open my palm, someone else can put something into it... a hand, a gift, a job, a kiss. And we all need to receive these good things. Thankfulness is one way that we can live openly. When we say thank you to someone else, we are recognizing them. We are opening ourselves up to them. We are acknowledging that we received something from them.

Dot Tyler, the writer for today's act of generosity, says:

We live in a world where it is all too easy to be overwhelmed by difficulties, our personal challenges or the news of a world that is broken and crying out for help. Thankfulness instils in us a gratitude for what we do have. The more we practise an attitude of gratitude, the more I think God inspires us to be generous and live for hope, choosing to defy the odds and believe that a better tomorrow is possible.
Today is not just another day; today is an opportunity to invest in thankfulness and be seekers of hope and positivity. With this in mind, let’s join together and…

And thank someone! Most importantly, God. Because all good gifts come from him. But thanking the Lord and neglecting the people around us is not enough. So today, a few of the things and people I am thankful for:

- I thank God for my family because they have raised me to seek Jesus in every part of my life, and they support me in whatever I feel like God is asking me to do. I can talk with them, cry with them, pray with them. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for modeling what it means to seek the Lord's will in your lives: work, play, family, church, everything. Thank you, Dirk, for being a brother who both annoys and supports. Without you, I don't know who I would fight with on lousy days or laugh with on good days. Thank you for being people I admire.

 - I thank God for my housemate, Kelsey. Even when her dumb cat wakes me up in the middle of the night or trips me trying to get attention. Kelsey, thanks for being someone I can rant to, bother, watch shows and movies with, confide in, and be there for.

- I'm thankful for the partnerships that I get to be a part of. Every visit with pastoral couples here in León or Chinandega, the week-long visits from people who live in Pella or Hamilton, the emails that fly between them when they are not together. I'm thankful that I get to see their enthusiasm, their joy, their struggles, and their desire to serve the Lord in their cities as well as collaborate across international borders. Thank you for being people who inspire me.

- I'm also thankful for the practice of fasting. The León pastors explained the Nicaraguan practice of fasting from food to me and how it's a scheduled, specific time of drawing apart here. They recommended it as the most effective spiritual discipline because it reminds us to depend on God. They encouraged me to try it even though I don't have much experience with fasting. I've read about and tried fasting before, but I never really know how to do it. However, with their encouragement, I'm exploring what it means to give up physical food and focus on the spiritual sustenance that the Holy Spirit can provide. I am thankful for this spiritual discipline, and for grace in knowing that change comes step by step.

When I take time to feed on the Word, pray with others, and dedicate time with God, I can be more generous and live with open hands because I know the One who is really in control. When I take time to thank God and others for their influence and involvement in my life, it gives life to them and to me. Thankfulness is an act of generosity with ourselves and others. Let's be catalysts of generosity today through our thankful attitudes.

Seasonal work

While some people are shivering in the cold North and envying the eternal heat of Nicaragua, they are also thanking the Lord that they come from a climate with four seasons.

Well, I'll tell you that people who say that Nicaragua does not experience seasons are propagating a myth. We have seasons, I tell you! There's the rainy season that starts around May, then the mid-winter sunshine that gives your clothes a chance to actually dry on the line in mid-July. Rain starts up again in August, but by now everything is bursting with color, flowers, mud, etc. At least the streets aren't flowing with the garbage build up of several months anymore. Around November, the rain stops coming every day, and in December and January the nights can get downright chilly. I'm talking hoodie weather if you have fully acclimatized! Then February comes with wind and heat, and you think that maybe you were Shadrach in a former life because it sure feels like a furnace, and the convection oven steam kicks in hotter and hotter through March and April until the rains come again in May. See? We definitely have seasons. Granted, the temperatures still range between 75-95 C all the time, but we will take what we get. 

In the midst of the cool nights turning to burning furnace weather comes another special season for the Nehemiah Center... TEAMS. They start arriving in January and don't let up until the end of March. Thankfully, I'm not involved in every team like some of my coworkers. I just deal with partnership teams, meaning we have some kind of relationship between North America and Nicaragua all year round, not just a yearly visit. 

Though teams are great fodder for blog material, they leave me so busy or exhausted that I don't have time or energy to write. Instead I hear the comments about whether or not I have left the country, been ill, or possibly even died. Well, that's what happens when I disappear for 10 days at a time with a group of strangers to take care of their details, translate, and help bridge gaps between the home and visiting teams. In the end, though, we're all players. (I wanted to say basketball, but that's just because I'm from Indiana. You can think of any sport you like.) 

