So surprises of all surprises, I recently (as of 2 weeks before the trip) decided to take a project leader position going back to Granada. This was through AIM's Edge program, which sends churches, adult groups, kids groups, and college kids on short trips to different countries. So I arrived at El Puente on July 9 and said hello AGAIN :) to all the wonderful people that I know.
What I didnt expect was the welcome I would recieve. Noone except for a few people knew I was returning to Granada, and the surprised elated looks I recieved did my heart good. Ezekiel jumped up and down and couldnt stop yelling my name, Oscar hugged me and hugged me and couldnt stop talking to me. Seeing Carlos playing his guitar again and singing made me cry. And Pastor Jimmy and his wife Myra were also so overjoyed to see me. It was as if I had never left - except Ezekiel said he had missed us all from the Novas team. Francisco, Natalia, Angel, Mauricio...they were all there last week. EVerything was the same, but yet different. Better. I sat in my room and cried because of the beautiful friends I had in Granada. The relationships that will probably never be forgotten.
The athens team came in on July 11 and what started was a week of learning, experiencing, and seeing the world that I had lived in for 6 months. It was very sad to not have the community of those I had lived with before (heather, seth, trevor, liana, jessica, valerie, tom, and garrett) but the new Athens group became my team. There were 14 in the group- they taught me so much that week and I hope they changed as well.
Another blog will be coming soon with pictures and experiences I had in the last week. I am so glad I said yes to going back, and I hope to go back again soon.
Well, I've been home a week. Officially been in the US for 2 weeks now. Its different. Very different from Nica. I didn't realize how much I had gotten used to Granada. And the work that we were doing there. I find myself at home, going through this sort of "missionary withdrawl." Where I want to do that kind of stuff 24/7. I miss my friends I made on this trip, I miss the rush of joy and energy I got from being in community. I miss that life there.
Then I realize what I really did in Nicaragua. I lived life. But I lived life with purpose. And by living life, I impacted those around me. And my friends in Nicaragua impacted me. I will never forget the lessons I learned there. By stepping out of my box, I exercised my faith and in doing that, the lessons I learned were intensified by the unfamiliar and different place I was in. I found God, and He was NOT on the corner of 1st and Amistad. (yeah I just used song lyrics in my blog haha)
And I can do this stuff here. In Columbus, Ohio. I don't have to go to Africa, or Nicaragua, or Botswana, although I do feel called to different countries in the future. But for now, I will stay here in Ohio, and do what I could do anywhere in the world. Live life with purpose, have a dream for the future, and always remember to "Choose Novas!" (for those of you who don't know, that is a resident joke among those of us on the Novas project - to choose Novas).
So this is my last blog for now - here on this page. I know for certain in the future I will be leading trips for AIM, as well as going on other trips all over the world. So I may pick back up on blogging when these trips take place. But for now, God bless you all! And thank you for your support, your prayers, and for being interested in my trip.
(oh for those of you who go to my church, I will probably be speaking in front of church, or having a special missions night to talk about Nicaragua, so stay tuned for that!)
It's Tuesday. The kitchen at el Puente is bustling with activity – Maria is working on gallo pinto for the dump ministry, and Oscar and Kennedy are making a huge batch of eggs to take to the dump. Oscar chases me around with an egg (he missed my birthday since I was in Honduras during it- and you have to throw eggs on peoples heads – tradition) and I scream like a banshee Indian. Heather is in the bathroom yelling about parasite tests and Liana is trying to get her eye opened (she has pink eye) enough to put eye drops in. Garrett is sleeping on the hammock and Valerie is chatting with the people in the kitchen. Trevor is singing the same song over and over at the top of his lungs in his room. As I wait to make my French press coffee, I think about community.
This is what I will miss the most. Having someone to talk to all the time. Sleeping in close proximity to everyone, so that any time Garrett yells in his sleep we can hear everything he says. Hanging out with the girls at night. Waking up in the morning, making coffee together, and loving life. Together. I hope one day to have something like this again.
Heather leaves tonight for the states. This starts the process of saying goodbye. What I hate the most about leaving Nicaragua are the friends I have to say goodbye to. One chapter of my life will close and another one will open.
Meet Massiel. Massiel is a woman that we have become friends with here in Granada. Her ex-husband is in jail and he used to abuse Massiel and her four girls. Massiel is now living in this house made out of scraps of wood and metal, in a small barrio across from El Puente. Massiel has barely any kind of job - she does her best to find work to feed and clothe her family, but work here in Granada is very hard to find. We have fallen in love with Massiel - because despite her circumstances, she loves God and has joy each day - with her kids and with others.
I pray that when we leave Massiels family will be able to come into contact with other people who can love on them as we have.
