coolness

Good Saturday evening to everyone. At least, that's how it is for me. The weather here is quite unusual. This may not sound strange to you, but I'm sitting here in jeans and a t-shirt, with no fan, and wondering if I should put on my sweatshirt and some socks. I wouldn't say it's cold, but it's certainly close to it. I just checked the temperature on AccuWeather.com and they say it's 79°F. I've made jokes about it before...about how anytime it get under 80, we start to think it's cold...and under 70 is down right freezing. There is some truth to that, especially when it's raining and we haven't seen the sun much. And it's been raining for the past week solid. Starting to feel like Michigan with all of the gray days we've been having. I like it, really. It reminds me of fall.

I've had a few people request a photo of my motorcycle. Unfortunately I lost my camera about the same time I got my motorcycle, so it's been a little less convenient to ask others to take pictures and then get the pictures from them. Below are a few pictures taken last weekend (before the rain started) of my bike, along with 5 others. One missionary, who's been here for 9 years led us out to a community he's been working along side since he arrived. We took the bikes down some paved roads and also did some off-roading. It was good for me to get more practice and I really enjoyed both seeing the community and the ride itself.

In this photo, we are sitting outside a small roadside store along the way. Stopped for a few cold drinks after riding for an hour or more. The roads at this intersection are nicely paved but we were going through mud only minutes before.



Here we're fixing a couple of things. My bike and Luke's bike (we bought them together) both have faulty battery boxes which are breaking off at the mount point. His fell off completely first, and his battery was hanging by the wires. When we stopped to try to figure out what to do I also checked mine only to find it was about to break.



In this photo, we're looking at a business that was started maybe 8 years ago in the area where the missionary has been working. They cut some kind of stone out of the ground. probably sandstone. some.



This picture was taken on the ocean just outside Transito, the community we visited. I'm with Luke.



Pressing on with teaching. Some days are good, and other days are very challenging. Nothing new in that regard. :) A few weeks ago the parents of one of the primary grades launched a list of complaints aimed at almost every class, including English. Actually, a separate list for each class. Among the complaints against the English program were that the only students who received good grades were those who either came from a bilingual background or took English lessons outside of classes at Nejapa. As the strongest complaint, it angered me and disappointed me when I heard it. I know it's not entirely true, first of all, and secondly, if it is partly true, it's at least due in large part to the attitudes of the students. For a long time, the students in this class were among my most difficult, and while they have grown they continue to be a difficult class. I had the opportunity to write a response, and I tried to put some of the responsibility back on the students for their own learning. Anyway, I'm not exactly sure if the parents have received the response, or how they will receive it (I think the director will be moderating/speaking on my behalf).

In other ways I have felt successful as a teacher and as a mentor of sorts. My youngest students are kindergarteners, and I have learned/am learning a lot about little people. It's definitely a big challenge and I always wonder if it's normal to have to deal with the same behavioral issues day in and day out. I seem to generally hear confirmation that it's not uncommon. Small steps, I guess, are important at young ages.

With 3 of my classes, we have finished the material in the curriculum, so we'll be moving on to next year's books (photocopied). This is pretty good considering that last year we were finishing much closer to the end.

Informal discussions have been happening between the principals directors and teachers about really bolstering the English program at Nejapa. Parents have made it clear that it is something very important for them. We'll be looking at hiring a replacement for me, as well as another 2 new teachers, effectively doubling the EFL staff. If you know anyone who is a skilled teacher and loves both the Lord and English (English in an appropriate, subordinate sort of love to the love for the Lord), please tell them about the need we have. Unfortunately I am not a good fit for the role, but it truly is an amazing opportunity in so many ways--personally, professionally, and spiritually.

