Month: September 2016

In the beginning of May we settled on a church here in Masatepe. It is a funny thing but even in the midst of not understanding everything that is happening, I still feel at home there. It is like being comfortably uncomfortable.

We have visited several churches, and I must say that part of the decision was the volume of the worship service. Now before you think that “I’m too old”, let me just say that when I am sitting in the back of the church and my inner ear is vibrating, I think that is too loud.

We like what we see at Iglesia Cristo- El Shaddai! The pastor is training young people to preach in the church, the messages are Bible- based, the volume is manageable, the pastor comes along side in worship, and the church-goers are genuine. These people know what it is to not have things easy, but to walk faithfully with God!

Here are the lighter reasons why we have chosen to be a part of Iglesia Cristo:

• In the 85-90 heat, the ceiling fans are a wonderful addition and a man named David has honed in to our need for them.
• A 9 AM starting time really means that around 9:20 people will start coming in and church will likely get started by 9:30- we are adjusting! This is repeated at the 5 pm service.
• When the pastor introduced his wife to me, he followed it up with, “Isn’t she beautiful?” I love the Latino honesty!
• The pastor’s wife calls me “princess”.
• It takes 6 large speakers for the 30 of us to hear the service J
• The precious children come out at the end of the service and share the verse or music they learned in Sunday school- this is hilarious and precious!
• And finally, when they see us coming they double up the plastic chairs. While in some ways this is a little embarrassing, it would be more embarrassing to sit down and go crashing to the ground!

This week we celebrated our first communion time with them. Since we did not really know the customs of the church we were a little wary. We saw people go up to the front to take the elements, so we followed course. As we were in line I noticed that most people stayed up at the front and seemed to be forming a circle in the front of the church. I figured it was best to follow their lead.

Stephen, who is used to getting up front and preaching, was very uncomfortable in this situation. He was fearful that we might be making some kind of commitment that we were not aware we were making (this can happen when you understand about 50% of what is said), so he was kind of facing me with his body, with an intent, “let’s go sit down now?!” look. Of course that made we laugh. With tears in my eyes and trying to recover in this serious moment, we realized that we were all just taking communion together.

This past week we showed up for church and no one was there. Obviously not everything is coming through loud and clear, and it seems that every instance is still a learning experience!

One of my favorite things to watch is House Hunters (International). I blame it on my mom! But also it is one of the few shows that I can stream on my computer with little interruption, and it does not come up as “not able to view in your location”.

The other day while I was preparing dinner, I was watching an episode with a couple who were trying to find a vacation home in Florida, and they had only 2.5 million to spend; needless to say, the houses were extravagant! It had to be on the water, had to have room to sleep 11, and had to have plenty of area for entertaining.

While I was watching this, the lady who cleans our house arrived. It is kind of embarrassing for me to admit that I have someone to clean my house, since it feels like a luxury and especially on a missionary income.

Paula (pronounced Pow-la) is her name, and we have really enjoyed getting to know her and her family. When she came in the house I told her about House Hunters, and we both gawked at the enormous house and property in which the couple was finding both joys and faults.

At one point, I said that my whole house would fit in their living room. We laughed and then I turned off the computer.

I had not talked with Paula since we had returned from the US, but I knew that she had been part of a mission trip up to the NE of Nicaragua, so I asked her about the mission trip. Let me just say that I love that we are part of a Nicaraguan community where the Nicaraguans want to reach out to other Nicaraguans.

This trip involved taking long canoes 2 days (12 hour days) down river to meet with and encourage fellow believers in very remote places. In my studies of culture, I am more and more aware how people-oriented cultures have a much higher value on receiving encouragement than our task-oriented culture.

Paula came away from this experienced happy to have been able to be part of an encouragement team, and struck by the hard living and severe poverty of the people of the Rio Coco.

Most of you are probably ahead of me, but as she was talking I became aware of the huge contrasts that has been presented in our short conversation.

I have not been inside of Paula’s house, but from the outside it looks like you could fit most of it in my living room, but here was a woman, who I would say lives in poverty, who is struck by those who really live in poverty.

There are all kinds of lessons I could take away from this, from big picture of world poverty to my own person response. My take away from my conversation with Paula was two-fold; thankfulness for what I have and a need to be generous with what I have.

Both Stephen and I have lists that would make our lives more comfortable; replace the coffee pot that broke this week, buy a microwave so we could heat up our food quicker, get an air conditioner so we can cool down our 80+ degree bedroom…. But we are also reminded of the generosity of others in our lives; people who support us every month, those who have sacrificed so that we can buy a vehicle soon, and friends who take the time to encourage us through email and skype.

We live in a world surrounded by poverty, and it can be easy to get jaded. But when I have been more thankful about what I have received, my own generosity seems to grow. That is when I interact more; giving value to my neighbors or give a few more cordobas for a tortilla to seven-year old Estella when she comes by.

Thank you for the message, Paula. I got it loud and clear!