Hello, everyone! Despite the long break in posting, we are still here. So far we have been in Nicaragua for about a year and 8 months, almost a year of which we have been in our house. During that time, we have been to the States together twice (last Summer and last Christmas), and Becky went by herself in January after her grandmother's passing. Right now we are gearing up to make another trip to South Carolina where we will be staffing First Week at Palmetto Bible Camp, and pretty much the rest of June we will be in Charleston. (If anyone would like to get together, please get in touch!)
Another reason we are excited to be coming home for a while is so that our family will have a chance to spend some time with Becky while she is pregnant. Yes, if you hadn't already heard, we are expecting our first child (a boy) in September. So far (¡gracias a Dios!) Becky has been blessed with a fairly easy pregnancy. Doctors visits have all been positive. (We can actually get an ultrasound here for as little as about $14!) Our thought right now is that delivery will happen at the hospital in Managua. If it works out that way, our son should be able to have dual citizenship, and, as his parents, we may be awarded residency for a period of time. Regardless of the legal stuff, we are thrilled at this upcoming change in our lives.
As far as our work here, we have pretty much settled into a routine, and over the last year we have moved out of the "getting settled"/"getting our feet wet" stage to the "getting serious" stage. After we came back here at the end of August from our trip to the States, we hit the ground running working to build the infrastructure of our organization. Mostly this has involved a lot of paperwork and long meetings about protocol and which things should be our focus, but we have put ourselves in a position where our group has been able to get a lot of work done. Becky has taken on the role of secretary/office administrator, while most of the work that the guys (Tommy, David, and Chris) do is out in the field in a community called Yankee. We have narrowed our projects to goat farming, small animal husbandry (mainly with rabbits), stove pipes (to get the smoke out of people's homes), and bio-sand water filters. But, by and large, our focus lately has been on the water filters.
Almost all families in the countryside are drinking water contaminated with E.coli, parasites and other bacterial and physical contaminants. We currently have 53 families using a bio-sand filter in their homes, which is roughly 320 people with access to clean water. We have achieved very good results from our filters with 98%-100% removal of E.coli. We are slowly working on our other projects as well (for example, we recently visited a farm in another area to learn more about goats), but since clean water is foundational to life and health not only for humans but for domesticated animals, we are focusing most of our efforts here right now.
All of these projects are an expression of God's love in Christ Jesus that motivates us to work together with people to alleviate some of their more pressing physical concerns. It gives us a chance to spend time with people, form relationships and show that we care. This allows us to build bridges to sharing the word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ with those with whom we work.
We've started working on a plan to build a network of community leaders in the Yankee area who can work to distribute our bio-sand water filters on a larger scale. This was an idea brought to us by our friend Reynaldo Gonzalez who is the preacher at the Church of Christ in Yankee and our main contact in the area. Reynaldo has identified people from four areas who are already serving as leaders for their communities. They are excited to work with us to bring water filters to their neighbors. We have started training these people on filter construction and they just completed their first round of test filters built in the field completely on their own without our assistance; so far so good! We are also very excited about the fact that all of these people have expressed a desire to have Bible studies with Reynaldo, and Reynaldo hopes that some new churches can be planted in the future as a result of this effort.
We recently had a great opportunity to partner with an organization called Bread For A Hungry World (www.givebread.org) to raise money to build more bio-sand water filters. Bread is a Church of Christ based missions organization in Texas. They agreed to match our donations dollar for dollar up to $2500. We are very happy to report that our goal has been reached! We want to thank the folks at Bread for working with us, and we want to thank those of you who contributed.
Something else that Tommy has been working on is a Google Earth Map that shows the locations of all of our water filters and has many pictures attached to the waypoints so that you can see the homes where these filters are located and the families that live there. If you would like a digital copy of this map, just send Tommy an email at tommy@1hope4life.com, or you can send him a FaceBook message and he will email it to you. It will come to you as an email attachment and you will need to open it in Google Earth. If you haven't already, simply download Google Earth for free, and when you get the .klm file as an email attachment just copy it to your desktop and then double click on it. At that point, Google Earth will open automatically on your computer and display the map!
