Adios Nicaragua

I sit in the airport in Managua as I write this. My bags have been checked to RDU, so now I just have to wait to board the plane. We will fly home through Atlanta. It will be impossible to post this prior to my departure from Nicaragua, so, when you read this we will be back in the United States safe and sound.

I am at peace. My restless spirit has been quieted through my adventure to this beautiful country. I am happy to head home knowing that I am bringing part of this country back with me in my heart and mind. At the same time there is joy here, as we are leaving something valuable behind for Ricardo�s family.

My mind drifts back to San Ramon as I lay in bed falling to sleep. I think of Josefa and Ivania doing the same in their pretty pink bedroom, in their nice new beds, with their soft little stuffed toys. I think of Ricardo and his son, Anibal, gathering firewood to carry back to their kitchen where their meals can be prepared rain or shine. When you travel as we have in this country you see how many people are desperate for housing. Because of your generous gifts and the work of this small mission group, we can all be proud that we made a big difference in the lives of one family.

I mentioned in my last post that I would watch the sunset over the Pacific and say a prayer for all of you on my last night in Nicaragua. We got back a bit late because of the challenges of getting out of the mangrove forest when the tide was changing. The low tide required us to disembark our small boat so that the tour guide could move it across the shallow eddies. We all had to walk a little way on the beach to our bus.

Arrangements had been made for us to eat our last dinner together in Nicaragua at a restaurant overlooking the ocean. When we arrived at our table the sun was just about to set, so I immediately stepped out on the beach. It looked like God had been holding the sun above the horizon by a string, waiting for us to arrive. It looked like the orange, shimmering sun was being dipped into a huge vat of emerald blue candy coating. When the sun had set its orange melted into the entire sky. As we ate our dinner we watched the sky turn from orange to deep blue and then slowly into the black night sky and I prayed for you. My first evening in San Ramon began as I stood in the middle of a field and watched the sun set over the mountains. It seems so long ago; but I find it interesting that God gave me two gorgeous sunsets as bookends to my time here.

I often think when I am home that my life is too busy, too noisy to feel God's presence and hear his voice. We think of our busy lives as being filled with abundant blessings, but here I see those blessings in another way. I see that our accumulation of things and activities truly do separate us from the love of God. By keeping God central in their lives, Nicaraguans are enriched in the important things, like relationships with family and community. In the evening the families here do not separate into their own little rooms to watch television or surf the web for hours by themselves. They take that time instead to sit around tables and eat dinner together, to walk in the street visiting with relatives and friends that all seem to live close by. If kids play computer games at all, they have to go to public buildings and pay for the experience. This fact alone keeps their time online to a minimum.

I am not so naive as to think that this is the way it is in all families but it is the norm here and as such it is easy to see how steep the price we pay to live the way we do. I for one will strive to live a simpler life when I return, where there is more time for worship and conversation with God and more time spent with my family. I will give thanks continually for the time that has been given to me by a loving God who desires to be part of the lives of ALL families.

—Pastor Larry (Managua, Nicaragua)

Living In the Shadow of Volcanos

Yesterday we got underway early. Before leaving Managua, we visited Jubilee House Community, the home base for the Center for Development in Central America, which you can find at www.jhc-cdca.org. I visited them once in 2006 as a member of a Witness for Peace delegation. It was good to reconnect with Sarah and to learn that she will visit Raleigh early in April. She will have items to sell after presentations as a way to fund some of the work that she is doing among the people of Central America.

Jubilee House is adjacent to the village of Sadino, which remains the poorest neighborhood in all of Nicaragua. It was established by Somoza with the funds sent to Nicaragua from countries all over the world to help rebuild the city of Managua after the earthquake in the early 70's. The only rebuilding the people received were a couple of poles and a sheet of black plastic. Period!!! Not much "bang" for the millions of "bucks" that poured into the coffers of the dictatorship. It is heartrending to see 200,000 people living in these conditions.

When our tour was complete we piled back into our van and made our way to Leon, an ancient city which was settled by Indians who made their way south from northern California in the 1600's. Never have I seen so many churches. There is one on almost every block. The main cathedral on the central square dates back to 1747, but was not completed until 1861. It is the third largest cathedral in Central and South America, behind those in Mexico City, Mexico and Lima, Peru.

The tour we took today included a climb to the roof of the cathedral. From that vantage point we could see the city sprawling in all directions. On the horizon we could see five of the tallest volcanoes in Central America, the tallest of which filled the sky with a thick plume of smoke, and the smallest of which has the distinction of erupting on an average of once in every seven years. I wish the guide had told us where we were in THAT cycle. I am beginning to wonder if the high number of churches has any correlation to the number of volcanoes on the horizon.

—Pastor Larry (Leon, Nicaragua)