schedule for next two weeks

Thought I'd share a brief overview of our schedule for the next couple of weeks in case you're curious or would like to hold us up in prayer.

Wednesday 24

Today Derek and his dad are making a trip to León for two main reasons. First,

another quickie

Good afternoon! Here's a quickie because I don't have much time. Tomorrow evening Derek Schuurman arrives from Redeemer University, where I graduated. He was my computer science prof, and is coming here under that capacity to train local teachers and students in that field. I've been working very hard to arrang for invitations for him to speak at both Christian and secular universities, as well as to a group of Christian profs from Managua. The impetus for the trip is to support the local Christian schools association by helping refurbish some computers and training a group of 15-25 Christian school computer teachers, with whom he'll be spending two days.

We're very excited to have him, and I'm also feeling the pressure at this point! We didn't find out until a few weeks ago that he would be coming, so preparations have been maid in a hurry. This post is mainly to ask for your prayers during the next two weeks while Derek is here. He's coming tomorrow, November 23, and leaving December 4. Lots of things will have to go right in terms of logistics: power, transportation, food, housing, health, safety, and more. I know that it is all in the Lord's hands, but I also know that more people raising this trip before the Lord the better! Please pray for the hearts and minds of all of those who will hear Derek speak. Please pray for the translators, who will have their work cut out for them, and pray for Derek as he leads various workshops. Pray that we'll be able to make some valuable connections with Christian educators. And remember me as well, as I try to coordinate everything to the best of my ability so that God will be lifted up and his name known more fully in more places.

I uploaded a few photos from the most recent training I did with the Christian computer teachers. In the same album are photos of my week in Santa Lucia where I did a training with the farmers there through our partner ACJ (YMCA). We trained them to use our video equipment and then asked them to make a film about their community. Hopefully I'll get a chance to share more about that later. For now here are the pictures...

By the way, we call the group of teachers "RedProCom" which means Network of Christian Computer Teachers. I guess it could be NetComTea in English. Oh, and I just realized that I do have the photos from the Video trip and the computer training separated. Here they are:

RedProCom 2


PV Santa Lucia

quick update

These next two weeks will be quite busy. On Thursday (November 4), we'll be hosting the second computer teacher trainings at the Nehemiah Center. We'll be focusing on things that will help the teachers get a quick start with their lab using Open Source Software. On Friday I'll be heading to Santa Lucia, Boaco, about 2 hours outside of Managua for an initial meeting with a small rural community for a "participatory video" project. We'll be using the methods and manual of the organization InsightShare to empower the community in making a video about themselves. This initial meeting we will lay out our objectives and lead them in choosing a group of 6 or so people to be a part of the training. We hope to use their final video to show the impact in that community of the programs that the CRC and the Nehemiah Center have been promoting through a local organization ACJ (YMCA of Nicaragua). By having them make the video, we hope to have a more authentic picture of what's going on, but just as importantly we hope that the community will grow through the experience. When you have to think through your history, what parts of your community you want to present and how, and what hopes you have for the future, it makes you more self-aware as a community and actually becomes part of the development process. Following this first meeting on Friday, we will return on Monday to begin the actual training and creation of the video. It will be a 2 or three day training and then 2 or 3 days accomanying the team of trainees as they go out and make a film (up to 20 minuts) about themselves. So I'll be "out of town" for about a week, depending on how everything goes--we're planning on being flexible with the time we spend there because we're not sure how long everything will take.

Much planning still needs to be done on both of those fronts--both for the computer teacher training and the community-based video training. A good Nicaraguan friend of mine, Fabio, will be helping to facilitate the community training, which I'm very excited about--it is his first time collaborating with us on a major project, and he is a very talented individual. I look forward to seeing him fill this role.

As far as the Dama de Hierro goes (my truck), about a week and a half ago I submitted an appeal to the civil court, which I was told would take about a week to go through before I'd get an answer. We pleaded the case that I hadn't been given a fair chance at a just ruling, and that the evidence wasn't even considered, but rather ignored. I'll be hearing this week about that, and I believe I can appeal again if it still comes out against me...but so can she (the other party involved). So we're hoping she will accept the decision if she loses, and we're hoping for a just ruling.

I'm also in the process at the moment of getting a new passport. Mine went missing some time during my move about 4 months ago (I'm assuming it was then). It was in need of replacement anyway, since it was about to expire, but the complicating factor is that I need to renew my local residency, which is more difficult since it was my old passport that had the stamp. Hopefully I will be able to get all of this done in time to get a reasonably priced ticket to go home at Christmas--I'm afraid to get the ticket now because I'm not sure how long this whole process will take. Ah, the joys of living internationally! Some of you know what I mean!

