Listen to this:
We are His portion, and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes...
...if grace is an ocean, we're all sinking.
And honestly, that's all I've got for you. I know the words of this are a reminder that I need right now, and maybe some of you need it, too. He loves us, and His grace and love are so powerful that nothing can rip us away from Him. Not our sin, not our feelings of being unloved, lonely, and worthless, not the people who constantly tell us that we are inadequate...nothing. We should never forget that our God has poured out so much grace, love, and mercy for us, that we're literally drowning in it. That's passion. That's love. That's what our Savior has done for us, not because we deserve it, not because of anything we've done...just pure grace and love.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. -Romans 8:38-39.
Love Always,
-ellie*
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Who Are We?
Some of you may remember a post that I wrote while I was still in Nicaragua, "Who Am I?". Amongst the stories of sweat and pligramages to Chichigalpa, were thoughts about where I was going, and what I was going to be doing along the way.
I have been put in the position to think about the kinds of questions I was asking myself at that time again.
Yesterday, in my Formational Models for Christian Ministry class (a class where we talk about being affective, and healthy ministers of word and service), one of our professors, Kevin Hall, instructed us to go to a website, called Wordle. At this website, we typed words that described ourselves and our lives into a box, pressed a button, and then got to arrange and change the color of the words we typed in. The end result is a cluster of the words that you typed in that looks pretty dang epic.
Here was the first Wordle I designed:
I'd say that's a pretty accurate picture of what's inside of us. I know if you put my heart, your heart, or anyone else's heart, under a microscope, past the fake facades that we plaster on every day, this is what you'd find. We may be able to hide from the world to some degree, but this is what God sees when He looks at our sinful hearts.
But...
Praise the Living God for sending His Son, Jesus, to die for us! Because of Christ's death, the sinful actions that we daily execute have been wiped clean. His blood has cleansed us from all eternity. He has ripped the dirt and darkness out of our souls and saved us from the consequences of our sins. Because of Him, the picture changes from what we saw above, to something a little like this:
Pretty drastic transformation, huh? Through the power of Christ who dwells in us, we can do amazing things! Philippians 4:13 reminds us: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.". What powerful words this verse contains! This verse shows that with Christ, not only can we overcome the sometimes overpowering challenges of our lives, we can also make changes in this world. Massive and epically fantastic changes! We can make a difference by being who we are, because of what Christ is doing through us.
Now I have a challenge for you. Write down five things that you did today. Just five random things. A diverse mix of good, bad, or as unimportant as how many gray hairs you found today (I found three last week...ah! Totally not kidding, either.). Read your list. Read it again. Aaaand...read it one more time.
Look at each item on your list individually. Does it fit into a category such as daily routine, chores, or free time activity? Was it basically a "good" thing, or a "bad" thing? But most importantly, I want you to stretch beyond what each item on your list meant/did for you today. How did it effect everyone else? Sure, when you mowed the lawn, your yard looked better, and it made you feel a slight sense of accomplishment, but maybe it relieved some stress off of another memeber of your household. Or, maybe that fight you picked with your sister this morning because you were in a bad mood ruined the rest of her day.
What does your list, and how your list affects the world around you, say about you? What do your actions reveal about who you are? But even more important, how does that reflect you as a Christian, and what kind message does your attitude send to non-believers?
Missouri Synod Lutherans (which is my denominational background), as well as many other protestants, believe that salvation comes from the amazing grace, and grace alone, of God through faith in the life, death, and ressurection of His only son, Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:8 makes this very clear: "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God." Our actions, good or bad, don't save us, and they definitely don't save others (if they did, what need would there be for a savior?), but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't give to charity, or voluntarily help others. James 2:26 says "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." Once again, no, I am not trying to tell you that you are "dead" or lost because you don't do good works, but if our actions don't reflect that we are Christians who love Christ and our fellow brothers and sisters in Him, what's the point? God's going to love us no matter what we do, no matter how many times we mess up, no matter how many times we stray from the path, but that doesn't mean we just say "Okay, well, I'm gonna screw up anyways, so why not live in sin, and why sacrifice being ridiculed for the gospel?". What the world claims to be a curse, is actually our blessing. God has sent us into the world with the words of the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19, "Therefore go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." And what's one of the easiest ways to witness Christ to our world? Through our actions and words. Even if you are put into a situation where you can never mention His name, you can still be Jesus to someone through what you say and do. God is THAT powerful, and that is so amazing!
Dr. Trapp (yes, I am referrencing my "all-knowing" Old Testament prof again) would call this 'ontology'. Meaning, we're being Jesus to our brothers and sisters in Christ because we are in a relationship with a God who loves us (not because we get to go to heaven if we do. Dr. Trapp would call that "teleology", or doing something because you'll get something out of it.). God loves us so much...even though without His son's blood we are worthless, filthy sinners. Because of that, we should show that same kind of unconditional, undeserved love to others.
Take another look at that list I asked you to make. If your actions are who you are, then who are you? What are you doing? Who have you been Jesus to today?
Love Always,
-ellie*
I have been put in the position to think about the kinds of questions I was asking myself at that time again.
Yesterday, in my Formational Models for Christian Ministry class (a class where we talk about being affective, and healthy ministers of word and service), one of our professors, Kevin Hall, instructed us to go to a website, called Wordle. At this website, we typed words that described ourselves and our lives into a box, pressed a button, and then got to arrange and change the color of the words we typed in. The end result is a cluster of the words that you typed in that looks pretty dang epic.
Here was the first Wordle I designed:
I forgot to type "epic" in there. Sad day.
Kevin made an interesting point after we had finished making our Wordles. He asked us about the types of words we had typed into our "Wordle" box. He pointed out that when asked to describe ourselves, many of us used words that described what we do. Take another look at my box. ^^^ Amongst words like "Christian" and "energetic", I've got musician, singer, actress, dancer, camp counselor, missionary, writer...
What about when we describe someone else? We'll go with Will Ferrell. What do you come up with? What are the first five words that come to mind? Here are mine:
Actor.
Comedian.
Performer.
Hilarious.
Celebrity.
Take a second look at that list. At least three, and if you stretch it, all five, of those words describe what Will Ferrell does. He acts, a type of performance, and he does it in a comedic way in which he knows other people will see.
Would you agree with me when I say that it's fair to assume that if someone was asked to describe you, words that fit with what you personally do will most likely come first? When I moved back to LeMars and people asked others who the new girl was, many times the responses would be something like "She's in choir.", or "She's a cheerleader.".
When asked to describe ourselves, many of us used words that described what we do.
Let's really think about that for a minute. What do you do? And if decisions about who you are as a person are based off of that...what kind of person are you? What does your "Wordle" look like?
Now, I'm not saying that my uber-positive "Wordle" is me 100% of the time. Everything in that jumble of words is positive (except maybe "loud"...and "ginger", if you ask my friends). If I was always everything in that box (and frankly, I'd definitely need to be much more), I might not even need a savior, but I'm definitely not everything in that box on a daily basis. If I was, I would be a much better person. The truth is...I'm a terrible person, who can't save myself from my own sinful nature on my own. Just like the rest of the world, I am in desperate need of Jesus.
So, what's really in our hearts then? How does what we do show the world who we are? What does that reflect on us? While pondering that, I opened up the "Wordle" website again, and began to think about what our sinful actions say about us. Here's what I came up with:
I'd say that's a pretty accurate picture of what's inside of us. I know if you put my heart, your heart, or anyone else's heart, under a microscope, past the fake facades that we plaster on every day, this is what you'd find. We may be able to hide from the world to some degree, but this is what God sees when He looks at our sinful hearts.
But...
Praise the Living God for sending His Son, Jesus, to die for us! Because of Christ's death, the sinful actions that we daily execute have been wiped clean. His blood has cleansed us from all eternity. He has ripped the dirt and darkness out of our souls and saved us from the consequences of our sins. Because of Him, the picture changes from what we saw above, to something a little like this:
Pretty drastic transformation, huh? Through the power of Christ who dwells in us, we can do amazing things! Philippians 4:13 reminds us: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.". What powerful words this verse contains! This verse shows that with Christ, not only can we overcome the sometimes overpowering challenges of our lives, we can also make changes in this world. Massive and epically fantastic changes! We can make a difference by being who we are, because of what Christ is doing through us.
Now I have a challenge for you. Write down five things that you did today. Just five random things. A diverse mix of good, bad, or as unimportant as how many gray hairs you found today (I found three last week...ah! Totally not kidding, either.). Read your list. Read it again. Aaaand...read it one more time.
Look at each item on your list individually. Does it fit into a category such as daily routine, chores, or free time activity? Was it basically a "good" thing, or a "bad" thing? But most importantly, I want you to stretch beyond what each item on your list meant/did for you today. How did it effect everyone else? Sure, when you mowed the lawn, your yard looked better, and it made you feel a slight sense of accomplishment, but maybe it relieved some stress off of another memeber of your household. Or, maybe that fight you picked with your sister this morning because you were in a bad mood ruined the rest of her day.
What does your list, and how your list affects the world around you, say about you? What do your actions reveal about who you are? But even more important, how does that reflect you as a Christian, and what kind message does your attitude send to non-believers?
Missouri Synod Lutherans (which is my denominational background), as well as many other protestants, believe that salvation comes from the amazing grace, and grace alone, of God through faith in the life, death, and ressurection of His only son, Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:8 makes this very clear: "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God." Our actions, good or bad, don't save us, and they definitely don't save others (if they did, what need would there be for a savior?), but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't give to charity, or voluntarily help others. James 2:26 says "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." Once again, no, I am not trying to tell you that you are "dead" or lost because you don't do good works, but if our actions don't reflect that we are Christians who love Christ and our fellow brothers and sisters in Him, what's the point? God's going to love us no matter what we do, no matter how many times we mess up, no matter how many times we stray from the path, but that doesn't mean we just say "Okay, well, I'm gonna screw up anyways, so why not live in sin, and why sacrifice being ridiculed for the gospel?". What the world claims to be a curse, is actually our blessing. God has sent us into the world with the words of the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19, "Therefore go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." And what's one of the easiest ways to witness Christ to our world? Through our actions and words. Even if you are put into a situation where you can never mention His name, you can still be Jesus to someone through what you say and do. God is THAT powerful, and that is so amazing!
Dr. Trapp (yes, I am referrencing my "all-knowing" Old Testament prof again) would call this 'ontology'. Meaning, we're being Jesus to our brothers and sisters in Christ because we are in a relationship with a God who loves us (not because we get to go to heaven if we do. Dr. Trapp would call that "teleology", or doing something because you'll get something out of it.). God loves us so much...even though without His son's blood we are worthless, filthy sinners. Because of that, we should show that same kind of unconditional, undeserved love to others.
Take another look at that list I asked you to make. If your actions are who you are, then who are you? What are you doing? Who have you been Jesus to today?
Love Always,
-ellie*
Friday, September 3, 2010
One Week Later...