We thought that you might be interested to know what our days and weeks are actually like here, beyond the general information about our projects. Here are our individual versions of how things usally go:
Tommy here; I just wanted to give you a quick run down on what my typical week looks like (although, here in Nicaragua things don't always go as "typically" planned due to many different challenges and obstacles that present themselves more often than they do in the States). I usually get up around 6 o'clock in the morning and ride my motorcycle to Misión Para Cristo, arriving at or before 7 o'clock. David and Chris and I start each day with a cup of coffee and an hour of Bible study before going to the Mission devotional with all the staff at 8. The Mission devo lasts for about 30 minutes and includes singing, prayer and a short message from one the preachers. After the devo, the three of us meet in our office with my wife Becky (who serves as our Secretary and general keeper of the order). It is at this time that we discuss anything that needs to be discussed, make plans for the week, month, etc. and basically deal with "business." After that the guys load up in a truck and head for the community of Yankee where we do most of our work. If we need to we will stop at the local hardware store to pick up any supplies that we might need for the day. The drive to Yankee takes about 30 minutes, and sometimes we use this time to make further plans or talk about pressing issues. Once in Yankee we go to Reynaldo Gonzalez's house to pick him up and then go about the business of building water filters, checking on older filters, distributing Bibles and visiting with families in the area. At the end of the day we drop off Reynaldo at his house and are usually back in Jinotega by 5 o'clock.
Okay, now this is Becky speaking. Most weekdays I get up around 7:00, and then at about 10 to 15 minutes before 8:00 I head to the curb to wait for a taxi to take me to the mission. (The trip to the mission should only take about 3 to 5 minutes if you go directly, but often I have to wait for the other passengers to get dropped off first. It is rare to be the only passenger in the taxi.) After the 8:00 devo, I meet with the guys and pester them about paperwork until they end our meeting with a prayer and head off to do their work for the day. I keep track of a lot of information, but mainly I deal with the documentation for each water filter, each family in the field we work with, and each team member's "Weekly Reports" on what work they did in a given week. I also end up working on layouts for various printed materials we need from time to time. Some days I am in the office all day, but it usually isn't necessary. Actually, a good portion of my time is taken up by the mision's "Casa Materna" (maternity house) ministry.
The Casa Materna ministry is a joint effort by Misión Para Cristo, local Nicaraguan Church of Christ congregations, and congregations in the States. (The government here set up these locations where women from the countryside with at-risk pregnancies can stay to be closer to a hospital. The women are usually there in the last 2 to 3 weeks of their pregnancies and then leave a day or so after they deliver. The government provides some support for these locations but generally not nearly enough, which is why we try to do what we can.) The coordinator of this work through the mission is Janese Davis (a North American from Texas), but I try to give her as much help as I can. I am sort of her "second in command" in charge of organizing the ladies from our congregation here in Jinotega (who do most of the actual work). Once a week we make a trip to our Casa Materna location here in town to give a devotional (I usually lead the songs, while the "church ladies" give the lessons and say the prayers), deliver "baby bags" filled with helpful items for the babies and mothers, and do some kind of craft activity (beaded bracelets, hand-made quilts and baby hats, etc.). When groups are here from the States to help, usually the ladies get pedicures too. Sometimes, especially during the Summer when we have a lot of groups, we go to other CM locations several hours out of town where we do our usual routine and also cook lunch for the ladies. To all of the locations that we service, we try to supplement their food stores (often with uncooked beans and rice). Once a week (usually on Monday) we have a workday in the afternoon when the "church ladies" come to assemble the "baby bags" and do everything else that is necessary to be ready for our trips. (If you are interested in what all goes into a "baby bag" and how you can help, let me know and I'll get you some more specific information.) In addition to all of that, I have spent a lot of time getting our Casa Materna "closet" at the mission organized, and I tend to poke my head in several times a week to make sure that it stays that way.
During the week, I also try to get in a Spanish lesson or two when my teacher (and also one of my best friends here), Tania Hernandez, is available. My Spanish certainly isn't perfect, but I end up having to use it very frequently. I feel that, usually, I am able to communicate fairly well. I know enough to feel that I have real relationships with people here who don't speak English (even though I am by no means fluent).
Of all of the things that we do here, we feel like one of the most important is simply having relationships with people. It is through relationships that we most directly show God's love to people. Becky has been "helping" with the youth group here, but that mostly means that she just spends time with them. The group recently partnered themselves off so that there are pairs of people to study the Bible and pray together, and Becky has been working with one of these pairs. Once a month we try to have the whole youth group over for their weekly gathering. Beyond just the youth group, however, we pay attention to the relationships we have with everyone here, whether it is the mission workers or church members, our neighbors, the people who work in the stores we frequent, or even the North Americans who come to the mission. We believe very strongly that people need people, and there are lots of people here with whom we have made connections.
