The Universal Spirit

So far on this trip I have worshiped God at Pentecostal and Roman Catholic churches. This morning many of the group came home, so to speak, and worshiped with the Lutheran community of Nicaragua, in Managua.

We arrived about 30 minutes early for the service and I watched as several individuals prepared the worship space. 

As I sat there centering myself for the worship of our awesome God, I realized that there were saints preparing to do the same thing at Holy Trinity, at that exact same time. As the musicians rehearsed I thought of Shannon Thomas and our choir practicing the anthem. How can one not be humbled by a God that can welcome people from all over the world into a loving embrace to refresh, forgive, nurture, heal and offer hope simultaneously?

I sat there and gazed at the painted cross on the wall behind the altar. There was an image of Jesus Christ robed in white with his arms outstretched to the world. Surrounding him were his gathered faithful with their arms outstretched as a welcome to all into the family of God. What a beautiful image. That evoked exactly what was happening to us and this community of faith in Nicaragua.

Just as the NC Synod is a sister community with the Lutheran Church of Costa Rica, it seems that the South Dakota Synod of the ELCA is a sister community of Nicaragua. It happened that the South Dakota Synod had representatives visiting as well. So, we were not the only people in worship from the United States. At the close of the service, during the announcement, each group was given an opportunity to introduce themselves and to explain what had brought them to Nicaragua. 

We also learned that there was another tradition that required the visiting groups to sing a song in their native tongue. The South Dakota group sang "Jesus Loves Me," and we chose to sing "Amazing Grace." We thought that that was an excellent choice since there was so much of it floating around.

—Pastor Larry (Managua, Nicaragua)

To Hell and Back

It seems like we have been traveling at warp speed since leaving the peaceful life in San Ramon. Thinking back to that idyllic time in the mountains, there are three truisms that stick in my mind:

1. There is absolutely no reason for a village to keep more than one rooster.

2. The more pictures of Jesus on the side of the bus … the worse the driver.

3. There is NO graceful way to enter a cold shower.

On our way to Managua we took a detour to the Masaya region to the east of Managua. There we drove up the side of a semi-dormant volcano (if there is such a thing). The Masaya volcano has not experienced a major eruption since 1772 but every now and then it "burps," so to speak, and hurls boulders from the vent. As we pulled into the parking lot a plume of steam filled the sky above the vent and there were signs telling drivers to back into their parking spots. I assumed that this would make a quicker exit possible. 

When I got out the first thing I did was read a big sign that read in English:

"Dear Visitor, This is an active volcano that can present phenomenas without advisement, such as smoke and expulsions of rock and sand. In such a situation, we advise you:

1. Keep away from the area.

2. In case of expulsions of rock, protect yourself under the car.

3. Stay 20 minutes only in the crater area."

I haven't fit under a car in years, so I was anxious for our 20 minutes to be up. I did look over the railing and was impressed with the sheer enormity of the crater in the earth which probably could have contained 100 RBC centers.

In the museum at the base of the volcano we learned that the ancient Indians called this place "The Mouth of Hell." I guess now  if anyone tells us where to go, we can say, "Thank you, but we have already been there."

Pastor Larry (Managua, Nicaragua)

Dedication Day

Today was an emotional day for all of us. We met at Ricardo's house. While he and his children were distracted by a neighbor, we began to move the stuff we had been able to purchase with your donations into his new home. First there was the concrete sink that we placed under a tree near his kitchen and water source. 

With this sink they will be able to cook and do laundry. Then we placed two bright-blue metal beds, with mattresses, sheets and pillows, into the girls' bedroom, which we had painted pink. We hung a little round mirror on the wall and placed a stuffed animal on each pillow. 

We then moved a wooden bed which Ricardo had made into the boy's room, along with a hammock which hung from the ceiling.

 No home in Nicaragua comes without a hammock, it seems. We put a new mattress on the bed along with new sheets, and the boy's room - which of course was painted blue — was finished. Then we moved four plastic chairs into the living room and put a set of dishes, along with silverware, in the kitchen.

When everything was in place, someone went for Ricardo and Josefa (the older daughter, who is 13), Anibal Ricardo, (the 11-year-old son) and Ivanial (the younger daughter, who is eight). We all met for the dedication/houseblessing under the new kitchen roof. We all stood together holding hands and, as we prayed, it felt to me as if we were also being held with all of your arms. God made it all happen, through us and through you.

After the houseblessing we opened the door and followed the family into their new home. The last thing Marcus had done the day before was to cut the hole in the door and install the lock. Ricardo was there so that Marcus could teach him how it worked and where to insert the key. This is the first home that Ricardo, who is forty-four years old, has ever lived in that can be secured.