Well, I've been back at school for almost a week now, and I feel like my head is in the middle of a hurricane.
Concordia is amazing of course. I love my classes, it's great to see all my old friends, I've met some awesome new people, and the year is starting off really well. The problem? I over prepared myself for my return.
It's always hard to return to the U.S. after going over seas. The manana mentality of Latin America is a night and day difference from the "go-go-go" mentality of the United States. I knew that once my plane landed, my days of laying on picnic tables, salsa dancing, and random jam sessions that took up the large amount of free time I had in Nicaragua, would be replaced by classes, homework, club meetings, and trying to just...catch up. However, I haven't even given myself the chance to transition, and I know that by doing that, I'm making a huge mistake.
Throughout this summer, God has made some incredible changes in me. He has been at work in my heart, and in many ways, I've returned to CSP as a completely different girl than I was in May. He once again showed me the strength I have in my Camp Okoboji family, He brought me through a battle with malaria, He kept me safe during robberies, and He watched over me when I got appendicitis two days before I was supposed to leave the country (if having surgery in a not so clean Nicaraguan hospital and coming out perfectly okay, especially with my weak immune system, doesn't show me how powerful my God is, something is wrong).
He has been teaching me that He is so much bigger than any trial I may face. He has shown me that His love covers all of my insecurities, all of my problems, all of my stress...everything. So when I come back to Concordia and start beating myself up and saying I'm not "good enough" because I can't breathe deep enough (due to my surgery) to sing 8-bar phrases in Christus, or when I get frustrated when something little doesn't go exactly right, I'm just tossing aside everything I've learned this summer like it doesn't matter. But it does. It matters so much! I don't want to be back in a place of blaming God when I'm in the midst of a storm. I want to continue to grow in my faith, like I have been over the past three months.
So, I guess I'm just asking for your prayers and support, and that those of you who see me daily can bear with me during this struggle.
And I'm really tired (don't ask why I'm still up), so if this blog makes no sense, or seems...random/jumpy/broken up/(insert whatever adjective here), I apologize. :)
Also, as always, please keep New Song Mission Nicaragua in your prayers.
Love Always,
-ellie*
Concordia is amazing of course. I love my classes, it's great to see all my old friends, I've met some awesome new people, and the year is starting off really well. The problem? I over prepared myself for my return.
It's always hard to return to the U.S. after going over seas. The manana mentality of Latin America is a night and day difference from the "go-go-go" mentality of the United States. I knew that once my plane landed, my days of laying on picnic tables, salsa dancing, and random jam sessions that took up the large amount of free time I had in Nicaragua, would be replaced by classes, homework, club meetings, and trying to just...catch up. However, I haven't even given myself the chance to transition, and I know that by doing that, I'm making a huge mistake.
Throughout this summer, God has made some incredible changes in me. He has been at work in my heart, and in many ways, I've returned to CSP as a completely different girl than I was in May. He once again showed me the strength I have in my Camp Okoboji family, He brought me through a battle with malaria, He kept me safe during robberies, and He watched over me when I got appendicitis two days before I was supposed to leave the country (if having surgery in a not so clean Nicaraguan hospital and coming out perfectly okay, especially with my weak immune system, doesn't show me how powerful my God is, something is wrong).
Me with my appendix in the hospital in Chinadega!
He has been teaching me that He is so much bigger than any trial I may face. He has shown me that His love covers all of my insecurities, all of my problems, all of my stress...everything. So when I come back to Concordia and start beating myself up and saying I'm not "good enough" because I can't breathe deep enough (due to my surgery) to sing 8-bar phrases in Christus, or when I get frustrated when something little doesn't go exactly right, I'm just tossing aside everything I've learned this summer like it doesn't matter. But it does. It matters so much! I don't want to be back in a place of blaming God when I'm in the midst of a storm. I want to continue to grow in my faith, like I have been over the past three months.
So, I guess I'm just asking for your prayers and support, and that those of you who see me daily can bear with me during this struggle.
And I'm really tired (don't ask why I'm still up), so if this blog makes no sense, or seems...random/jumpy/broken up/(insert whatever adjective here), I apologize. :)
Also, as always, please keep New Song Mission Nicaragua in your prayers.
Love Always,
-ellie*
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Learning to Be Loved.
This one time at Camp Okoboji...
So, I was at Camp Okoboji and we...
Camp Okoboji has this crazy tradition where...
You hear it from me all the time, and I know it. I fully admit that I never shut up about Camp. I am fully confident that I haven't gone a single day in the past 11 (or is it 12...I have no idea, I lost count...) years without mentioning the name "Camp Okoboji" at least once.
God often works through important individuals in our lives to help us get back on track. This is why having friendships with strong foundations in faith are so important. Just like your best friend can point you towards that lost term paper buried beneath the left over Ramen and folders on your desk, through Christ, your best friend can be someone to point you in the right direction in your walk with God when you feel like you've "lost" Him, even though He's been there all along.
In my life, many, many times, Camp Okoboji has been that best friend. When I've been burdened by guilt, or pain, or whatever else may be troubling my heart, and I've lost sight of the cross, my amazing friends that God has blessed me with at Camp Okoboji have been right there to point me in the right direction and remind me that God has never left my side. Their love is a reflection of the love that Christ has for us. It may be a blurry reflection (because no one can ever love us as much as Jesus), but to me, it is incredibly precious. These people have loved me and accepted me (no questions asked) for who I am for years. They've been there through tears and laughter. They have reminded me to seek God when I'm feeling down and unloved.
I love Jesus. I really do. He is my rock, my light, my everything, but sometimes, my relationship with Him can feel like it's the same as it is with everyone else. And that's no one else's fault but my own. I'm focusing so much on how I don't deserve His love, that I can't let Him completely into my heart. Christ's gift of love is free! It's not by anything that we've done, and it's definitely not because we deserve it!
After many late-night talks at Camp Okoboji in July, I had a better understanding of where I stood in my faith walk, which was great, but I was completely unprepared for how God was going to put me in situations here in Nicaragua where I was going to have to apply that knowledge and start to grow.
The youth in Candelaria began to break my heart and have love pour out of me from the first time I met them, and throughout my time here this trip, that has only gotten stronger. However, I used to think that I was just another missionary coming through, someone they could hang out with for a few weeks that they'd all but completely forget about several months down the road. But, seeing friendships continue to grow that I formed here in January, and experiencing those friendships getting deeper, it becomes clearer and clearer to me that these relationships aren't just one-sided.
It's so easy to leave a mission base at the end of a trip and forget that after you leave, life goes on. You think of the people you worked with fondly, you smile at the photographs, but as more time passes and your life continues to get busier and busier, those relationships begin to fade. But the truth is, while you're back home, all of those people that you witnessed to...with all of their heartache, with all of their brokenness...they're still there. And believe it or not, they do remember you.
This time, I can't forget about the reality I'll be leaving behind when I land in the United States. I couldn't even if I wanted to. The people in Nicaragua are no longer just people I'm witnessing to that I see once or twice a year. They're my friends. True friends. They're climbing right up there close to Camp Okoboji friends...it's crazy! These people have opened up their hearts to me, and showed me pure, Christ-like love, expecting absolutely nothing in return. And if I'm uncomfortable with it, or if I feel guilty and undeserving of their kindness...too bad! They couldn't care less. I love these people, and I am so blessed to be loved by them in return. Praise Jesus for changing the life of a daughter who came here to change the lives of others.
I suppose that's it for this random, spur of the moment, late-night, "I've-got-a-ton-of-thoughts-so-let's-blog" blog. Thanks for daring to dive into my crazy mind for a few minutes.
Please keep the mission in your prayers. Hugs from Nicaragua!
Love Always,
-ellie*
So, I was at Camp Okoboji and we...
Camp Okoboji has this crazy tradition where...
You hear it from me all the time, and I know it. I fully admit that I never shut up about Camp. I am fully confident that I haven't gone a single day in the past 11 (or is it 12...I have no idea, I lost count...) years without mentioning the name "Camp Okoboji" at least once.
Me and some of my AMAZING friends at the IDW Youth Week 2009 dance at Camp Okoboji.
Why?God often works through important individuals in our lives to help us get back on track. This is why having friendships with strong foundations in faith are so important. Just like your best friend can point you towards that lost term paper buried beneath the left over Ramen and folders on your desk, through Christ, your best friend can be someone to point you in the right direction in your walk with God when you feel like you've "lost" Him, even though He's been there all along.
In my life, many, many times, Camp Okoboji has been that best friend. When I've been burdened by guilt, or pain, or whatever else may be troubling my heart, and I've lost sight of the cross, my amazing friends that God has blessed me with at Camp Okoboji have been right there to point me in the right direction and remind me that God has never left my side. Their love is a reflection of the love that Christ has for us. It may be a blurry reflection (because no one can ever love us as much as Jesus), but to me, it is incredibly precious. These people have loved me and accepted me (no questions asked) for who I am for years. They've been there through tears and laughter. They have reminded me to seek God when I'm feeling down and unloved.
IDW Junior High Week Counselors 2010 with P.R.
I've never really had friendships that quite compare with that of my Camp Okoboji friends. It's taken me years, and I literally mean YEARS to finally be okay with how much love this group of people so freely gives me.
It may be difficult for me to be okay with receiving freely given love, but when it comes to giving it, that's a whole different story. I love giving hugs. I love making people smile. I love brightening peoples' days. It's simply a part of who I am. Christ's intense love for us has inspired me to try to be the same way towards others, and while it's been a challenge to stretch my heart and see everyone with Christ-like eyes, the past year or so (especially these last two months at Camp Okoboji and in Nicaragua), has made me realize that my struggle with accepting that kind of love from others is a much bigger deal than I originally thought.
I tend to feel guilty whenever anyone says something or does something nice for me. I don't know why, I just do. After a lot of prayer and reflection, I'm beginning to see how my struggle with accepting love from others paints a clear picture of my relationship with Christ.
I love Jesus. I really do. He is my rock, my light, my everything, but sometimes, my relationship with Him can feel like it's the same as it is with everyone else. And that's no one else's fault but my own. I'm focusing so much on how I don't deserve His love, that I can't let Him completely into my heart. Christ's gift of love is free! It's not by anything that we've done, and it's definitely not because we deserve it!
After many late-night talks at Camp Okoboji in July, I had a better understanding of where I stood in my faith walk, which was great, but I was completely unprepared for how God was going to put me in situations here in Nicaragua where I was going to have to apply that knowledge and start to grow.
The youth in Candelaria began to break my heart and have love pour out of me from the first time I met them, and throughout my time here this trip, that has only gotten stronger. However, I used to think that I was just another missionary coming through, someone they could hang out with for a few weeks that they'd all but completely forget about several months down the road. But, seeing friendships continue to grow that I formed here in January, and experiencing those friendships getting deeper, it becomes clearer and clearer to me that these relationships aren't just one-sided.
