Why La Ceiba?

John, Elifonso and "Juan" (named after John) in February 2007

.

In 1998, Hurricane Mitch swept thru Nicaragua (and much of Central America) and changed the landscape. There was a huge deluge of water, roads and bridges were washed away and thousand of lives were lost. During the deluge, the crater of Las Casitas (volcano) filled with the torrential rainwater. The pressure of the water caused the side of the volcano to collapse, and a wall of mud then slid and covered a little town (I think it was called Las Casitas, but am not sure). What I know is, men - women - and children ran for their lives. They left behind grandmas in their beds who could not walk, cows, dogs, horses and everything they held dear. As they ran thru the mud that was following them, a mom and a dad might have held on to their kids' hands. As one child would begin to slip into the mud, they would "instinctively" use their other hand to not let that happen. BUT, caused the OTHER child slip into the mud, and be covered ... and be lost. There was mayhem and screaming and running. And when it was all over, there was a huge loss. Huge.

The people who were able to run for safety and made it out alive have a “big heartbreak burden” they live with daily. Some feel guilt for leaving a dear one behind, or not running fast enough, or not holding onto a child tight enough ... all are futile thoughts, yet these thoughts remain and make up a pall of despair on this community. When it was all said and done, the survivors of this community had a couple of choices given them by the government. One was to return and build new houses ON TOP OF the newly changed landscape (on top of their old houses, mothers, what have you). The government said they'd rebuild with cement block houses. The other choice was to be relocated in a flat farmland near Leon (called La Ceiba) and be given the land - together with branches and black plastic to build houses. The land doesn't have clear title by the way, but that's another story.

The community is POOR. It is the community Helen and I hope to work with to start microbusinesses.

If you or any group you know can take up prayer for La Ceiba whenever you meet - that would be awesome.

The photos show you a slice of life in La Ceiba. Elifonso now has a cement block home, but many many other houses of this style remain.

This community needs so many things. Desperately. Thus, we have projects in mind. We can’t start them all immediately, but we hope to start them all sooner rather than later.

Thank you for your prayers and support. We appreciate you – and we pray for you too! We pray you would somehow come to understand the richness of life in the U.S. (and how blessed of a nation it is) and also that your hearts would be touched to help bring food and hope, thus joy, to this community. You can visit us and go to La Ceiba with us. Anytime. Just let us know. The people will be thrilled – and we will too.

This is our prayer.

A moment in the day ...

Life has its challenges here (heat mostly), but it also has some very fine times. As they say, it's, "Vale la pena" (worth it). We enjoy sitting outside on the patio with a cup of coffee, looking at the tropical scenery, listening to the birds and, well, just enjoying the cup of coffee. Yes, we have our work - but we have tranquilo moments of sitting and enjoying.

.

One morning last week we happened to have our camera on the table when Louie spied his ball there also. All in one minute's time he hunted it, killed it, and took it inside for safer keeping.
.

Enjoy ...

So THAT'S where my ball went! I better go get it.

Yes, this definitely smells like it's mine.

Why can't I get it? Oh yea ... I'm approaching from under the table. That won't work.

Much better. Much much better.

And better still. It's safely tucked under my arm and won't get away this time (until I turn my attentions elsewhere and forget it's on the floor, that is).

First Meeting in La Ceiba ...

John and Freddy - discussing "the plan"

.

On a scale of 1 - 10, the meeting today was a 10. Complete with an occasional "amen" from the crowd from time to time. As you can see the photo, John and Freddy presented the plan for their future - complete with a threefold poster of Mission / Vision / Values. Words fail here - but there was a level of excitement, hope, commitment and "when do we get started?"

.

We gave them some "homework" - to get at least one other church involved (which was a requirement). We will meet in a little more than a week and see how many churches in this poor "berg" are willing to join. With others included in this, there will be more hands - less work - quicker progress - bigger projects than one alone could handle - and less "claim to fame" for any one church. It is exciting to see they are not only willing, but excited about joining with others. As things go when they're God-breathed, there was a pastor there who had just ended a two-week vacation by praying all night (last night) with another pastor. This guy was certain that one of the pastors he just prayed with would want to be the first to join. Apparently in the past, there has been a mixture of silly things (like pride) that have stopped unity. Some churches are more legalistic than others and don't want to become watered down - some have a negative attitude that precludes success, and are happy enough to suffer alone than join another whose doctrine they don't agree with. BUT, this man not only prayed last night for a break-through in this very poor community - he also is the connection between all the churches in the area. He doesn't attend the church we visited. He was there because he was invited. He came looking for the answer to the prayers they prayed all night last night. He said they stopped praying at 5am this very day. He believes that the community of faith will be willing to join together now, although this idea failed to join in the past. We hope this is true.