Thankfully, I have fulfilled my team duties for the next month or so... I just have to prepare for one coming in March. They are another partnership team (really, those are the only teams I deal with if I can help it), and they were the first team I met last year when I came to Nicaragua. This is a partnership with churches in León, so I get to be on my home turf when they come.

Besides preparing for the next team, I've been sorting out visa issues, catching up on meetings and paperwork, and attending meetings. A lot of meetings have come up because I'm the main note-taker for the long-term strategic planning committee that is meeting now to determine the Nehemiah Center's direction for the next 5 years. We are also trying to get a hold of IMPACT club direction again. Some are struggling after the Christmas break (if they weren't struggling before!). So there are some projects which are consistent, but most of them have come upon me all at once. Oh well, when it rains, it pours. I guess I'll have to go find my umbrella or a good book to deal with the rainy days. Figuratively speaking, since it's quite dry and sunny here for the season. :)

The Wine of Brotherhood

For devotions I have been reading The Gospel in Solentiname, a redaction of small group discussions of the Catholic lectionary on a small island (Solentiname) in Nicaragua during the Somoza dictatorship in the 1970, written by Ernesto Cardenal. It has been great for me because I read the gospel reading in Spanish, and then the book that accompanies has been translated to English. The people apply the biblical story to their current situation, and because I know the history of Nicaragua well, I can identify what they are talking about as well as apply the gospel reading to my life now.

Yesterday morning, after being with a partnership team from Pella, Iowa in Chinandega, Nicaragua for a week, I read the comments on John 2:1-12 where Jesus turns the water into wine at a wedding. Many comments stuck out to me because they apply to my life now, too.

First, the people discussed Jesus' comment "Woman, why do you tell that to me? My hour has not yet come." The bishop, Ernesto Cardenal, commented that those words are equivalent to our "stop bugging me." Various people pointed out that Jesus may have been afraid. His true hour was his death on the cross, and a public miracle would start that process all the faster. Jesus was fully human, and he may have hesitated because he wasn't ready to suffer as the Messiah yet. It made sense to me because I have often wondered about that comment. As the group discussed fear of revolution and fighting for a new way, I thought of a discussion I had been part of at the Nehemiah Center regarding the next five years. We jokingly call the strategic plan "No fear," and it came up again in a meeting on Wednesday. People who do great things put themselves out there with big dreams and no fear of the ramifications. We as the Nehemiah Center need to launch ourselves as catalysts of change in the future, no holding back, afraid of the risk.

Then the discussion turned to Jesus' miracle of turning water into wine. One commented that it was interesting that Jesus "outed himself" at a wedding party, not waiting for something more serious. I laughed out loud when I read the next comment: "It must be to show us that liquor is good, and that people can be happy at a party. We see that Christ didn't think like the Protestants of the Church of the Nazarene, who say that it's a sin to drink or smoke or dance or sing..." We just talked about this with the Pella group because the evangelical church in Nicaragua still considers it a sin to drink or smoke or dance or play cards. Foreigners need to be sensitive about their witness here. On the other hand, we have a different example in Jesus.

Jesus used the water for purification to turn into wine, essentially saying that the cleansing ceremonies were not the main point. They were supposed to have a party together, with joyful, loving attitudes. When the Bible talks about abundance of wine, we get the sense of unity and joy that the Kingdom of God brings. The kingdom of God will not have quarrels and stabbings and drunken brawls, but it will be a kingdom where people unite in joy to celebrate what God has done. No one will be excluded or lonely or frustrated or oppressed. The wine of God will be a sign of the brotherhood that humanity shares.

I had the privilege of getting a taste of this loving unity the past week in Chinandega. 11 adults from Pella, some who had come before and some for the first time, stayed in Chinandega for a week. 5 churches from Chinandega have had a partnership with this group from Pella for the past five years or so. There was also a group of 10 high school students from Pella. The students stayed with families from a couple of the partner churches, and the five churches put together a soccer tournament, a one-day youth retreat, and a combined worship service. The adults participated with each church on a separate day, doing everything to jewelry-making and crafts to painting to pouring concrete to gardening. They shared with the pastors and church members, and then attended three of the five churches for worship services. The sense of unity and the Spirit's love was very strong the entire week. We have seen progress in the relationship between North and South as well as more collaboration among the Nicaraguan churches from different denominations. Glory to God!

