I have been reading a devotional book called Free to Pray, Free to Love by Max Oliva. I was reading the chapter on Putting on the Mind and Heart of Christ talking about as one grows closer to Christ ¨we should see the world through his eyes, hear through his ears and feel with his heart¨. Basically, if we are not seeing others in this way we are not growing in Christ because the more we grow in him, our world perception should change. I Corinthians 12:26&27 says, ¨if one part suffers, all parts suffer with it and if one part is honored, all parts rejoice. All of you together are Christ’s body and each of you is part of it¨. Christ’s Love is what binds us together.
I feel in my walk with Christ my perception of the world has changed, especially since being here in Nicaragua. My mind and heart have been more open to the sorrows and joys of others; unfortunately I have seen fewer joys in the people here. I think the poverty and livelihood here is why I have seen more sorrow. There are numerous times to count that I have seen a child washing windows or a mother wheeling around her handicap child begging or people dressed up as clowns doing tricks at stop lights or people selling newspapers, hand towels and water at stop lights all to make money and the list goes on. I feel overwhelmed with sadness at the injustice of how people have to live. The thing that is harder though is poverty and injustice are everywhere here, how can I feel with every person and not become overwhelmed and be unable to function? However, if we are one in the body of Christ and growing in him means seeing and feeling the world more as Christ does, how can I not feel or see the world differently? Romans 12:9, 10 &13 states; ¨Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection and take delight in honoring each other...When God’s people are in need be ready to help them¨. I guess the real question is how does one continue to see and feel the world through Christ’s eyes and not become overwhelmed with helplessness? I am moved to help the people I see, but does that mean I help every person or the better question is what does that help look like? I think this is the question of every MCC volunteer here and I am sure of Christians all over the world.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
And its one more day in Managua....
Hello all,
Well we have started to become more helpful to our partner Aso Fenix. Over the past several weeks we have been putting in a lot of office time (it is not as bad as it sounds). We have be helping Aso Fenix get more organized and be able to present itself better. Until recently, Aso Fenix, has just been really one person, Jamie, managing and working on a bunch of projects. Well the number of projects has been increasing and so has funding to do more projects, so it is time to grow. Unfortunately, most donors only provide funding for projects and not for helping the organization grow to meet these new demands. However, Aso Fenix has received a sizable donation from a group in the Netherlands to help it grow. So we have been working on many things. We have designed a webpage, made brochures for different programs, and other types of media to promote Aso Fenix. It has been fun and also given us something to invest ourselves into. We also are working with engineering inters that come down from 2 months to a year to help with projects. We are trying to organize the program by contacting them before they come down to answer questions, giving them an orientation, and trying not to be their mom and dad... So, what all this means, is that we have not be out in Bramadero for more than a month. But we do plan to get back there soon and have started thinking about projects to do. We do miss the country life, but it is the kids we miss most. But we have learned long ago to be flexible and open for what God has for you in His time.
Well we have started to become more helpful to our partner Aso Fenix. Over the past several weeks we have been putting in a lot of office time (it is not as bad as it sounds). We have be helping Aso Fenix get more organized and be able to present itself better. Until recently, Aso Fenix, has just been really one person, Jamie, managing and working on a bunch of projects. Well the number of projects has been increasing and so has funding to do more projects, so it is time to grow. Unfortunately, most donors only provide funding for projects and not for helping the organization grow to meet these new demands. However, Aso Fenix has received a sizable donation from a group in the Netherlands to help it grow. So we have been working on many things. We have designed a webpage, made brochures for different programs, and other types of media to promote Aso Fenix. It has been fun and also given us something to invest ourselves into. We also are working with engineering inters that come down from 2 months to a year to help with projects. We are trying to organize the program by contacting them before they come down to answer questions, giving them an orientation, and trying not to be their mom and dad... So, what all this means, is that we have not be out in Bramadero for more than a month. But we do plan to get back there soon and have started thinking about projects to do. We do miss the country life, but it is the kids we miss most. But we have learned long ago to be flexible and open for what God has for you in His time.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Well Rested and Ready to Work
We got back a couple days ago from El Salvador and Honduras. We were in Suchitoto, El Salvador for a conference about Food Security and Sovereignty. Food Security means access to food (it may be food given to you that you have never eaten), whereas Food Sovereignty means the ability to grow what you want and do whatever you want with the food (consume or sell). We spent time in lectures, workshops and visiting local farmers. Some of the things we learned about were making compost using worms (vermiculture), how to make candy's from fruits in order to sell them and how to extract vitamins and minerals from certain vegetable leaves in order to supplement peoples diets. Also, we were able to met up with and old friend, Jenny Mason, who is working in Guatemala with Food for the Hungry, at the conference. It was nice to see her and hear about her experience in Guatemala. We had a little time to explore and found the country to be beautiful and the people extremely friendly and helpful.