.

SO ... next week or so we return to meet "the gang" - and we will send two from each church to the class on "the business of raising chickens" so they will have the knowledge they need before they begin.

.

Since they will also "own" this business by "shares" - they have a little longer than a week to decide the tasks needed, how long each person (or shift) will work, what amount of shares they will get in return, etc. They will each "own" the effort ... and the business ... and the proceeds. Some dear friends from Portland sent us a book called, "Banker to the Poor" and it has been invaluable in concepts that transfer to La Ceiba. The ideas in the book clearly intersect our line of thinking. More to come.

.

We just wanted to share the success of the meeting and the ensuing excitement ...

E-X-C-I-T-E-M-E-N-T !!!!!

... of a meeting which has brought hope to a pretty much destitute population.

.
Pray for this project and the next three projects to come. The next three are already chosen - but we'll wait to begin them until this is "off the ground."

.

Thanks for your prayers. We certainly need and appreciate them.

Plans are in process ...

The kids will be eating well - hopefully soon.

We've changed our work here, except for Nahum and Gener! They're still our first job. But I'm no longer facilitating teams and Helen is joining me (and others of you - thank you) to get several micro-businesses started. It's surprising (and heartwarming) that SOME things CAN happen quickly here! We've been given helpful leads on how to begin from a consortium of ministries here called The Nehemiah Center. North American and Nicaraguans comprise this group, all of whom work together - share information and resources - etc. We're also very grateful to partner with Freddy Guadamuz ... who is a friend, a teacher, and a native Nicaraguan who is an integral part of the work. He brings a knowledge of the culture - and he knows a lot of people.

.

There is a Nicaraguan company scheduled to give classes on raising chickens and the chicken/egg business to a "panel" of community members from La Ceiba. There they will receive instruction/education on 1) micro-business in general, and 2) about chickens imparticular. They will attend class very soon to get the "basics" - and then they'll have time to formulate THEIR plan (given the information about feed, chickens, roosts, and all they will learn there). After our initial meeting, our next task is to find transportation to get them to and from Managua so they will be "equipped." There is much excitement - it's contagious. They want to get started quickly, but they are willing to slow down a little and get started correctly.
.
Nicaraguans think in terms of what is good for the "community" more so than individually - so this core group will begin to glean from others' experiences and come up with a collective and agreeable plan.
.
In the meantime, we've received the materials list (for the chicken coop). The list is being priced in Managua and Leon, with the hopes that Leon will be lower since it is very close to La Ceiba. We're already looking for chickens ... but aren't ready to buy!! yet. We have dreams (thoughts? nightmares?) of purchasing them in Managua and driving for an hour and a half to La Ceiba ... chickens in boxes, ridiculous clucking noises, and little feathers flying. More to come on this. If this becomes necessary, I am sure we will be willing to drive a little faster to get to La Ceiba. Pray we find some chickens closer! We'll do what we have to do, and then have stories to tell afterwards.
.
Our new sponsoring agency for financial support is the NEO Foundation, whose information is posted at the top of this blog. If you're interested in helping us ... please contact them. If you're in touch with us already and want to help in other ways, please email us.

.

We're grateful for your support. We're ready to walk a new road, and it's comforting to have friends alongside.

We've changed directions ...

God, you're sending us over there???

I have resigned Forward Edge, and will no longer facilitate their teams. Instead, Helen and I will work together as a team ... to help impoverished communities become self-sustaining. Though we have many ideas, the first will be to help the residents of La Ceiba, (also known as Leon to some) build a chicken coop and raise chickens. This will provide eggs, meat and a little extra of each to sell to their neighbors and keep the chicken feed coming and repairs on the coop. We are starting this project very soon. Then we'll move to vegetable growing, so their diet can be more well rounded than it is currently. And it is our hopes that one day, they themselves will take this concept to other communities and help them become self-sufficient also.

We don't know all the details now, but - we're walking forward and seeking advice from several well established ministries here in Nicaragua.

Forward Edge's vision in Nicaragua is centered around the Villa and short term mission, so, we will soon process donations elsewhere. We'll share that information with you soon.

