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It’s Nicaraguan tradition for the mission teams to have porch time and reflect upon the day’s events. First order of business is "Remember The Time." In the first RTT we reminisced about when Matt said S**T in front of the kids and Rueben, a quick whipped young feller announced: “Mal palabras del oso”…(bad words from the bear). After the awkward moments are accurately highlighted, we switch gears to "I saw Jesus in, or through he/she this or that." The most memorable was when Levi shared that he felt God’s love through the children at the orphanage. These kids loved us so quickly, as if they’d known us their whole lives, and without trepidation; even though we’d leave them just as quickly as we arrived. They are thirsty for our love, starving for our attention, yearning for our touch. Levi said this has to be the way God feels about each on of his children, plus infinity and beyond.
We met a similar group of children the next day, the only difference was that these kids live in the dump (La Chureca)—a large piece of land overrun with an entire city’s toxic waste, instead of a beautiful orphanage on a farm. Rancid trash so stinky, any American port a potty becomes instantly luxurious. To make a living, both children and their parents spend their days under the blistering sun, rummaging through garbage in search for undiscovered plastic that can be sold for recycling. We visited this dump having no idea what to expect, our tour led by Pastor Ramon and another man whose humble abode resides along the dump’s solid lake. They took us to the dump’s highest look out point, making visible the acres and acres of waste that makes up their neighborhood. They weren’t ashamed, in fact, Jose was proud of his home, proud that he made just enough money to put food on the table. We saw Jesus at the dump, and you’re the God of this City too…
It’s so easy to feel God’s presence when staring out into the picture perfect sunset rising behind the Rocky Mountains, or seeing every Sunday the beautiful young twenties crowd that makes up our churches. What about when things aren’t so pretty? How easily do we all turn a blind eye to the ugliness that infects our city’s darkest allies, and what are we doing about it? Jesus is visible even in a dump, in a place where the conditions couldn’t possibly be worse and the people still, by God’s unfathomable grace, are hopeful. There is a revolution happening here; our brothers and sisters in Christ feeding once empty tummies, drawing near the poorest of poor, preaching the Good News of Christ—the Christ who loves them bare, naked, broke and trashed.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Falling in Love with God
This week in Nicaragua I have been reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan. His sermons are all on online and will rock you if you let them. One of the things that Francis talks about in the book is falling deeply in love with God. He reminds us all of the feelings we have of human love. How we would go to the ends of the earth just to spend time with one that we love, how we take care of our children, and how we willingly sacrifice our own wants and desires in order to serve all the people that we love.
Are those the emotions we feel about God? Do we truly rejoice and love Christ for the sacrifice that he gave to us, his Beloved Church? Did we fall head over heels in love with God when we first met him, and do we continue to fall more in love with Him every day?
Francis goes on to quote John Piper who says this:
"The critical question for our generation - and for every generation is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?"
When I am here in Nicaragua I can't help but think about this. When in communities that are completely impoverished it is so tempting to preach a gospel that is all about the blessings that Christ gives, and not about Christ himself. When someone is facing serious tribulation, it is so natural to talk about a God that will make your struggle easier, who will come to lighten your burden. Christ does all of these things, and we should rejoice in them, but it just isn't the whole picture.
Hope comes from the Gospel. The good news of a good God. God doesn't promise an easy life, and he doesn't save people just so they can go to an easy heaven. The Gospel gives hope because it is the good news that we can have our relationship restored with the One most deserving of our love. Hope comes from falling madly in love with a magnificent God who loved us even when we were unlovable.
Pray for our team that we can remember this and that we can spread this love to everyone we meet.
-Tim
O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. Psalm 63:1-5
Are those the emotions we feel about God? Do we truly rejoice and love Christ for the sacrifice that he gave to us, his Beloved Church? Did we fall head over heels in love with God when we first met him, and do we continue to fall more in love with Him every day?
Francis goes on to quote John Piper who says this:
"The critical question for our generation - and for every generation is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?"
When I am here in Nicaragua I can't help but think about this. When in communities that are completely impoverished it is so tempting to preach a gospel that is all about the blessings that Christ gives, and not about Christ himself. When someone is facing serious tribulation, it is so natural to talk about a God that will make your struggle easier, who will come to lighten your burden. Christ does all of these things, and we should rejoice in them, but it just isn't the whole picture.
Hope comes from the Gospel. The good news of a good God. God doesn't promise an easy life, and he doesn't save people just so they can go to an easy heaven. The Gospel gives hope because it is the good news that we can have our relationship restored with the One most deserving of our love. Hope comes from falling madly in love with a magnificent God who loved us even when we were unlovable.
Pray for our team that we can remember this and that we can spread this love to everyone we meet.
-Tim
O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. Psalm 63:1-5
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
We made it!