What an awesome sight to watch as this family walked into their new home! Truly the best 'God' moment of the trip.

After the tour of the house, we were stunned as Josefa handed us a letter she had written on behalf of her family. It was a 'thank you' letter to all of us and gave credit appropriately to God. As Marcus and Berthalina translated and read it in English we all began to cry. It was one of the most moving 'thank you' letters that I have ever heard. We will share the translation with everyone when there is time to write it out in English.

When we had ALL dried our tears, Josepha stood in her pretty pink dress and sang two beautiful songs and then followed that with a duet with her father. So far the day was an emotional roller coaster, and the ride had just begun.

From the dedication, we walked back into San Ramon, where we loaded our suitcases for the ride back to Managua. This of course meant that we had to say good-bye to our host families with whom we had shared so much time since we arrived. Donna Aracelli and Don Augustine had shared the best they had to offer. Donna Aracelli had cooked all of our meals and tried to anticipate our needs with all the graciousness that we could have asked.

The evening before, we had gathered as a group with the the host families for a traditional Nicaraguan feast. A live band played traditional music while we ate and when the dishes were cleaned up people began to dance. It was great to see the spontaneous joy that erupted from the group. Such is the power of music.

So the next day, with all these fresh memories it was hard to leave and close the San Ramon chapter of our trip. After more tears and hugs and kisses, we climbed into our van and waved good-bye, and headed down from the mountains into the steamy metropolis of Managua.

—Pastor Larry (San Ramon and Managua)

Bacon and Ham

This morning I walked out on the front porch to do a little writing and saw a couple of men stringing something up on a tree branch across the street. When they went back inside I walked over and discovered that it was the heads of two pigs that they had just slaughtered in their back yard. I took a couple of pictures because it is something we don't see in Raleigh. When I turned around I saw the neighbor sitting there watching me. I said to him, "It is not a good day to be a pig." He replied, "Si, very bad."

If we have bacon tomorrow morning I will give thanks for the ultimate gift given by the pig who lived across the street for awhile.

I sat back down and watched all the children walking to school past this grizzly sight, and no one made a comment or even seemed to notice them. It was probably something they had seen many times. Within five minutes a woman stopped and spoke to the man who had hung them in the tree and she pointed to a head. Soon there was money changing hands. One family will have meat on the table and the other will be buying baby pigs. So life and death goes on in the village.

—Pastor Larry (San Ramon, Nicaragua)

Joy In a Small Town

It rained for a long time during the night. I fell asleeep with the sound of it falling on the metal roof over my head. It was a new experience and rather nice. The day dawned clear and cool and the work continued on Ricardo's house. The roof over the kitchen was completed and the interior walls will be completed and painted tomorrow. Just in time for the house blessing on Friday morning.

By far the highlight of our whole trip was our visit to Los Papitos in the afternoon. 

They were so appreciative of our gifts. While Marcus narrated in Spanish the story about why Christmas Candy Canes were colored as they are, Tom Sevier handed out candy canes to every one. Following the story, Bertalina led everyone in the singing of Nicaraguan folk songs, one of which she created on the spot. 

It was so wonderful to see this group of parents and children that are so in need of love and the joy that can only come from God, laugh and enjoy the moment. Many of us had brought bubbles and the therapists greatly appreciated that, because they will be used to help the children increase their lung capacities. What we had thought would be a simple toy will also be used in their long-term development. Only a loving God can turn a simple gift into such a blessing.

—Pastor Larry (San Ramon, Nicaragua)

A Day In the Life

Today work continued on Ricardo's home. 

Helen Williams and  Joan Lester

We erected the framing for the interior walls, and completed the remainder of the roof supports for the kitchen. Tomorrow we expect to do some painting and install the corrugated metal on the kitchen roof. It is looking very nice.

The differences in language sometimes create some comical situations. Some of the group are fluent in Spanish, while others, like myself, can barely get by. I know enough to be polite but beyond that I am hopeless. Others have taken some Spanish language classes and are attempting to converse in the native tongue. Today I heard what can be best described as "Spanglish." The local carpenter who has been helping us was trying to get one of our group to cut a board and I heard her say, "No esta even." I think I would give her an "A" for effort but I am not sure the carpenter understood that the end of the board was not square.

That afternoon we did some touring around San Ramon. Some took a bus to Madagalpa to do some shopping while others took a bus into the mountains to see the entry to an old gold mine and then hike further into the mountains to visit several communities still beyond the reach of the electric utility. I can only imagine how dark it must be there when the sun sets. 

