Things Unseen

First of all, I'm sorry that I've waited so long to blog. 1) Because some of you commented that you would have liked me to blog more often when I was in Nicaragua last year, and 2) because now I have way to much to say for this one post!


This past week has been great and blessed and challenging in a lot of ways. This past weekend was our first in KC and the staff wanted us to see some of the city. On Saturday, after some much needed sleep-in time, we headed to a Christian Indie Craft Fair in Johnson County and then to Loose Park downtown for Frisbee and reading, finishing off the day with We Bought a Zoo from the Red Box.


Sunday morning we attended Beggars Table Church in downtown -- it's a church that doubles as an art gallery!  We were warmly welcomed into the small, young congregation and we worshiped with them in the midst of paintings by Clint Metcalf. It was really a beautiful, refreshing morning. I've put the link to the church and artist on the left.


Then this week we settled even more into our schedules and into each other's company. As the only Dordt student doing the internship, I was expecting it to take a while to be really connected to all the Central students, but I feel like I've know them for much longer than two weeks. I was the only girl at Ryan's house one night and Ryan, the director, asked me if I had hung out with guys a lot. He totally read me on that, cause I was a little unsure of what to do with myself as the only girl there. But then I was able to talk about that with some of the girls, and I'm excited about learning more about just sharing and relating to guys, That's just one example of the kind of community we have -- very honest and challenging and caring.


Besides getting to know the other interns better, I've gotten way more comfortable at Hope Faith this past week. All of the interns were working at Hope Faith this week because the other volunteer site, Kansas City Urban Youth, doesn't begin until Monday. By the end of this week, almost all the interns and staff recognized Jodie, Sean, and I, who had been working there everyday. It's so encouraging to be met with recognition and enthusiasm, even if they only know us as Yahoo 1, Yahoo 2, and Nancy (Sean is Nancy, of course). Some of the work we've done there this week includes arranging furniture in their newest transitional house, washing and oiling the woodwork in that house, organizing donations in the warehouse, working in the new community garden, and serving food in the kitchen. I love working with the other interns and getting to know them better, but my favorite part of Hope Faith is the interaction we have with the clients. On Thursdays we attend their 10 o'clock service called Word on the Street. The talent among the clients and staff is phenomenal! Every week, Mark leads worship -- gospel-style. Ladies are shouting and playing tambourines -- they're sold out for Jesus! This week, one of the men who works in the kitchen got up and did two original raps for us. He was a huge black guy, and it was so cool to hear God's word and truth expressed so poetically and in a way that really connected to the clients there.


Fridays at Hope Faith what Jim, our supervisor, calls our "Ministry Days." We go to morning devotions and then kinda hang out in the fellowship halls, building relationships with clients and being available for prayer. Praise God! He had a lot of work for us to do yesterday! Patsty and Sean spent almost two hours listening to the story of a young man about our age. He told of his broken past -- abuse, drugs, two kids with his girl friend, prison, prescription drug abuse -- and of his current despair. He was really struck by the happiness the Patsy and Sean and wanted what they had. They prayed for him, and then he decided he wanted to pray for himself. It was his first prayer ever, and in he asked God to take his addiction and fix his life. Afterward, he said that he felt as if a weight had been taken from his shoulders. I met him at lunch, and there's no way that I could have guessed the despair he had felt earlier by looking at him then. It was so awesome to see the way God had provided Patsy and Sean to give this man what he had been looking for -- hope and a new start.

