The Cyber ¨Shack¨

Hey everyone. First, I want to let you all know that I miss you very much. I can´t believe that I am only three weeks away from coming home. I have a feeling that it will fly by for me.
I wanted to let you know that the internet has been down at MQV for almost a week now. I am currently in a cyber ¨shack¨. It is seriously small with only three computers, but it is the best thing we have in El Crucero. I have some pics to share, but they will have to wait until we get a connection again at MQV.
However, speaking of ¨shack¨, it reminded me that I had a wonderful conversation with two Canadian girls on a bus the other day. I was riding home from San Juan del Sur, which is the place where I want to share some pictures, and one of the girls was reading ¨The Shack¨. Of course I started asking questions, because I love that book. I asked her what she thought, and she said that she had already cried twice. I found out that she had no ¨religious¨ background or faith in anything. As a side note, I am at least glad she is not religious, because we can´t work our way to God; He came to us. We discussed Jesus and how He is portrayed in the book. She said she really likes Jesus. She is also going to pass the book along to her friends. I am not sure what you think about that book, but I know it is impacting the lives of many unbelievers, because it is so different from anything we are used to in our Christian world.
Okay, well there will be more coming later. Hasta luego.

Comments

A few of you have mentioned that you couldn't comment on the blogs. So, I just changed a setting that I think will solve the problem. Gracias.

El Concierto

I thought I would post some pics of the concert I went to last Friday night. Jesus Adrian Romero was the Christian artist we went to hear. He was really good and entertaining, but I didn't understand very much of his music, of course. There were a ton of people there. It was a very energetic event, and I enjoyed watching everyone worship. This singer is a pretty big deal here in Latin America. There was one part I did understand, and that was when he was telling everyone that burning CD's and DVD's is stealing. I guess someone didn't think that taking a person's wallet was stealing since that someone decided to take mine as everyone was trying to leave through the only exit. It was like being in a herd of cattle because everyone was pushing a shoving, and then someone shoved their hand in my pocket. I didn't even notice until I was completely out of the chaos and saw my pocket inside-out. It wasn't too bad, though. I didn't have a whole lot of money and I didn't want it to affect my night. Other than that it was a lot of fun, and I always enjoy going to events and hanging out with my friends here.

Construction

We are in the middle of a contruction project here in El Crucero. We have plans to build the Technical Institute next to the existing primary school building. There will be a computer lab with 36 desktops, two classrooms (one for 72 people and one for 36) and three offices. However, just like every constuction project in the States, we are running into various hurdles that are slowing us down. Not to fear, there is one-heck-of an experienced/good-looking/gringo-who-can't-speak-spanish project manager/civil engineer on site. (Ha, just kidding about the experienced part. Kidding again. And sorry for all the slashes.) However, since he can't communicate very well with the workers he has Melvin to help him out. Mauricio, the security guard, called Melvin my bodyguard today since he was following me around everywhere translating for me. (Oh well, I guess I just gave it away that I was talking about me.) On a serious note, I think it is such a blessing to be able to work on this project, since I was considering and praying about working with a group called Engineering Ministries International (EMI). Of course I chose to come to MQV, but the Lord has allowed me to do engineering and construction work anyway. God is cool, huh.

Melvin

This is the second time you have seen Melvin in one of my pictures. He is a great friend and interpreter. We have worked together for a while now and have built a close friendship. He speaks English very well and is married to a woman from North Carolina. I met her today because she is here for 10 days visiting Melvin. They don't see each other much right now, but Melvin is trying to move to the States. He is not working at MQV this week since she is here, but he wanted to come this morning specifically to translate for me in chapel. He says he really likes hearing what is said in chapel every Wednesday. After translating for the first class, he went over to his wife and told her how beautiful her heart was, and how he wanted to treat her like the precious daughter of Christ that she is. They are at cute couple, and I couldn't help but laugh at how they acted together. It is encouraging to know that at least Melvin is enjoying and getting something out of chapel. I just hope the students are soaking it in like he is.

K-Mojado

I just wanted to share my excitement of being able to spread k-Wet to Nicaragua, or should I say K-Mojado (wet in spanish). Every Wednesday I speak in chapel for the high school students, and today I basically shared the K-Wet tiki talk we have used for the past two summers. It is a talk directed to the girls to show them how their beauty, value, and worth should be found in Christ and not in things of this world. If you have never heard me tell you about the tiki talk, just ask me and I can send you the whole thing in a Word document. It was so much fun even though I always have to have a translator, and it is difficult for me to explain American culture. But he did a good job of phrasing some of the things I said in a way they understand here in this culture. For instance, when I talked about a guy trying to sweet talk a girl, he translated it to "charle los perros" meaning "throw the dogs." I don't know why they say it that way, but they do. By the way, I wore the shirt specifically for today's talk.

A Crazy Reunion

What a random chance, but Candace and I were able to meet in Managua. She was here for a Vacation Bible school. I got the opportunity to hang out with her for a day and watch what they were doing. The theme for the week was "Adventura Extrema". I doubt I need to translate that on for you. It was a study on the journey the Israelites took from Eqypt to the Promise Land. Since Candace was the boss, once everything was underway we had time to hang out and catch up. There were so many people assisting her and teaching the kids. It was all very well put together. I was very impressed. It was a good time to catch up with a long time friend. It's crazy how I had back-to-back visits with people from the States. Well, I don't know if we can say Candace is from the States right now.

A Sweet and Beautiful Visitor!

A few of you knew, but for those who didn't, I got visited this past weekend. Stephanie came all the way from Colorado to see me! How lucky am I? Very lucky, you should say. We had four wonderful days together. I know it was short, and that is what all the Nicaraguans said as well, but to me it was much better than the alternative of not having her here at all. We introduced her to all the kids in chapel, and they swarmed her with hugs afterwards, I couldn't blame them of course. She came with me to some of my English classes, she led them in "Simon Says...", and they loved practicing their English by asking her all kinds of questions. I enjoyed having her get the opportunity to see what I am doing here. When we weren't in class, we were traveling to different areas of the country with my Nica friends showing her the sites. We went to a dormant volcano crater that is now a beautiful lagoon in Catalina, walked the beaches of Pochimil and Masachapa, and shopped in the market at Diriamba. Unfortunately, I had to see her off last night, but it was a nice vacation for me to relax and just enjoy time with her. Muchos gracias por venir, Stephanie.