Villa Catalina

We spent Monday afternoon and Tuesday in Villa Catalina. It was amazing to see the difference in the way people lived and acted there from the dump. There was color, life, and laughter. The Villa is far from perfect, but there is hope and growth.

One of the first things Katie, Stephen, and I did was visit the newborn baby of one of her friends in the Villa. The woman welcomed me and Stephen in to her small brick house though she had never met us, and we all got to admire, hold, and take pictures of her baby.

Then we walked around and visited a few more of Katie's friends there. I met the four year old boy that she's known since he was only a few days old, and his sisters who also know Katie really well. One of the other mothers we visited went and got bananas, came back and fried them, and served them to us with cheese and juice since we hadn't had lunch yet. It was incredibly delicious. After Katie left to go start teaching her afterschool English class, I stayed and played MarioKart with the kids there (yes, they had a little TV with an X-Box). It was pretty sweet to bond with kids over one of my favorite games, especially since it involved little talking - my Spanish isn't exactly superb.

Here are a few more pictures of what the Villa looks like. It is so different than the dump. All of the little houses have gorgeous plants in front. There's clean water because Amigos drilled a well there. They have a health center with free health care, a school, other after school programs, and many families have started their own businesses.

Water tower and basketball court

Health Center

Kids and an American high school student in front of the library (biblioteca)

They sell bracelets

A road and houses

Let Us Love

Our theme song this week with the high school group.

An Earth That Is Scorched

Monday morning, we took a trip to the see where people who live in the village Amigos has built were before they moved there. In 1998, Hurricane Mitch hit Nicaragua and wiped out a lot of people and houses. The government set up the refugees in tents in the dump of Chinandega, the city we're now in. They said they would move the people out again, but just never did. Amigos came along and built some houses elsewhere for the people to live in, which has now grown into a village, Villa Catalina.

So we went to that dump. The thing is, there are still a lot of people living there. There are rows and rows of dwellings put together out of old cardboard and cloth. They showed us the lake and river where all the Chinandega sewage and waste goes. We could see needles sticking up out of the water from the hospital's garbage. The people who live in the dump survive by spending their days searching through the heaps for useful things, and then sell them to a middle man who sells it back in town. Because this is how they get money and food, they even scuba dive in these same waters to find things to sell.

When they finish searching a pile in the dump and there's nothing else they can use, they burn it so they don't have to search through it again. So, as we walked across the trash, which covers the whole section of land, it was often either burnt or still burning. When God told us in the song for our trip that the earth was scorched, I didn't expect it to be literal. I didn't expect that walking where these people do would require walking on burning trash. It struck me that this is truly part of the "ends of the earth." Even this dump village needs to know the message of Jesus. I would venture to say that it especially needs to know. And for that to happen, someone must go. Someone must be willing to breath the dust and smoke, stand in the heat, and engage with people who's hearts are more obviously slain than any I have ever seen.

While we were walking, a young man came up to us and one of the staff people talked to him. He was sniffing a spray can he had found and was pretty clearly high. She asked him how old he was, and he said he was 18. She asked him if he went to school or had a job, and he said that his job was to find and sell stuff from the dump. He went on to say that today he found this can, so today, that was his pay. She asked him if he wanted something different, and he replied, "Sure I want something different, but I don't know how to get it."

So many other people we saw there seemed so hopeless. The children didn't laugh or run much, like they do in the Villa. The people would not really make eye contact or acknowledge us. It was so sad to see such waste and despair. At one point while we were walking, a flock of pure white birds took off from the ground in a quite startling way. Their presence was such a stark contrast to the landscape of brown and gray trash. You may know that birds remind me of the presence of God, and I realized that this place was not hopeless, not for God. Though he is truly the only one who would be able to redeem it.

I don't have any pictures of the dump because Amigos is working very hard to build good relationship and trust with the people. So, we went in with nothing - no water bottles, cameras, or anything. Their relationship with the people is so important because the people who are still there are there because they do not want to leave - they are too afraid. Where they live, they have something they know will feed their children for the day. As one of the staff people was saying though, it's not exactly a healthy place to live. People were not made to live in dumps. We were made for life, growth, adventure, beauty. There is none of that there. So Amigos staff are working on building trust so that they can help.

So that's something you all can definitely be praying for. Amigos is in the process of building 50 more houses in the Villa (of which stories and pictures are coming). I would love to see more people  able to fill those houses, get involved in the community, and come alive.

Could We Get a Breeze?

After church on Sunday, we went and climbed Cerro Negro, Nicaragua's most active volcano, with the high school group that is here. After we had gone a little ways, several people were having a rough time since we were very tired from travelling and people were nauseous and such. I was a little dizzy and dehydrated, so I asked Katie to pray for me.