Me with some of the kids during Sunday School in January.
It's so easy to leave a mission base at the end of a trip and forget that after you leave, life goes on. You think of the people you worked with fondly, you smile at the photographs, but as more time passes and your life continues to get busier and busier, those relationships begin to fade. But the truth is, while you're back home, all of those people that you witnessed to...with all of their heartache, with all of their brokenness...they're still there. And believe it or not, they do remember you.
This time, I can't forget about the reality I'll be leaving behind when I land in the United States. I couldn't even if I wanted to. The people in Nicaragua are no longer just people I'm witnessing to that I see once or twice a year. They're my friends. True friends. They're climbing right up there close to Camp Okoboji friends...it's crazy! These people have opened up their hearts to me, and showed me pure, Christ-like love, expecting absolutely nothing in return. And if I'm uncomfortable with it, or if I feel guilty and undeserving of their kindness...too bad! They couldn't care less. I love these people, and I am so blessed to be loved by them in return. Praise Jesus for changing the life of a daughter who came here to change the lives of others.
Anthony, me, and Abel. :)
Please keep the mission in your prayers. Hugs from Nicaragua!
Love Always,
-ellie*
Monday, August 16, 2010
Ya-Sure-Ya-Betcha!
Monday and Tuesday...days off at New Song. I'm actually off-property this week, currently relaxing at Tommy and Linda's house. It's definately going to be a girls' weekend. Pasta and cheesecake last night, massages today, and whatever else we can think of for tomorrow.
I cannot believe that my last week here starts today...but we're not going to get into that right now. No tears just yet. :)
This week, yet again, has been really great. I've spent even more time than usual with the youth that are my age, and through that, and watching them do their daily (and not so daily) activities, I've have had some awesome opportunities to witness their faith grow and see them plant seeds elsewhere in the Kingdom.
My cold has been bugging me a little this week, but it's finally almost gone. Anthony even has an "Ellie Song" in honor of it. It goes something like "*sniff* *sniff* *sniff* *sniff*". :) Getting to know him more this trip has been great, since I didn't really get to talk to him much when I was here in January. He's got a huge heart and a really positive attitude; Something that's so great to see, because his good example positively impacts the other youth.
The past couple of nights have been really fun. Just hanging out at Kenia's house with everyone, eating chocobananas and talking about life...not to mention, Kenia made me this awesome dish of gallo pinto with cheese and lemon. Amazing...as is most of the food here.
Probably my favorite thing that has happened so far during our usual late night "fiestas" is teaching Abel, Ariel, and Gato (Marvin) how to speak English like a Minnesotan. Now there's a whole bunch of Nicaraguans walking around Candelaria saying "I'm from Minnesoooota, where it's cold outside. Ya-sure-ya-betcha, don'tcha know?" Epic.
Friday night really stood out to me this week. Last week, the youth were supposed to have an event at the park in Chichigalpa with the police (to develop stronger relationships with them, I think), where they were going to do a few of their dances and dramas. It got cancelled last week due to rain and it was called off this week as well since rain was again, really likely, but the youth decided to go to the park and perform some dances, anyway.
A lot of people in the park stopped and watched the kids' performance, including some members of a local gang. One of the pastors at New Song has been doing ministry with this gang (the largest in the area), and the Lord is really beginning to change their hearts. It was an incredibly powerful experience. It ended up raining and the performance was cut short, but God was visibly present in the dances that night.
The coolest part? They all showed up at church last night. The church embraced them, prayed for them, and at the end of the service, five of the gang members, including the leaders, became Christians. Wow. That's all I can say about it. WOW. No matter how much I write here, no words can even begin to describe how amazing that is.
After church, Lisa, Whitney, Ashley, Mandi, and I (plus a bunch of the kids catching a ride to the park in Chichigalpa, and a few of the translators getting a ride home), all piled in the back of Tommy and Linda's truck to head to Leon for our days off. It was intense. :)
I cannot believe that my last week here starts today...but we're not going to get into that right now. No tears just yet. :)
This week, yet again, has been really great. I've spent even more time than usual with the youth that are my age, and through that, and watching them do their daily (and not so daily) activities, I've have had some awesome opportunities to witness their faith grow and see them plant seeds elsewhere in the Kingdom.
My cold has been bugging me a little this week, but it's finally almost gone. Anthony even has an "Ellie Song" in honor of it. It goes something like "*sniff* *sniff* *sniff* *sniff*". :) Getting to know him more this trip has been great, since I didn't really get to talk to him much when I was here in January. He's got a huge heart and a really positive attitude; Something that's so great to see, because his good example positively impacts the other youth.
Anthony and I hanging out in the youth house.
Probably my favorite thing that has happened so far during our usual late night "fiestas" is teaching Abel, Ariel, and Gato (Marvin) how to speak English like a Minnesotan. Now there's a whole bunch of Nicaraguans walking around Candelaria saying "I'm from Minnesoooota, where it's cold outside. Ya-sure-ya-betcha, don'tcha know?" Epic.
Gato and I. :)
Friday night really stood out to me this week. Last week, the youth were supposed to have an event at the park in Chichigalpa with the police (to develop stronger relationships with them, I think), where they were going to do a few of their dances and dramas. It got cancelled last week due to rain and it was called off this week as well since rain was again, really likely, but the youth decided to go to the park and perform some dances, anyway.
A lot of people in the park stopped and watched the kids' performance, including some members of a local gang. One of the pastors at New Song has been doing ministry with this gang (the largest in the area), and the Lord is really beginning to change their hearts. It was an incredibly powerful experience. It ended up raining and the performance was cut short, but God was visibly present in the dances that night.
The kids doing one of their dances (this actually isn't from the same night...but photo credit to the amazing Lisa Smith...for this and many other pictures I use on this blog!).
Pastor Walter talking to the gang after church.
This is how it's done in Nicaragua!
Once we got into Leon, we dropped our stuff off at Tommy and Linda's, and then headed over to Bar Baro for dinner to close out the night. It was a great time, and I'm looking forward to the rest of my weekend off in Leon, and getting back to the mission for my last week in Candelaria.
The girls with Linda at dinner.
That's all for now, blessings to you! Please keep us in your prayers.
Love Always,
-ellie*
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
We're Lost Without You.
Well, it's been an interesting week to say the least. :) From the bad (we're definitely not going to go there), to the amazing, a lot of new things were experienced this week.
Wednesday was relatively slow, so I don't have much to share about that.
Church on Thursday was canceled because of a larger than normal storm. Instead, the few of us that were there sat in a circle for music, prayer, and sharing testimonies. Afterwards, I talked with Julio, who plays guitar and sings in the praise band with me, for a few hours. It was great to hear his story about how God carried him through serious health issues when he was living in Costa Rica, and how He has now brought him to Nicaragua with dreams of doing music ministry around the world.
Friday night was the youth activity night. They played a really hilarious (and slightly weird) game that I'm still not quite sure I understand, and of course, there was the usual salsa dancing. Afterwards, Ashley and Mandi (they arrived about a week ago), Lisa, and I took two of the guys, Ariel and Cristhian out for pizza for their birthdays. It was a great time. I even got to try something a little different...ketchup on pizza. It's actually not too bad! When in Nicaragua...:)
On Saturday, almost everyone went to Santa Matilde (a nearby village) for outreach. The youth did a few of their dances and a drama over there. Later that night, Lisa and I attempted to bake chocolate cake, but we couldn't find any matches to light the stove, so we just ate the raw batter with Ashley and Mandi. 'Twas epic.
Sunday was a great day of just hanging out and loving on kids. There were two little boys who I'd never seen before that were hanging around the mission. Adorable. I had two extra appendages for most of the afternoon.
Church was really amazing that night. One of the songs we sang was "Air I Breathe"...and I'm not quite sure what happened towards the end of the song, but whatever it was, it was amazing. You could honestly just feel God's presence in the church, and several people were in tears. It was an incredibly powerful moment.
I've got two short clips of the praise band from Sunday to share with you, but I'm having trouble getting them uploaded. I'll post them as soon as the computer (and internet connection) start cooperating with me.
"Air I Breathe" was the last song before the sermon, so when we finished, I made my way to the back of the church, but I didn't get very far before I saw one of my good friends, Abel, in tears. Abel has been struggling with "finding himself" lately. We've talked about it a few times since I've been here, but between me being too sick and too tired to focus on understanding and effectively communicating in Spanish on several occasions, and him talking crazy fast, not a lot of progress was made. This time, I simply gave him a hug, and listened. While I was still hugging him, he said "I need to pray more. I need to spend more time talking to God. I need to be better. I don't know who I am, but I don't think I'm anything good." I listened to him talk for a few minutes longer, picking up as much of the jumbled-up-due-to-crying-Spanish as I could. And then, a Dr. Trapp lecture popped into my head.
I looked Abel in the eyes and said "Voy a decir este en ingles, y espero tu puedes entender, por que no se como decir estas palabras en espanol." (I'm going to say this in English and I hope you understand, because I don't know how to say these words in Spanish) My Spanish is decent (with atrocious grammar, of course), but when it comes to quoting Dr. Trapp, I'm not sure if I can trust my vocabulary in a foreign language. I quickly said a prayer that Abel's minimal ability to speak and understand English would at least get my point across.
I took a deep breath, and proceeded to slowly speak some of the wisdom I gained from Dr. Trapp's Old Testament class (we went off-topic a lot...but he somehow always managed to bring everything back to whatever book and chapter we happened to be discussing). I repeated one of Dr. Trapp's harsh, but incredibly true statements to him: "Who you are doesn't really matter anymore, and it certainly doesn't matter to me. What Christ has done for you is what affects my relationship with you. That's what the Christian faith is all about." I reminded him that Christ's death on the cross instantly washed away all of the sin that "makes him a bad person", and that it is only by Christ's blood that he is forgiven...not by how much he prays, or by how many good deeds he does. Not that we shouldn't do good, but he needed to be reminded that praying more than the next guy, or spending more time volunteering somewhere isn't going to get him any closer to heaven. The world having a good opinion of him is not going to save him. We are saved by grace, and grace alone, through faith in Jesus Christ. Who he is according to the world is of no importance. What's truly important is the new person he has become through His Savior, Jesus. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." -2 Corinthians 5:17. How blessed we are to be washed and made new through our perfect King when we've done absolutely nothing to earn it!
After sharing that with him, I scrunched up my face and asked if he had understood the words I had just spoken. He hugged me again, and said he understood everything I said (praise Jesus for that!).
As much as I wanted to leave before he opened up to me, I then wanted to leave so much more. I know the answer (or the best answer to give) to this question. I know what I'm supposed to say in response, but how could I when I ask this same question all the time. Recently, in fact. Satan was screaming "HYPOCRITE" at me. And the truth is, yeah, I'm a hypocrite. We all are, so if we don't witness to someone because we aren't "good enough" to because of our sins and mistakes, then nobody is going to be witnessing at all.
