fresh look

So, I'm still alive! Isn't it good to know? I came to post an update this morning and then got carried away on redesigning my site! You should notice that it's a wee bit different than the old site.. Here's a picture of the former so you can remember and then appreciate the new look! Good change? I think so.

I've been busy since the last post! I don't think I'm going to try to catch you up on everything in every detail, but here's a quick overview.

Media Studio

• Internships: We finished the Trinity semester program here with a fair bit of success. We again had three video students this year, and another student who did her internship with the NC helping update the content on our NC website (which very soon will be implemented on our website). The first video dealt with land banks in north-central Nicaragua. The second video dealt with a transformed community in north-west Nicaragua. And the third video deals with the work of the CRWRC on the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua. The first two are posted online, one of which can be seen at the Nehemiah Center Media Studio YouTube channel. See the link in the upper-right of this website. We've gotten many compliments on the videos--thank you to the students who gave so much to these communities and films.
• Projects: I've been working on more projects including: A five minute video about the "Programa FE"--or the "Healthy Church Iniciative" that CRWM is supporting. This is a program that Steve Holtrop has been quite involved in. See the YouTube channel--it's there! We also produced a short film about the Arts Camp that the NC put on last year to help raise funds for doing it again this year (very soon, I think). Check out the video on the channel. If you'd like to contribute to that project, they'd be thrilled. Also working on a project for House of Hope (see links on the right), which will serve as their annual update. Many of you have recieved thank you cards from me made by the hands of women in their ministry. And another project that we have on the list is a larger-scale project that will be a 60 minute documentary for the Assemblies of God Nicaragua to celebrate their 100th anniversary. Quite an exciting opportunity to be a part of!

Computers

• Maybe some of you remember that we were about to take shipment of 105 refurbished computers from Korea. They've arrived! We're currently processing proposals from 7 different Christian schools who wish to recieve enough computers to start a computer lab. We're working with ACECEN (Nicaraguan Association of Christian schools) to figure out which schools are best equipped to receive such a gift and are best positioned to create a sustainable lab. The idea is that the schools, with the gift of a certain number of computers, will be able to use those computers to generate enough income to pay for replacing the computers, pay for the teacher, and pay for any additional costs that they incur (electricity, etc.). We're going to be training the teachers in these new labs and teachers of already existing labs. Trainings will cover anything from the basic maintenance and configuration of administering a lab, to development of curriculum and classroom management. We're going to be training them on free and open source software, which come with open licenses, unlike proprietary software from Microsoft or Apple. Another main idea is to create a community of teachers that can also be a support for each other.
• Things in the office have been a bit slower as many of the missionaries are out of the country for a vacation in the summer. This means fewer computer issues and complaints...and has allowed me to focus more on other things.
• Cindy (my Nicaraguan, Nehemiah Center employee, counterpart) has continued to take more responsibility for certain IT tasks. This is great because as a Nicaraguan she's likely a more permanent player here than I am. The idea is that local person will completely take over the IT administration of the NC someday.

Other news

• Moved into a new house! This is actually very big news.
  It's been a lot of work preparing the new place, but I'm very excited about it. Now, instead of renting one small room and sharing it with a friend, I'm renting a house with that same friend and another friend, and we each have our own room. And we have a separate living area and kitchen and laundry area; our own lawn; and a spectacular view. And we are able to do it without increasing our budget too much. Check out these pictures...
• Getting ready for a visitor next week! My friend Steph will be the first friend to actually make the journey southward to Nicaragua to come and visit me! So I'm really looking forward to that.

prayer items

• Pray for creativity in the current video project with House of Hope, and for preparations for the large-scale documentary with Assemblies of God.
• Pray that planning for the computer labs will go well and that the planning for trainings will go equally well, and that the Lord will use all of this to his glory.
  
• Praises for a new place to live and a visitor coming soon.