She then asked Kelly, the group leader, to gather everyone to pray. Kelly asked God for healing, strength, and encouragement for the group. It was rediculously hot and humid, so at one point she prayed, "Would you please help us know you are here, like, could we get a breeze?" Literally, right as she said that, a strong wind blew over us, and kept getting stronger as she wrapped up the prayer. It was neat to see that God wanted us to know he was with us and willing to offer us a bit of comfort. The breeze lasted the rest of the hike.

When we got to the top, we could see so much of the countryside and other hills and mountains. When I first heard we were going to go hiking, I was a little disappointed, thinking I didn't come down here to go on vacation. But it turned out to be a good way to get acclimated to the weather on our first day, get perspective on this new country, and know that God here too.


There was also a pretty sweet sunset at the end of the day.

Abre Mis Ojos

My first day in Nicaragua started with going to Katie and Iris' church with her and Stephen. When we walked in, a little girl ran strait up and hugged me. It was definitely a warm welcome to Nicaragua.

We sang, clapped, and discussed God's design for the family. I really enjoyed being able to worship God with people I've never met in a place I've never seen. I realized more of how big God is, what a big job the great commission was, but also how amazing it is. We even sang some songs I knew in Spanish from summer camp including Angus Dei and Open the Eyes of My Heart (Abre Mis Ojos). When we sang Abre Mis Ojos, it became a prayer for my time here - that God would open my eyes to see this week, especially in ways that are different than what we expect in the states.

Feed the Children

Here’s some of how God has led and provided for us as we prepared for the trip… Several weeks ago, Jason’s dad told him that he’d been having a reoccurring dream about our trip to Nicaragua with the message “feed the children.” So, Jason told us and encouraged us to ask God to help us understand what this meant. One afternoon when I had some time to ask God about it, I felt like playing guitar so I asked God if he’d speak to me through song. I started strumming and God inspired a new song that revealed more of his heart and intention behind the message. I’ll copy the lyrics at the end of this post for those of you who haven’t heard it yet. I relayed this to the rest of the group to get their thoughts since it wasn’t exactly specific instructions for what we should do. Katie (who lives full time with Amigos in Nicaragua) said that they don’t really do handouts of food, but that they don’t have bibles in Spanish and would love for the kids and families to be able to have some. So, we decided to try to take down as many bibles as we thought we could fit in our bags. We got Core involved in this so that they could invest in our trip in another way than praying for us. We took a collection at Nightlife (our large group meeting), asking people to donate a bible, which were $2 each. When we counted it afterward, the amount Core donated was exactly what we had spent on the bibles that we’d already had shipped so they would make it in time. I was in awe that God would provide so amazingly for what he had inspired us to do before we even left. In addition to the bibles, people also decided to donate children’s books in Spanish, musical toys for the kids, and additional money that we can use for whatever other needs God leads us to while we’re there.

In all of the preparation, it was quite encouraging to see that God is really with us in this trip, though it was largely born out of the desires of our hearts to see, encourage, and work with Katie and the people in Nicaragua.

Pray for:
The bibles to make it to us in time for Jason, Jeff, and Erin to bring them down
Wisdom in using the provision God has given us
Continued leading from the Spirit while we are there in all that we do

Feed the Children
Verse 1:
Feed the children
Love my children
Shine light into the dark of night
Care for the oppressed
Love the lonely one
Make my will done

Chorus 1:
On an earth that is scorched
And in hearts that are slain
Oh, they need to know
Know my name
Let my light be shown
Let my love be known
You must be my witness
To the ends of the earth

Verse 2:
Feed the children
They are my children
Do not neglect the apples of my eye
You must care
You must go
Or they will never know

Chorus 2:
For the earth it is scorched
And their hearts have been slain
Oh they must know
Must know my name
Let my light be shown
Let my love be known
You must bring my healing
To the ends of the earth

Bridge:
Don’t you know you are my children
Redeemed from the pit of death
Don’t you know that’s free
And free for all to see
Don’t you know I want to save
And that I am brilliant love
You’ve got to trust
That I am mighty to save

Chorus 3: An earth that is scorched
And hearts that are slain
Oh, they need to know
That I will save
Let my light be shown
Let my love be known
You must preach my word
To the ends of the earth

And I'm Off...

I am about to head off to Nicaragua, but thought I would get this started a little before I go. I'll be working with an organization called Amigos for Christ and with one of my best friends Katie. A video about Amigos is below. Hopefully that gives you a bit of an idea of where I'm going. I will update this more with the direction God has given us for the trip and with all of the happenings as I am able.




Pray for:
Safe travel for me as I fly and drive tonight/tomorrow.
Good preparation and anxiety free finals week for the other three who will join me in a week.
Preparation of mind, body, and heart for all of us for the work God's inviting us into.