I also had an eventful day at Hope Faith Friday. I talked for about an hour with a young woman named Marina, who has beautiful eyes and wild curly hair. She has a very broken past and is living on the streets now. She has some sort of mental illness, but is very sweet and soft-spoken. I sat down next to her and we started talking about God and faith. Marina has a sincere faith in Christ, but there were some parts of her theology that were skewed, and as she talked and talked and talked, I became more and more overwhelmed. How was I supposed to respond to all that hurt and bitterness and truth and falsehood and conviction? Eventually I excused myself and just stood in the bathroom for a while, settling my heart and praying for guidance. I returned to the group and Heidi prayed for me too. One of the Hope Faith staff soon came up and asked me to pray for someone else, which was a blessing -- I was able to pray truth and life and God's love over another woman. But for the rest of the day I was physically drained and a bit preoccupied by what had happened that morning. The conversation and prayer I was a part of, combined with Patsy and Sean's experience really opened my eyes to the reality that Hope Faith is a spiritual battlefield. Brokenness and pain are not hidden there, but neither are love and freedom of Christ. These two realms are in a struggle for the allegiance of the people there, and as warriors of Christ, we must be aware that we are entering that battle. Our King is going to win the battle, but we're still called to fight it! Thank goodness that we're are told never to fight in our own strength! That was another lesson of the day -- sometimes we minister by listening and praying, and we have to let go and trust God to work out the rest.

Once again, there's more to tell you all!! I don't want this blog to just be a play-by-play of my schedule; I want it to be a testimony of the work God is doing and what I'm learning from Him. I hope to blog again in more detail on that soon. 

Thank you once again for your prayers! I continue to receive great encouragement from your notes =) Please pray that God would teach me to follow His lead at Hope Faith, to go clothed in the armor of God, and to trust Him to work out His will there. It's an adventure!

You all are in my prayers as well! Please let me know how I can lift you up before our Father. Blessings on you week!

The Opening Challenge: "Abide in Me"

They have certainly kept us busy this first week of our internship! I'm down here with 9 other interns, all of whom are from Central College in Pella. We've spent a lot of time together so far, and it's been great to get to know them. The four of us girls live in our own rented house with Ascent staff member Emily (who is a great house mom and spider killer). Four of the guys are doing the internship for their second or third time, so they are living in a rented house in the inner city with two other Ascent staff. The other two guys are first year interns like the girls, and they are living in the Ascent "home base" house with two staff members as well.

Our schedule settled into what will become our normal routine by the end of the week. My looks something like this:

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Weekend
Morning (8-12)	Work at Hope Faith – delivering furniture, serving food, sorting clothes, building relationships with staff and clients, eating lunch with clients.
Afternoon (1-5)	Teaching at Ryan's house ("Home Base")	Prayer in the IHOP (International House of Prayer) Prayer Room	Manuscript Study of Zachariah at Ryan's	Prayer on our own	Teaching at Ryan's house	Every other weekend: Bible study in Pella. Otherwise, our own free time.

So much has happened, that I'm not sure where to start in relating it all to you. Two other interns, Sean and Jodie, and I began our time at Hope Faith Ministries (a homeless day center) this week. Jim, our supervisor, took us on a tour and explained to us the purpose (to glorify God and tell people about His Son) and history (full of God's powerful working) of the ministry. I'm very glad to have been assigned to Hope Faith for the summer, as the staff are sold out for Jesus and the programs they have in place really impact their clients for the better. I'm sure I'll have lots more to tell you about Hope Faith throughout the summer! If you'd like to know more about them, I've posted their link on my home page.

So far, everyday has been packed with learning about God. A real focus of our internship is learning and practicing what the staff calls abiding. Other people call it being constantly in prayer. Basically, it's the idea of being constantly plugged into God. Our day of silence on Tuesday was sort of abiding initiation -- a whole day with just ourselves and God. We were given a short book to read called Practicing the Presence of God, written by Brother Lawrence in the 1600s. What a challenging and encouraging read! Brother Lawrence describes the way that he constantly fixes his heart and mind on God, simply for the love of Him. If you're like me, you'd like to be able to do this, but know yourself to be too distracted and broken to be thinking of the Father all the time. But Brother Lawrence reminds his readers that God's grace does not depend on his children's worthiness. When we fall, we don't have to beat ourselves up, because God expects us to fall and gives us grace to pick ourselves up and turn to Him again. It's that simple! We just turn our hearts and minds back to God and never expect to be able to succeed without His intervention. This will be my challenge and joy this summer: to seek God with my whole heart, learn to wait silently on Him, and keep Him at the center of my thoughts and actions all day, picking myself up by His grace alone when I fall.