Ah, one more thing. I mentioned previously that I had created a video for House of Hope, a ministry that reaches out to and serves prostitutes and former prostitutes of Managua. They posted the web version on their home page, and I invite you to take a look. I may be showing this film when I'm in North America again, but feel free to check it out anyway. (www.houseofhopenicaragua.com)

prayer items:

-pray that planning and preparation goes well for both of the trainings coming up--for the computer trainings and for the community participatory video trainings.

-pray that the appeal receives a fair look by a fair judge, and that the other woman involved, Sylvia, will accept her responsibility in the accident.

-pray that my passport and residency go through quickly so that I can get a ticket home for Christmas!

dancing with joel

How many of you are subscribers to the CRWM E-News? It's "the electronic newsletter from Christian Reformed World Missions. With this monthly email we hope to keep you informed with stories and news about what World Missions’ missionaries are doing worldwide. We hope you enjoy these stories of transformation from around the globe."

Two recent articles:

1. This week there was a really neat article by Joel Huyser, who I work with at the Nehemiah Center, called "Dancing to a New Program". It starts like this...

I (Joel) am not good at dancing.

It was not part of my culture growing up in Sully, Iowa. And I definitely don’t have rhythm. When I took up the trombone in middle school, my Mom spent long hours teaching me how to tap my foot to the beat of the music. I was that clueless. Seriously.
Read the full story...

2. A couple of weeks ago there was an article about my work. Here's the teaser:

Today’s electronic world has ushered in significant changes in every community - from large metropolises in North America to small, rural villages in Nicaragua. As technology changes, schools around the world are adapting their programs to give their students a “head-start” in the new electronic era. Dave Stienstra, a partner missionary with CRWM and the Nehemiah Center in Nicaragua, is helping missions organizations, local agencies, and Christian schools navigate this new world. Read the full story...

blamed again

For those of you who have been wondering for a long time, last week I finally heard back about the result of my appeal for the accident report with the police. Quick review: got in an accident almost two months ago; I basically t-boned a car at midnight on my way to the airport when she ran a red light; the first police report indicated she was at fault, gave me a speeding ticket, and her insurance would have to pay for damages; she didn't like the idea of having to pay a deductible and increased premium and vowed to appeal, which she did; she pulled some strings and had the report reviewed and the resolution was in her favor, totally ignoring her critical mistake; I appealed with the help of a lawyer and began the month-long wait for a response. That is the response I got last week. Next week we will be filing another appeal, this time with the civil court, so a different set of strings will need to be pulled in order to manipulate the system. I'm still hoping that those who make the decisions will do so justly. I post here when I know more. For now, I'm very thankful that my motorcycle is running well, and just as thankful that the rains have slowed down significantly.

Speaking of rains slowing down significantly...they were coming down really hard for like almost two months. There has been so much flooding in Nicaragua and damage because of it that it's been quite disastrous. Lake Managua has grown, I just heard, so much that it's covering several blocks of the neighborhoods closest to the lake, and is still rising. The ground is so saturated that any time it starts raining, rivers appear out of no where. A few nights ago during a 40 minute downpour, I was on my bike near my previous house, and I was slightly concerned that I couldn't see the road; water coming from side streets careened across the road, and manhole covers were shoved out of their place by brown water pushing its way up from below. When you see this quantity of water, it's not hard to see why so many streets have open drainage systems instead of pipes--they simply can't contain it.

The rain has also affected farmers significantly. Those who lost their crops last year because of lack of water are now losing their crop again--and the seeds for the next!--due to erosion from the extreme amount of rain. The price of beans right now is skyrocketing, and prices in general continue to rise in kind.

Red Pro Com #1

In other news, we had our first training day for Christian computer teachers, and it was a definitive success! We had exactly 20 teachers from almost as many schools out to meet for the first time and begin what I hope is a deeply enriching mutual learning experience. A couple of weeks ago, Christian Reformed World Missions published an article about this group of teachers on their e-news bulletin. Here's the link. It really does a good job of explaining what it's all about. In this first session we focused on developing a biblical understanding of science and technology and how that relates to teaching computer classes. Unfortunately we only took a few photos of the hands on part of the day, where the teachers are getting the opportunity to install Ubuntu on computers and set them up for dual-boot. They're all interested in coming back in October and November for more meetings.

By the way, you may notice that I have started posting other things on my blog--there are some posts below that I didn't send emails about. I decided to start blogging once in a while about things that aren't necessarily related to my ministry here, but that I believe are important and interesting topics. I hope you'll pop in once in a while to read them. I will continue to send email invitations to read my ministry-update blog posts. Thanks for following along!

prayer items

-pray for the rains to slow down, for the ground to dry up a bit, and for harvests this next season to be bountiful
-praise for a great first session with the computer teachers, and pray for further creativity and energy within the group (and for its leaders!) pray that there is natural leadership from within the group of teachers that stimulates and involves everyone
-pray for my situation with my car, the Dama de Hierro, and that through this long process we'll eventually see justice done