While it was difficult to hear myself share words that I myself don't even take to heart, I told him that God doesn't "do this to us". Pain and suffering are a result of the sinful world we live in, so instead of blaming God for what we've done to ourselves, we need to turn to Him, to His merciful, compassionate, and loving heart. I couldn't tell him why his grandfather was ill and near death...the only thing I could say was that God's timing is perfect, and everything is part of His plan for HIS kingdom.
I don't expect my words to give him much comfort, and I don't expect them to sink in right away, because I know personally what it's like to hear those words spoken during difficult times, but everyone needs to be reminded that it's God's will that will ultimately be done. When we accept that, and surrender ourselves to Him, amazing things can happen. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." -Romans 8:28.
I'm sure this will be an ongoing struggle for Julio, so please keep him and his family in your prayers.
Monday was a fantastic day as well. Lisa, Ashley, and Mandi went with the short term team (Living Water) to Maltagalpa to see the rain forest and a really epic coffee plantation. I opted out of going. I really wanted to go, because seeing a rain forest is a huge dream of mine, but with all the bad luck I've had surrounding this trip (illnesses, accidents, etc.), I didn't want to risk falling into a ravine or getting eaten by something. :) Instead, I chillaxed with my ninos all day.
It was pouring in the afternoon, so Anthony, Rosita, and I ran around in the muddy field and played some messed-up version of soccer. Then we ran to the church and hugged all the dry people. Jose and Jovanny were about as soaked as we were after we tackled them. Then, we all just hung out in the church for an hour or so talking about hair gel (I told all the boys to lay off on the hair care products because it made their hair crusty...it's become an ongoing joke), and giving Ariel a bad time about his failure to correctly pronounce the word "crusty". Crooooosty. Oh, and I got ice cream from Rosita. :)
After all of that fun, the water finally came back on in the house, so I got to take a much needed shower. I hadn't full-on showered for like...eight days. Just quick rinse-offs. Disgusting, I know. I was starting to develop a crust. It was super cute. When I told the kids I was going to leave for a bit to clean up, Rosita spun around in circles, threw her hands in the air and yelled "iGracias a Dios, gloria a Dios!" (Thank-you God, glory to God!) I didn't think I smelled that bad...
My shower didn't last very long, however, because a tarantula (that I've named Marcus), decided to join me. I thought he was dead, so I threw a bar of soap at him to make sure...and he started chirping. I'm going to have to call on Fransico the Kitchen Lizard, Larry the Kitchen Frog, and Shermanito the Bedroom Frog to destroy Marcus the Shower Tarantula, or else I'm not going to shower for the rest of the time I'm here.
After my lovely encounter with Marcus, I went back to the church to watch dance practice and hang out some more, only to find out that Rosita had cooked me an epically fantastic dinner of chicken, gallo pinto (the national dish of Nicaragua...rice and beans cooked separately and then fried together), tomatoes, and platanos (fried bananas with this amazing sugary glaze on them).
Everyone that isn't a missionary has to be off the property by 9:00 p.m., so when that time came, I went to Kenia's house to hang out with her, Cristhian, Ariel, Abel, Jovanny, Rosita, and Domingo for a few hours. We ate chocolate covered frozen bananas and the boys kept singing the Titanic theme song. 'Twas a good time.
Well, I'm about to head out to go to school with Cristhian (he's a senior in high school), which I'm really excited about. I've only seen the outside of the schools here, and I'm really interested in getting a better look at and understanding of the educational system in Nicaragua. I'll be sure to keep you all posted on how that goes.
Please continue to keep Nicaragua in your prayers! Thanks for reading!
Love Always,
-ellie*
Wednesday was relatively slow, so I don't have much to share about that.
Church on Thursday was canceled because of a larger than normal storm. Instead, the few of us that were there sat in a circle for music, prayer, and sharing testimonies. Afterwards, I talked with Julio, who plays guitar and sings in the praise band with me, for a few hours. It was great to hear his story about how God carried him through serious health issues when he was living in Costa Rica, and how He has now brought him to Nicaragua with dreams of doing music ministry around the world.
Friday night was the youth activity night. They played a really hilarious (and slightly weird) game that I'm still not quite sure I understand, and of course, there was the usual salsa dancing. Afterwards, Ashley and Mandi (they arrived about a week ago), Lisa, and I took two of the guys, Ariel and Cristhian out for pizza for their birthdays. It was a great time. I even got to try something a little different...ketchup on pizza. It's actually not too bad! When in Nicaragua...:)
From left to right: Cristhian, Lisa, Mandi, Ashley, and I (Ariel refused to have any pictures taken of him...el esta facento).
This was my dinner...:)
Ellos son muy preciosos. <3
I've got two short clips of the praise band from Sunday to share with you, but I'm having trouble getting them uploaded. I'll post them as soon as the computer (and internet connection) start cooperating with me.
"Air I Breathe" was the last song before the sermon, so when we finished, I made my way to the back of the church, but I didn't get very far before I saw one of my good friends, Abel, in tears. Abel has been struggling with "finding himself" lately. We've talked about it a few times since I've been here, but between me being too sick and too tired to focus on understanding and effectively communicating in Spanish on several occasions, and him talking crazy fast, not a lot of progress was made. This time, I simply gave him a hug, and listened. While I was still hugging him, he said "I need to pray more. I need to spend more time talking to God. I need to be better. I don't know who I am, but I don't think I'm anything good." I listened to him talk for a few minutes longer, picking up as much of the jumbled-up-due-to-crying-Spanish as I could. And then, a Dr. Trapp lecture popped into my head.
I looked Abel in the eyes and said "Voy a decir este en ingles, y espero tu puedes entender, por que no se como decir estas palabras en espanol." (I'm going to say this in English and I hope you understand, because I don't know how to say these words in Spanish) My Spanish is decent (with atrocious grammar, of course), but when it comes to quoting Dr. Trapp, I'm not sure if I can trust my vocabulary in a foreign language. I quickly said a prayer that Abel's minimal ability to speak and understand English would at least get my point across.
I took a deep breath, and proceeded to slowly speak some of the wisdom I gained from Dr. Trapp's Old Testament class (we went off-topic a lot...but he somehow always managed to bring everything back to whatever book and chapter we happened to be discussing). I repeated one of Dr. Trapp's harsh, but incredibly true statements to him: "Who you are doesn't really matter anymore, and it certainly doesn't matter to me. What Christ has done for you is what affects my relationship with you. That's what the Christian faith is all about." I reminded him that Christ's death on the cross instantly washed away all of the sin that "makes him a bad person", and that it is only by Christ's blood that he is forgiven...not by how much he prays, or by how many good deeds he does. Not that we shouldn't do good, but he needed to be reminded that praying more than the next guy, or spending more time volunteering somewhere isn't going to get him any closer to heaven. The world having a good opinion of him is not going to save him. We are saved by grace, and grace alone, through faith in Jesus Christ. Who he is according to the world is of no importance. What's truly important is the new person he has become through His Savior, Jesus. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." -2 Corinthians 5:17. How blessed we are to be washed and made new through our perfect King when we've done absolutely nothing to earn it!
After sharing that with him, I scrunched up my face and asked if he had understood the words I had just spoken. He hugged me again, and said he understood everything I said (praise Jesus for that!).
Me hanging out with Abel on Sunday afternoon.
I think God was sending me on a mission that night, because as soon as I finished talking with Abel, I saw Julio sitting on the wall at the very back of the church, crying. I approached him cautiously. I don't know Julio very well, but I do know that he's dealing with a lot right now, so I wanted to be extra careful with my words. I put an arm around his shoulders and asked him what was going on. He looked the other way so I wouldn't see him crying, and stayed silent. At that point, I really didn't want to bother...I was physically, mentally, and emotionally spent from the day, and if he wasn't going to talk, I didn't want to sit on a wall getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, but God held me there. Finally, he told me that his grandfather is in the hospital, extremely ill, and that he's going to die soon. I tried my best to assure him that although there is a lot of pain in his family right now, his grandfather would soon be rejoicing with God in heaven, but he interrupted me, slightly angry, with the classic question "If God loves us so much, why does he do this to us?"As much as I wanted to leave before he opened up to me, I then wanted to leave so much more. I know the answer (or the best answer to give) to this question. I know what I'm supposed to say in response, but how could I when I ask this same question all the time. Recently, in fact. Satan was screaming "HYPOCRITE" at me. And the truth is, yeah, I'm a hypocrite. We all are, so if we don't witness to someone because we aren't "good enough" to because of our sins and mistakes, then nobody is going to be witnessing at all.
While it was difficult to hear myself share words that I myself don't even take to heart, I told him that God doesn't "do this to us". Pain and suffering are a result of the sinful world we live in, so instead of blaming God for what we've done to ourselves, we need to turn to Him, to His merciful, compassionate, and loving heart. I couldn't tell him why his grandfather was ill and near death...the only thing I could say was that God's timing is perfect, and everything is part of His plan for HIS kingdom.
I don't expect my words to give him much comfort, and I don't expect them to sink in right away, because I know personally what it's like to hear those words spoken during difficult times, but everyone needs to be reminded that it's God's will that will ultimately be done. When we accept that, and surrender ourselves to Him, amazing things can happen. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." -Romans 8:28.
I'm sure this will be an ongoing struggle for Julio, so please keep him and his family in your prayers.
Monday was a fantastic day as well. Lisa, Ashley, and Mandi went with the short term team (Living Water) to Maltagalpa to see the rain forest and a really epic coffee plantation. I opted out of going. I really wanted to go, because seeing a rain forest is a huge dream of mine, but with all the bad luck I've had surrounding this trip (illnesses, accidents, etc.), I didn't want to risk falling into a ravine or getting eaten by something. :) Instead, I chillaxed with my ninos all day.
It was pouring in the afternoon, so Anthony, Rosita, and I ran around in the muddy field and played some messed-up version of soccer. Then we ran to the church and hugged all the dry people. Jose and Jovanny were about as soaked as we were after we tackled them. Then, we all just hung out in the church for an hour or so talking about hair gel (I told all the boys to lay off on the hair care products because it made their hair crusty...it's become an ongoing joke), and giving Ariel a bad time about his failure to correctly pronounce the word "crusty". Crooooosty. Oh, and I got ice cream from Rosita. :)
After all of that fun, the water finally came back on in the house, so I got to take a much needed shower. I hadn't full-on showered for like...eight days. Just quick rinse-offs. Disgusting, I know. I was starting to develop a crust. It was super cute. When I told the kids I was going to leave for a bit to clean up, Rosita spun around in circles, threw her hands in the air and yelled "iGracias a Dios, gloria a Dios!" (Thank-you God, glory to God!) I didn't think I smelled that bad...