We want to say thank you very, very much to all of you who have contributed financially to make this work possible. We are humbled each and every month when we sit down to work out our finances and see the list of contributions that have been made. We especially thank those of you who make regular contributions each month; your faithfulness is such an encouragement to us! We are still in need of regular monthly contributions to add to our budget. Ever since we moved here we have made ends meet month to month with your donations, funds from our own savings and "surprise" donations that we didn't know were coming. However, we still do not have enough regular monthly donations to meet our budget without having to dip into other sources. Unfortunately, our savings are effectively gone, and with a baby on the way in September we are facing a critical time here for our work in Nicaragua. If you know of anyone who might be interested in being a part of our team through regular financial contributions please let us know or show them our website: www.1hope4life.com. (Even seemingly "small" donations make a difference.) Thanks!
Blessings to all of you,
Tommy and Becky Brown
Friday, May 31, 2013
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Excuses - Becky
Our team has had some exciting things going on lately. Most notably, we (well, the guys; I just deal with the paperwork) have started installing water filters in the homes of people in the community of Yankee. Along with the actual installations, we have been working with leaders of the community to plan the next steps and to get other members of the community excited and prepared for what we're doing. We have figured out with these leaders ways of making our projects "not just a handout," and people seem to be genuinely interested in helping their neighbors.
All of this is wonderful, but it has taken us quite a while to get to this point. Living in not just another culture with another language but also an actual third-world country makes things hard. Add to this the spiritual element in which something "bad" always seems to happen when we're trying so hard to do "good," and life can be quite an uphill battle at times. I mean, as I'm sure you have noticed, we can't even blog consistently. (This time I blame being sick for multiple weeks. Thankfully I have finally emerged from the cave, but now it seems like everyone around me has gotten sick. I think it's just that time of year.)
Most of the time we like to talk about the positive aspects of our lives here, but today I want to share some of the things that make it very hard ever to get anything done. Come visit us and you'll realize how true these "excuses" are. Let's entitle this list "I was going to, but...":
Every single one of these things has actually happened to at least one person on our team. Most of them happen multiple times and to multiple people. Actually, it is quite common to experience at least one of these things every single day. I am not exaggerating. The sad thing is that this is just the short list; I could probably come up with ten more things right now without thinking too hard about it.
BUT, the thing is that we are getting things done. We have so many reasons why each day should be a total failure, but we are seeing a lot of success right now. Before it seems like I am bragging, I want to say unequivocally that I attribute this success to God. It has to be Him because, otherwise, it doesn't make any sense. Yes, I'm sure part of it has to do with the wonderful people with whom we work, but Who put these particular people together in the first place? Even when we human beings drop the ball, based on how I see things go, it is obvious to me that Someone has everything under control.
Let me sum up with these points:
All of this is wonderful, but it has taken us quite a while to get to this point. Living in not just another culture with another language but also an actual third-world country makes things hard. Add to this the spiritual element in which something "bad" always seems to happen when we're trying so hard to do "good," and life can be quite an uphill battle at times. I mean, as I'm sure you have noticed, we can't even blog consistently. (This time I blame being sick for multiple weeks. Thankfully I have finally emerged from the cave, but now it seems like everyone around me has gotten sick. I think it's just that time of year.)
Most of the time we like to talk about the positive aspects of our lives here, but today I want to share some of the things that make it very hard ever to get anything done. Come visit us and you'll realize how true these "excuses" are. Let's entitle this list "I was going to, but...":
I was going to, but…
- “The truck I was going to use broke down and all other vehicles were already being used.”
- “I couldn't get a taxi to stop for me.”
- “I needed so-and-so, but he/she was sick.”
- “I was sick.”
- “I ran out of materials and the store was closed.”
- “I searched all over the city and no one has the thing I need.”
- “The power was out.”
- “The water was out.”
- “The Internet was out.”
- “It was raining.”
- “The road was blocked with peaceful protesters.”
- “The person I was supposed to meet never showed up.”
- “So-and-so never answered his/her phone.”
- “I ran out of minutes on my phone.”
- “I dropped my phone in the toilet.”
- “My computer’s battery died because it won't take a charge from the power cord.”
- “We didn't realize that that day was a national holiday.”
- “Somebody’s family member died.”
- “I couldn't understand so-and-so’s Spanish.”
- “So-and-so couldn't understand my Spanish.”