19 days left. I look forward to May 10 in two ways- excitement because I will be coming back to the states! And sadness because I will be leaving all the friends I have made in the past 6 months here in Nicaragua.
Lately our team has felt pretty discouraged by the sequence of events that have happened here in Granada. It seemed like everything we were pouring our hearts and energies into just backfired and left us feeling alone and beat down. Liana and I went to see Margarita (see blog -Margarita ) our friend from the hospital, only to find out from her brother-in-law that she no longer lives at her house. She "returned to alcohol" he said, shrugging his shoulders sadly. She lives on the streets now, and her family doesn't even know where she has gone. She returns when her clothes are dirty, only to wash them and go back out on the streets – back to her life of drugs and alcohol. This is what happens to so many people here. They just fall back into the vicious circle of hopelessness.
But despite the drawbacks of the ministry here, I am oddly hopeful. Hopeful because I know that Margarita sees us as good friends; her brother-in-law recognized us as soon as we walked into the door – and thanked us for what we are doing for her. She knows the truth and I know that someone will come along behind me to help her.
Hope. Thats what I hold on to with every fiber of my being.
(The Infantil Group (ages 10-15) ready to start their RUN!!)
The Second Annual Vida Joven Marathon was yesterday, April 10. About 200 kids ran the races (a 2.5 K and 5K Race) and the overall winner won a Bicycle from BiciMaximo (a shop owned by one of our friends and fellow missionary). It was quite successful, and I am now glad that the stress of planning and raising support for this race is now over. :) Here are some pictures of the day(taken from Yener Lopez- the area director of Vida Joven Granada)
Oscar- one of the clowns during the Vida Joven Fundraiser and Race - there were 4 clowns that went around asking for donations during the race and before.
Yener Lopez (the area director of Vida Joven Granada) and Baker- who owns BiciMaximo(FIRST prize was a Bicimaximo Bike), works for El Puente, and helped to organize the race with us.
Sarah Kaye putting a medal on one of the winners of the 2.5K Race.
VIDA JOVEN Kids plus us (yeah im in the picture you just cant see me because Im too short haha)
The race was pretty successful, raising money for Vida Joven and providing a fun time to run for the other kids of Granada. :) Hopefully this tradition keeps going and the Nicas can raise money each year for Young Life kids!
Its hard to believe that my time here in Nicaragua is coming to a close soon. 4 weeks from tomorrow I will be flying back to Houston for debrief time, then coming home to Ohio on May 15!
So much has happened in the past 5 months I have been here- I wouldnt know where to start explaining everything. One thing I do want to say - even though I love the people of Nicaragua, and the people I am working with, it will be nice to come home. I am so tired after every week, and it seems like theres always a new person to love, someone different who needs help, someone else lost to a life of drugs/alcohol. Dont get me wrong, there have been some great times here in Nicaragua, but it would be so hard not to become cynical or bitter living here as a Gringo for a long time. Every Gringo is looked at as a walking wallet, or someone to just give away things to people. We offer love, and get taken advantage of. I am learning so much spanish here and how to talk to people, but its also hard to relate to someone who will do ANYTHING they can to get money, when i dont know what its like to go a week without food or shelter. But theres so much hope in alot of the Nicas eyes as well. Even though we get discouraged, (and this past week was sooo stressful) I cling to the great times we have had here. Each weekend we do get times to relax, and we are so blessed with everything we have gotten here. The freinds I have made will be friends for life.
And I have also learned how to live in community with other people. I have now lived with the 6 other Novas people that are in my team for the past 7 months. We have learned how to love each other, confront each other, spur each other onto greatness. I highly highly encourage anyone who is thinking of doing a missions trip, school abroad, or a year in a different country. Get out of the box that America puts us in and see life through the eyes of someone else. I was scared to death to do something like this, but now that I have, it has changed my life for the better, and I know I will never forget Nicaragua.
This last week was Semana Santa - and there were literally hundreds of people flowing into Granada to party at the beach of Lake Nicaragua. Apparently this is the place to be. And people go to hang out and get drunk. We were talking to some of the NIcaraguans, and they mentioned that like 12 people have already died from drinking and then drowning in the lake this week, and I'm sure there will be more this weekend. Its rediculous.
This week also pretty much everything shut down - all the stores, shops, restaurants, post office, even the doctors at the hospital were on Vacation. We continued on as usual, but the hospital was so quiet - only like 2 people in each room and noone sleeping or sitting on the benches outside. Also at the Friday night dinner we had - only about 25 people showed up, and theres usually at least 60-70 people. They take this week seriously - as in serious vacation for everyone. People make traditional food, and sit around with their family and eat. Tomorrow after church we are hoping to have a community fiesta for Pascua as well. We are going to introduce an easter egg hunt to the kids (they dont do that here) and have games and food. It should be fun.