There’s only one way for nine gringos to cross the boarder from Costa Rica to Nicaragua: on foot, all belongings hanging from our American bodies. And for the over protective,our most sacred things vigilantly stuffed into our Mexican-made t-shirts, our strong and sweaty, bearded men, (Levi has a pretty pubescent beard-esque thing growing from his chin) peppered amongst the timid females, insuring our safety as we walked into uncharted territories. Considering our minimal planning and obvious tourist flag flying, the voyage went rather smoothly. We’re giving copious thanks to our King for his impeccable protection.
Bombarded by frantic Nicaraguans looking to make a buck or two, we quickly saw the evidence of how truly impoverished this country truly is. Within literally minutes, we had a young Nicaraguan kid, probably 16 or so, following our every step, convincing us he’d take us to Managua. (I forgot to mention that the transportation we took from San Jose dropped us off 3 hours short of our actual destination at the border, and while Tim was certain we’d easily get the rest of the way, Tiff, Jess and Becca were a little …unsure). So, as the story goes, young David took Tim and Steve to look at his van to make sure he was credible. And again, thanks be to Jesus, after cramming all of our bags atop the micro van, we made it safely to Casa Bernabe ( the first orphanage) with only a few minor snags including a flat tire. Good news is, Nicaraguans can change a tire much faster than Tim, Steve, Levi and Matt!
Tim is in his element here in Nicaragua and it’s absolutely incredible to take part in what the Lord is doing here. Upon our arrival, we met around 25 of the boys that live at the orphanage. Jocelyn, Matt, Levi and Steve quickly engaged 6 of the boys in a game of futbol; while Tiffany and Jess colored with a few others; Lindsay and Becca taking pictures and half-communicating with our new friends; Tim getting back to where he left off last summer.
The rain kept us from playing outside for too long, but thanks to Levi’s quick thinking, we were able to put together a game that the kids couldn’t get enough of…quack didlidoso. I say in confidence that we had just as much fun as the kids.
Our first night was also spent meeting Cole and Becca, two other Americans who’ve spent a great deal of time in Nicaragua. They shared their experiences and prepared us for what the week held. They warned us that we would be sad, angry, furious, and distraught; they told us we’d be tempted to (if we actually could) pull kids out of the ditch; and they challenged us to instead meet them there Those wise words will continue to guide our trip as we begin to understand and respond to Jesus’ heart for the poor.
yours truly,
lindsay
Bombarded by frantic Nicaraguans looking to make a buck or two, we quickly saw the evidence of how truly impoverished this country truly is. Within literally minutes, we had a young Nicaraguan kid, probably 16 or so, following our every step, convincing us he’d take us to Managua. (I forgot to mention that the transportation we took from San Jose dropped us off 3 hours short of our actual destination at the border, and while Tim was certain we’d easily get the rest of the way, Tiff, Jess and Becca were a little …unsure). So, as the story goes, young David took Tim and Steve to look at his van to make sure he was credible. And again, thanks be to Jesus, after cramming all of our bags atop the micro van, we made it safely to Casa Bernabe ( the first orphanage) with only a few minor snags including a flat tire. Good news is, Nicaraguans can change a tire much faster than Tim, Steve, Levi and Matt!
Tim is in his element here in Nicaragua and it’s absolutely incredible to take part in what the Lord is doing here. Upon our arrival, we met around 25 of the boys that live at the orphanage. Jocelyn, Matt, Levi and Steve quickly engaged 6 of the boys in a game of futbol; while Tiffany and Jess colored with a few others; Lindsay and Becca taking pictures and half-communicating with our new friends; Tim getting back to where he left off last summer.
The rain kept us from playing outside for too long, but thanks to Levi’s quick thinking, we were able to put together a game that the kids couldn’t get enough of…quack didlidoso. I say in confidence that we had just as much fun as the kids.
Our first night was also spent meeting Cole and Becca, two other Americans who’ve spent a great deal of time in Nicaragua. They shared their experiences and prepared us for what the week held. They warned us that we would be sad, angry, furious, and distraught; they told us we’d be tempted to (if we actually could) pull kids out of the ditch; and they challenged us to instead meet them there Those wise words will continue to guide our trip as we begin to understand and respond to Jesus’ heart for the poor.
yours truly,
lindsay
Friday, July 16, 2010
Fellowship Denver Goes to Nicaragua!
Hey everybody, in honor of Fellowship Denver going to Nicaragua we are going to resurrect this blog to give team updates. Thank you all so much for your financial support and your prayers. We are so excited to be able to bless the Verbo church in Bluefields, and many of you were a huge part of that.
We will be using this blog to share with you as we go through our time in Nicaragua, we would love to hear all of your comments, keep in touch while we are gone.
Now here is a little introduction from the one and only Lindsay Carson:
We will be using this blog to share with you as we go through our time in Nicaragua, we would love to hear all of your comments, keep in touch while we are gone.
Now here is a little introduction from the one and only Lindsay Carson:
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