- “So-and-so was here from out of town and we had to take advantage of the opportunity.”
- “I had to wait in my house all week for a contractor to show up.”
- “I couldn't get in the mission because they changed the lock and I don't have the key yet.”
- “The small thing I was going to do first turned into something more difficult than I expected.
- “Something more important came up.”
Every single one of these things has actually happened to at least one person on our team. Most of them happen multiple times and to multiple people. Actually, it is quite common to experience at least one of these things every single day. I am not exaggerating. The sad thing is that this is just the short list; I could probably come up with ten more things right now without thinking too hard about it.
BUT, the thing is that we are getting things done. We have so many reasons why each day should be a total failure, but we are seeing a lot of success right now. Before it seems like I am bragging, I want to say unequivocally that I attribute this success to God. It has to be Him because, otherwise, it doesn't make any sense. Yes, I'm sure part of it has to do with the wonderful people with whom we work, but Who put these particular people together in the first place? Even when we human beings drop the ball, based on how I see things go, it is obvious to me that Someone has everything under control.
Let me sum up with these points:
- I am very thankful for how God is working in our lives and the lives of those around us here.
- You can take encouragement that any manner of excuses can be overcome. If God wants something to happen, it will happen, despite whatever obstacles we can identify.
- Even though living there is logistically very difficult, it is possible to be extremely happy somewhere because of the people you are with (more on that later... maybe).
What excuses are holding you back from doing what you feel needs to be done? What good thing is it that you're trying to do?
Blessings,
-Becky
Blessings,
-Becky
Sunday, September 30, 2012
One Year! - Becky
Yesterday (Saturday, September 29) we celebrated the one year anniversary of our move to Nicaragua. We had a big party at our house for all of the mission staff and their families. Despite me having had to do more of the preparations myself with Tommy's foot putting him mostly out of commission (a story for another time), I felt that things went really well. I am SO appreciative of all of the help I received from different people to make the party a big success. I especially want to thank the other members of my team for their help with transportation and with the food. Most of all, I have to give props to Chris for doing the chicken and "perfecting" the chili. (And thank you, Shiela Holland, for the chili powder!)
This past year has been crazy, mostly in a good way. Sure, we have dealt with a lot of stress over various things, but in the end WE REALLY LOVE IT HERE. We love the people and we feel good about what we're trying to do here. Thanks again (we can never say this enough) to everyone who contributes to us both financially and spiritually/emotionally. We really couldn't be here without you. I have to say that we can really tell when people are praying for us over here; it makes a major difference. Thank You, LORD, for the first of even more wonderful years (we hope) here in Nicaragua!
-Becky
This past year has been crazy, mostly in a good way. Sure, we have dealt with a lot of stress over various things, but in the end WE REALLY LOVE IT HERE. We love the people and we feel good about what we're trying to do here. Thanks again (we can never say this enough) to everyone who contributes to us both financially and spiritually/emotionally. We really couldn't be here without you. I have to say that we can really tell when people are praying for us over here; it makes a major difference. Thank You, LORD, for the first of even more wonderful years (we hope) here in Nicaragua!
-Becky
Monday, September 10, 2012
Going to and Returning to Home (Tommy)
Becky and I recently had the opportunity to take a three weeks vacation back home to the United States. Charleston, SC is our home; it's where we were born, raised and where we left from when we came to live here in Nicaragua. Home is so many things really; people, places, sights, sounds, smells, feelings, memories, etc.
We had a really good time experiencing all those things again after being away in a foreign culture for 10 months. I particularly enjoyed eating at some of our favorite restaurants, some more than twice. For me it was a chance to recharge and be refreshed in a lot of ways. I don't think that I realized how tired and burned out I was from ten months of culture shock, language acquisition, work and being stared at all the time. Only once I was able to ease back into the comforts of my home culture did I come to understand the extent of my malaise.
The thing that stuck out to me the most about being back in the United States is that everything is really nice and clean and orderly. There isn't a ton of trash in the streets, drunk men passed out in puddles of mud along the side of the road nor hundreds of near dead parasitic dogs wandering the streets looking for the next meal that will only go to feed the worms crawling through their skeletal bodies. Now don't get me wrong, Nicaragua is a truly beautiful country in many ways but it doesn't rival the States as far as things just being in a state of "niceness" if you will.