My shower didn't last very long, however, because a tarantula (that I've named Marcus), decided to join me. I thought he was dead, so I threw a bar of soap at him to make sure...and he started chirping. I'm going to have to call on Fransico the Kitchen Lizard, Larry the Kitchen Frog, and Shermanito the Bedroom Frog to destroy Marcus the Shower Tarantula, or else I'm not going to shower for the rest of the time I'm here.
After my lovely encounter with Marcus, I went back to the church to watch dance practice and hang out some more, only to find out that Rosita had cooked me an epically fantastic dinner of chicken, gallo pinto (the national dish of Nicaragua...rice and beans cooked separately and then fried together), tomatoes, and platanos (fried bananas with this amazing sugary glaze on them).
Everyone that isn't a missionary has to be off the property by 9:00 p.m., so when that time came, I went to Kenia's house to hang out with her, Cristhian, Ariel, Abel, Jovanny, Rosita, and Domingo for a few hours. We ate chocolate covered frozen bananas and the boys kept singing the Titanic theme song. 'Twas a good time.
Well, I'm about to head out to go to school with Cristhian (he's a senior in high school), which I'm really excited about. I've only seen the outside of the schools here, and I'm really interested in getting a better look at and understanding of the educational system in Nicaragua. I'll be sure to keep you all posted on how that goes.
Please continue to keep Nicaragua in your prayers! Thanks for reading!
Love Always,
-ellie*
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Who Am I?
Another week of ministry begins tomorrow morning at New Song after our two days off come to a close this evening. I'm excited for the opportunities this coming week is going to bring, and I'm excited to share what's happened over the last few days.
Lately, I've been discovering so much about myself, and about God's plans for me. I'm learning about who I am as an individual, as a teenager, as a student, as a missionary, and most importantly as a Christian and child of God. I've written a little about that in this entry (amongst the stories of sweat, lack of water, and ice cream).
Sunday was one of the most...insane (in a good...and busy way) days I've had in awhile. I had an amazing experience in the morning, which is a little too complicated to explain here, but just know that my life has been changed (for the better) because of it.
Sunday afternoon, the short term team from Ohio, Lisa, and I walked to Chichigalpa to get ice cream. Yasmin and a couple of the other kids tagged along, too. I had cookies 'n cream mixed with Neopolitan (it's amazing), and I got a little cone for Yasmin, too. 10 Cordobas...or 50 cents, so why not? :) The ice cream was great, but it was so, so, so hot. There was so much sweat dripping off of my hair and face and glistening on my arms and legs that I literally looked like I'd just stepped out of the shower. It was disgusting.
After we finished our ice cream, Lisa, Josh, and I took a taxi back to Candelaria so we'd have time to clean up and do sound checks before church. Cleaning up for me consisted of throwing a purple sundress over the tank top and shorts I'd worn to bed the night before and hadn't had a chance to change out of yet, and re-scrunching my already wet with sweat hair. Cute, I know.
Church was great. I sang in the praise band again, and Josh and I played guitar and sang Reign In Us before the sermon. Tommy's sermon was incredible. It included discussion about repentance, forgiveness, transformation, love, and grace. A pretty epic combination.
After church, I spent a lot of time with the Ohio team since they were leaving the next morning. They figured out that saying "nickelmuffin" will cause me to burst out into uncontrollable laughter, so that was...interesting. The background picture on my phone is currently a piece of paper with "nickelmuffin" written on it. There was also a pretty intense game of Ninja Tag, including the ripping of pants (not mine). Awkward. Later on, a few of us went outside to check out the stars since the sky was clear. Although, not as clear as in January, and there are a lot more lights on the New Song property than at the Bloquera, so the stargazing wasn't as good.
The next morning was extremely difficult for me. I have a new appreciation for the kids here. New missionaries come and go all the time. Monday was the first time I've been on that end of the mission field. I've always been the one to leave, not the one staying behind. It was really hard, I have no idea how the kids can handle stuff like that so often.
God has given me another fantastic opportunity for tomorrow night. I get to lead the youth service. I did this in January, so it will be my second time writing and leading the service, and I'm crazy excited to do it again. As of right now, I'm leaning towards basing it off of John 15:18 "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you." This is a verse that helped me get through my last year of high school, and that I've found is great to use during devotions at IDW Junior High Week with my campers. It reminds us that Christ has called us and chosen us. He loves us, and while we were still sinners, He loved us so much that He died for us, and just like the world hated Jesus, we experience hate and persecution, too because of our faith. It's not because we're not good enough for this world, and it's not because something's wrong with us, in fact, it's quite the opposite. Because we have been made pure and holy, and because we have been chosen, we are hated. Satan will do whatever he can to isolate us, to make us feel unloved, to tempt people to persecute us, hate us, and turn against us. It's so important to remember that we are chosen and loved children of God. We should cling to Him and to His truth, not the lies and hatred that infect the world we live in. Please pray that the words I speak to the youth tomorrow night will be of God, not of me, and that they strike a chord within the hearts of these amazing kids. The topic will be so easy for them to relate to, as they are at an age where pressure to stray from the path of righteousness is stronger than ever. An age where the popular thing and the right thing are so often polar opposites. I pray that God will work in me and through me to make an impact on them tomorrow night.
All in all, my time here so far has just been wonderful. Coming back to a place where I wasn't even sure if the people I'd formed relationships with would even remember me, and then just getting showered by their excitement at my return, their love, and their joy has been amazing. Christ is doing some amazing things here, and I'm so grateful to be a part of so much of it. Every minute is an incredible experience. From visiting houses, to praying with the locals, and even to just teaching kids the Hustle when they've never even heard "Stayin' Alive" before, I haven't stopped smiling for more than ten seconds at a time.
Teaching the Hustle (I'm in the yellow) to the kids (and some of the Americans!).
In the midst of this more relaxing day, I've also had some time to read the amazing devotional books from my sponsor, as well as spend a lot of time in prayer, talking with God about His plans for my future. So far, I've found that Uganda will always be in my future in one way or another, but how long I spend there, and the journey along the way is completely undecided right now (I never thought Peru or Nicaragua would be part of that journey, so who knows what else God has in store for me!).
I've been talking a lot with Lisa about her ministry experience. She is an alumni of The World Race, a mission organization that sends teams of young adults between the ages of 21-35 on an 11-month mission trip to 11 (or more) different countries around the world (if you want to know more about it, you can go to http://www.theworldrace.org/). Lisa came to Candelaria while on The World Race, and said that the experience helped her decide where she wanted to be and what she wanted to do. Even though I know I want to spend at least 2 years in Uganda, I want the chance to see the rest of the world in a mission setting, and find out where, what kind, and how much help is needed elsewhere, as well as in Eastern Africa, and I think that The World Race would be a great way to do that. I can feel God working in me and changing my heart and I feel that He has even more plans for me than I originally thought. You think God is going to do something big with your life...He laughs and shows you something epically massive. For example, in the 7th grade, when I first felt the call to be a church worker, I thought I was going to go to Concordia University Saint Paul (which I did), complete the Director of Christian Education program, and end up working with an Iowa District West youth group in a Lutheran Church Missouri Synod congregation. Little did I know that a string of life-changing events beginning with participation in a 30-Hour Famine, would lead me to realize that God has called me to be a missionary in a third-world country. So, I'm going to be prayerfully considering participating in The World Race after I graduate from Concordia. If God is telling me this is a path that He wants me to take, I'd want to do The World Race before I start my 2-year overseas internship to complete my certification as a Director of Christian Outreach in the LCMS, or see if there is any possible way to incoorporate The World Race into my internship (the latter is the more favorable option of the two).
Looks like I've got a lot of thinking, planning, and most importantly, praying to do, for both tomorrow, and a few years down the road, so I'm going to go get on that!
Also, be sure to check out the slideshow at the very, very bottom of the page. Sorry for the lack of pictures so far. My camera was stolen in Leon about a week ago, so all of my pictures are on my cell phone, and it would cost me money to send them from there to a computer since I'm not in the U.S. I'm pretty much stealing other people's pictures off of Facebook. :/
Thanks for reading! God bless your day, and please keep the ministry in your prayers.
Love Always,
-ellie*
Lately, I've been discovering so much about myself, and about God's plans for me. I'm learning about who I am as an individual, as a teenager, as a student, as a missionary, and most importantly as a Christian and child of God. I've written a little about that in this entry (amongst the stories of sweat, lack of water, and ice cream).
Sunday was one of the most...insane (in a good...and busy way) days I've had in awhile. I had an amazing experience in the morning, which is a little too complicated to explain here, but just know that my life has been changed (for the better) because of it.
Sunday afternoon, the short term team from Ohio, Lisa, and I walked to Chichigalpa to get ice cream. Yasmin and a couple of the other kids tagged along, too. I had cookies 'n cream mixed with Neopolitan (it's amazing), and I got a little cone for Yasmin, too. 10 Cordobas...or 50 cents, so why not? :) The ice cream was great, but it was so, so, so hot. There was so much sweat dripping off of my hair and face and glistening on my arms and legs that I literally looked like I'd just stepped out of the shower. It was disgusting.
After we finished our ice cream, Lisa, Josh, and I took a taxi back to Candelaria so we'd have time to clean up and do sound checks before church. Cleaning up for me consisted of throwing a purple sundress over the tank top and shorts I'd worn to bed the night before and hadn't had a chance to change out of yet, and re-scrunching my already wet with sweat hair. Cute, I know.
Church was great. I sang in the praise band again, and Josh and I played guitar and sang Reign In Us before the sermon. Tommy's sermon was incredible. It included discussion about repentance, forgiveness, transformation, love, and grace. A pretty epic combination.
After church, I spent a lot of time with the Ohio team since they were leaving the next morning. They figured out that saying "nickelmuffin" will cause me to burst out into uncontrollable laughter, so that was...interesting. The background picture on my phone is currently a piece of paper with "nickelmuffin" written on it. There was also a pretty intense game of Ninja Tag, including the ripping of pants (not mine). Awkward. Later on, a few of us went outside to check out the stars since the sky was clear. Although, not as clear as in January, and there are a lot more lights on the New Song property than at the Bloquera, so the stargazing wasn't as good.
The next morning was extremely difficult for me. I have a new appreciation for the kids here. New missionaries come and go all the time. Monday was the first time I've been on that end of the mission field. I've always been the one to leave, not the one staying behind. It was really hard, I have no idea how the kids can handle stuff like that so often.
Later on in the day, though, things got much better. I hung out with Abel, Gato, Ariel, Cristhian, Jovanny, Andres, and Anthony. They definately cheered me up. I ended up walking to the park in Chichigalpa with them that night, too. A seven-year-old boy kept blowing kisses at me. Fun stuff. I was really glad I got to spend some time with them outside of Candelaria. Not only did it cheer me up, but I got an opportunity to better understand who they are as my peers (Abel and Gato are 20, Cristhian is 18, Jovanny is 17, and Ariel, Andres, and Anthony are 15, so they're all around my age), and not just people I'm witnessing to. It can be difficult to find the right balance between being a missionary and being a friend, and both are so important when it comes to being a missionary, especially with junior high, high school, and college aged kids. Even more so when you as the missionary are within that age group yourself.