Sister and best friends.

The forests are lush with fruit trees including mangos, papayas, limes, star fruit and others varieties that I do not recognize that may only be edible by wildlife. Some of the trees were spectacular in size. I am glad that the Nicaraguan government has chosen to protect their forests versus exploiting them for profit. We saw a group of our "cousins" sitting in trees waving at us — or was it sticks they were throwing? 

It was the first time I have seen monkeys without the bars of a zoo between us.

I must mention the buses here. If all you think of is CAT buses, forget everything you know. 

Typical Mountain Public Transportation

All buses here are retired school buses from America that have been outfitted with ladders and roof racks to carry not just luggage but bags of foodstuffs and sometimes even brave passengers who can't squeeze inside. The outsides are painted in every color of the rainbow with pictures of Jesus Christ and/or the Virgin Mary painted on the back door. Once you are inside the real adventure begins. Besides being surrounded with smiling faces you are entertained by loud Latin music. The walls over the windows are painted with bible verses. On our bus, the one over the exit door read in Spanish, "Nothing is impossible for God." I was happy to feel surrounded by God. It made me feel a bit safer as we traveled down the road weaving around washouts and boulders that had fallen onto the road, all the time looking out the windows at spectacular views and sheer cliffs.  Guard rails have not made it this far south, by the way.

That night after eating dinner at our guest houses, we all gathered the belongings we brought to give away at a central home. As we began to sort and organize the stuff we realized just how much we had brought with us. It really had a Christmas atmosphere knowing that everything was to be given away. The biggest pile was toys of all kinds destined for Los Patitos, an organization that works with handicapped children. It is the same place that Pastor Bev and the LSM students volunteered when they traveled to Nicaragua last year.

—Pastor Larry (San Ramon, Nicaragua)

Construction Begins

81°, light breeze, with mist rolling into the city from the mountains surrounding us on every side. 

"Gooood morning San Ramon !"

It is simply a glorious morning as we hike up out of the city to the construction site.  God has blessed us with perfect weather to begin our work on Ricardo’s home.

Ricardo's Old House

His house is located not only up on one of the hill sides but also about 200 yards off the road.  The day therefore, starts with the movement of building materials from the side of the dirt road to the construction site.

Future Kitchen

This week the plan is to build the roof over the kitchen which will be a basic lean-to on the end of the house. Others will work inside building the interior walls and then painting some of the rooms.  By the end of the day we have installed the kitchen roof header to the house and trimmed all the roof joists.  No small feat with rudimentary construction tools, and ladders that were not OSHA approved.

I am being confronted with the basic inequalities of life.  This winter I have been building a chicken coop at the rear of my garden.  I wanted it to look nice since it would be visible from our dining room.  I am struggling with the realization that my 8’ by 12’ chicken coop is nicer than the majority of the homes that the people live in here in San Ramon.  The guest house I am living in, which is “upscale" by Nicaraguan standards has no hot water, no glass in the windows, much less heating or air conditioning.  There is one incandescent bulb in each room, a kitchen where the food is cooked over a small gas grill and a toilet that will NOT accept toilet paper.   And this is the way it is even in the capital city of Managua.

If we are all Children of God and we are followers of Jesus Christ then my relationship with God is not something that is private.  It is a collective enterprise.  The journey to God that the Nicaraguan people are on is the same one that I am on.  It is a journey of the entire people of God.  How do I rationalize that my journey, my part, seems so much easier than this people who live in a land of constant oppression.  Does God say that it is alright because I happened to be born in America with all of its blessings?  Does God love some people more than others?  Does God bless some more than others?   Or, does God call us who have more – to share our blessings with others.  Here in San Ramon what God wants is obvious.

Discipleship is an encounter with Jesus Christ.  It is then a meeting of friends.  “No longer do I call you servants … but I have called you friends.”  According to St. Paul I am on a journey with friends, “walking according to the Spirit.”

Encounter with Christ, living in the Spirit, journeying to the Father – these are the dimensions of my encounter with God here with these people.  Once again as I walk this land with these people I am being challenged to a simpler life that more fully embraces all of the Children of God.

Don’t get me wrong.  I do not wish all the so called ‘blessings’ of America on these people.  Their children are too happy to be burdened with computer games, TV in their bedrooms and non-stop activities that consume their time and their childhoods.  Here from what I have seen, the kids are content playing ball in the streets shared with all means of transportation, including a few cars and motorcycles, but also an equal number of men on horseback and bicycles.  In the evenings after dinner, I see families walking hand in hand together in the street.  In many respects it seems too idyllic to tamper or to inflict them with the business of our lives. 