Being home was great and it only took a couple of days for the weirdness of things to wear off and for me to feel like I was "home" again. However, after the first week or two I really started to miss being in Nicaragua. I missed our friends and our church and the work that we so strongly believe in. Although little thoughts about how nice it would be to just return to the States and live there again did cross my mind now and then I can honestly say that the draw to return to the land of lakes and volcanoes outweighed the longing for the comfort and ease of the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Looking out the window of the plane as we made our approach into Managua at night I started to feel a little worried, it all seemed so foreign to me all over again. I had felt so "at home" in the States again and I wasn't sure if I would so easily be able to slide back into my Nicaraguan ways. I was pleasantly surprised/relieved once we landed and sat our bags down in the hotel in Managua at how very normal it all seemed to me. The next day as we drove through Managua to do a little shopping before heading back to Jinotega I felt totally at ease, in fact I felt "at home". I experienced that same feeling of comfort, familiarity and ease that I had felt while being in Charleston.
I think now I not only know in my head but in my heart also that I have two homes and two worlds within which I live. I love both of them dearly, neither one is perfect or better than the other, they're just different, and spending long periods of time in either one in no way diminishes my ability to be "at home" in the other.
We had a really good time experiencing all those things again after being away in a foreign culture for 10 months. I particularly enjoyed eating at some of our favorite restaurants, some more than twice. For me it was a chance to recharge and be refreshed in a lot of ways. I don't think that I realized how tired and burned out I was from ten months of culture shock, language acquisition, work and being stared at all the time. Only once I was able to ease back into the comforts of my home culture did I come to understand the extent of my malaise.
The thing that stuck out to me the most about being back in the United States is that everything is really nice and clean and orderly. There isn't a ton of trash in the streets, drunk men passed out in puddles of mud along the side of the road nor hundreds of near dead parasitic dogs wandering the streets looking for the next meal that will only go to feed the worms crawling through their skeletal bodies. Now don't get me wrong, Nicaragua is a truly beautiful country in many ways but it doesn't rival the States as far as things just being in a state of "niceness" if you will.
Being home was great and it only took a couple of days for the weirdness of things to wear off and for me to feel like I was "home" again. However, after the first week or two I really started to miss being in Nicaragua. I missed our friends and our church and the work that we so strongly believe in. Although little thoughts about how nice it would be to just return to the States and live there again did cross my mind now and then I can honestly say that the draw to return to the land of lakes and volcanoes outweighed the longing for the comfort and ease of the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Looking out the window of the plane as we made our approach into Managua at night I started to feel a little worried, it all seemed so foreign to me all over again. I had felt so "at home" in the States again and I wasn't sure if I would so easily be able to slide back into my Nicaraguan ways. I was pleasantly surprised/relieved once we landed and sat our bags down in the hotel in Managua at how very normal it all seemed to me. The next day as we drove through Managua to do a little shopping before heading back to Jinotega I felt totally at ease, in fact I felt "at home". I experienced that same feeling of comfort, familiarity and ease that I had felt while being in Charleston.
I think now I not only know in my head but in my heart also that I have two homes and two worlds within which I live. I love both of them dearly, neither one is perfect or better than the other, they're just different, and spending long periods of time in either one in no way diminishes my ability to be "at home" in the other.
Monday, September 3, 2012
There and Back Again (Becky)
Wow.
A lot has happened since the last time I blogged; hopefully I can explain it all okay. To recap the last few posts, Tommy and I waited for something like 8 months before we were FINALLY able to move into our rental house. The very next day, we were on our way to Managua to pick up his mom and nephew who were here for a week. We had a really great time with them, but we were still exhausted from having painted our walls, dealt with a myriad of contractors, and quickly moved all of our belongings into our house. With no couch or dining room furniture, we were all just sitting in plastic chairs, but it was just good to see our family. As soon as we had them back to the airport, we turned right back around to pick up our friend Bri who was here for 3 weeks (see my last post). She was very helpful, and while she was here we were able to start getting back into "work" mode after having had so much of our time and focus on our house. We took her back to the airport at the beginning of August, and then it was just the two of us alone... in our own home... for the first time since March of 2011 (when we moved out of our house in Summerville into Tommy's sister's house where we prepared for our move to Nicaragua).
At the same time, we were wrapping up "group season" at the mission (a very intense time where groups from the States help with all sorts of projects at the mission, including some of our Hope for Life projects). Things were going to slow down and get "back to normal". With our Spanish teacher no longer having to act as a group translator, we were going to get started again with our Spanish lessons. We were going to get ourselves organized so we could be more purposefully productive. We were going to get some actual furniture for our house so it could be a place for us to recharge as well as to spend some time with our Nicaraguan friends. (I never realized how important to mental health a couch could be.) We were finally going to get really "plugged in" (for the second time, in some cases, after focusing so much on our house) to stuff going on in Jinotega. Basically, all of the things that we had been waiting to do until we had our house and were in a normal state of operation at the mission were going to happen.