One of the youth, Joel, giving me a hug after church.
Since I didn't have a lot of time to form strong relationships with people during the short time I was here in January, this time, I really want to spend time with my peers to better understand who they are, and where they're at in their faith walk. Combining that with my experience as a camp counselor, I'm hoping that it will lay a good foundation in preparing me for my future as a missionary, since I want the majority of my focus to be on youth ministry. I love the excitement and energy that goes a long with working with youth, especially junior high aged kids.
All in all, my time here so far has just been wonderful. Coming back to a place where I wasn't even sure if the people I'd formed relationships with would even remember me, and then just getting showered by their excitement at my return, their love, and their joy has been amazing. Christ is doing some amazing things here, and I'm so grateful to be a part of so much of it. Every minute is an incredible experience. From visiting houses, to praying with the locals, and even to just teaching kids the Hustle when they've never even heard "Stayin' Alive" before, I haven't stopped smiling for more than ten seconds at a time.
Today has been relatively slow. The water has been out since yesterday morning and just came back on this afternoon (it happens often, but usually not for more than a few hours or so), so I finally got to take a shower. It was a good thing, too. I hadn't showered since Monday morning, and Ariel was giving me a bad time about smelling gross (and honestly, I probably did)...especially my hair. Maybe it's time to take those corn rows out? Nope. Too much work to keep my bangs out of my face. :) After lunch, Lisa and I went to the grocery store to buy a few things, and we're going to make chocolate cake tonight (!).
I've been talking a lot with Lisa about her ministry experience. She is an alumni of The World Race, a mission organization that sends teams of young adults between the ages of 21-35 on an 11-month mission trip to 11 (or more) different countries around the world (if you want to know more about it, you can go to http://www.theworldrace.org/). Lisa came to Candelaria while on The World Race, and said that the experience helped her decide where she wanted to be and what she wanted to do. Even though I know I want to spend at least 2 years in Uganda, I want the chance to see the rest of the world in a mission setting, and find out where, what kind, and how much help is needed elsewhere, as well as in Eastern Africa, and I think that The World Race would be a great way to do that. I can feel God working in me and changing my heart and I feel that He has even more plans for me than I originally thought. You think God is going to do something big with your life...He laughs and shows you something epically massive. For example, in the 7th grade, when I first felt the call to be a church worker, I thought I was going to go to Concordia University Saint Paul (which I did), complete the Director of Christian Education program, and end up working with an Iowa District West youth group in a Lutheran Church Missouri Synod congregation. Little did I know that a string of life-changing events beginning with participation in a 30-Hour Famine, would lead me to realize that God has called me to be a missionary in a third-world country. So, I'm going to be prayerfully considering participating in The World Race after I graduate from Concordia. If God is telling me this is a path that He wants me to take, I'd want to do The World Race before I start my 2-year overseas internship to complete my certification as a Director of Christian Outreach in the LCMS, or see if there is any possible way to incoorporate The World Race into my internship (the latter is the more favorable option of the two).
Looks like I've got a lot of thinking, planning, and most importantly, praying to do, for both tomorrow, and a few years down the road, so I'm going to go get on that!
Also, be sure to check out the slideshow at the very, very bottom of the page. Sorry for the lack of pictures so far. My camera was stolen in Leon about a week ago, so all of my pictures are on my cell phone, and it would cost me money to send them from there to a computer since I'm not in the U.S. I'm pretty much stealing other people's pictures off of Facebook. :/
Thanks for reading! God bless your day, and please keep the ministry in your prayers.
Love Always,
-ellie*
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Salsa, Swing, and Salt Shakers.
Wow.
That's all I can say about this week. It's been nothing short of amazing, and praise Jesus for that!
It started in the early evening when I returned from Playa Roca (Rock Beach) and Leon on Tuesday night. After dinner, I went outside where the kids were practicing for their upcoming dance competition with several other area churches on the 20th of August in Chinandega. I ended up getting dragged into the group by a couple of girls about my age, Paula and Rosalinda, who I'd never met before, who are now becoming good friends of mine. It was insanely hot, and I was getting insanely sweaty after two hours of dancing salsa, hip-hop, and (randomly enough) lyrical. Rosalinda told me I should dance in the competition with them. I'm not so sure about that. They practice so much, and it would definately take up a large chunk of time. I want to spend as much time with as many different groups of people in Candelaria as possible, so I'm going to have to think about that for awhile.
On Wednesday, Adam and Carissa (the two missionaries who go to Concordia with me who were here for the month of July), Diego, Jarrett, Lisa, and I met for debriefing and preparing for the week. There's a team staying out at the Bloquera (where I stayed when I came here in January) of 17, but another team of about 10 people was arriving at 11:00 that morning, and they were going to be staying at the property. Honestly, these people are awesome. Some of the greatest people I've met on the mission field. I'm definitely going to miss them when they leave. It's great to have a group of people where almost all of them are my age, especially since they're staying right here on the property with me and the other long-term missionaries. The day went by pretty routinely (or as routine as it can get around here), and that night was the youth service. The new short term team led the service, and concluded it with feet washing. It was amazing. Some pretty intense arguing between some of the youth had just recently been resolved, and the feet washing activity was a great reminder of how we can serve each other and show love and humillity to one another.
I was sitting near the back of the church, observing the activity. At first, none of the Nicaraguans wanted to do it, but as the night went on, they eventually were washing other's feet along with the team, as well as having their own feet washed. It was so cool. About twenty or so minutes in, Yasmin, the little boy that I talk about all the time in the states (he's the little dude sitting in front of me in my profile picture), ran up to me, grabbed my hand, and started dragging me to the bucket. I told him he didn't have to, but he insisted. When I asked him why, he just smiled at me and said "Because I love you!" I suppose it goes without saying that I teared up. Having a seven-year-old, slightly mouthy little guy say that to me, especially my favorite mouthy little guy, made my day.
After the youth service was finished, there was, of course, dancing. Much to my liking, swing music came on, so I taught one of the guys from the new team, Josh, a little. Of course, it wasn't nearly as epic as PR and I at the IDW Junior High Week dance a couple weeks ago. :p
Thursday was yet another great day. I got my hair corn rowed by a lady in Chichigalpa (I look pretty ghetto-licious, just to let you know), and had some pretty epic ice cream. There was church that night, too, and I got to sing in the praise band. It was nice to be in a setting similar to the contemporary Wednesday night praise service, FISH, at Concordia again. The coolest thing, though, was that we sang every song in both English and Spanish. Singing How Great is Our God, and getting to worship through music with all of the American missionaries and the Nicaraguans was such an incredible experience.
After church, Lisa, Carissa, and I joined the team staying on the property in a time of prayer. Everyone was annointed with oil, had hands laid on them, and prayed for out loud. It was such a powerful thing to experience, and I'm so glad that I pushed myself out of my comfort zone to try a style of prayer that I had never done before.
When prayer time was over, I hung out in the kitchen with a few of the guys from the team, Daniel, the other Daniel, and Josh, for awhile, talking about Larry the Kitchen Frog, and Shermanito the Girls' Bedroom Frog, the two little nuggets that have made a home in the youth house. When the Daniels left, I got to talk with Josh for a bit, and learn a little about him. It was a really good conversation. I didnt expect to really connect with any Americans while I was down here, but God had other plans. It was great to be able to listen to someone who happens to be in a very similar spot in their faith walk as I am.
On Friday, we celebrated the birthdays of Meg and Britty (two of the girls from the team staying at the Bloquera) Nicaraguan style. Complete with pinatas and an epic frosting fight. I had pink and yellow frosting everywhere. In my hair, all over my arms on my face, in my eyelashes...it was intense! There was also, of course, dancing! Including Thriller (!), and Stayin' Alive. I have officially brought the Hustle to Nicaragua. It was so fun to get to teach everyone that dance! Unfortunately, I had an allergic reaction to the frosting (probably one of the dyes), so my face is kind of red, and I've got a little bit of a rash going on on my arms, but it's all good. I'm not dead. :)
After the insane fiesta de cumpleanos activites came to end, I made bracelets with the short term team, and had an epic time exchanging lame jokes with Kristina. Yes, my pathetic self invented salad joke was included (What did the salad say before dinner? Lettuce pray!). Then I had a guitar jam session with Josh in the kitchen while getting eaten alive by mosquitos. 'Twas fun.
Today I wasn't feeling the greatest, so I didn't do much outside of walking around the mission property with Yasmin hanging on me like a barnacle. I love that little nugget. :) Later on, I spent some time with a few of my Nicaraguan guy friends and some of the girls from the team staying at the Bloquera. It was a good time. I have some pretty amazing friends here.
We left Candelaria in the back of Rafael's cattle truck thingy along with the team staying at the Bloquera, and were dropped off a block or so from the bus stop. Rafael continued on to the Bloquera with the other team, and me, Diego, Jarrett, and the team staying on the property made our way to the bus stop. Tommy, Linda, and four of the people from the short term team headed to Leon in a pick-up, so we were already behind them. The bus finally came (we showed up after 6:30 p.m., which is when the last bus comes, so we were afraid we'd missed it), but it could only take us as far as Telica (some of you may recall my super happy story of almost dying on the Telica volcano...just my luck, huh?). Just as the bus dumped us on the side of the road, it started to rain. Hard. So here's a bunch of Americans on the side of the road, in the dark, in the middle of nowhere, in the pouring, cold rain, and nearly everyone is wearing flip flops, shorts, and a t-shirt or tank top. Wonderful. Diego got a taxi to pull over, but only half of us could go. I stayed behind with all the guys. So Diego, Jarrett, Josh, Jacob, and I spent quite some time trying to get a taxi. We ended up walking a little ways towards Leon before we finally found a taxi. We were all soaking wet when we finally found one. Josh, the smallest of us all, took the front, so me, Diego, Jarrett, and Jacob all climbed in the back. Not one of us is under 5'10, and I'm pretty sure I'm the shortest (that should tell you something). Poor Jacob was halfway sitting on my lap, and I wouldn't be suprised if my pelvic bone drilled a permanent hole into his side. It didn't help that the driver was terrible...even for a Latin American driver.
We finally safely arrived at the restaurant in Leon. My biggest accomplishment of the night? Being just like my dad and balancing a salt shaker with salt crystals on the table. I'm super cool. A couple of the guys ordered these massive hamburgers that were barely cooked. In fact, they were so under cooked that they kept falling apart. It was disgusting. I was happy I'd ordered pasta, even though it was a cheese overload.
