Catch Up

May 27, 2010

Time to do a little catch up on the blog before heading "into the wild" for the next few days. Tomorrow I take the mission team that is here camping on the farm (where the future children's home will be). The original plan was to sleep under tarps but a tropical storm has moved in and we have been getting rain for several days straight and it is supposed to continue. This kind of rain is usually seen at the end of the rainy season and not in May. At any rate with the kind of tarps we have and the severity of the rain (not to mention the frequency of thunder and lightning) the sleeping otuside does not seem to be a good idea. Plan "B" is to stay in two of the buildings on camp which are still rustic and will lend themselves to an "out of the comfort zone" experience for the youth. We are praying that the rain lets up (and the driveway dries out) for Saturday so that the children can come out to the farm for an outing. Otherwise the team will be going to the home and we will do indoor games with the children. But it is good for both the staff and the children to get to leave the home and have more space to run around.

Today I was out at the farm working with the team to slow down the erosion that is happening. Lots of area was graded for construction and now that soil is being carried away. On Monday an Environmental Engineer will be bringing some supplies so that on Tuesday we can do a more permanent job with stopping the erosion. Today was only a temporary fix as we dug channels to divert the water from its current path and moved lots of soil. It was fun to work in the rain for a change instead of being under the blazing sun.

I just realized that I never wrote nor posted pictures from my awesome hike at Volcan Izalco the other week. I will have to do that when I return from the weekend with the work team and children. Life has been very busy and e-mails and blogs have gone by the wayside. I have continued to enjoy some good connections with the children at La Casa de Mi Padre. We had another Family Visit Day last Saturday and I again helped with the logistics and an icebreaker for the new Parent Group. Many in this group of parents suffer from lower IQ or psychiatric illnesses and so the activities have to be adapted for their comprehension level. It went pretty well though. One of the sad things going on with several of the families right now is serious health issues. The mother of 3 of the chidren here at La Casa is in the last stages of terminal cancer. The children had the opportunity to go to visit their family last week but they have a long road ahead of them as they prepare and then grieve. And we need to figure out how to best walk with them through this journey.

One other thing that has been happening these past 2 weeks has been the opportunity I have had to share my faith with a girl I got to know through the guesthouse where I lived this past month. I sense that God's reason for having me there was so that I could begin to plant some seeds in her heart. She went to church with me last weekend and on the ride there I was able to share the gospel message with her. She has been curious but not with a curiosity of searching for the truth. It would seem that her she is content with her life as it is and does not see a need for God. She will be leaving in a week for Spain again and I am praying that as I hang out with her one or two more times that she will hear what she needs to here and then that the Lord will bring other people into her life to continue planting and watering seeds until the time is right for a harvest in her heart. It is in His timiing and not mine.

Bits & Pieces

May 15, 2010

Once again I sit down to actually write a blog entry and cannot remember all of the ideas that I had floating around in my head from the week. It has been a good week, with some long days. Today I spent part of the day at the school where the majority of the children attend. They were having a day of Intramural competitions and I went to support them and also help out with selling whatever the parents of each class were assigned to cover. I did not have to do much selling, so that was nice. At the end of the afternoon I was on my way out, when I noticed some people playing volleyball. I went over and joined and soon there were 4-6 children from La Casa de Mi Padre playing. After a little while, the heavens let loose with a very brief but very wonderful rain shower. These past few days have been intensely hot. So much so that I do not want to do much of anything.

Yesterday evening I stayed late at the home to bake a mango dessert for the children and staff today and I realized that the kitchen is not a good place to be on a hot day. A couple of the older guys helped me to peel and cut the mangos and it proved to be a good time to chat about movies and music (which of course I know very little about) but I was able to share why I like some movies (and the analogies they contain) and why I do not like the majority of the others. I am looking forward to cooking with each group of girls in the coming weeks.

This past week I was much more intentional in my reading with one of the young girls, Elba. I received some good ideas from a good friend who is an Elementary Education teacher and feel better equipped to tackle helping her in her reading comprehension. I love to read, and I am excited to help a child find that joy too or if nothing else, at least learn to understand what she is reading.

I was more directly involved in the majority of the groups this week in both the guys' and girls' home. Some went well, others did not. The medium to young age boys were a bit out of control and unfocused and so even though the activity that I had for them was active, it did not work. I am praying for some good ideas for next week. My time with the oldest group of girls' though went really well and I was encouraged that I am getting to know them better and developing more trust with them. So overall it has been a good week. Oh and on top of it all, I have been having some good conversations with a girl from Spain who is not a Christian and who feels like her life is fine without God. I am praying that God will give me wisdom in what to share and say and that above all, she will experience God for herself so that there will be no room for doubting not only His existence, but also her need for Him. Tomorrow I get to go hiking with her and probably another Christian girl so I am hoping that the day lends itself to some good conversations.