But, then there was a murder. I wish I were joking here, but sadly I'm not. A family member of some of the mission workers from our congregation (a Nicaraguan) was brutally killed in a drug-related incident. The guy had actually worked for the mission temporarily as a translator this summer, and we all knew and liked him. As if that weren't bad enough by itself, the murderer was a North American citizen (actually, he is ethnically German, but he is seen here as an American). Once word of the murder started getting out and rumors started forming, there started some be some anti-North American feelings in the air. Just to be clear, mostly everything was fine; no one was purposely going to seek to harm us. But, Benny was concerned that we could be at the wrong place at the wrong time while someone was upset in the moment. After much discussion and prayer, the decision was made for all of the North Americans at the mission to go home to the States for a while, just to be "out of sight, out of mind" until the murder was no longer big news. So, we quickly got ourselves packed and prepared for some unexpected down time after a crazy summer.
Going from "let's get ourselves really 'plugged in' to Jinotega, Nicaragua" mode to being, suddenly, in Charleston, South Carolina, USA was a big shock. We weren't planning to be back until Christmas (to have been in Nicaragua for at least a whole year), but even so we had been gone more than 10 months. We found ourselves looking with different eyes at what had previously been our "home" for pretty much all of our lives. Everything was so nice and clean and organized. It was amazing to see houses constructed with drywall where the walls actually went all the way up to the ceiling with no gaps. Driving on the Interstate was so fast and smooth. Certain stores and houses were huge. Food from restaurants tasted so good. (The best sandwich I've ever had in my life was from a little stand at the airport in Miami.) I was blown away by the convenience of having everything all right there at the grocery store and even (for clothes) Old Navy. It was all pretty overwhelming.
It was also (obviously) a really big deal to get to see our family and friends. Both sets of parents and most of our extended family all live in the Charleston area, along with a good many friends and the church family that I have spent my whole life with until moving to Nicaragua. Needless to say, there were a lot of people to see. We didn't at all advertise that we were "home," so there is still a large group of people we would have liked to have seen but for which we just didn't have the time. (We'll get the rest of you next time.) The coolest thing was getting to surprise Tommy's sister Ann and her family when we randomly showed up at their house. We were there just in time (within the week) to get to "send off" our nephew to college. I got to see my grandmother whom I feared might be gone by Christmas. (BTW, it sounds like maybe a new medicine is doing her some good.) We got to see some good friends (if briefly) that we had really, really missed since we moved. I absolutely hate that someone else's friend and family member had to die to make the trip possible, but it was so good to reconnect with our loved ones.
Overall, the trip was amazing. However, it also made us realize, first of all, how much we needed a break and, second, how much Jinotega has become our home. For me, as good as it was to be with my people in the States, it was sad to be away from my Jinotega "family." There are people here that we see literally every single day, and suddenly not to see them for a period of weeks was painful. I can honestly say that for me I was even more excited to return to Nicaragua than I was seeing the States again. Once we got to Managua, Tommy and I were literally jumping up and down like little kids in our hotel room because we were so excited to be back. When we were actually back in Jinotega and got to see everyone again, it really felt like we were "home". After being in the States where people are so separate from each other, the sense of "community" here was palpable. The night of our return was crowned by us sitting outside in our plastic chairs, surrounded by the neighborhood kids who were excitedly showing us their English workbook from school. It is so great to know that we really love these people, and they (at least those we deal with personally) really love us.
Now that we're back, we're sort of on a "getting things organized" high. We feel recharged and excited about the various things on our plate. There are still some things we're struggling with (fundraising, learning Spanish, etc.), but we are motivated to do what we need to do. We covet your prayers as we are still trying to get "settled" in our house (and—hey, I'll just say it—we covet your money as we still need furniture...and Tommy's laptop was stolen while we were away). Anyway, we feel super positive right now and just so thankful for where God has brought us. We are so overwhelmed with love from everyone we got to see on our trip and those we are back together with now. I want to say, too, that I was personally very humbled by the number of people in the States who mentioned that they have been keeping up with this blog and our Facebook updates. Well, I guess that's it. We love you all so much.