Once the conference was over we decided to take a vacation and explore some of Honduras. We spent time on one of the Bay Islands, Roatan, where we snorkeled and swam in the clear turqoise water. In our snorkeling adventures we saw 6 hawksbill sea turtles, lobsters, star fish, various colorful fish and coral. After being on the island we spent time in one of Honduras's most well known national parks, Pico Bonito (Pretty Peak). It was a beautiful mountainous tropical rain forest. We hiked to a waterfall in the park where we also were able to cool off in the crystal clear river Zacate. We stayed in a small town that was trying to build up its tourism, El Pino. They had developed a nice eco-tourist center with a pool, restaurant, huts (mud walls, thatch roof, no electricity, but running water) and was very well landscaped with a view of Pico Bonito. It was nice to be able to support the local people and we would recommend this place to anyway. After enjoying Pico Bonito we went to a Tela, a town a little further north on the coast. We visited the world's second largest botanical garden (Lancetilla). It was started as a research center for united fruit company, but is now run by a Honduran university, whom continues doing research, but has opened the grounds for others to enjoy. Now keep in mind this is not the typical botanical garden we would think of in the states (lots and lots of flowers). Lancetilla is more about different tropical tree species. It was a beautiful place and Seth especially enjoyed all the fruit trees (because he was able to try many of the fruits). We enjoyed ourselves extremely and found Honduras to be an extremely beautiful mountainous country.
Once the conference was over we decided to take a vacation and explore some of Honduras. We spent time on one of the Bay Islands, Roatan, where we snorkeled and swam in the clear turqoise water. In our snorkeling adventures we saw 6 hawksbill sea turtles, lobsters, star fish, various colorful fish and coral. After being on the island we spent time in one of Honduras's most well known national parks, Pico Bonito (Pretty Peak). It was a beautiful mountainous tropical rain forest. We hiked to a waterfall in the park where we also were able to cool off in the crystal clear river Zacate. We stayed in a small town that was trying to build up its tourism, El Pino. They had developed a nice eco-tourist center with a pool, restaurant, huts (mud walls, thatch roof, no electricity, but running water) and was very well landscaped with a view of Pico Bonito. It was nice to be able to support the local people and we would recommend this place to anyway. After enjoying Pico Bonito we went to a Tela, a town a little further north on the coast. We visited the world's second largest botanical garden (Lancetilla). It was started as a research center for united fruit company, but is now run by a Honduran university, whom continues doing research, but has opened the grounds for others to enjoy. Now keep in mind this is not the typical botanical garden we would think of in the states (lots and lots of flowers). Lancetilla is more about different tropical tree species. It was a beautiful place and Seth especially enjoyed all the fruit trees (because he was able to try many of the fruits). We enjoyed ourselves extremely and found Honduras to be an extremely beautiful mountainous country.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Spanglish
As spanish more learn we, english goes bye bye. Well we are not quite that bad, but there are times where english just doesn´t seem like our native tongue. Then again, Spanish is not easy all the time either. So we live with Spanglish, but between the two of us it works. It is hard to believe that we have been here 8 months, time is moving fast. We are enjoying our time here and the rainy season, though I am sure in a couple of months we will get sick of the mud. We have been spending the majority of our time in Bramadero building relationships and trying to make a "normal" life for ourselves. This last week we have had the opportunity to work in our partners office in Managua. We have been working on a proposal for the World Bank, which has been a stretching experience since all the information is in English and we have to translate it for our partner. But we are enjoying our time building on our relationship with Jamie (our boss).
Sarah´s mom is also here doing some volunteering work for a month. She has been here a week and half and seems to be enjoying herself. It has worked out nicely that we are working more out of Managua than normal in order to spend more time with her. Last weekend we went to a natural reserve (cloud forest) here called Selva Negra. We spent time relaxing, hiking and looking for the howler monkeys that called to us from the mist.
