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)