New Book Club!!

The other Saturday the mobile library had its first student book club meeting! We used the opportunity to bring students from 3 different schools together to talk about the books they had read and to enjoy some literary activities.

Each child had to read a list of 10 books in order to participate, and from those 10 books we drew the activities. Some of the books in the book list were:

1. Where the Wild Things Are – RIP Maurice Sendak
2.  I’ll Love You Forever
3. Goodnight Moon
4. The Very Hungry Caterpillar
5. The Story of Ferdinand

We had a “round table” discussion of the books, facilitated by one of the teachers. We also played a lot of games – still grateful for those Play for Peace games I learned way back when!

We split the group in 2 and one group colored caterpillars, cocoons or butterflies…

…while the other group played a chutes and ladders game where they had to answer questions about the books to be able to advance.

After a satisfying lunch, we all headed back home. It was a really neat activity where we brought the best readers from 3 schools together and created a space for fun and learning!

The heat is on

It is not a coincidence that a year and 10 days ago, I posted this Letter to the Sun.

Life here in Nicaragua is once again a hot and sticky mess. It is that awkward time between dry season and rainy season.

We are experiencing the time of the year that locals compare to a pressure cooker – the pressure builds and builds until it explodes into a thunderstorm.

Unfortunately it has been 8 days since the last thunderstorm and the pressure continues to build daily.

Necessities:

1. A daily “heat escape” plan

Our favorite escapes include McDonalds, a fresh juice place, Pizza Hut, the mall, the grocery store, the movie theater, etc…

2. At least 2 showers a day

This is an ironic necessity because this is also the time of the year with the most water shortages.

3. Carrying a hanky with you to mop the sweat off of your forehead

The hanky doubles as a fan!

4. Ice

Ice water, iced coffee, ice cold coke…

5. Hourly cloud analysis

Are those huge white clouds going to turn into thunderheads?!

—

What keeps us going?

The hope that comes with the 10 degree drop in the temperatures right before it rains

The fun Russian roulette of: will I get soaking wet on my way home or not? Should I take my umbrella or not? Should I bring the laundry in from outside?

The Good Samaritan

The Good Samaritan retold – Nicaragua 2012

The following story is true except for the parts that I’ve made up:

One Saturday night the members of a church small group were discussing the Biblical commandment to love one’s neighbor. Everyone heartily agreed that loving their neighbor was an essential part of being a Christian citing the story in Luke 10 where Jesus affirms that loving others goes hand in hand with loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

However, some people in the group were having a hard time picturing what exactly love for one’s neighbor looked like and who should be included in our definition of “neighbor”. The small group leader began to tell them the following story:

Once upon a time there was a woman who lived in Matagalpa, a city located three hours by bus from Managua. The woman had been abused by her husband and kicked out of her house by her family. Her new born baby was sick with respiratory problems and desperately needed medical attention. Not knowing what else to do, the women gathered her belongings, what little money she had, her new born baby and her 10 year old son and headed for the capital, knowing that at least there she could find decent medical attention for her suffering baby girl in one of the public hospitals.

After spending 24 excruciating long nights and days in the hospital, all three crowded into a small room that they shared with another patient, the doctor gave her the joyous news that her baby girl would be ok. He then let her know that they had to leave the hospital immediately because there were others who needed the hospital bed more than they did.

The young mother left the hospital joyful but scared with basically no money and no where to go. She sat on the curb outside the hospital watching people busily pass by going about their business. As she rested there and took stock of her situation a feeling of dread washed over her and she began to cry.

As she was crying a young missionary couple passed by the hospital. They saw the mother and her two children with hungry, blank stares on their faces and said to one another, “This woman and her children need help, we should go see what’s wrong.” But then they quickly realized, “Even though we have an extra room in our house we couldn’t let her stay with us. We both have important jobs to do and are gone from the house all day and we can’t leave her alone in our home.” They quickly passed by on the other side of the street.

