on the move

I've been wanting to sit down and let you know what's been going on in my life since I have arrived here for my third year. As is to be expected, the slow start has been picking up speed quickly. Each of the four areas of my job are taking shape and I have been excited about each one.

Underlying all of my activities has been building a foundation through learning. This past week I put together a formalized "Learning Plan", which will help me focus how I should be spending my time. Some of the things I do will be entirely learning based, and others will be more work-based, but all will be a mixture.

The last five weeks have found me in Santa Lucia most of the time. I spent a week there participating in an evaluation of our national partner ACJ (which means YMCA, interestgly enough started by the YMCA of Montreal). Following the evaluation I participated in a work team that we hosted there in Santa Lucia. The next week I spent in Santa Lucia simply living, practicing Spanish, building relationships, and making notes for the team I would be hosting the following week. The team would be a group of four guys from Holland, Michigan. We ended up having a lot of fun working together on a water project. It was a project that the community has been working towards for approximately 2 years. I really enjoyed my time there. I got to know a bunch of local young people and played soccer nearly everyday. I also had some time to read a large part of the book "Poverty and Affluence: Towards an Economy of Care," by Bob Goudsward, which has definitely been shaping my understanding of economics. If you have a chance, check it out--very valuable.

Since returning to the Nehemiah Center, things have really picked up pace. I've been more involved in the Media Center. I'm trying to make it to as many classes I can that are happening there with the 3 students from the US. They're here as part of an advanced film making program from Trinity Christian College (Chicago). I'm sitting in on the "Fundamentals of Video Photography" class (with locals), and the "History and Culture" and "Advanced Film Production" (with the 3 US students). I'm also going on some field trips with the US students--for example to the National Assembly, where we heard Daniel Ortega's former vice-presidential running mate speak. I'm very excited to be participating in everything that's happening in and through the Media Center.

One of the more work-focused (as opposed to learning-focused) activities on my plate is spearheading an internship program that would mean collaborating with a women's co-op in Santa Lucia, CECNIC (a christian university student organization). The internship will include learning about transformational development and attending seminars at the Nehemiah Center as well as working with the co-op to create a business plan. The co-op is made of close to 30 women from the local community and they have very little business experience and need some help to make the business function more effectively.

I wish I could fill you in on all of the things that are happening here, but it would be much too difficult and time-consuming. Already I think I'm pushing the line--congratulations to you if you're read this far! And a big thank you as well.

Prayer Items:

- praise for the way things are going

- praise for the good work that the Lord is doing here in Nicaragua

- prayer for discernment on how to spend my time

the journey

Hello, hello.  I want to start by responding to my last blog because unfortunately I think I gave the wrong impression!  Some of the emails I recieved confirmed my own reaction when I reread the blog later.  If you read the last blog and thought that perhaps I was questioning whether or not I was in the right place or doing the right thing...you were not alone!

The message I tried to get across was not a message of disappointment, but a realistic message that after proclaiming a fantastic new position, I would now be looking it in the face to see if it would match up!  Certainly not all my dreams would come true the first day.  In fact, much of what excited me about this new position will only be realized after a lot of sweat (figuratively and literally!) over the course of the next two years.  Additionally, I wanted to get across the message that during the at least the first while, I would be learning how I fit into the Nehemiah Center and what my roles are in the various areas that I am involved.  This won't necessarily be quick, and there may be times I don't feel all that productive as I spend time learning.  But that's 100% okay! :)  I don't expect to be expertly coordinating community-building collaborations, expanding networking capabilities, and contributing great, new ideas to project planning and evaluations processes!  The journey and discovery of this job are what I look forward to most.

And for the record...the first month and a half actually has been great!  :)  I'm definitely learning a lot, and am very excited about all the things I'm involved in!  As you may recall, there were four main aspects to my job--none of them with clear, pre-determined, descriptions:

1. techincal advising, troubleshooting, planning, etc. (computers, network...)
   
2. media center (center for professional video production)
   
3. project planning and evaluation
   
4. community development in santa lucia

My first two weeks were made up of entirely number one.  There were some internet/router problems, and a few other things.  The third week was entirely numbers 3 and 4.  And weeks four and five were entirely number 4.  Weeks six and seven are going to be more a mix of all of them.  So far, my involvement in the media center has been almost nothing, but I'm sure that will come around.