We will keep you posted with more details in a week or two after we settle down, and process all that is and will be changing in our lives. We appreciate your care, concern and support. Truly.

Why we need hammocks ...

The reasons we relax in our hammocks

Not that we NEED reasons (check out our deck) because a hammock is inviting without them. However, there ARE other reasons we need to have a little "hang time" and they include everyday life here ~

• Potholes and seemingly crazy drivers (who are probably just avoiding the potholes). There are NO SUCH THINGS as lanes, and we can't figure out why they've painted lines on the street. It's confusing for us law-abiding citizens!
• Everyone speaking a different language than us.
• Different money, making it necessary to carry a calculator to see if you think you're getting ripped off.
• Carbon paper, used cuz this country really isn't computerized. You can't lose a receipt lest you also lose your warranty.
• Illogical "logic" ... or maybe that is just a USA thing to be logical and efficient. It just could be that this Nica way is more fun and bonding.

And while we hang in the hammocks, we contemplate:

• The wonderful people here - who smile and wave - simply because they're nice enough to return a greeting (instead of doing a number of other things).
• Different ways to be effective here, and help people.
• Beautiful birds, fresh fruit and breezes.
• Friends and family like you - to keep our prayer life full.

Thanks for walking alongside of us.

Six months down ...

As amazing as it sounds, yes ... six months have flown by! We are still adjusting, but all-in-all ... we feel we are getting in a groove and handling life as well as we can without being fluent in Spanish. Thank God for friends here who help us - and they are many!

.

In the small community of La Ceiba (outskirts of Leon) live a precious couple named Javier and Lilliam. At the end of May (during their Mother's Day), Lilliam asked me if I would be her mom. I said yes, not knowing much at all why she asked. As it turns out thru further conversation, her father died when she was three months old, at which time her mother gave her away. She doesn't know who or where her real mom is, and she feels like she never had a mother, which is why she asked me. She's 30, has three kids, a wonderful husband, and now she also has a "Mommy" (which is what she calls me). On the day she asked me to be her mom, she gave me a pair of "post" earrings. I had nothing to give her, so on our next visit to La Ceiba (a month later), I gave her a pair in return. This picture was to capture our earrings ... but it really captured her happy heart at having a "mom." Man - life is weird for me - never a mom until Nicaragua, and now I have two teenage boys and Lilliam.

.

John is doing really well and LOVING his work with the teams. He just returned from Costa Rica, and will be going back again at the end of this month. He will be facilitating a team from Virginia alongside two other FEI Field Staff members (Aaron and Jenny Gordon, who work in the Gulf Coast). This is Aaron and Jenny's home church - so it will be a great time of joining FEI staff together and it will also be great to have such a large team help a community become further self-sufficient with the microbusiness of growing/selling hydroponic vegetables. Last year, the first team to Costa Rica began working with six churches in the Guapiles area who joined together for "strength in numbers." The women were working the pineapple fields 6 days a week, and were therefore forced to be out of the home and away from their children. One year later, the vegetable business is thriving ... feeding these families AND supplying restaurants with veggies. The next team will further this cause by building more boxes and instructing more "country dwellers" how to use this method to grow vegetables. For all of you who know John ... he's not a construction person, but he does so well leading and working alongside those who like to use tools and build things. He's the cheerleader (and leader) ... and he works with those who come to make life easier for others. He's having fun at it.

.

Not much else here (boy, that's a lie!) ... but let me recap and say that:

• We have successfully moved to a new house, and it's MUCH BETTER in every respect.
• After 7 weeks, I finally have my new tooth ... though I can't floss between it and the one next to it ... and am loathe to return to the dentist to tell her that. I'm not up for any more pain right now.
• The boys are visiting their family in the mountains now, bringing medicine to their epileptic sister and also visiting family. They're on a 3+ week "winter" break from school.
• We have had Lucy visit us for one month, and she returned home yesterday.
• We now have John's niece and friend here. They'll be traveling Nica on their own (starting today) and will return July 17th after their adventurous travels.
• We will receive four ladies on this Friday, PRIOR to FEI's women's team which will officially begin July 14th.
• I've almost recovered from my "black eye" (given to me accidentally by a very rambunctious Raisa during a fetch the popped soccer ball session).

And that is enough for now. We covet your prayers ... really we do! When we think of you (often), we stop an say a little prayer for you too. Thank you for your support of every kind on every level. We're eternally grateful.

Abrazos.