Last month Sarah celebrated her 30th bithday, it did not turn out to be the best day, but it was one to remember. We were in the community and decided we would take the motor bike to Teustepe where we would spend the day at a hot spring. Since we are in the rainy season, it rained most of the night. We left around 10 a.m. and made it to the next village where we spun out in the clay mud and before we knew it we were lying in the mud with the bike. We decided that if we were able to make it out the likely hood of us being able to return because the roads are steeper coming back was very small. We opted to return to Bramadero where we could clean off the mud from our clothes. As we were driving back Seth was unable to shift because the shifter had bent in the fall, so we drove very slowly back to Bramadero, but at least we made it back. Of course, when we made it back everyone wanted to know why we were back so soon and then they saw the mud caked clothes and figured out we had fallen. We were both dissapointed, but glad we were not injured. We decided any other special days during the rainy season we will be taking the bus. Therefore, we will be taking the bus to Granada to celebrate our 9th anniversary on the 9th of this month (the time sure flies by when your in love).
Sarah´s mom is also here doing some volunteering work for a month. She has been here a week and half and seems to be enjoying herself. It has worked out nicely that we are working more out of Managua than normal in order to spend more time with her. Last weekend we went to a natural reserve (cloud forest) here called Selva Negra. We spent time relaxing, hiking and looking for the howler monkeys that called to us from the mist.
Last month Sarah celebrated her 30th bithday, it did not turn out to be the best day, but it was one to remember. We were in the community and decided we would take the motor bike to Teustepe where we would spend the day at a hot spring. Since we are in the rainy season, it rained most of the night. We left around 10 a.m. and made it to the next village where we spun out in the clay mud and before we knew it we were lying in the mud with the bike. We decided that if we were able to make it out the likely hood of us being able to return because the roads are steeper coming back was very small. We opted to return to Bramadero where we could clean off the mud from our clothes. As we were driving back Seth was unable to shift because the shifter had bent in the fall, so we drove very slowly back to Bramadero, but at least we made it back. Of course, when we made it back everyone wanted to know why we were back so soon and then they saw the mud caked clothes and figured out we had fallen. We were both dissapointed, but glad we were not injured. We decided any other special days during the rainy season we will be taking the bus. Therefore, we will be taking the bus to Granada to celebrate our 9th anniversary on the 9th of this month (the time sure flies by when your in love).
Friday, June 13, 2008
The parable of the sower
Matt. 13
3Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9He who has ears, let him hear."
During the last several weeks, I have had the opportunity of becoming the farmer, becoming the sower, and it has been a mind opening experience. While I am planting beans, I make a small hole and throw beans in it. Now, were I am planting is not exactly a smooth level plain, instead it is rocky, weedy, and usually on the side of a mountain. What has occurred to me is that when the soil is shallow, we plant beans. When we are on the path, we plant beans. When we are on a rocky area, we plant beans. When we are in the weeds, we plant beans. Were there is ground (any type of ground), we plant beans. And we do not just plant one bean, we plant 3 or 4. I often think as we are planting, why are we planting here. The likelihood of a plant growing well is small, but still we plant. And than I think, well let's just plant one bean in this hole, so we don't waist the others because nothing will grow here. But still we plant 3 or 4.
Than it dawned on me. When we sow our seeds of Jesus never ending love in peoples hearts, we shouldn't be concerned about were we are sowing them, even if it appears we are sowing them into solid rock. And we don't just sow one seed, we sow many. And wouldn't you know it, beans can grow on the path, beans can grow on rocks, beans can grow in the weeds, and beans can grow in fertile soil.
3Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9He who has ears, let him hear."
During the last several weeks, I have had the opportunity of becoming the farmer, becoming the sower, and it has been a mind opening experience. While I am planting beans, I make a small hole and throw beans in it. Now, were I am planting is not exactly a smooth level plain, instead it is rocky, weedy, and usually on the side of a mountain. What has occurred to me is that when the soil is shallow, we plant beans. When we are on the path, we plant beans. When we are on a rocky area, we plant beans. When we are in the weeds, we plant beans. Were there is ground (any type of ground), we plant beans. And we do not just plant one bean, we plant 3 or 4. I often think as we are planting, why are we planting here. The likelihood of a plant growing well is small, but still we plant. And than I think, well let's just plant one bean in this hole, so we don't waist the others because nothing will grow here. But still we plant 3 or 4.
Than it dawned on me. When we sow our seeds of Jesus never ending love in peoples hearts, we shouldn't be concerned about were we are sowing them, even if it appears we are sowing them into solid rock. And we don't just sow one seed, we sow many. And wouldn't you know it, beans can grow on the path, beans can grow on rocks, beans can grow in the weeds, and beans can grow in fertile soil.
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