I'd love to tell you more about my adventures in Santa Lucia, but it's getting very late and I have to make sure I get up early tomorrow...   For now, I want to correct the impression I left with the last blog.  I'm working on another blog to fill you in on some of the details of the last few weeks--some very exciting news.  Stay tuned!

back in nicalandia

It's been nearly two weeks now since I arrived back in Nicaragua, and it's gone pretty fast. Before coming back I told everyone how excited I was to be starting, and what the Nehemiah Center was all about. Then I arrived back...and was hoping that all I had shared and looked forward to would start just as I had said it would. It's an interesting situation to be in, really, because I know it's easy to build something up, in my own mind, almost expecting that it will be the perfect job. Now that I'm starting, I will face the real challenges, real frustrations, and real working situation, and I'll find out if it's really what I thought it would be.

It might have been slightly more difficult returning this year for some reason. I really enjoyed my time at home this December. I imagine that the longer I'm away, the more I will realize what I'm sacrificing--especially in terms of family--to be here in Nicaragua. One year's not bad. Two is managable. Three? Four? I'll find out, but I'm guessing it probably won't get easier.

Readjusting to life here also was slightly more of a conscious thing that I anticipated. Things quickly became normal, but the first two days a few things struck me. When I arrived at the airport here, I was off the plane quick and one of the first through customs. This was my plan since I didn't want to get stuck in the line to get out of the baggage claim area, and I wanted to get home and settle before it got too late. I ended up being the last person out of the area because one of my bags didn't show up. Already frustrated, I began to notice things like the many employees standing around and chatting...but only one employee at the front of the missing bags line. Once on the road again, the somewhat hectic driving and the fearless pedestrians seemed to have gotten worse since I'd been here. I'm sure they hadn't really. The following day I ran into more frustrating differences when I spent about an hour buying two wireless routers and a power stabilizer...something that should have taken 10 minutes. That's another story for another blog. The important thing is that after a short while back I was feeling well-adjusted and back at home.

My first few days at the Nehemiah Center were a little strange. As I started to figure out my role and where I could start to insert myself, things seemed a little slow. Since then they've picked up a lot, and I can see how I will be kept pretty busy. I spent much of the last two weeks working with computers, software, and networking things. The next three weeks will be intensely related to Santa Lucia. Every three years, the Nehemiah Center does a major evaluation with each national partner. Next week will be the evaluation with Asociación Cristiana de Jovenes (or YMCA). They are the national partners that the we work with and support in Santa Lucia. Monday will be at their Managua offices. Tuesday, Wednesday and maybe Thursday we'll be in Santa Lucia visiting families and communities benefiting from our support. And Friday will include review recommendations from the week, reaffirming our relationship and projecting what it will look like during the coming years, if our goals and mission still line up.

I will probably not be coming back for the final day in Managua, but rather that will mark the beginning of a three-week stay in Santa Lucia. I'll be co-hosting a team that Thursday and Friday with another long-time Nehemiah Center employee, and then the second week after that (Feb 4-7) I'll be hosting a team from Holland, Michigan, in Santa Lucia all by myself. They'll be working on a well, and possibly some watershed projects. The week after that, a team will come down from Immanuel CRC in Hamilton, Ontario, but I'm not sure yet if I'll be running that team. Pretty interesting considering I didn't think I'd have much to with teams. But given my relationship with Santa Lucia, it makes sense that I'll be involved with teams there.

Haven't done much with the Media Center yet, as the people and equipment haven't arrived. Unfortunately I'll be in Santa Lucia when that really starts to come together, so I'll be a little out of the loop for a while. Hopefully it'll be easy to jump back in when I arrive back in Managua.

Thank you to all of you who expressed a desire to continue your support, both financial and prayer support. I hope to be making my budget viewable online so that you can see each month where I am in my support raising. I really don't know at this point how much of what I hope to raise will come in. I trust the Lord will move in you hearts to give me just what I need. I'll do my best to keep you informed of what's going on with that. Probably in about three weeks I'll have the budget published online with a link from my blog. I'll let you know when that happens.

Oh! I just remembered something. I made my first goal in the last soccer game that we had! It was very exciting. Sidney made a pass from the left-center of the goal about 30 feet out and I put it through a crowd of people and just out of the keepers reach!