A little while later a church leader passed by and saw the family still sitting by the curb looking hopeless, tired, sick and hungry. The church leader felt sorry for the family and asked what was wrong. When the mother explained the families situation the church leader exclaimed, “Ay pobrecitos,” and gave them 50 cordobas. Feeling good about herself for helping the poor and needy she left for her Tuesday night Bible study.

Around 8:00pm that night it had already gotten dark and the mother was terrified contemplating spending the night on the street in a city that she knew was dangerous, especially after dark. Just as she was losing it and starting to sob a black man from the Atlantic Coast who was one his way home from work stopped and asked her what was wrong. At first she was petrified, she had heard many stories about these “Negros” all saying they were dangerous and could not be trusted. Not knowing where else to turn,  she  began telling her terrible story to the stranger.

The man, who had two small twin children at home was moved to tears with compassion for the woman. He hailed a cab, gathered the mother and her children inside and headed for home.

When they arrived at home the man’s wife greeted them with a worried look on her face but after hearing of the family’s situation she knew just what to do. They shared a simple meal with the newcomers of rice, beans, and fried plantains and after supper tucked their exhausted guests into the only bed in the house while the family slept on the floor. The black family assured the young mother that she could stay for as long as she needed until she was able to get back on her feet.

When the leader finished the story the group sat in stunned silence, scandalized. Why would their leader tell a story where a black family who probably wasn’t even Christian where the heros? The leader ended by asking, “Who showed the best example of Jesus’s  love in this story? We should go then and do likewise.”

Central American Anabaptist Youth Convention

Since August of last year, Adam and I have had the priveledge of working on the planning committee of the annual Anabaptist youth convention that was held last week here in Nicaragua. We welcomed 85 youth from Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Puerto Rico! It was such a blessing to see all of our hard work come to life.

Here’s how our week broke down:

Sunday, April 1st

• Hosted a participant from Mexico

Marisa and Elisa during the cultural night

• Went to Masaya to buy typical shirts for the staff to wear during the event
• Went to church
• Ate a typical Nicaraguan dinner of carne asada, gallo pinto and tajadas

Delicious dinner shared with new friends

Monday, April 2nd

• Worked and worked…

Marisa's plan for registration. Marisa was in charge of logistics for the event.

Tuesday, April 3rd

• ADAM’S BIRTHDAY!!!
• After a long day of work, we slipped away to our favorite Italian restaurant to celebrate

Wednesday, April 4th

• 1am – Adam arrives at the bus station to wait for participants from Guatemala and Belize
• 4:30am – Adam falls into bed
• 7am – time to get up again and start final preparations!!

Decorations for the main meeting space.

Preparing name tags, room assignments, workshop passes, etc. before the arrival of the participants.

Thursday, April 5th

• Start of the Convention!!
• Marisa in charge of the registration tables – everything runs smoothly!
• Opening session, first round of workshops, delicious lunch
• Cultural Night that included a fair and presentations from each country

Costa Rican folkloric dance presented during the cultural night.

Puerto Rican dance at cultural night.

Friday, April 6th

• More sessions: Anabaptist Identity, Interpersonal Relationships
• Continuing the workshops
• Pool time!
• Formal night with final worship service

"Friendship Groups" met four times during the convention for Bible studies and other activities designed to get youth reflecting on God's will for the church and for us as individuals.

With our friend Alex from the Latin American Anabaptist Seminary in Guatemala who led a plenary session on "Anabaptist Identity".

All the youth gathered in the pavilion in front of the pool during the "Formal Night" where youth were called to make a commitment to serve Jesus by continuing his work and ministry.

Saturday, April 7th

• Session on Christian sexuality
• Last workshops
• Assembly to make decisions for future conventions – 2013 Convention will be in Costa Rica!
• Trip to an artisan market with the Hondurans in their school bus!
• Crash….hard:)

"The Human Knot" game illustrates possible responses to conflict during the Conflict Transformation workshop.

Presentation during the "Worship Music" workshop.

Partipants learn pantomime and acting techniques for use in worship and evangelism during the "Prophetic Expression" workshop.