In your prayers next week, please pray that Sean, Jodie, and I would have confidence when reaching out to the clients at Hope Faith -- it's hard to know how to start a conversation with someone in a homeless shelter. Also, for the clients there -- that their hearts would be open to our friendship and God's love. And please share your requests with me, that I may be in prayer for you as well! You can always email me at lxpskr.dordt.edu.

Arriving in KC

Well, after a full afternoon of driving, people-meeting, and moving in, I am settled in a beautiful home in Grandview, MO, a suburb to the south of Kansas City. It was a long day, so I'll fill you in on the details of my schedule and other details later. But I just wanted to thank you all for the encouragement you've given me already -- through your kind words and prayers, and the notes many of you sent along with your donations. I read those notes just now, I and claim the promises many of you declared over me:
"God will use your talents and gifts in a mighty way. You will shine brightly for God in this dark world."
"'Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers...'"
"May God's faithful presence be your hope and joy."
Amen! These are the prayers and promises I declare over my summer. Thank you for reminding me of these truths.
Tomorrow is a day of silence where we can let go of distractions and begin to focus on our summers here. Prayers for stillness and patience of heart are appreciated! (It's hard to be quiet for a whole day!) I'll have lots of prayer time this summer, so please let me know how I can be lifting you up!

It's what the Lord has done in me...

It's after 11, and I have to get up before 4, but I can never sleep before moves like this one. Besides, I want to give you some final thoughts from Nicaragua =)

When I came to Nicaragua, I was really wondering down in my heart what I would really be able to give. I had never worked with special education, therapy, or horses, and my Spanish skills were really untried. Was it possible that I would just be a burden to my hosts? This was a big fear of mine, and it mirrored a lie that has long been growing in my heart -- that to be loved, I must gain the approval of others by showing them how valuable I am. This is really a sucky lie to live by. It has the power to (and often does) turn you into an insecure people-pleaser.  Of course, I know that this is a lie, but it is still rooted in my heart and I've been praying the past few months that God would uproot this lie and grow me in the truth that I am enough in Him, based solely on the fact that He loves me.

While here in Nicaragua, God has been answering my prayers. It's not that I've had any huge spiritual highs or had some grand epiphany. It's more that I've finally know in my heart the truth that I've known in my head - that I am valuable and loved because God first loved me. The Spirit has shown me this truth through the love of His people here -- at Tesoros, at church, and especially in my family here. Before they knew me, they loved me, and before I had a chance to prove anything, they cared for me. This love, freely given, has been healing for my soul. It's not that those at home don't love me in with God's love this way. It's just that God had to take me to strangers to show me that His love can't be earned, and that I can relax into the arms that hold me.

What a blessed truth! I pray that you all rest quietly and confidently with our Savior.

There is so much more that I want to share with you all, but it will have to wait. For now, good night and God bless.

Psalm 131

A song of ascents. Of David.

My heart is not proud, O Lord,

my eyes are not haughty;

I do not concern myself with great matters

or things to wonderful for me.

But I have stilled and quieted my soul;

like a weaned child with its mother,

like a weaned child is my soul within me. 

O Israel, put you hope in the Lord, 

both now and forevermore. 

Honduran Vistas

Our trip began at 6:30am Sunday morning (it was almost a 12 hour drive one way). Five of us piled into Michelle's SUV, and we left Managua for Comayagua, Honduras. We crossed the border very easily (later we found out it also illegally) around 10, and one of the first differences we noticed about Honduras was that roads signs were a lot more common here. 

Honduras is so beautiful! The whole drive was through green mountains like these. 

After Tegucigalpa, we hit construction traffic. We were expecting it, so it wasn't too much of a bummer. Another surprise in Honduras were the pine forests that covered the mountains. Sometimes I felt like I was in Colorado, not Central America!

There aren't many rules on the roads in Central America. Probably because of this, there are a lot of monuments like this one that line the roads in memory of someone killed in an accident. 

Our hotel was very comfortable. This is the view of Comayagua from the doorway of our room on the second floor. 