-Becky
A lot has happened since the last time I blogged; hopefully I can explain it all okay. To recap the last few posts, Tommy and I waited for something like 8 months before we were FINALLY able to move into our rental house. The very next day, we were on our way to Managua to pick up his mom and nephew who were here for a week. We had a really great time with them, but we were still exhausted from having painted our walls, dealt with a myriad of contractors, and quickly moved all of our belongings into our house. With no couch or dining room furniture, we were all just sitting in plastic chairs, but it was just good to see our family. As soon as we had them back to the airport, we turned right back around to pick up our friend Bri who was here for 3 weeks (see my last post). She was very helpful, and while she was here we were able to start getting back into "work" mode after having had so much of our time and focus on our house. We took her back to the airport at the beginning of August, and then it was just the two of us alone... in our own home... for the first time since March of 2011 (when we moved out of our house in Summerville into Tommy's sister's house where we prepared for our move to Nicaragua).
At the same time, we were wrapping up "group season" at the mission (a very intense time where groups from the States help with all sorts of projects at the mission, including some of our Hope for Life projects). Things were going to slow down and get "back to normal". With our Spanish teacher no longer having to act as a group translator, we were going to get started again with our Spanish lessons. We were going to get ourselves organized so we could be more purposefully productive. We were going to get some actual furniture for our house so it could be a place for us to recharge as well as to spend some time with our Nicaraguan friends. (I never realized how important to mental health a couch could be.) We were finally going to get really "plugged in" (for the second time, in some cases, after focusing so much on our house) to stuff going on in Jinotega. Basically, all of the things that we had been waiting to do until we had our house and were in a normal state of operation at the mission were going to happen.
But, then there was a murder. I wish I were joking here, but sadly I'm not. A family member of some of the mission workers from our congregation (a Nicaraguan) was brutally killed in a drug-related incident. The guy had actually worked for the mission temporarily as a translator this summer, and we all knew and liked him. As if that weren't bad enough by itself, the murderer was a North American citizen (actually, he is ethnically German, but he is seen here as an American). Once word of the murder started getting out and rumors started forming, there started some be some anti-North American feelings in the air. Just to be clear, mostly everything was fine; no one was purposely going to seek to harm us. But, Benny was concerned that we could be at the wrong place at the wrong time while someone was upset in the moment. After much discussion and prayer, the decision was made for all of the North Americans at the mission to go home to the States for a while, just to be "out of sight, out of mind" until the murder was no longer big news. So, we quickly got ourselves packed and prepared for some unexpected down time after a crazy summer.
Going from "let's get ourselves really 'plugged in' to Jinotega, Nicaragua" mode to being, suddenly, in Charleston, South Carolina, USA was a big shock. We weren't planning to be back until Christmas (to have been in Nicaragua for at least a whole year), but even so we had been gone more than 10 months. We found ourselves looking with different eyes at what had previously been our "home" for pretty much all of our lives. Everything was so nice and clean and organized. It was amazing to see houses constructed with drywall where the walls actually went all the way up to the ceiling with no gaps. Driving on the Interstate was so fast and smooth. Certain stores and houses were huge. Food from restaurants tasted so good. (The best sandwich I've ever had in my life was from a little stand at the airport in Miami.) I was blown away by the convenience of having everything all right there at the grocery store and even (for clothes) Old Navy. It was all pretty overwhelming.
It was also (obviously) a really big deal to get to see our family and friends. Both sets of parents and most of our extended family all live in the Charleston area, along with a good many friends and the church family that I have spent my whole life with until moving to Nicaragua. Needless to say, there were a lot of people to see. We didn't at all advertise that we were "home," so there is still a large group of people we would have liked to have seen but for which we just didn't have the time. (We'll get the rest of you next time.) The coolest thing was getting to surprise Tommy's sister Ann and her family when we randomly showed up at their house. We were there just in time (within the week) to get to "send off" our nephew to college. I got to see my grandmother whom I feared might be gone by Christmas. (BTW, it sounds like maybe a new medicine is doing her some good.) We got to see some good friends (if briefly) that we had really, really missed since we moved. I absolutely hate that someone else's friend and family member had to die to make the trip possible, but it was so good to reconnect with our loved ones.