Try driving this down Fayetteville Street?
I understand they are pretty good on MPG.

—Pastor Larry (San Ramon, Nicaragua)

Arrival

It was a beautiful day to fly, although I did not know that when I rolled out of bed at 3:00 AM. It had been a fitful night of sleep, waking every half hour or so, checking to make sure I was not going to oversleep. In hindsight, there certainly was no chance of that happening.

By 4:30 the entire group was at the airport checking bags and printing boarding passes. Even the security check went without a hitch if you don't mind getting partially undressed in front of a crowd of strangers.

Once we lifted off the ground it was as if God was pushing us all the way to Nicaragua with a tail wind. We arrived in Atlanta 10 minutes ahead of schedule and about the same amount of time in Managua. After customs and payment of entry fees we found 
ourselves outside of the airport waiting for our van.

It was a chaotic scene for a while. There were gaily painted old school buses with luggage being loaded on top. Two of them were filled with about 60 Baptist medical and dental missionaries who flew down with us from Atlanta and were headed 5 hours deep into 
the mountains to minister to the people's bodies and souls.

There were several other large vans and open body trucks being loaded up with luggage and college students headed who knows where. It was not until our van arrived that I realized how much stuff we had brought with us. Everyone in our group had packed to the limit. We had bags filled not only with our personal belongings but with clothes, tools, dental supplies, children's toys and school uniforms, all gifts for the people of San Ramon. If there ever was a van that needed a roof rack it was ours. Whatever did not fit in the luggage compartment in the back flowed over to the inside with us. Most of us had a bag either on our laps or under our legs. Two people even sat on suitcases in the aisle. It's a good thing that it was only a "short" two hour trip to San Ramon. We had come this far, there was no stopping us now.

It was about 5:00 PM when we pulled up to our guest houses. When the doors opened it reminded me of how the dough pops out of the Flaky Pillsbury biscuit containers. There was not much time to unpack before dinner. We each eat with our host families and I for one was ready to eat. Beans and rice, diced potatoes, and vegetables in tomato sauce never tasted so good.

After dinner I walked around the community to take pictures, located the closest internet cafe and was blessed by God with a glorious sunset with all the shades of pinks and oranges God could think of.

At 6:30 we were all headed to a Pentecostal church for evening worship. On the way I managed to stick my head into a little Roman Catholic church to get my fix of statues and incense. The service we attended was … well, lively. I did not understand what the preacher was saying but without a doubt he was on fire with the love of the Lord, and he wanted everyone else in the whole world to feel and experience that Love as well. A few in the group challenged me to preach that way when we get back but I said that I would only do it if the whole choir and congregation would raise their hands above their shoulders and sway in unison like everyone in that church. It was a good place to be and a wonderful way to end our first day. One of the pleasant surprises was learning that we worshiped with Ricardo and his children for whom we are building the house.

On the way home we had to check out the local convenience store.
   

Then it was time to get to bed and rest for our first day of construction in the morning.

Nite, nite, and God bless all of you.

—Pastor Larry (San Ramon, Nicaragua)

The Mission Begins

On Sunday morning, our long awaited mission trip will begin as eleven individuals board a plane and fly to Nicaragua. Our primary goal will be to complete the construction of a dwelling in San Ramon, so that a father of three will have a safe and permanent home in which to raise his family.

As I was beginning to put together my plans to join this mission trip I found myself preaching on a text from John's gospel where Jesus turns around to see two disciples following him and asks, "What are you looking for?" They respond by asking him where he is staying. I have wondered how I would respond if, as I board the plane on Sunday morning, Jesus asks me"What are you looking for in Nicaragua?" Would it be enough for me to say, "I want to follow you. I want to see where you are staying." Like the disciples in the gospel text, we are inviting ourselves to intimacy with Jesus; and Jesus will always respond by asking us to come and see where he is staying, and then accept the consequences of that encounter. This is the place where Jesus dwells. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. To follow Jesus entails a commitment to His mission and that requires, like our master, to sometimes pitch camp in the margins of humanity and there give witness to God's love.

I am reminded that later in his gospel John records Jesus as saying, "You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last." So in this encounter with the people of Nicaragua, we will discover where the Lord lives and what the mission is that he has entrusted to us. I am sure that building a home is just a small part of God's plan for us. We travel to learn the rest of the story.

—Pastor Larry (Raleigh, USA)