On Monday night, we had dinner at a little restaurant beside this church in the Parque Central. With me beside the fountain is Jennifer, who has worked at Tesoros since it began and came along to see how a different school worked with special needs kids. 

The purpose of our trip was to come to CasAyuda (House of Help). Michelle was asked by a special needs school in the states to act as liason with CasAyuda. While here, she planned to observe classes, answer teachers' questions, and give feedback on what she saw.

Here is the school. On the near right is the dormitory (some kids travel so far to come here, they have to stay the whole week), a painting workshop, and a bakery. The building on the far right houses the classrooms for children with cognitive impairments, and across the courtyard on the left are classrooms for deaf students and the cafeteria. 

Some of the deaf students in the court for recess. 

This is the preschool room where I spent most of my time. The kids are divided by mental capability, not by age, so the kids in preschool were anywhere from 3 to 19 years old. There was almost no organization in this room, and the kids were crazy! None of us could imagine working here every day. 

Classes end at 12 every day, but after lunch, there are vocational classes for the deaf kids. We looked in on their painting class one day and were blown away by their talent! Apparently, a lot of them have natural talent that only needs encouragement. This paintings are given to volunteers as thank-yous, and sometimes sold to support the school and the children themselves.

Besides painting, the students also work with pottery, a printing press (I think that's what it's called -- something arty like that), and help in the bakery.

A reporter who wants to help the school with publicity came and interviewed Michelle on camera! We forgot to watch the news to see if we made it on...

Michelle, Jennifer, and Kate (a friend of Michelle's who is also a teacher) pose with all the teachers from the school. 

Krista is a volunteer at another school near Managua. She came along with us in order to fulfill her life-long dream of visiting Honduras. It was really great to have her with us -- she was always excited about something!

Who knew they had lion's clubs in Central America? 

Here's the church again. Some of the teachers took us site-seeing after class on Wednesday, so we got a closer look. 

Here we are going up the staircase to the clock tower of the Church. 

This clock is the oldest working clock in all of Central America, and possibly the world! It was built in 1450, at the latest (they think it might have been built in 1100) and was brought to Honduras in the 1600s. We got to see it strike the quarter hour -- very cool =)

Here is the view from the bell tower. Comayagua was once the capital of Honduras, and I think the guide said that the building you see here was one of the government buildings from that time period.

Another view of Comayagua and the mountains that surround it. In general, Honduras was much cleaner than Nicaragua, which makes sense as Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere (after Hati) and minimum wage in Honduras is twice that of Nicaragua.

A woman prays in the chapel inside the church.

Kate checks out the sweet peek-hole on the door of the Archaeological Museum.  

Here is an example of the native dress of the people that once lived in the area that is now Comayagua. The man in the blue is Mario. He studied engineering, but now works at the school with the deaf students. He acted as our tour guide for the day.  

The bell tower of the church from the streets of Comayagua

Next we went to the Atolera Joselyn, which is a little restaurant that only serves things made from corn. Atol is actually a sweet drink made from cooking corn mush and milk. Here are some of what we had -- tamales and fritas, both made from sweet corn dough and topped with sweet cream. Yummy!

On the way there and back, we went through Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. Teguc (as the locals call it) is sprawled among the mountains and the scenery there is very pretty. 

A look at Teguc -- street level. There are more western stores and restaurants in Teguc, than in Managua, and the traffic wasn't quite as crazy either. 

Finally we arrived in Nicaragua once again! This is a picture of the mountainous north country, where many Nicaraguans farm. 

All in all, it was a great trip. I learned a lot from listening to Kate and Michelle discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the classrooms at CasAyuda, and I loved encountering another part of God's creation. In your prayers this week, please remember the students and staff at CasAyuda. The teachers have a love for the kids, but sometimes lack the knowledge to teach them effectively. Pray that God would give them the perseverance to continue to learn. Also, CasAyuda has had to cut jobs recently, and the really need all the help they can get. They get lots of funding from the states, but the money is rarely given towards salaries. Pray that donors would realize that good teachers are more important than buildings and would be moved to give in a way that allows CasAyuda to hire the help they need. 