We cannot express our gratitude to all our friends and family who made donations to make this event possible. It was truly a blessing to have participated in the planning and execution of the event. The experience has been one of the highlights of our time in Nicaragua so far. We believe the event was truly life-giving for all those involved and hope that everyone who attended left with a stronger commitment to serve God, each other, and their communities.

—

The following is a quote from a youth serving and working in Honduras with MCC who was able to attend the convention:

“I had the immense privelege of attending the JUAMCA (Young Anabaptist Mennonites of Central America) retreat during Holy Week, a gathering of about 70 from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica that may have been the best retreat of my whole life.  It was at a beautiful hotel/camp near Managua, Nica, had great food, amazing planning and staff, super-relevant seminars, intense bible-studies in mixed groups, workshops in worship, leadership, and prophetic drama, recreation, blessed worship and preaching, and a night where we all shared from our cultures.  No one went away without being freed, blessed, and having a deepened sense of what it is to be the international body of Christ. Wow.”

Things we never thought we’d be doing

On Saturday, February 25 we completed a year and half here in Nicaragua, reaching the mid-way point in our three year term. Halfway through our time here, we are learning to be ready for anything and wanted to share with you all some things that we never thought we’d be doing before coming to Nicaragua:

1) Playing Softball

2) Putting on a puppet show

3) Attending church activities 3+ times a week

4) Performing interpretive dance to popular Christian songs in church

5) Giving a sex talk to teenagers

6) Preaching

7) Helping to plan a Central American youth convention

8) Running laps around a traffic circle for exercise

9) Frying our rice before boiling it (yes, it is delicious)

10) Sleeping with a mosquito net (Marisa was starting to look like she had chicken pox)

Here are some pictures of some of these things plus a few more. We’ll leave Adam’s interpretive dance in church up to your imagination:)

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Lessons from the kitchen

I thought I’d share a few things that I’ve learned about food since being in Nicaragua:

1. You don’t need a toaster to make toast.
 Just use a frying pan

2. Stove-popped popcorn tastes delicious all day, every day.
I’ve always known this to be true 

3. Ice cream is a seasonal necessity. When the day comes, you will know.
The day came yesterday. It was still 81 degrees at 8pm 

4. Beans can be incorporated into approximately 101 different dishes.
Make one big pot of beans and transform it into: soup, bean burgers, tacos, taco salad, etc.

5. Nicaraguans will never “like” the food that you make.
Especially not if it contains vegetables 

6. Keep a stash of peeled bananas in the freezer.
Plop 4 in a blender, add a splash of milk and the result is reminiscent of a Wendy’s Frosty

7. Remember that your husband is likely to eat twice as much as you.
Which means there will be no leftovers for lunch

8. Leave the cooking of the rice to said husband. His always turns out better.
We have resorted to cooking rice “Nica-style” (frying it in oil first and then boiling) because this way it doesn’t stick to our pot 

9. Keep snack packs of crackers and/or cookies on hand for guests that might stop by.
Also remember to offer them water when they arrive 

10. Bake pizza, bread or cookies often.
It is totally worth heating up the house

Shank family visit!

A few days after we hosted our Christmas party, the Shank family arrived! We had a lot of fun showing them the beautiful country that is Nicaragua as well as introducing them to our friends here.

First dinner at our house, soon after they got off the plane.

We went to the Isla de Ometepe, an island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua that was formed by 2 volcanoes.

We're on a boat

Hiking up a volcano to see some waterfalls

Walking through a plantain forest to get to natural mineral pools.

We spent New Year’s Eve weekend in Managua with our church and friends.

Family + friends

Watching New Year's Eve fireworks in front of our house

Don preached on Sunday with interpretation by Adam

We went to northern Nicaragua to a coffee plantation named Selva Negra.

Our Nica-chalet

The Nicaraguans were cold

It was really fun to have the family here to visit!

Responding to poverty

This is a thought provoking article from a great blog, Red Letter Christians.

http://www.redletterchristians.org/on-the-receiving-end-beggars-and-pbj/

My thoughts:

The thing about poverty that really gets me is the loss of dignity. I often ask myself how much self-worth did that person have to give up in order to beg at a stoplight? It is hard for me to ask for help for even the simplest tasks – I can’t imagine what it would be like to depend on other people’s generosity for your subsistence. And how many times people would look at you scornfully and reject your pleas for help.