I received an email several weeks ago, now, that kind of outlines my new job starting at the end of this year. I thought it would be interesting, so here is the list:

1) provide administrative and technical support to the Nehemiah media center
2) Provide technical assistance to the coordinator of planning, monitoring and evaluation (Luz)
3) Assist CRWRC in planning, monitoring and evaluation of special grants
4) Information technology support for the Nehemiah Center
5) Provide small business consulting to ACJ

If you had forgotten, ACJ (Asociación de Cristianos Jovenes) is the YMCA of Nicaragua. Number five refers to the work I'll be doing in Santa Lucia with the women's co-op. The folks at the Nehemiah Center have asked me to do a week of orientation before I leave for the states this December. This basically means that teaching will end on Friday (Nov. 30) and I'll start the following Monday (Dec. 3). One day of in-office orientation, three days going to a community on the Carribean coast of Nicaragua, and then one more day back at the office will leave me with just enough time to gather my things and run to the airport on that next Saturday (Dec. 8) to catch a plane heading to the US. I am really looking forward to this new position. It will be entirely different having much less structure and working with adults. A couple of the people I know there (the fellow CRCers) have told me that they're really looking forward to working with me and getting to know me better as a colleague and friend. It's encouraging to hear this, and there are many reasons I'm looking forward to joining them as well.

Thanks for your continued prayer, financial, and other support. All are greatly appreciated. Here is a list of some important prayer requests:

- prayer for strength to continue this year strong. I definitely feel the temptation to have an attitude of "just finish" but I want to finish feeling good about what we've accomplished up until the end.
- prayer for wisdom and humility for the schools leaders as they face both challenges and growth.
- prayer that I am able to balance the important areas of my life: rest, work, play, devotion, misc. :)

hello, moto

A few recent developments that I wanted to share with you all. One has to do with next year and one has to do with this afternoon.

First, about next year. I finally met with a few people from the Nehemiah center to discuss more formally what sort of role I could play in the upcoming year. Coming away from the meeting with a better idea, I thought, prayed and talked to a few people about the decision and a few days a go I accepted the job, which is pretty exciting. It will be a combination of Santa Lucia and Nehemiah Center. I'll spend the first month in SL, working on my Spanish and cultural understanding as well as building relationships there. When I'm at the NC I'll be working in the "Media Center" where they're going to have a recording studio and put together videos and audio. The center will be built this November, and unfortunately my involvement at it's beginning will be limited as Nejapa is obviously my #1 commitment through the end of the year. The center will house a semester course from Trinity College in Chicago and also be used as a tool to gather and express the stories of hope coming out of Nicaragua. The way I understand it, I'll be coordinating the use of the Center, maybe helping people know how to use the equipment and also maintaining the equipment. Everything is a little bit unclear but will come together as things develop and move forward. I'll be quite involved in whatever happens there. I'll probably be involved in some other technical aspects of the NC. What's more, there are always seminars happening there for community leaders, business leaders, church leaders, etc.. so I'll be able to sit in on those. And the other CRC people plan to include me in what they're doing so I can get a broader experience and hopefully during all of this figure out some things about where my gifts and interests lay. I'm excited to start! One logistical change for me is that I will need to be raising my entire income. The Nehemiah Center doesn't raise any money as an organization, and I will (proposedly) be joining the ranks as a "volunteer" through CRC World Missions.

Second, about this afternoon. Well, it actually started a while back. I've been thinking for a while about getting a motorcycle...which finally saw fruitition this afternoon! I would never have come to this point myself if I didn't have friends doing the same, but I think it will be convenient, economical, and fun. I figure I will be able to save more than 50% on fuel expenses, which I count on lowering my cost of living. Also, 2 of my friends are purchasing bikes and we plan to do a little riding together. I know--I know. It's pretty dangerous out there, so I'll be driving carefully. There's been some jokes about a missionary biker's club. In general, they're becoming much more common down here, and I expect the biking community among Americans to also grow.

I've been feeling less stress with teaching lately, and am enjoying more and more the relationships with students. It's a challenge to work with them and teach them--it involves so much more than English. I've learned a great deal and am quite glad I took this job and stuck with it two years. I know the Lord has really taken this opportunity to mold me and shape me. I pray that as I serve him in the future at the Nehemiah Center, he will continue to do the same. We certainly serve a faithful God.

Gotta run. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers! The Lord has been answering them! Let me know how you're doing sometime.

As far as the...

upcoming year goes, I have pretty much made the decision not to return to teaching. I have spoken with both the principal at my school and the director. Both were understanding and supportive of me in the decision. It was definitely not an easy decision to come to. I will have to turn in the co-worker status with many good friends at the school, I will also be leaving many students that I have grown to love. The Lord is doing a great work in and through NCA Nejapa, and I am excited for the next teacher to be jumping into my shoes.