Hot Showers = Acclimation

This morning, I took my first hot shower in almost four weeks. Of the four showers in our house, only one has hot water. It's the farthest from my room, and for the first three weeks, I was too hot to even contemplate making the trip. But as I've gotten used to the weather here, the cold water has gotten progressively colder each morning. So today I took that hot shower... and it felt good =)

As you can maybe guess, life here has settled into a routine. As with the weather, I've grown accustomed to my schedule and the people that I interact with. Michelle picks me up every morning at 7:45 to go to Tesoros. I am there all day, doing whatever I can find to do. I listen as the staff tease each other and smile and laugh when the tease me too. Then at 4:30 I mount the bus with the children and staff. Don German, the bus driver, drops me off at the end of my street with Claudia, a bright beautiful girl of 17 who has cerebral palsy. I walk Claudia home before going home myself. At night, I play games with my brothers, watch TV, read the Bible to Nana, talk with Mama, and work on the computer. Sleeping by 10 and then up again for another day.

Still, life is sweet as I continue to develop relationships with my family, the staff at Tesoros, and with friends at church. Areika, a girl my age from church, has invited me to spend the day with her on Saturday. Really, the invitation was a gift from the Father! During all of church Sunday night, I was on the verge of tears, because I wanted so badly to communicate clearly with those around me, but found my Spanish very limiting. I was praying and praying for peace and growth. Then after the service, Areika, who is studying to be an English teacher, asked me to spend the day with her. She said she wasn't sure if she should ask or not, because she is usually shy. But her offer of friendship was exactly what I needed then -- and it came with a chance to practice Spanish with someone who can correct me in English! What a blessing and relief. Please pray for our time together -- that we would be honest and humble, and would share Christ's love.

On Sunday, I leave with Michelle for Honduras! Michelle has been asked to visit some special needs schools there on behalf of their sponsoring organization in the states. We'll be gone for five days -- two of those days will be for travel. Please keep us in your prayers for safe, stress-free travel, and loving fellowship.

I have some prayer requests for you all:

Many of the staff, including Michelle, have been sick, or have sick family members. Please pray for healing and peace.

I am beginning to feel superfluous at Tesoros. They are very well staffed, and my only really job is encourager and helper. My get-things-done attitude is having a hard time accepting that this is a worthwhile occupation. Pray that I would be plugged into the love of God, that I could serve out of this power.

On of the teenage students at Tesoros, Rebecca, is mentally handicapped and her family sees her as a curse. This daughter of God has been denied love and left to fend for herself at home. At this point, her primary caregiver says that only God has stopped her from killing Rebecca. The staff at Tesoros is aware of the situation, but there is really nothing they can do. At this point, the only other place for Rebecca to go is to the mental asylum, which not a good place to be either. Please pray that a new situation could be found for her --where she will be loved and cared for.

Bon Appetit!

Some of the Tuesday morning crowd at Tesoros gets ready for the presentation by the physical therapy students.

After a lot of encouragement, Jenny, one of the Tesoros staff, takes a mighty swing!

Here are some of the boys making cookies! Timo, the one grating the lime, speaks English very well, and I work with him on reading and telling time. 

Here Dona Patricia helps the kids roll out the dough for their cookies. Yummy!

Doña Patricia's Sugar Cookies

Makes 24 cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

2 eggs

3/4 cups of oil

1 cup sugar

Zest of one lime

2 teaspoons of baking powder

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/4 tablespoon of salt

Raisins

Process:

Preheat the oven to 400 deg. F

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Add the oil, eggs, lime zest, and vanilla to the dry ingredients and mix well. Then add sugar and eggs.

Add more flour as necessary for a doughy consistency (we had to add up to a cup of flour).

Knead the dough so that it sticks together for rolling.

Roll out the dough to 1/2 thick and use cookie-cutters to cut out cookies.

Put on a greased cookie sheet and a raisin to the center of each.

Cook for 15-20 min, til the bottoms begin to brown. (Cook time will largely depend on how thick your cookies are, so watch them closely!)