On the way back, once we got into Candelaria, the roads were so bad that the taxi drivers had to let us off a few blocks away from the church. They dropped us off in front of Kenia's house, so we got to talk to her, her cousin Christian, and their friend Ariel for a bit. There was some "light gazing", too...which includes staring at the street lights that block out the view of the stars. Yes, I realize that this is ridiculous. :) Just know that there was a record breaking (for me in this country, at least...it's way more in the states) 13 snorts in a row with no laughter in between. :)
Well, I'm off to have another late night jam session in the kitchen with Josh, and hopefully a little later on tonight I'm going to go outside and star gaze for a while. If the sky is clear (it's the rainy season) for once.
Lots of love and hugs from Nicaragua, and feel free to comment/discuss on my entries by clicking "(insert whatever number there happens to be here) Sparks" at the bottom of each entry if you're looking at the entire blog, or by writing in the white box (which you'll get taken to if you click the "Sparks" button while looking at the entire blog) and clicking "Post Comment" if you're just looking at a single entry.
Love Always,
-ellie*
That's all I can say about this week. It's been nothing short of amazing, and praise Jesus for that!
It started in the early evening when I returned from Playa Roca (Rock Beach) and Leon on Tuesday night. After dinner, I went outside where the kids were practicing for their upcoming dance competition with several other area churches on the 20th of August in Chinandega. I ended up getting dragged into the group by a couple of girls about my age, Paula and Rosalinda, who I'd never met before, who are now becoming good friends of mine. It was insanely hot, and I was getting insanely sweaty after two hours of dancing salsa, hip-hop, and (randomly enough) lyrical. Rosalinda told me I should dance in the competition with them. I'm not so sure about that. They practice so much, and it would definately take up a large chunk of time. I want to spend as much time with as many different groups of people in Candelaria as possible, so I'm going to have to think about that for awhile.
On Wednesday, Adam and Carissa (the two missionaries who go to Concordia with me who were here for the month of July), Diego, Jarrett, Lisa, and I met for debriefing and preparing for the week. There's a team staying out at the Bloquera (where I stayed when I came here in January) of 17, but another team of about 10 people was arriving at 11:00 that morning, and they were going to be staying at the property. Honestly, these people are awesome. Some of the greatest people I've met on the mission field. I'm definitely going to miss them when they leave. It's great to have a group of people where almost all of them are my age, especially since they're staying right here on the property with me and the other long-term missionaries. The day went by pretty routinely (or as routine as it can get around here), and that night was the youth service. The new short term team led the service, and concluded it with feet washing. It was amazing. Some pretty intense arguing between some of the youth had just recently been resolved, and the feet washing activity was a great reminder of how we can serve each other and show love and humillity to one another.
I was sitting near the back of the church, observing the activity. At first, none of the Nicaraguans wanted to do it, but as the night went on, they eventually were washing other's feet along with the team, as well as having their own feet washed. It was so cool. About twenty or so minutes in, Yasmin, the little boy that I talk about all the time in the states (he's the little dude sitting in front of me in my profile picture), ran up to me, grabbed my hand, and started dragging me to the bucket. I told him he didn't have to, but he insisted. When I asked him why, he just smiled at me and said "Because I love you!" I suppose it goes without saying that I teared up. Having a seven-year-old, slightly mouthy little guy say that to me, especially my favorite mouthy little guy, made my day.
After the youth service was finished, there was, of course, dancing. Much to my liking, swing music came on, so I taught one of the guys from the new team, Josh, a little. Of course, it wasn't nearly as epic as PR and I at the IDW Junior High Week dance a couple weeks ago. :p
Thursday was yet another great day. I got my hair corn rowed by a lady in Chichigalpa (I look pretty ghetto-licious, just to let you know), and had some pretty epic ice cream. There was church that night, too, and I got to sing in the praise band. It was nice to be in a setting similar to the contemporary Wednesday night praise service, FISH, at Concordia again. The coolest thing, though, was that we sang every song in both English and Spanish. Singing How Great is Our God, and getting to worship through music with all of the American missionaries and the Nicaraguans was such an incredible experience.
After church, Lisa, Carissa, and I joined the team staying on the property in a time of prayer. Everyone was annointed with oil, had hands laid on them, and prayed for out loud. It was such a powerful thing to experience, and I'm so glad that I pushed myself out of my comfort zone to try a style of prayer that I had never done before.
When prayer time was over, I hung out in the kitchen with a few of the guys from the team, Daniel, the other Daniel, and Josh, for awhile, talking about Larry the Kitchen Frog, and Shermanito the Girls' Bedroom Frog, the two little nuggets that have made a home in the youth house. When the Daniels left, I got to talk with Josh for a bit, and learn a little about him. It was a really good conversation. I didnt expect to really connect with any Americans while I was down here, but God had other plans. It was great to be able to listen to someone who happens to be in a very similar spot in their faith walk as I am.
On Friday, we celebrated the birthdays of Meg and Britty (two of the girls from the team staying at the Bloquera) Nicaraguan style. Complete with pinatas and an epic frosting fight. I had pink and yellow frosting everywhere. In my hair, all over my arms on my face, in my eyelashes...it was intense! There was also, of course, dancing! Including Thriller (!), and Stayin' Alive. I have officially brought the Hustle to Nicaragua. It was so fun to get to teach everyone that dance! Unfortunately, I had an allergic reaction to the frosting (probably one of the dyes), so my face is kind of red, and I've got a little bit of a rash going on on my arms, but it's all good. I'm not dead. :)
After the insane fiesta de cumpleanos activites came to end, I made bracelets with the short term team, and had an epic time exchanging lame jokes with Kristina. Yes, my pathetic self invented salad joke was included (What did the salad say before dinner? Lettuce pray!). Then I had a guitar jam session with Josh in the kitchen while getting eaten alive by mosquitos. 'Twas fun.
Today I wasn't feeling the greatest, so I didn't do much outside of walking around the mission property with Yasmin hanging on me like a barnacle. I love that little nugget. :) Later on, I spent some time with a few of my Nicaraguan guy friends and some of the girls from the team staying at the Bloquera. It was a good time. I have some pretty amazing friends here.
Me, Kaitlyn, and Abel hanging out in the iglesia. :)
I also went to dinner in Leon with the short term team tonight...that was an adventure...We left Candelaria in the back of Rafael's cattle truck thingy along with the team staying at the Bloquera, and were dropped off a block or so from the bus stop. Rafael continued on to the Bloquera with the other team, and me, Diego, Jarrett, and the team staying on the property made our way to the bus stop. Tommy, Linda, and four of the people from the short term team headed to Leon in a pick-up, so we were already behind them. The bus finally came (we showed up after 6:30 p.m., which is when the last bus comes, so we were afraid we'd missed it), but it could only take us as far as Telica (some of you may recall my super happy story of almost dying on the Telica volcano...just my luck, huh?). Just as the bus dumped us on the side of the road, it started to rain. Hard. So here's a bunch of Americans on the side of the road, in the dark, in the middle of nowhere, in the pouring, cold rain, and nearly everyone is wearing flip flops, shorts, and a t-shirt or tank top. Wonderful. Diego got a taxi to pull over, but only half of us could go. I stayed behind with all the guys. So Diego, Jarrett, Josh, Jacob, and I spent quite some time trying to get a taxi. We ended up walking a little ways towards Leon before we finally found a taxi. We were all soaking wet when we finally found one. Josh, the smallest of us all, took the front, so me, Diego, Jarrett, and Jacob all climbed in the back. Not one of us is under 5'10, and I'm pretty sure I'm the shortest (that should tell you something). Poor Jacob was halfway sitting on my lap, and I wouldn't be suprised if my pelvic bone drilled a permanent hole into his side. It didn't help that the driver was terrible...even for a Latin American driver.
We finally safely arrived at the restaurant in Leon. My biggest accomplishment of the night? Being just like my dad and balancing a salt shaker with salt crystals on the table. I'm super cool. A couple of the guys ordered these massive hamburgers that were barely cooked. In fact, they were so under cooked that they kept falling apart. It was disgusting. I was happy I'd ordered pasta, even though it was a cheese overload.
On the way back, once we got into Candelaria, the roads were so bad that the taxi drivers had to let us off a few blocks away from the church. They dropped us off in front of Kenia's house, so we got to talk to her, her cousin Christian, and their friend Ariel for a bit. There was some "light gazing", too...which includes staring at the street lights that block out the view of the stars. Yes, I realize that this is ridiculous. :) Just know that there was a record breaking (for me in this country, at least...it's way more in the states) 13 snorts in a row with no laughter in between. :)
Well, I'm off to have another late night jam session in the kitchen with Josh, and hopefully a little later on tonight I'm going to go outside and star gaze for a while. If the sky is clear (it's the rainy season) for once.
Lots of love and hugs from Nicaragua, and feel free to comment/discuss on my entries by clicking "(insert whatever number there happens to be here) Sparks" at the bottom of each entry if you're looking at the entire blog, or by writing in the white box (which you'll get taken to if you click the "Sparks" button while looking at the entire blog) and clicking "Post Comment" if you're just looking at a single entry.
Love Always,
-ellie*
Monday, July 26, 2010
iEstoy En Nicaragua!
Greetings from Nicaragua! I landed at the airport in Managua at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday and arrived in Candelaria at about 11:00 p.m. the same night. I saw a few of the kids then. One of them stuck his head in the car window and made snorting sounds. Of course the first thing they would remember about me is my laugh. :)
Sunday was interesting. The power in Candelaria is out, so since the church service is at night, we couldn't have church. Thankfully, Sunday school is in the morning, so that still happened. It was so great so see all the kids again.
Unfortunately, I was diagnosed with malaria on Thursday, and my medication is really powerful, so sometimes I feel worse when I take the meds. I spent a lot of yesterday sleeping off a really bad headache, but was awoken mid-afternoon by an AMAZING storm. It's the rainy season in Nicaragua right now, and the thunder storms are incredibly powerful. It down poured for quite awhile, and I'd never heard thunder that loud in my life. It was epic.
Yahaira, one of the interpreters that I got really close to on my last trip here, pushed me, a lot of the other missionaries, and a ton of kids out from under the roof of the church and into the rain. We attempted to play some form of volleyball, but I gave up. My coordination is bad enough without crazy wind and rain. Instead, I joined some of the kids in a sort of natural Slip N' Slide. There's a long line of land with no grass that's sunk into the ground a bit. When it rains, it gets super muddy and fills up with water, so we'd run down it, throw ourselves on the ground, and then go sliding down this...whatever you want to call it. That was even more epic.
Monday and Tuesday are the days off for the missionaries. We're at the beach right now. Its the same beach I went to the first time I was here and when I first swam in the ocean. I'm here with three of the long term missionaries and one of the short term teams. The short term team is spending the night here. I haven't yet decided if I'm staying or not. I guess it depends on what my mode of transportation is for each option (we rode here in a cattle truck with an completely open back and tied hammocks to the frame work...'twas interesting).
I'm missing Camp Okoboji a bit, although I'm definitely NOT missing some of the things that happened last week, but that's a whole different story.
I'm hoping that I'll be able to use a computer soon so I can upload some pictures and incorporate them into these entries. Until then, I hope I'm keeping you all updated enough!