Overall, the trip was amazing. However, it also made us realize, first of all, how much we needed a break and, second, how much Jinotega has become our home. For me, as good as it was to be with my people in the States, it was sad to be away from my Jinotega "family." There are people here that we see literally every single day, and suddenly not to see them for a period of weeks was painful. I can honestly say that for me I was even more excited to return to Nicaragua than I was seeing the States again. Once we got to Managua, Tommy and I were literally jumping up and down like little kids in our hotel room because we were so excited to be back. When we were actually back in Jinotega and got to see everyone again, it really felt like we were "home". After being in the States where people are so separate from each other, the sense of "community" here was palpable. The night of our return was crowned by us sitting outside in our plastic chairs, surrounded by the neighborhood kids who were excitedly showing us their English workbook from school. It is so great to know that we really love these people, and they (at least those we deal with personally) really love us.
Now that we're back, we're sort of on a "getting things organized" high. We feel recharged and excited about the various things on our plate. There are still some things we're struggling with (fundraising, learning Spanish, etc.), but we are motivated to do what we need to do. We covet your prayers as we are still trying to get "settled" in our house (and—hey, I'll just say it—we covet your money as we still need furniture...and Tommy's laptop was stolen while we were away). Anyway, we feel super positive right now and just so thankful for where God has brought us. We are so overwhelmed with love from everyone we got to see on our trip and those we are back together with now. I want to say, too, that I was personally very humbled by the number of people in the States who mentioned that they have been keeping up with this blog and our Facebook updates. Well, I guess that's it. We love you all so much.
-Becky
Friday, August 3, 2012
Thanks, Bri!
Wednesday we saw our friend Brianna Close (Bri) back on a plane to
the States. Bri stayed with us for three weeks while she helped with various
projects (whatever needed to be done at the time) and spent time with the
youth group here. Mainly she helped Tommy to begin mapping the town of Yankee
where our team has a goat house and where we are developing a
"showcase" center of all aspects of our sustainable living program.
She also helped in the construction of a concrete floor of a school, as well as
with a much needed pipe on an indoor stove at Reynaldo's house (see pictures
below). (Reynaldo is the preacher in Yankee, and our showcase center and goat
house are on his property.) In addition to all of this, she helped Becky with a lot of things for the Casa Materna. We really enjoyed Bri's visit (as did the Nicaraguans) and were very
grateful to have her help while she was here.
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| Bri and Tommy carrying water to mix with concrete |
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| Tommy mixing concrete |
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| Bri mixing concrete |
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| Becky leveling the concrete floor |
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| Reynaldo's kitchen before the stovepipe (notice all the ash on the ceiling and walls) |
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| Reynaldo's kitchen before the stovepipe |
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| Chris, Bri, and David making the stovepipe |
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| Reynaldo's wife sealing the bottom of the stovepipe |
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| The stove after the pipe |
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| Reynaldo's kitchen after the stovepipe |
Monday, July 9, 2012
Yay!
So...
We are FINALLY in our house. :)
There is still a little bit of painting to be done, and we still need to purchase most of our furniture and many household items. But, we have electricity and a functioning bathroom now. These things were completed just in the nick of time before we brought home Tommy's mom and nephew (Jacob). We enjoyed spending all last week with them, mostly doing "tourist-y" stuff and just being together. They were the first family members we have seen in person since we moved here last September. A single week was really too short a time to soak up their company and to give them a thorough picture of what all we do here. (We were also very excited to see some of our friends from our home congregation in Summerville who were here doing work with the mission!) However, between their visit, us having had to work on the house, and us having been sick before that, we have really been out of the loop on what has been going on at the mission and at church. I feel like I have barely seen my Nicaraguan friends. We expect things to get back to "normal" soon, though. After I put up this post, Tommy and I will be leaving for Managua again to pick up Brianna, our friend from camp, who will be sort of our Hope for Life intern for 3 weeks. We are excited about the projects we have in mind for her to help with. It will be good to jump back into "work" again and, hopefully, to reconnect with our local friends and co-workers.
Anyway, we are VERY, VERY THANKFUL to be in our house at long last. (Thanks so much to everyone who lifted up prayers for us.) It was amazing and faith-building to watch everything come together by our deadline. It was obvious to me that God's hand was in the entire process, and it was gratifying to see our trust and patience pay off. I would definitely say that the house is worth the wait.
One thing we don't have at the house yet, though, is an Internet connection, so we are only able to communicate through e-mail and telephone (our Magic Jack phone) when we are at our office at the mission. Sorry if it takes us a little longer to respond to your messages. Hopefully we'll be connected at the house soon.
Thanks again for all of your prayers and support,
-Becky
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