This slow development came in some of the final comments on John 2 from the inhabitants of Solentiname. One woman said, "The joys of the world are best at first and afterwards they change into disappointments. With the joy that God gives it's just the opposite." This partnership between Pella and Chinandega has been in process for five years, and they are just starting to really feel connected and see fruit now. It may have been disappointing at first, but it is getting much, much better with age. And we know it will be even better in the future! Not only here in Nicaragua over the next few years, but when we are all gathered around the throne of God, praising him in various languages and songs, united with all the saints and angels.

One final comment sums it up well: "It seems to me that the joy of brotherhood, the perfect society that God is preparing for humanity, that's the great party. But the best wine of that party will be the last one: eternal life."

Last Official Day

Today, December 12, 2014, is officially my last day in the Cohort of Missioners. Guissell and I told Roberto we would not being doing any more work for him as Caminantes after 12 pm today.

Guissell and I this past week at her birthday party with our Nica friends

This past week, we have engaged in evaluations of the program, our work, personal reflections, and goodbye parties. It has been a time of critique, thanksgiving, surrendering, and celebrating. I'm thankful for my year in Nicaragua as a Caminante. There were ups and downs, struggles and victories, things to learn and things to teach... Thinking about life here when I entered the year and what it is now, there have been a lot of changes. I have forgotten some of my original ideals, but I have also grown in many ways.

The Caminantes: Adrianna, Mark, Guissell

I learned a lot. Originally I thought this would be an opportunity to learn more about how to BE than about what to DO. During the course of the year, I think I lost that focus. Nonetheless, being a Caminante has shaped who I am. It has taught me how to be and how not to be as well as giving me an answer for what to do.

Creative expression during a quiet time on our trip to Guatemala

I'm glad that I got a chance to return to Nicaragua. It was a dream come true, and I did not expect God to give me an answer to my prayers in a such a full way when I dredged up a goal for myself two years ago and "return to Nicaragua" surfaced. I have learned so much about myself, about working overseas, about Central America...

A mural imitating the Last Supper with the faces of martyrs in El Salvador at a Christian Base Community

Working in community development and church partnerships, I got to see a lot of different communities and learn a lot of ways people are trying to change their neighborhoods. For example, you see a lot of garbage in the streets of Nicaragua because people throw it wherever they want, and so others in the communities organize cleaning brigades. Developed, organized neighborhoods are often cleaner.

El Ojoche, a model community now for development strategies, has monthly cleaning days

I really like Nicaraguan food, especially gallo pinto, which is rice and beans stir-fried together, with a hot, fresh corn tortilla and salty white cheese. You can find this simple, filling meal in all sorts of street eateries and in most common houses. People walk up and down the streets, calling out that they are selling tortillas, vegetables, cooked beans, cheese, or whatever else. It's a game to understand what they are saying. Each vendor has a unique call.

Typical meal with gallo pinto and a taco with cabbage salad

When I leave Nicaragua, I will miss how simple it is to leave my house, get something to nibble, and sit in Central Park to watch the people go by. I enjoy my city of León, but I also like traveling to other parts of Nicaragua. It's really hot in León so I would often go three hours south to Diriamba to spend weekends with friends or my aunt and uncle on the farm. It is cooler in Diriamba, and there is more wind.

My friend, Marg, and I in Diriamba sharing our birthdays with Baked Alaska cake

As part of the Cohort of Missioners (Caminantes), I made some really good friends, especially my housemates, Guissell and Kelsey. Guissell and I had a connection from the beginning of my time in Nicaragua, and we were fellow Caminantes. Together we got to travel to Guatemala and El Salvador to see the context of other Cohort groups. We also worked on recommendations and policies for the future - along with Mark, the first participant in Nicaragua. As a special goodbye trip, Guissell and I got to go to Corn Island, off the coast of Nicaragua in the Caribbean Sea.

Kelsey, Adrianna, and Guissell on a roommate date

My favorite part of service in Nicaragua was working with pastors of different denominations and seeing them work together. I got to see this a little with ETU because there are leaders from various churches who work in neighborhoods with local leaders, but I saw it most clearly in church partnerships. Three pastoral couples in León started meeting regularly to share and pray for each other because they realized their partnership was not only with a church in Canada, but also with each other. Five churches in Chinandega planned activities together for their sister-church's visit from the US. My favorite moments come when they are talking and laughing together, being themselves with each other, before the Lord.

The pastors in León hanging out after a meeting together

How has Nicaragua been? Unforgettable. Life-shaping. An answer to prayer. A lesson I will continue to learn...

