The Next Simon

The other day (you know, I should begin all my blogs this way because I never write one the night of), I was a judge for a singing competition. There were 12 competitors and 3 judges. It was a school event so all the students were there cheering for their favorite singer. It was a lot of fun. One group of 5 students formed a band and played Hillsong's "From the Inside Out." They need a lot of practice, but I am glad they still tried. One of the girls played a recorder. The rest sang solo. Each contestant was given a score in three categories: tone, rythm, and overall presentation. I had a pretty difficult time judging. I didn't think many of them had a very good tone, so I based most of my scores on performance. The top three winners are below. I thought the second place girl (the one in the middle) actually sang the best but didn't have the best performance, and she forgot a lot of her words. It was a close competition, but I am at least glad they didn't ask the judges to give a performance.

The Container is here!! (Kind of)

This should have been posted last Wednesday, but I finally have the pictures and a connection on my computer.

Leo and I went to Managua to monitor the unloading of the container that had arrived from the States. It was full of food, computers, toys, and other supplies for New Hope and MQV. (Thanks Dad for all the hard work packing.) I was told that it would only be a few hours and I would be back by 12:30 in time for my singing class with the students. I should have known better - I am in Nicaragua - but it was 6 hours later before we returned.

We arrived at a big warehouse were the container was waiting to be unloaded. It was not at the loading dock, so we had to go back to the trucking company and pay $50 for them to move it about 100 feet. Then we sat and watched as 10+ workers unloaded everything and placed it in the warehouse. One man counted all the boxes as it was unloaded. I don't understand this process, because in about a week they will have to load it back into the container to be delivered to El Crucero, oh well. And of course, it took a while to get started unloading and then they had to break for lunch for an hour. (Although, I was honestly glad that they made them leave to eat lunch.) Once everything was unloaded and in the warehouse, we were told - on the phone as we were driving home - that the final count of items didn't match the list we had. So we turned around the recount it ourselves, because if they find just one item of they will ask us for a "gift" to overlook the problem. We found our list to be accurate, but I found out the we still paid them a "gift" of $25 to keep the process moving, because we would like our container sooner than later. And things here are normally later.

We hope to be unloading the container here at MQV by the end of this week. Cross your fingers.

God really does care about the small things...

Yesterday, Cesar (a good friend of mine who has a strong passion for ministry), Orlando (a new friend who was deported from the States but has given his life to the Lord), and I rode around to certain areas in Nicaragua. We were hoping to meet up with a couple of pastors and discuss dreams of a camp ministry. Unfortunately, we missed both pastors due to falty time scheduling, a common problem in Nicaragua. But all-in-all it turned out to be a very interesting day. When Cesar picked me up from MQV in his ’72 VW Bug, he mentioned getting new shocks but since then the steering has had more play than usual. There was also no AC and the windows wouldn't roll down; only the little ones by the side mirrors that pull in. It got hot quick!

Well, in short, we began having all sorts of problems. Eventually the car wouldn’t start and we had to pop the clutch 3 times to get it cranked. Then, the horn shorted out and would honk at random. I never really thought this happened, but it reminded me of Brian Reagan’s comedic act. The only things we could do was make a joke out of the situation and wave at people when we passed by honking. Luckily, people here honk often while driving. Cesar jokingly told me that he hadn’t had any problems like this until I got in the car. Finally, the front-left tire became loose, not the lug nuts but the whole rim seemed loose on the axle. At times the car would pull hard to the left. This was a pretty big problem and getting worse. I thought at any moment we were going to lose the front tire. We were about 15 miles from the city with no chance for a tow truck. I was a bit worried. We were driving very slowly – less than 10 mph – for fear off loosing a tire at high speed. Then Cesar asked me to pray, because he felt that the Enemy was trying to stop us from doing work for the Lord. I just thought that we were driving a very old car. However, I prayed and as soon as the first words came out of my mouth the car pulled hard left.

"Great. See. This isn't going to do any good," I thought.

But we prayed for a long time because we weren't going to be anywhere for a while. After that first jerk to the left, there wasn't another one the whole way home. Cesar was amazed, and I was too for that matter. God answered the desperate prayers of two faithful Nicas and one doubtful gringo.

Cesar told me today that he drove the Bug to church and still hasn't had a problem. To me that is unbelieveable because the car was starting to pull hard left every 30 seconds or so before we prayed. One thing to be learned from this is that prayer works, even when our faith is tiny (like a mustard seed, maybe).