I wanted to share with you another potential opportunity, which is to work at/with the Nehemiah Center. I know several people who work there now. It's a very cool organization that is actually a smattering of many organizations working together to train and empower Nicaraguans as community leaders, pastors, business people, etc. Teaching a biblical worldview is foundational in their work. It's an organization that is growing rapidly and making a great impact. I'd likely be filling some kind of projects-based job, helping various organizations complete projects as they need help. It would give me a lot of exposure to various areas of development and types of work. I'm going to hopefully be talking with the director in a few weeks to basically hear about how they need help. I've already spoken informally with a few people who work there now. One brought up the idea of working both with the Nehemiah Center and in Santa Lucia (see the last article). I'm not sure what that would look like, but that's what the upcoming meeting will develop.

A couple of things that excite me about the possibility of working there. First, it allows me to stay in close proximity to the friends I've made at Nejapa (and at NCA), and possibly stay involved with some of the students whose lives I've grown a part of (through tutoring or big-brother type thing). Second, because I wouldn't leave Managua, I could continue living where I live and being a part of things that I've been a part of outside of school.

There have been a few other people with other suggestions, as well. For sure there are a lot of opportunities and needs here in Managua. But I'm going to need to feel the Lord pulling me one way or another in order to make any decisions about next year.

In other news, my hard drive failed this last weekend! And me without a backup external hard drive. Nuts! Fortunately I had saved a lot of my school files to a flash drive and much of my music to a friend's computer. But I still lost a great deal of information including photos and videos from the last couple years. I hope I can get someone to recover that information. Good thing is that I have an extended warranty to replace the bad hard drive at no cost.

If you know anyone who would make a great ESL teacher here at Nejapa, I would love for you to put me in touch with them. I want to see a good person take my place because it really is a great opportunity to be invovled with what God is doing here in Nicaragua.

Have a good one! Caio.

Prayer Items

- continued prayer for faith as I approach a major decision
- data recovery. :)
- an excited and capable and ready new teacher

next up

Having my parents here renewed my awareness that even though I'm living in a pretty advanced city, I am definitely living in a different country and culture. I guess it's true that you get used to the ox/horse pulled carts in the road, 20 people crammed in the back of a tiny pickup truck, or guards with guns outside every place of business and at many residential complexes. Of course every once in a while I am reminded of that in other ways, too. Two nights ago my roommate Lennin and I shared a Macaroni and Cheese dinner. It was his first Mac 'n' Cheese ever! I was going to include a picture of us sharing this moment, but I couldn't find my camera (don't worry, I did find it the next day under some clothes). It wasn't more than a few months earlier that we shared a similar moment as he ate his first peanut butter and jelly sandwich. :) You might not guess it, but it's quite a joy to be sharing these things with someone who has never tasted them.

I wanted to ask for your prayers on a specific and very important thing. During the next month (or less) I will be deciding whether or not to return for a third year to teach English at NCA Nejapa. I have struggled with many aspects of teaching, and I realize that at least some of those are things that every new teacher struggles with, especially given a cross-cultural environment. However I have also been feeling that some struggles cannot necessarily been accredited to the difficult context in which I find myself, but rather are the result of my trying to be a teacher when in fact I'm better equipped for serving in another field. I have learned a ton by working in this capacity and wish I fit in a little better, but I keep getting the sense that my gift set lies elsewhere. I have spoken to the directors of the school and their responses were very gracious. They noted an appreciation for my two solid years (given that I finish this year) and recognized that the struggles that I have gone through could be good reason to leave. They also offered to support me should I feel the Lord leading me to continue teaching.

If I do decide to leave this position, I will be looking for different work. This is kind of a scary thought, since I'm not sure where I'd like to work or what I'd like to do. I am enjoying living in Nicaragua, and would like to continue. As I have said in previous emails, I am very satisfied with the friendships I have here, and really enjoy life in general outside of school. One opportunity that has come along here in Nicaragua would involve moving out of Managua and into a small town two hours northeast of here called Santa Lucia. My role in Santa Lucia would be somewhat unclear and undefined, generally having to do with community development. I would be shadowing a Nicaraguan man who pretty much trains local leaders in agriculture and leadership skills. I would be shadowing him for a while hopefully learning a lot and then looking for ways I could help and be involved in the development. This picture (from the previous post's slideshow) shows two women and a coffee-roaster. One part of my job would include working with this co-op and helping them to develop their business so that they could sell more coffee and generate more income. At first, this opporunity sounded great to me, but the excitement has been dwindling, and I'm not sure that I would enjoy it as much as I originally thought.

