Justice, Mercy, and Adjusting Expectations

Life isn't always easy.  Nobody said it would be, but we often seem to expect that it will be anyway.  This blog entry will give you a glimpse into some of the things that I have been wrestling with lately.  Some specific and some general.  They will distill down into my prayer requests at the bottom.  Life has been full of learning, changes, excitement, challenges, and growth.  Thanks for reading!

Next wing of classrooms to house new grades next year...
a large part of the growth that's been happening.

Justice vs. Mercy

This morning I received a call during church.  Typically I don't answer, but this time I excused myself from my row and answered outside.  On the other side of the line I was asked if I gave permission to any of the guards to enter my office at the school.  After stating that I had not, I heard explained that one of our guards had been seen in the administrative offices.  Long story short, our most recent addition to a six-member security team had scaled the wall and climbed in through the ceiling tiles.  Thankfully for us, the other guard on duty was patrolling and found the other as he was dropping down on the other side of the wall.  Needless to say, the rest of the story lasted several hours, and if I had more time here I would share more details because of all the interesting tidbits.  The whole thing was challenging, but we were now faced with the option to press charges and see this young husband and father face the full weight of the consequences of his actions, or show him mercy while hoping that he had already learned his lesson by getting caught and facing a police investigation.  The latter decision would also mean that we'd avoid making a new enemy.

The classrooms in the backgound, offices are on the right,
behind the cafeteria.  Construction on the left.

In the end, we showed him mercy.  It was hard for me, in a way, to let him off without facing the justice he deserved.  Even with his pleas to let him go for the sake of his children, I wanted to see him under the weight of his decision to break into the offices.  But what I found most interesting was the spiritual lesson here.  I have been reading again and again in Jeremiah the story of the Isrealites who would not turn from their evil ways.  God finally brought judgement down on his own people, but not without giving them a chance to turn from their evil ways and follow him, and not without a promise to one day bring them out of the suffering that was the consequence for their sins.

Of course, no biblical story can be applied directly to any real life story without careful consideration.  When I let him go, I explained to him that the reason we let him go was because we believe in a God who is merciful.  I continued that, though, explaining that He is also the God of justice.  This kind of action, on behalf of the young man, was what nearly brought this consequence on him and his family, and that he needed to change his ways if he wanted to live in freedom.

It was a reminder for me that to love God and follow His commands is to live in freedom, is to really live life.  God's hope for us is not to simply be "spiritual" by going to church, singing, and having bible studies.  His hope for us is to live fully and freely by having a relationship with him and learning his ways.  As a school, and as individuals, our role in life is to live in a way that reveals God's plan for creation in a way that points the way to true life.  Today with this young man, I hope that we have been a sign-post that helps him see which way it is to true life.

Adjusting Expectations

One of the lessons I have been learning in recent years and recent months, is that in order to keep a positive outlook in life you need to be open to adjusting your expectations.  Some are obviously easier to change than others, and I won't tell you about all of the expectations I have called into question lately, but I do want to just let you into a few of them.

In a way, the story above is a good entry point.  The reason I was so involved with the above story is that I have assumed the position of Manager of the Guards.  It's actually not the only manager position I have picked up throughout the last six months.  I have also become the Manager of the Gardener and play a pivotal role on the Matagalpa Construction Committee on which I facilitate much communication between different parties (principal of the school, architect, contractor).

Picking up these roles along the way all seemed to make sense.  They weren't all picked up without serious consideration, but in a way it was easy...there were immediate needs with nobody else to meet them.  In a brand new school, you just need to step into roles you don't want to because someone has to do it.  But as the responsibilities add up, I am feeling the squeeze on other areas, namely the list of responsibilities on my job description.

I've also gone through adjusting expectations from working just for NCA Matagalpa, to working at an association level, back to focusing on NCA Matagalpa but keeping some of my role with the other schools.

The story is not over.  I'm still working on getting my expectations right, especially the one about how much can I expect from myself in the different areas of my work?  As I focus on these new areas (guards, maintenance, construction) I have been feeling less able to focus on the technology in education aspect of my work.  How much can I let slide?  How much can I blame on being stretched too thin?  It's tough when you see lots of highly productive and skilled people around you constantly.  Many missionaries are type-A people; very driven, self motivated, productive.  I know that the things i am doing are important, but how do I divide my time and energies?  Those are questions I have been wresting with.

Technology Conference

This coming Friday and Saturday RedProCom will be putting on it's first conference on technology in education.  I am hoping it will become an annual or semi-annual event, and that it may even expand to touch on and strengthen other areas of education.  RedProCom is our "network of christian school

The three presenters planning for the conference.
I will also present.

computer teachers," and we have decided that if we want to really shape the direction of technology in Education in Nicaragua that we will have to engage and guide the principals and administrators of our schools in discussions on the topics.  So, several months ago we set out to plan the first event of it's kind among Christian schools in Nicaragua (perhaps first of it's kind at all).  We expect as many as 30 participants from 10 or so schools.  We will have four sessions on the first day, including a reflection on the Tower of Babel, how to understand technology through a biblical worldview, how technology is challenging the current models of education, and how we can understand how we use hardware and software in our schools.  In the evening we'll have six or 8 short plenary sessions to briefly introduce interesting topics and get people thinking and talking in new ways.  Day two will be designed to help the participants start to strategize for how to update current educational models to reflect a more global, connected, and technological world.

This has been a bit of a stressful thing to organize because of the number of people who will be attending.  Many smart people will be attending, and I do not want to let them down.

Other tidbits

A recent trip to the beach with Breyling and Mauro.

I almost became a sort of foster parent last week.  Breyling, one of the guys that I have been mentoring for the last many years had dropped out of school midway through 7th grade.  His mother had deregistered him from school because he had missed an entire month of classes.  Apparently he just didn't want to go.  When I heard about this I was very disappointed.  Breyling, I have always felt, is an especially gifted kid.  Dropping out of school would certainly mean that he would start a life on the streets.  Being such a smart kid, he would probably do really well in ways that probably wouldn't be good.  I wrestled for a few weeks with the idea of whether or not to invite him to live with me in Matagalpa and attend NCA here.  The idea was that he could get out of a difficult situation and start something new and fresh in an environment that was uplifting and encouraging.  This would, of course, also have meant a huge change in my own life, but I had already prepared my expectations for that.

I say "almost" because, while it looked like it was going to be a sure thing for about a week, in the end he went to live with his dad in a neighboring city and study there.  I am thankful that he can stay with family.  Hopefully his situation there is better than in Managua.  So my expectations got another reset with this.

Fundraising for a new vehicle continues.  I am about 90% to my goal.  Thank you to all of you who have donated generously!  I sold the Dama de Hierro, my old truck (see previous post), and got less than I had hoped for.  If you would like an update, please shoot me an email, or reply on the contact me page.

That about wraps it up!  Thanks for reading.

Prayer Items

• Pray that the guard who broke our trust will grow through this experience and through the mercy that we extended to him.  Pray for the safety of the school, and for the guards we still have.  Please pray also for the Manager of the Guards as he tries to coordinate and motivate his team.
• Pray that my expectations for myself, my job, and my life will match what I am able to accomplish and what God desires from me.
• Please pray that the technology conference will be a success. Pray for open hearts and minds, and pray that God will use what often seem like feeble attempts to affect change in His name.
• Pray for Breyling as he starts studying at a new school in another city in a new situation with a dad he hardly knows.  Pray that I will know how to continue to be supportive of him and his family.

P.S. Here's a song that has given me encouragement and helped me to refocus today!