[reverse] Culture Shock

Another awesome blog from Lindsay. I think her sentiments accurately articulate the thoughts that much of our team are having right now. Thanks Lindsay!

There are many things that I miss about being in Central America with nine amazing people: highly inappropriate conversations, pillow talk, 3 shared meals a day, long car rides, card games, inside jokes, etc. etc. But more importantly, I miss the Christ centered community that we built together in 2 short weeks. If you look in Acts 2:42-44 the author describes what community was like during the first century...

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.

During our time together in Nicaragua I think I can speak for all of us when I say we experienced a little slice of heaven. We experienced true community, strikingly similar to what can be found in this passage. We had alone time, together; we prayed, together; we ate, together. And together, we witnessed a church on a hill delivering straight from the Holy Spirit, joy, hope, and healing to 150 kids and their families.

And for a short time, we got to be a part of this majestic place, together. I’m not going to lie--it’s been far more difficult coming back to Denver than I realized, though my high maintenance side couldn’t wait to get a haircut and get back into my designer duds. But all of that is truly meaningless, as we learn in Ecclesiastes, or of course by first hand experience, that we will never be fulfilled by such advancements...but we’ll try, over and over and over again. Woa, how easily we are sucked back into our routines and comfort, the gossip and the drama!

All that to say, I miss my nine friends and 24/7 companionship; I miss waking up knowing that together we got to be in awe of Jesus and His disciples; I miss the encouragement; I miss wearing little to no makeup, t-shirts and yoga pants. More than anything, I miss the earnest talk about Jesus. My question now is, why does it have to be any different here?

Let’s be serious, we have 75 + other people in our community and intimate conversations are hard to come by at Wash Park or karaoke night. Now don’t get me wrong, I love fun and games, but I love Jesus more. We are blessed to have so many friends, but how about we try and lay aside the drama, and focus on the One we all claim to have in common. That won’t come easy for many of us (myself included), but how about we try, as a LARGE community of believers, getting back to the basics, and back to Jesus. After all, anything is possible through our Lord and Savior, right?

Coffee anyone?

Back Home

After two busses, one truck, one small plane, two huge planes, and a walk across the Nicaraguan/Costa Rican border, our team has safely made it home. We greatly appreciate all of the prayers and donations of time and money that made our trip a possibility. Unfortunately we didn't blog every day and keep you all updated on exactly going on, but know that your prayers were felt by our team steadily. There is much to say about what we experienced, learned, and shared this past week in Nicaragua. To summarize: God was present. I think each one of us is still reeling from our trip and trying to figure out how God will use it in our individual lives to love Him better and love others better, but we all know that He has much to do with us.

Expect more to come from this blog as we share more stories and start building this relationship between Denver and Nicaragua. For now, here are some thoughts from the one and only Lindsay Carson:

When I asked Steve this afternoon how this trip made him feel, he simply replied, “It has made me feel feelings.” While I’ve only known him for a short stint, I’m pretty sure that’s saying a lot.
The boys on our team have done incredible handyman work in the hot, hot sun. It’s been crappy work, and they were given insufficient tools to work with, including a highly unstable ladder, and an ancient wire brush—the ladder so wobbly, we had Jessica and Tiffany spotting them. The work that took them three days could’ve been done in four hours with an angle grinder and power washer. But the reality is, bringing our tools from the United States wouldn’t have given them the perspective that they acquired in doing such tiresome labor, though the desire for shortcuts, at the very least an air compressor, (says Steve, I don’t know what that is) swam in through their American minds.

That perspective is still growing in our hearts, but what we know is this: Nicaraguans work hard and do tremendously difficult, mindless jobs and usually still can’t make ends meet. They’ve got 10 kids living in a tin roofed house, while many American families have enormous houses with empty rooms. The easiest emotion to feel is guilt, but I don’t think that’s exactly what God would have for us, but I don’t know because I’m not God. But what I do know is that we are all inspired to pour more of ourselves into Jesus in order to love his children the way he would.

We American minded folk are absolutely dependent on shortcuts. Drive instead of walk; eat fast food instead of cook; take pills instead of work through issues; need money, rob a bank or sell some drugs; undergo surgery instead of work out and eat right; on a more pragmatic scale, when you’re hungry you eat. When you need soap, you buy. When you need a hot shower, you take. And the lists goes on, and on and on. Believe me, our 2010 conveniences surely make life easier, and our reliance upon them comes to fruition quite blatantly by way of traveling to countries that still don’t have running water and electricity in homes. But all that is stuff you already knew, and we probably did too, but definitely not something I give thanks for every single day. These things do set us a part from our Nicaraguan friends. Their lack of development tempts us to send more money, or buy them more American things that would make their lives easier. But would it really make it any better? Debatable.

There is one thing that is universal regardless of our everyday eases: to have a loving relationship with Christ requires obedience, perseverance, prayer, submission, faith, and a relentless fight against the flesh. It’s not easy; there are no shortcuts; there is no machine that can change hearts except for his love. That is a universal truth.

Lord of Heaven and Earth, I pray over the people of Nicaragua and the US; that we would not be tempted by false fulfillments. That we would work hard for a relationship with you. That we’d surrender all that we are at your feet and allow you to build us back up through the Holy Spirit.

Day 2ish

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.

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

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

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:

Tent Making

I have long been intrigued by the possibility of sustainable ministries - that is a ministry that can run without any outside donation. It started with me having a bit of an uneasy feeling about the whole idea of having to raise support to go to places like Nicaragua. I just felt a little bit funny about asking my friends for money to go to one of my favorite places in the world. Many people, especially non-Christians, will rally hard against the idea of monetary donations for one person to spend all that money on expensive plane tickets flying to remote places in the world. Others see it as a biblical mandate - to support those that have been called to go. In the world of ministry there seems to be a line dividing two types of people. On one side there is the Missionary and on the other side is the Supporter. One person makes money and the other person receives donations to do the work of God.

So, with my 1.5 semesters of seminary under my belt I have tried to look at this issue theologically and see what the Bible has to say. The most clarifying verses that I have found have been some from the missionary Paul.

Read: 1 Corinthians 9

I'm not going to do a thorough exegesis because it probably wouldn't be that good, and if anyone one is reading this it would probably be beneficial to look into it yourself. These are the conclusions I have come to through this, and other, reading.

In order to effectively and graciously minister to the body of Christ and spread the gospel:

• All followers of Christ are called to live missional lifestyles.
  
• Some are called into full time ministry that requires the financial support of the Church.
• Some are called to be tent-makers, supporting a life of ministry by their own vocation.

What I get really excited about, not because it is the only way of ministry, but because it seems to make a lot of sense in our current culture, is the idea of business as mission. Also called Mission Based Entrepreneurship, it takes a corporate (not as in corporation, but as in the opposite of individual) look at being a tent-maker. Mission Based Entrepreneurship takes many tent-makers and puts them in a secular for-profit business that has a gospel driven mission. It creates solid products and brings in money from the secular world to support Christ's mission of transforming lives and giving hope to a lost world.

I recently visited a Church that is driving this movement, and I can't wait to see what God has in store for it.


Click here to check out their website and watch a video explanation.