One interesting thing has been on my mind during the past week or so. A friend reminded me that often what we need for life decisions is not for God to give us a clear direction (i.e. handwriting on the wall or a personal email from God himself) but rather faith that in what we choose to do God will be present and working. That is to say, faith in his promise to bless his people as they go about his work in the world. Reminds me of a conversation I had with a certain Chad during my time in the Philippines. He was struggling through a decision of where to pursue higher education. For him, God was opening up different doors, allowing him to choose--God would be faithful in whatever Chad entered, in whatever calling he pursued. Maybe he does give us choices. Maybe it shouldn't be clear one way or the other. But one thing is clear, God always has been and will always be faithful.

It seems there is less than one week now until our midyear vacations are done. Next Monday we will resume the normal class schedule. I have enjoyed the vacation life and wish it could continue.

One more thing, almost forgot. Here's a photo of me with my new glasses. I'm not sure if I mentioned in my last post that a long-armed, skinny little monkey, lightning quick, took the previous pair right off my face from two feet away and through a chain linked fence. Had them back inside the cage and in a figure-eight before I could even blink. Beware of monkeys.



So it boils down to these prayer requests.

-prayer for guidance in my search for a decision about teaching.
-prayer for doors to open to desirable alternatives to teaching, and also for a faith to take life as it comes (and of course the strength and courage to go out and pursue it, too!)
-prayer for creativity, patience, and all that good stuff for the fast-approaching second semester.

visitation

A lot has happened since the last post. I finished my 3rd semester teaching, my parents came down for two weeks, and I turned another year older...26 now! The first semester finished as well as could have been expected. Very few failures, and only the students who deserved them got them. :) This is good because the first marking period found many very low grades. It seems like forever ago since I was teaching. My parents left 4 days ago, and while they were here time flew. It was great to have them here and we had a wonderful time. Let me tell you a little about their visit.

One of the first things we did was go for a tour of Managua with Steve. It is something I've been wanting to do for a long time now, actually. I have heard many people talk about how interesting and helpful his tour was--but always I have been busy and unable to join him. As we drove around the city to amazing sights and views, he filled us in on the fascinating history of Nicaragua as a republic and it's relationship with the US. Very much a time of learning for me. I loved it and I also found some amazing views of the city. Managua is the greenest capital city in Central America. With my parents we were also able to visit Ometepe Island, an island formed by two volcanoes, one of which is still active. With some luck were able to get the Dama de Hierro (my car) stuck on the inactive volcano. We had driven up two kilometers (4x4 necessary) and then hiked another one to get to a waterfall. We narrowly avoided getting stuck on the way up--sliding to the side and into bushes, but when we were turning around at the top it took two of us to get the thing stuck. My dad was spotting and I was driving. Neither of us took note of the giant rocks sticking up from the ground and we ended up with one tire in the middle of three rocks. The suspension was caught up on the forward most rock, and we weren't going anywhere. After an hour or more we were able to design and construct a ramp from the immediatley available materials and we had the car free.

We also enjoyed a sailboat tour in San Juan del Sur. The amazing tour included unbelievable sights of the coastline and more delicious food than we could handle. By the time lunch rolled around (we stopped at a beautiful cove beach), I barely had room for the apetizer. If you ever have the chance to try ceviche, don't pass it down, even if you don't like the thought of raw seafood, you'll enjoy the taste.

The rest of the time was spent relaxing a little more as we just made day trips from Managua. I took my parents to see the various crafts and skilled areas in and around the capital city: pottery, hammocks, pewter, furniture. Each of these things are made in different areas and we would have spent hours upon hours in each area if we had given my mom more time. We also stopped by the blacksmith school (link listed on this page) where my parents were able to see some hooks being made for them.

Overall we had a wonderful time together and we learned a lot about Nicaragua and how things are made and how people live. My parents aren't the first to come here and say, "We have never had a trip like this."

Here are some photos of the trip. Click here to see the full-sized version that includes captions. Watch for another post soon. There is more I need to say!