Rare gifts of Non-Sight

When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden before the fall of humanity, they enjoyed full fellowship with each other, God, and the creation. They were not torn apart by petty arguments, jealousies, or fears. They walked with God. They worked contentedly in the garden. They were naked and they were not ashamed.

The tree that is in my own garden

But when they decided they knew more than God and wanted to do things their way, things changed.

At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. (Genesis 3:7 New Living Translation)

Just before this moment, they were sharing things. Eve gave the forbidden fruit to Adam. They were open. Suddenly, they saw things differently, and they needed to cover themselves. Barriers, masks, evasion tactics.

Lobster crates waiting to work on Corn Island

Then God shows up, looking for them. First they hide, then they blame. More actions that alienate, that send others away, that break relationships. And they have to suffer the consequences. God tells them they will struggle in their work, in their families, in their relation to the creation, and they have to leave the place of his presence. They have chosen to go it alone, to distrust in a relationship of openness, to see things as good and evil.

Christmas decorations on Corn Island

We have continued to suffer the consequences ever since. Brokenness in the world results from our broken relationships. We are not at peace with each other, with God, with ourselves, or with the creation.


However, the Kingdom of God is coming, and is already here but not yet fully here. Sometimes we get glimpses of restored goodness. There are weddings and lifelong commitments to choose one person and say no to all the other options. There are towns where people plant trees and pick up garbage and walk instead of driving cars. There are people who have chosen to surrender to God and open the present of life he has for them. There are sinners who have chosen to forgive themselves, victims who choose to love their enemies, perpetrators who have repented. Restoration. Reconciliation. New perspectives.

Sometimes, as a signal of the Kingdom, God has given me the rare gift of non-sight. A connection with other people where I experience what unconditional love feels like. Thankfully, wonderfully, this has been happening more often as I get older. I share a connection with certain people that makes no sense. I hardly know them, and I love them. I have no basis for trust, yet I raise no barriers. Even after I know them, I accept them as they are without judgment or masks.

The Gigantonas wear a lot of masks and barriers as kids dance under the covering

I call it non-sight because 1) it would be awkward to call it "nakedness" and 2) I think of it as the gift of not seeing what's on the surface. I'm not thinking about the other people's experiences, their clothes, their personality. I'm just enjoying their essence. Bear with me. I'm not trying to be New Age, but I think this has a biblical basis considering the account of the fall. They were naked and unashamed, in fellowship. God lets us love others unconditionally when we stop hanging onto all the little things and appreciate them for who they are. The book the Shack, if I remember correctly, portrays people in heaven as blazes of light who exude joy, and they are familiar to us. That's the sort of connection God gifts me sometimes.

Connections with friends on our Cohort goodbye trip, left to right: Guissell and Kelsey, Adrianna and Dirk front

I have received this gift of connection twice in the past year. As I have been reflecting on my time in the Cohort of Missioners, I have been in awe of the way I entered this program. I came in January, joining a group of people that had been formed since September. I immediately loved them, connected with them, talked with them about the depths of my heart and how our experiences were affecting us. Guissell and I have talked about the mystery of our friendship. She usually takes a long time to warm up to people, and we were friends right away without awkwardness or evasion. With Mark, the other participant who has already left the program, I prayed and talked and laughed within the first month. The Tans were our guides, always available with open arms to give us what we needed. Relationships without barriers or distrust or evasion.

Recently, on the trip Cohort trip to El Salvador, I received the gift again. Despite the heartache and despair I witnessed and experienced, I also got to sit back and watch a group of 10 people interact. Some of them I knew very well, some I had met before, and some where complete strangers. However, I caught myself many times just grinning silly watching them talk, joke, lament (okay, I wasn't grinning while we lamented - but I still appreciated it) because I really enjoyed them. And I hardly knew them!

God must feel the same way about us - just enjoying us being us. And we are known very well by Jesus. I think this is why these gifts of unconditional love for others are precious but rare. We rarely take off our masks, leave down our barriers, enjoy others as they are. More often, we nitpick about their personality traits, analyze their words and actions for ulterior motives, balance them on the scales of worthiness. When we get the opportunity to accept, enjoy, and love them no matter what, that is a sign of full relationship, like in the Garden of Eden. Unconditional love is what lets us continue to enjoy them even after we get to know them better. I hope God continues to give me eyes to see what he sees, not seeing all the things I normally do but enjoying the blaze of light that is another person.

Guissell, Kelsey, Adrianna, and Dirk enjoying ourselves on our trip together