Prayer Items:

- pray that my work continues to be meaningful and that I might see some of the benefits that the Lord is producing through my efforts

- pray that my time in Santa Lucia is rich, that I learn a lot, and that I am able to do well with the team that's coming at the beginning of February

online giving

I thought it would be good to let you know about giving online. For your convenience I have added a link in the sidebar under the section called "About Me". Follow the directions there for making online donations.

Thanks a lot! May you have a great Christmas!

aftermath

In the aftermath of my two years as a teacher lies much destruction, suffering, and death. Just kidding. That's the aftermath of Hurricane Felix. It's still too recent to clearly see what's been left in my wake...the dust is still settling. I finished up my responsibilities as a teacher a week before heading back to the US, and that was almost two weeks ago. It seems like so long ago already. Grading is done. Exams are done. Calculating notes is done. Talking with parents is done. The making of reparation exams is done (one student out of 65 failed English, so maybe there is some suffering here, but much less than Felix left behind). Certainly I enjoyed very much this experience, but I'm also relieved to be done.

Back to Felix. During the week before coming home, I spent a few days in a sort of orientation for my new job. The orientation included some boring (yes, I honestly almost fell asleep..and may have actually dozed off for fractions of a second...but hey, give me a break...it was the end of a long, difficult year and I didn't get any time to relax before jumping into orientation!) sessions about the policies and history of the Nehemiah Center. Actually, the history section was quite interesting but my tiredness was overwhelming. The orientation also involved a highly interesting trip to the Carribean coast of Nicaragua. I was a tag along for a program evaluation. The CRC was involved there in the relief efforts after Hurricane Felix--and that's how this all connects to the first sentence of this paragraph. I had never been out east and it's far different than Managua and the central region of Nicaragua. I was struck by the destruction I could still see two months after the hurricane hit Nicaragua. Rated as category 5 and with winds of 160mph, it left all of the crops destroyed as well as I could see almost all of the natural vegetation. In the region we visited, 80% of the homes were destroyed.

Slideshow

It opened my eyes to a bunch of things. It is so important to have a reliable and thoughtful distribution network for relief efforts, especially in underdeveloped areas. This would have been a daunting task and hugely unorganized without the presence of Accion Medica. Quality of materials donated also for the first time really struck me. I saw some other roofing materials, (not of the CRC) that looked like paper--metal that could be bent by hand. Maybe more importantly, what struck me was the need for help. Without outside help, many, many people would have probably died for lack of food. Disease would have spread without medical help and shelter. At least in this area, the relief was very well organized. And while I knew it beforehand, I got to see firsthand the need for empowering communities and teaching them to work together.

I should mention that this is the Lord's work--meeting needs and caring for people in a wholesome way. I am glad to be joining other Christians in their work here in Nicaragua. I pray that I can learn as much as possible about what it means to serve the Lord in this way. I am blessed to work with such committed people and organizations. Hopefully as I learn I can also contribute to what is happening and have a positive impact.

Since I've been back I've been enjoying time with family and friends. Every once in a while I see things, or hear things, or smell things I love and miss. But, I know that I'm in the right place and would not change it.

I want to take this opportunity to briefly share my financial need. Without going into detail, in this new position I'm going to be relying entirely on support from friends and family and church for my income. The Nejemiah Center won't pay any wages. If you were considering a one-time gift, or just feel led to give before the end of the year, all money will come straight to me. After the new year, my designation with CRC will change from "Partner Missionary" to "Volunteer" and while donations will happen the same from your end, from my end I'll be recieving money on more of a reimbursement basis. When it comes right down to it, any gifts would be great anytime, but there's something nice about recieving it directly rather than a reimbursement. I'd be glad to explain this confusing change, but I think it might just get more confusing on this blog!

Thank you for your support during the last two years. I pray you'll continue to support me and hold me in your prayers during the next two (and maybe beyond!) as I continue to serve the Lord and his people in Central America.

prayer items:

-humility and a heart ready to learn as I begin the new position
-intelligence, wisdom, creativity, and drive, too!
-personal safety and health. I've come through two years virtually
unscathed, but there's always that risk.
-for two replacements to fill my shoes at the school! They want
to expand the program, but haven't even found one replacement yet.