Blessings to you all this week, please keep New Song Mission Nicaragua in your prayers.
Love Always,
-ellie*
Sunday was interesting. The power in Candelaria is out, so since the church service is at night, we couldn't have church. Thankfully, Sunday school is in the morning, so that still happened. It was so great so see all the kids again.
Unfortunately, I was diagnosed with malaria on Thursday, and my medication is really powerful, so sometimes I feel worse when I take the meds. I spent a lot of yesterday sleeping off a really bad headache, but was awoken mid-afternoon by an AMAZING storm. It's the rainy season in Nicaragua right now, and the thunder storms are incredibly powerful. It down poured for quite awhile, and I'd never heard thunder that loud in my life. It was epic.
Yahaira, one of the interpreters that I got really close to on my last trip here, pushed me, a lot of the other missionaries, and a ton of kids out from under the roof of the church and into the rain. We attempted to play some form of volleyball, but I gave up. My coordination is bad enough without crazy wind and rain. Instead, I joined some of the kids in a sort of natural Slip N' Slide. There's a long line of land with no grass that's sunk into the ground a bit. When it rains, it gets super muddy and fills up with water, so we'd run down it, throw ourselves on the ground, and then go sliding down this...whatever you want to call it. That was even more epic.
Monday and Tuesday are the days off for the missionaries. We're at the beach right now. Its the same beach I went to the first time I was here and when I first swam in the ocean. I'm here with three of the long term missionaries and one of the short term teams. The short term team is spending the night here. I haven't yet decided if I'm staying or not. I guess it depends on what my mode of transportation is for each option (we rode here in a cattle truck with an completely open back and tied hammocks to the frame work...'twas interesting).
I'm missing Camp Okoboji a bit, although I'm definitely NOT missing some of the things that happened last week, but that's a whole different story.
I'm hoping that I'll be able to use a computer soon so I can upload some pictures and incorporate them into these entries. Until then, I hope I'm keeping you all updated enough!
Blessings to you all this week, please keep New Song Mission Nicaragua in your prayers.
Love Always,
-ellie*
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Super Counselor!
Hi everyone! I hope the month of July is treating you well.
I've been keeping busy up at Camp Okoboji. Last week I served as a counselor for IDW Junior High Week. The week went well. I had an absolutely wonderful group of girls in my cabin, one of the best I've eve counseled. It was also great to catch up with campers from last year, old friends serving as counselors, and of course, the epictastic staff. Matt Eiden did an awesome job as the dean, Pastor Dahlke's topic kept the kids engaged, Pastor Ratcliffe's music owned, and Pastor Jensen had some pretty amazing devotions.
Along with counseling, I also helped lead music with Pastor Ratcliffe. It was another opportunity for me to play my new guitar that I love so much. Needless to say, my guitar playing once again improved with the help of P.R.'s teaching skills.
My cabin did a skit for the talent show that went along with the theme, so I will be posting the video recording of it as soon as I get a chance. There were also about five million counselor skits, and I sang and played guitar in two duets, one with my friend and other counselor, A.J., and one with P.R. There's video of those, too.
All in all, it was a great week of teaching kids about Jesus (and throwing them off the raft into the lake...don't worry, P.R. made sure I got thrown in, too). Hopefully I'll be able to share more when I have a little free time.
This week is Concordia Cub Weeks, so I am counseling kids between the ages of 9 and 13. I've been a counselor for both IDW Junior High Week and Concordia Cub Weeks for several years now, but going from the relaxed atmosphere of the junior high camp to the strict Cub Weeks schedule is a little difficult. I'm having a good time, though. The theme is Cubs in Mission, and there are new missionaries here each day to talk with the kids about their work, so I'm really enjoying the topic.
I would share more, but I am being summoned to clean up spilled paint in the craft building. Thanks for reading, and God bless!
Love Always,
-ellie*
I've been keeping busy up at Camp Okoboji. Last week I served as a counselor for IDW Junior High Week. The week went well. I had an absolutely wonderful group of girls in my cabin, one of the best I've eve counseled. It was also great to catch up with campers from last year, old friends serving as counselors, and of course, the epictastic staff. Matt Eiden did an awesome job as the dean, Pastor Dahlke's topic kept the kids engaged, Pastor Ratcliffe's music owned, and Pastor Jensen had some pretty amazing devotions.
Along with counseling, I also helped lead music with Pastor Ratcliffe. It was another opportunity for me to play my new guitar that I love so much. Needless to say, my guitar playing once again improved with the help of P.R.'s teaching skills.
My cabin did a skit for the talent show that went along with the theme, so I will be posting the video recording of it as soon as I get a chance. There were also about five million counselor skits, and I sang and played guitar in two duets, one with my friend and other counselor, A.J., and one with P.R. There's video of those, too.
All in all, it was a great week of teaching kids about Jesus (and throwing them off the raft into the lake...don't worry, P.R. made sure I got thrown in, too). Hopefully I'll be able to share more when I have a little free time.
This week is Concordia Cub Weeks, so I am counseling kids between the ages of 9 and 13. I've been a counselor for both IDW Junior High Week and Concordia Cub Weeks for several years now, but going from the relaxed atmosphere of the junior high camp to the strict Cub Weeks schedule is a little difficult. I'm having a good time, though. The theme is Cubs in Mission, and there are new missionaries here each day to talk with the kids about their work, so I'm really enjoying the topic.
I would share more, but I am being summoned to clean up spilled paint in the craft building. Thanks for reading, and God bless!
Love Always,
-ellie*
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Aluminum, Aluminum, Malaria...:D.
If you understand that title, you're a choir nerd to the core. :)
Yesterday consisted of my absolute most favorite thing in the world (can you sense the sarcasm?)...shopping. It was off to Wal*Mart for showering essentials, a couple pairs of mesh shorts, a water bottle, and of course: a life time supply of bug spray and sunscreen.
I can't believe how close it's getting. It's kind of unreal. For the millionth time, I'm insanely excited, but I'm honestly a little scared, too. I've never gone on a mission trip, much less left the country, on my own before. I've always been with a team, and I've never been gone for more than two weeks. Sometimes I worry that my whole world might get turned upside down this summer...what if I discover that being a long term missionary really isn't my calling? I mean, it'd be great to know sooner rather than later since I've only finished one year of college so far, but I've never really thought about doing (or wanted to do) anything else. I have no idea what I would change my major to. So, I'm just taking deep breaths and praying that the call I received as a seventh grader to be some sort of church worker, and the call I received in early high school to be a missionary were interpreted correctly. I'm trusting in God that everything happens for a reason, and He has a plan for me, whether it's being on the mission field long term, or doing regular short term mission work while serving as a DCO full time with a church or organization here in the United States.
Two verses that have really helped me while finding myself in this bit of a valley are Jeremiah 29:11 ("For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.") and Matthew 6:25-34. I encourage you to look up and read the Matthew passage on your own. Even if you've looked at it previously, it always serves as an excellent reminder that God is bigger than any problem we may have had, do have, or will have. It's difficult, but we should always trust that we are in the Lord's hands, and He will provide us with all that we need.
On a lighter note, tomorrow marks the beginning of the epic packing journey. I leave for counselor orientation at Camp Okoboji on Saturday, I'm there for two weeks, and as soon as Camp is over, I head to the airport and get on the plane for Nicaragua. I come back from Nicaragua on the 23rd, and go right to Concordia to move in, so I won't be coming home for the rest of the summer. This Saturday morning will be the last of LeMars I see until Thanksgiving. While it's cool that I'm getting to go to all these great places, it means that not only do I have to have everything packed for two weeks of Camp by Saturday, I also have to have everything ready for Nicaragua, AND all of my college stuff boxed up and ready to go. I probably should've started this a week or two ago...
Also, a trek to the pharmacy is on tomorrow's schedule. Time to pick up those malaria pills! I start them next Saturday...fun stuff. My doctor gave me a different kind than I had the last time. Those pills gave me some pretty strange dreams, so at least that won't be a problem. :) I'm glad that with a combination of bug spray and malaria pills, I'll be well protected. However, I hope I don't come back from this trip looking like I did when I returned from Peru...
Yesterday consisted of my absolute most favorite thing in the world (can you sense the sarcasm?)...shopping. It was off to Wal*Mart for showering essentials, a couple pairs of mesh shorts, a water bottle, and of course: a life time supply of bug spray and sunscreen.
I can't believe how close it's getting. It's kind of unreal. For the millionth time, I'm insanely excited, but I'm honestly a little scared, too. I've never gone on a mission trip, much less left the country, on my own before. I've always been with a team, and I've never been gone for more than two weeks. Sometimes I worry that my whole world might get turned upside down this summer...what if I discover that being a long term missionary really isn't my calling? I mean, it'd be great to know sooner rather than later since I've only finished one year of college so far, but I've never really thought about doing (or wanted to do) anything else. I have no idea what I would change my major to. So, I'm just taking deep breaths and praying that the call I received as a seventh grader to be some sort of church worker, and the call I received in early high school to be a missionary were interpreted correctly. I'm trusting in God that everything happens for a reason, and He has a plan for me, whether it's being on the mission field long term, or doing regular short term mission work while serving as a DCO full time with a church or organization here in the United States.
Two verses that have really helped me while finding myself in this bit of a valley are Jeremiah 29:11 ("For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.") and Matthew 6:25-34. I encourage you to look up and read the Matthew passage on your own. Even if you've looked at it previously, it always serves as an excellent reminder that God is bigger than any problem we may have had, do have, or will have. It's difficult, but we should always trust that we are in the Lord's hands, and He will provide us with all that we need.
On a lighter note, tomorrow marks the beginning of the epic packing journey. I leave for counselor orientation at Camp Okoboji on Saturday, I'm there for two weeks, and as soon as Camp is over, I head to the airport and get on the plane for Nicaragua. I come back from Nicaragua on the 23rd, and go right to Concordia to move in, so I won't be coming home for the rest of the summer. This Saturday morning will be the last of LeMars I see until Thanksgiving. While it's cool that I'm getting to go to all these great places, it means that not only do I have to have everything packed for two weeks of Camp by Saturday, I also have to have everything ready for Nicaragua, AND all of my college stuff boxed up and ready to go. I probably should've started this a week or two ago...
Also, a trek to the pharmacy is on tomorrow's schedule. Time to pick up those malaria pills! I start them next Saturday...fun stuff. My doctor gave me a different kind than I had the last time. Those pills gave me some pretty strange dreams, so at least that won't be a problem. :) I'm glad that with a combination of bug spray and malaria pills, I'll be well protected. However, I hope I don't come back from this trip looking like I did when I returned from Peru...
Me at breakfast the last day in Peru.
I hope this entry finds you all well, and I'll try to keep posting as much as possible over the next few weeks to keep you updated on what's happening during my counseling experience at Camp before I head to Central America.
Love Always,
-ellie*
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