Heres some things you dont see too often in Columbus, Ohio :
This is a costume that a little kid wears - usually someone around 9 years old - and its about 10 feet tall - they dance around on Gringo Street and ask for money. WIERD.
TUK TUK : Theres alot of these driving around Granada, as well as motorcycles and taxis.
What significance am I at all here in Granada? Am I doing anything that matters? I contemplate this thought as I look around at the hundreds of people lining up for the medical clinic at EL Puente. What can I do to make a difference in these peoples lives? Someone comes up to me on Wednesday to ask for money to buy their baby some milk – which they can't afford. They are friends so we buy them milk for their baby. But then on Monday we get approached to buy uniform shoes for someone who needs them to go to school. Daily we are asked for money, help, and prayer. And still there are hundreds more that need help just here in Granada alone. Its a vicious cycle that seems as if it will never end.
Mondays I go and minister to homeless people that sit on the side of the street. We sit with them, buy them a fresco, and just talk to them. There are so many people sitting on the side of the road with their hands out asking for money – anytime they see a Gringo, they ask for a dollar. And people give it to them. Noone cares about these people on the side of the road. Noone will stop and ask them how they are feeling, how their day is going, where they sleep for the night. I have nothing I can give them – I cant buy away their pain or their hopelessness, but I can sit and listen to them. I can be their friend.
Its so easy to get discouraged when you look around and realize there are huge problems in Granada that need fixed. People need jobs, fathers need to stand up and be fathers, kids need to have a family unit that can love them and provide for them, people need hope. But then I realize - one person cannot fix the world. I look around and think of everything I need to fix in the world and forget to look at the people. I cant fix everything. But I can hang out with a homeless man on the side of the road and ask him how hes doing.
If you have ever been to a young life event in the United States, you know what a good thing it is for the kids of the community. Here in Granada, Vida Joven (young life) is a program that gives young people a place to go and "hang out" with other young people, while sharing God with them and a way to help raise up out of a generation that is being constantly bombarded with drugs, alcohol, and fighting. Our team has made friends with so many young lifers who come to the program each week (at El Puente). They have impacted our life just as much as Vida Joven has impacted their lives. Here is a testimony of one of our really good friends, Angel, whose life was changed through God and Vida Joven:
Before I found myself at Jesus' feet, my life was chaos. The economic situation was really bad for my parents so they were always frustrated and angry and hit me with anything they could get their hands on. So at 10 I ran away to the streets where I got to know a new world full of HATE, DRUGS and brokenness. I joined a gang and lived in crime, which got me 2 years in prison when I was 14. 15 days after my release I got caught again but this time the sentence was longer because my crimes were bigger. When I turned 21 I started to get really desperate and one day when I was in JAIL CELL #6 I woke up and felt very anxious and depressed. I felt my heart screaming for liberty. The Enemy put in my mind that the only way out of this was by me taking my life. When I was about to do it, I felt a strange feeling in my heart, but this time it brought me to my knees and I said this prayer " God if you really exist, take me out of here" I only promised that I would visit one of his churches if he did. He got me out of that jail 6 months later. No one could believe it. Not the guards and not the inmates since they knew that judge had sentenced me to serve the entire sentence for my past behavior. Five months later a person by the name of Daniel reminded me of my promise and invited me to the Young Life Club at El Puente. I didn't want to go, but I went just to keep my end of the bargain. The Good Lord used that ministry to transform my life. I met Yener who is the leader of Young Life in Granada, who eventually invited me to a 4 day YL Camp in Jinotega. And those 4 days were the best days of the start of my new life in CHRIST. This was a new challenge, leaving the worldly pleasures of the flesh and giving all my life, my heart and my disposition to our creator. I am grateful to our Lord and Saviour that he put one of his ministries in my way, and especially my new brother in Christ, Yener, who was one of the tools that God used to get me out of the darkness I was in. I ‘ve just finished an electrician's course and started High School again, and have some side jobs. I am also a leader in Young Life and with the testimony and what Jesus did in my life, I'm helping out kids, showing them the power of our God.
Not only is Vida Joven life changing, it also brings all these kids (from different backgrounds, different family life, different places) together under one roof- hangingout, singing, playing games. I've seen alot of peoples lives change through Young Life and I hope to continue experiencing it!
We are having a 5K Race coming up (which we are planning and hosting) in Granada, to help raise money for Vida Joven (since it gets no outside support)- coming up on April 10. If you are interested in helping out with support, please see my blog titled Vida Joven 5K Race- Sponsorship options. Thank you so much and please continue to pray for us.