Dale pues (Okay then)

Entonces…to update you all I have returned to Nicaragua for a 5 week trip. I am already one week in, and it is about time I wrote a blog. But in my defense, my computer has been dead. I got a guy here to help me fix it, and now all the programs are in Spanish! At first I didn´t know what to do, but then I realized it would force me to learn español mas rapido. Also, my keyboard is in some sort of español setting as well, so all the dashes, hyphens and stuff are not where they are supposed to be. Every time I want to type a special mark I have to hit every button to find it. Por exemplo, it took me forever to find @; it´s was not above the 2.

I have returned for a variety of reasons: to visit my friends and the children in the orphan home, see the students in the school and adults in the technical school, continue working in after-school activities with the students, seek out and learn more about other ministries in Nicaragua, and to take some time to visit the beautiful sites that I missed last time.

This first week was a wonderful start to my short time here. The morning after I arrived I visited the school (which is just across the road from my room) and was bombarded with hugs from all the little niños in the school. When they first saw me they had the most surprised look on their faces. It was very heartwarming because it made me feel loved and missed. I have spent the majority of my time the first few days reuniting with my Nica friends.

It feels like I have already accomplished a lot in just 7 days, but I will only briefly discuss one item which took place in a remote village about and hour from El Crucero. Leo, myself, and two boys from the orphan home took equipment to show a movie at a small church in that village. I started the night by leading worship with the only three songs I know in Spanish. Then we showed the movie (it was a New Testament story about building your “house” on the Rock). I then followed up with a short message, which Leo translated, and prayer. Even though it was very hot and humid, it was such an amazing experience that I don’t think I could ever get tired of doing.

More updates are to follow, because I don’t want this first one to be so long that you look at it and decide to read it later. But if you are like me you never get around to it.

HOME

I can't believe it, but I am back in the States. Three months really flew by. I can't believe I used to go on mission trips for only a week at a time. Did I ever get anything accomplished then? I am sorry to have posted more blogs, but we really had some trouble with the internet the last few weeks, and I was extremely busy. Maybe I will write some post-MQV.

It is a little bitter-sweet, because I really enjoyed my time in Nicaragua. It was tough leaving all the kids and friends that I have down there. And they were all extremely generous making me feel special by throwing me parties and giving me gifts. Those stories might be the upcoming blogs.

I hope to see you all soon. I only have a week before I leave for camp, so give me a call.

Tres Amigos (falta uno)

Last time I was on here, I mentioned that I took a solo trip to San Juan del Sur. It was a little vacation for me. I went there expecting to share at a crusade one of the churches was putting on in the town. A good friend I work with in El Crucero, Cesar, has a few contacts in San Juan del Sur because he is a part of Gideons International. He wanted me to share because San Juan is such a high tourist town on the coast with good surf. He thought that since I was a foreigner and part-time surfer, that I would be able to connect well with some of the people there. I was very excited about sharing and had prepared what I thought was an appropriate message for the type of people Cesar described. Unfortunately, when we arrived there had been some kind of communication break-down, and I wasn’t able to share. I was a little disappointed, but I at least have a good message prepared for another time the Lord wants to use me. Cesar, his wife, Leo, and I stayed and watched the crusade for a while, went to get some food, and then they left to return to El Crucero and I stayed behind. I often enjoy traveling alone because it is a challenge, especially in a foreign country. At first I was a little nervous about finding a place to sleep and potentially getting robbed again. So, I kept my backpack and money close. I went to one hotel and they were closed for the night. So, I asked some guys for a recommendation and they said that most foreigners stayed at Hotel Oro. I went to check it out, but since I didn’t have my passport with me, I couldn’t stay. Then I started walking around the town looking for another place. I became a little anxious thinking I would have to stay at some fancy place and spend a lot of money, but then I found a place for only $5 a night. (Don’t worry Mom, it wasn’t too shady.) I had to share a room with three other guys - two bunk beds. It ended up turning out as a blessing, because once I met my “roommates”, they turned out to be really cool. One was from Germany, another from Austria, and the third from here in Nicaragua. They let me tag along that night, and I had a lot of fun getting to know them. I was a pretty jealous of the European guys because they spoke about 5 languages. The next day they took me to a great spot to surf. It took us about 20 minutes to get there traveling down dirt roads, but the beach was off the beaten path and fairly private. It was very nice. I rented an old board for another $5 and gave surfing in the Pacific another shot. I would say the Pacific won, but I still had a blast. It was great meeting some guys and making friends. Hopefully I will be able to catch up with them again.

Just so you don't think I am constantly playing, I decided to attach another picture of me doing some work. The girls decided to take the picture, because I guess they never see men here doing the dishes. I thought I would show them that real men spend time in the kitchen. Unfortunately, I still have a long way to go before I know all the other qualities of a real man. Ha.

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.