It is important to remind myself constantly of the power inherent in me. Power to influence people, power to get projects funded, power to say I have no “spare” change.

I recently finished reading Paulo Friere’s book Pedagogy of the Oppressed. This was one of my favorite paragraphs in the book that details how to advocate for and with the less fortunate :

“Elements of Witness”
Consistency between words and actions
Boldness which urges the witnesses to confront existence as a permanent risk
Radicalization (not sectarianism) leading both the witness and the ones receiving that witness to increasing action
Courage to love (not accomodating an unjust world) but rather the transformation of that world in behalf of the increasing liberation of men
Faith in the people

**

We will write soon about our many adventures in December and January!

Twas the Night Before Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas when all through the city,
People were cooking their “gallina rellena” and making themselves look pretty.
Except for two gringos busy as bees in a hive,
Knowing their guests were soon to arrive.

They had agreed to host a party to “provide only the house”,
But at the last minute realized a few details had been left out.
The guests were expecting to be well fed,
And visions of tasty chicken dishes danced in their heads.

So one gringo was cleaning, mopping the floors of the kitchen,
While the other set out to buy five roasted chickens.
But when he arrived at the store he observed such a clatter,
That he raced to the chicken counter to see what was the matter.

And as he hurried to the back of the store,
His heart sank when he realized what the clatter was for.
It seemed many others thought it would be great,
To take home a juicy roast chicken wrapped in plastic on a styrofoam plate.

He encountered several shoppers with sad baffled stares,
Realizing their Christmas tables this year would be bare.
And his high Christmas spirit began to turn sour,
When they explained that more birds were coming in an hour.

When what to his watering eyes did appear,
But a worker with a cart with the chickens so dear.
He arrived at the front of the line with a smile,
And began to build his Christmas chicken pile.

He could feel several sets of eyes now locked directly on him,
And decided to stop at four chickens now realizing his sin.
The clerk at the counter then said with a sneer,
“One person with four chickens will never make it out of here!”

To the checkout line in a flash he dashed with alarm,
As the four piping hot birds seared his tender forearms.
When at long last a shopping cart he had in his hands,
He took just a moment to formulate his plans.

With his wife by his side they would split the birds two and two,
So quick as a wink in a taxi to the supermarket she flew.
The four birds were bought and no one protested,
And they arrived safely at home relatively unmolested.

The party was lively, everyone enjoyed the food,
Never knowing it was obtained in a manner quite rude.
And despite all the craziness the couple was still able to recite,
“Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night!”

Freedom for the Captives??

Another Christmas season, our second here in Nicaragua, is already upon us! The season reminds us of, among many other things, God’s amazing act of love, becoming human and living among us. I’m honestly not sure why I feel the need to share this post now. It very well might knock you out of that “Christmas spirit”, but somehow it feels right to me.

Isaiah, some 700 years before Jesus’ birth, prophesied many times about the coming of a savior, someone who will come to restore and renew. In Isaiah 61 he proclaims:

¹ The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
² to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
³ and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor. (Isaiah 61:1-3)

Luke tells us in his gospel that Jesus stood up and read this passage from Isaiah in the synagogue in Nazareth and concluded by saying “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:14-21)

So how do we understand these words today, 2,000 years after Jesus spoke them? How do we proclaim good news to the poor? Who are the captives and the prisoners and how do we free them?

I don’t know exactly, and I don’t think there is any one right answer either. However, a recent blog post by our MCC Nicaraguan co-workers Kevin and Cassie Zonnefeld got me thinking about these verses, ones that I think we should all consider especially as we celebrate once again the birth of our Savior and what that means for us, his followers.

I would encourage you to check out the website, The Slavery Footprint, which brought these verses closer to home for me, realizing that all over the world, here in Nicaragua and back home in the States, forms of slavery still exist. So take the quiz and share with us your thoughts and even your results if you want to!