Redundancy

May 9, 2010

Sometimes I think that I must be a slow learner because the Lord has to use repetition to get me attention. He knows just how and when I need to hear the same thing again and again. Today's sermon was like that for me. It touched on the very themes that have been resonating in my heart for weeks. The title of the message was, "Do not give in to the pressure of the urgent." Basically it was a look at how we often fill our lives and schedules with that which is not very important or is not our job to fulfill. If I cannot ever say "no" when asked to help out in something, I will end up being over run with things to do, and really not doing so well in any of them. The final passage of the morning was what caught my attention because the Lord had already been talking to me about it -- Luke 10:38-42 where Jesus is with Martha and Mary and He points out that Mary has chosen the better option by choosing to sit at His feet. Martha, on the other hand, was busy running around the kitchen making dinner and being annoyed that her sister was not helping out. The pastor noted how our service for God will never be fruitful if it does not flow out of our communion with God.

Prior to the message I had been thinking of the passage in relation to the people around me and my relationships because I can easily become task-oriented and forget about building relationships. I found the sermon to be a good reminder of the most important relationship of all -- Jesus Christ. From my relationship to Him should flow my relationships with other. I found myself challenged once again to dig even more into pursuing intimate communion with the Lord Jesus Christ and then to take time for people. Details, work, etc... will always be here but people will not always be around. Over the past 2 weeks I have had the chance to chat with some people who were passing through in my life for only a short while. Even now there is a girl who I just met who I will probably only be around for another week or two. She does not know Jesus and she needs to see that I take time for her, to listen and to share in various ways. This afternoon I began to paint a picture of my faith and who Jesus is, but it is a conversation that I hope we can continue in the days to come.

The Little Children

May 9, 2010

This morning was my second time helping out in the 2-4 year old Sunday School room at church. Things were a lot crazier today as there were more than 20 children of various ages and several who had no desire to sit and follow instructions or participate in the group activities. There were four children from the US who speak very little Spanish so I end up providing translation for them of the lesson (when they are listening that is). I am glad that my English does come in handy because so often I just wish that I could speak Spanish fluently, without having to think, and I forget to be grateful that I do know English very well (except when it comes to teaching the grammar rules as the youth often ask questions regarding their homework and I do not know the names of verb tenses, etc...) and Spanish fairly well.

On Wednesday of this past week, I finally had opportunity to make some finger paints to share with the two youngest boys at La Casa de Mi Padre. Ricardo loved the paints and ended up making footprints as well. He was pretty much covered in paint -- head to toe. Emanuel, on the other hand, was not so excited about the texture of the paint and after a brief encounter with it, he tried to stay out of sight in the corner so that he would not have to touch the gooey paints. When I made play dough the other month, Emanuel did not like that texture either. He is the one who is most delayed in his development and so we are looking for ways to stimulate him. Both boys loved the big pieces of white paper that I taped to the floor. They laid on them and I realized that we might have to take a pretend trip to the beach or something, using our imagination, "beach towels", and who knows what else. We will see what we come up with for this coming week.

One other event from this past week -- I was reading with a young girl named Elba who is in third grade. I found a book about "Frog and Toad" (which I remember from my childhood) in Spanish. As we were reading the short stories and then discussing them to see if she was comprehending what we read, I discovered that the characters can teach some good life lessons about perseverence, fear, failure, etc... With Elba's younger sister, I am hoping that the story about "The Little Engine That Could" will give her a little encouragement to keep moving forward even when things get tough and not to give up so quickly. I love to read and so it is fun to share a bit of that love with the children.

Two Sides to Every Coin

May 9, 2010

On Friday one of the boys at the home asked me to guess "heads or tails?" I guessed wrong. Today I am reflecting upon the fact that nearly every cultural difference that I encounter has two sides - the frustrating side and then the side where I see the positive of a perspective different from my own. Last evening I began by being annoyed with how the 7:00PM meeting time turned into an 8:30PM departure.We were waiting and waiting for the rest of the people to arrive. At first it was at an Outdoor Mall which was a nice setting to wait. But then we moved to a gas station and I found myself very uncomfortable there as I saw other crowds of youth around, looking our way every time that they passed. I imagined a major gang hold up or something which of course did not happen. My problem was that I was tired by 8:00PM and I had hoped to be heading home by 10:00PM. As the time ticked away and we still had not left, I decided that going in a separate car so that I could leave early was not sufficient, I would simply skip out on the evening's activities.

But that is where the cultural perspective from El Salvador which seems to say that a large group sticks together, no matter what, kicked in. The plan had been to go to an area outside of the city where there are lots of little Pupusa restaurants (Pupusas are rice or corn tortillas filled with beans, cheese, and/or various other things and are one of the most popular and cheapest foods around) and a nice view of the city. Travel time and the wait for the food would have been significant enough that it was not worth me going, only to leave by 10:00. One or two other persons wanted to leave at an early hour but not as much as me. When I said that I would not be going along after all, someone proposed the idea that we go to a pupusaria in one of the neighborhoods nearby. They asked if I would go if everyone stayed closer and I said yes. And so the group gave up the plans of going to the pupusaria with a view and settled for a nearby one, all so that I could be a part of the group. Whether we would be as quick to do that in the United States, I am not so sure. I was touched by the group's decision to stay close and enjoyed some good conversations before leaving to get some sleep. Everyone else proceeded to a cafe at the gas station where we had been before. I needed sleep, especially when I awoke at 5:00AM for no reason. That is why I cannot stay out late.

I hope that I can see both sides of the coin in every cultural difference that I encounter because I know that one culture is not better than another. We all have our strengths and our weaknesses and therefore much to learn from each other.

Survival Skills

May 6, 2010,

This morning as I was driving to work, I realized that using your horn is a necessary survival skill in Latin America. When I return to the United States, and forget where I am and use the horn, I get evil looks. But here, you have to use the horn to warn drivers that you are present and not planning to just move because they want to do something crazy. It seems to me that the last couple of days I have had to use my horn a lot because of the craziness on the roads.

In thinking of survival skills, I had to think also of cultural adjustments. It takes time to adjust culturally and then there are some things which will never quite seem right, though they are not wrong -- just different from what one is use to. For example on Sunday after church I went with a group of young adults to the small town of Ataco up in the mountains. We had 17 people going so it was enough to take a mini-bus instead of driving 4 vehicles. I was grateful not to have to drive and instead enjoy conversation and the scenery. When we arrived at the town, people began to talk about where to go. I asked if we were going to set a time to meet back at the bus.One of those who had helped plan the transportation said that he thought we would all just stick together. Seventeen staying people staying together translated into covering 1 1/2 blocks of the town in the 2-3 hours that we were there. Several of us wanted to walk up to a lookout by a church farther up on the hill, but we could never get everyone moving to actually make it there. For me it was an interesting experience because I like to be independent and not have to wait on groups of people. Perhaps that is also why I tend to like small groups more than large groups. I realized that if I want to go hiking and really see a National Park or something like that, I will have to make sure only a few people are going. Otherwise we will stop to take a million pictures, rest, and do many other things and never make it very far into the park.
This is perhaps where the other cultural/personality difference comes in. I like to get things done, whether that be work, seeing new places, or being active. In Latin America relationships are what are most important and are the center of everything else. It does not matter, therefore, if you only walk a block and half in a new town, because you are hanging out with everyone. I need to grow in the area of being more relational and so these cultural differences are good for me because they stretch me, moving me out of my comfort zone. The small group activities that I enjoy such as games and hikes I will simply have to plan as that -- small group time -- and not try to fit them into the larger group setting where dividing up into smaller groups is not seen as acceptable.

Here Come the Rains

May 1, 2010

Here in Central America the saying "April showers bring May flowers" does not hold true because the rains do not arrive until May although this year we had a good amount of rain in April. April was true to its normal self though and was very hot. This morning I awoke in the early hours to the sound of rain -- the type of rain that you have on a fall day in Pennsylvania. By 6:30 the rain had passed and I went out for a run in a world that was drenched and alive. Apparently the rain did not really pass though because for a good portion of the day, the rains fell steadily. There were the fun moments when it was just a light mist and I was able to walk down the road to a little stores for some veggies, getting spritzed, but not soaked.

Besides it being a rainy day, it is also a holiday here in Central America, the equivalent of the US's Labor Day. Except here instead of parades, there are protests. Last night it took me 45 minutes to get home instead of 10-15 as it normally should. Whether it was due to the fact that protests were coming or simply that it was Friday and payday, the roads were a mess. At the intersections a light would turn green and no one could move because traffic from the right or left was sitting in the middle, not having gotten through on their green. I sat there and tried to pray, but found myself distracted by my frustration of not getting anywhere. Eventually I found it better to sing because that was something I could focus on.

This morning I planned to meet up with a girl from the US who is running a children's home north of the city, but as I headed to our meeting place, I found the roads blocked because of marches. I returned home and we met later on. It was neat to see her ministry and be able to share some of the program ideas from La Casa de Mi Padre with her and the other staff.

When I returned to the apartment after my first attempt to meet up with Rachel from the children's home, I ended up walking past a little coffee shop/bakery and went in to visit with the girls who run the place. They are twins and I met one the other day and this morning I was introduced to the other. I had a good time sitting and talking with her and look forward to running with her in the future. If I was in shape and had time, I could do a race with her tomorrow morning. As I left their store forty-five minutes later, I was excited about the new friendships. We can speak in either English or Spanish because at least one of the twins went to school in the States and teaches at the American school. They are experimenting with baking as they put together pastries to sell. I love to bake too and some day I think I will try to teach them how to make the Cream Cheese braids. Once again I have so much to be thankful for as I think about how the Lord is providing friendships (not to mention everything else He has done in my life).