Matasano - church

On Sunday we went to church in the Matasano community.

As you can see from the picture, the church was small.  The faith of the people however was anything but small.  I came away from the community with a sense of God being first in their lives, as it should be in all of our lives.  I think the pastor's house is off to the right of the church.

 

Hopefully this will give you somewhat of a view of the inside of the church. I was astounded when I heard someone playing an electronic keyboard.  I guess I was expecting something a little less modern.  It just goes to show the emphasis that is placed on their worship of God.  And music is a big part of their worship service. 

 

The first hour of worship is mostly songs and music.  My eyes began to well up with tears when I heard one of the first songs they played... "Senor, mi Dios, al contemplar los cielos, El firmament y las estrellas mil. Al oir tu voz en los potentes truenos Y ver brillar al sol en su cenit..."  Of course you may recognize it better as "O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder, Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made; I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed..." 

 

No matter what language it is in, the proclamation is still the same... How great Thou art, O Lord my God.  How great Thou art!

 

 

As the pastor was preaching, a little visitor came into our midst.  It was commonplace for the local congregation at this church but I can honestly say that until that day, I had never saw a chicken in church that wasn't lying on a serving platter.

 

 

 

For the evening service, both Greg and Todd preached a message to the congregation while Doug translated them both.  Thanks, guys.

 

 

 

Between the morning worship service and the evening worship service we had an opportunity to play with the children.  Todd was teaching some children to juggle, both individually and as a group.  Greg was teaching some fighting stances.  Claire was teaching some children to dance.  I was passing a ball around with a few of the children.  And of course, you have to have a piñata.

 

 

We will definitely miss them and their bright smiles.

Matasano - children, hike

When we had first pulled into Matasano, we were greeted by some of the local children.  They always seemed so happy to see the Gringos.

 

Just like any other child, they seemed to like jumping on the beds.   ;-)

 

 

 

After our first meeting with some of the local leaders, we went for a hike down past the church.  We were going to see an overlook where you could look down over the valley and see one of the local schools in the distance.  I thought I understood them to say it was only about 300 meters awy but after getting down there to it I felt it was more like 1 1/2 to 2 miles away.

 

 

Some pics of the children as we were walking down to the overlook.  I've saw and heard foreigners speaking in a language I could not understand back home.  It was strange to find myself as the foreigner now speaking in the language others could not understand.  Some of the children started asking me questions and telling me things and all I could do was shrug my shoulders, lift my hands, and say "No se" which I had hoped would let them know that I don't understand but after some laughing and whispering among themselves I'm not sure what I was saying.  Sometimes Melvin or Carl saw me struggling to try to understand what one of the locals was saying to me and would come over and help me out.  Thanks, guys.  You have no idea how much I appreciated that.

 

 

 

 

This is one of the local schools in the distance.

 

 

 

These are some of the pics I took while on our little hike.  Nicaragua is very mountainous like WV but the lack of trees would seem to show some of the problems now faced because of the stripping away of some of the timber in the area.  One of the things CEPAD is trying to do is to teach locals to be more conscious of the environment and the importance of replacing some of its natural resources when possible.  You may notice the lack of a driveway or roads in some of the pictures.  What would be the purpose if you can't afford a car?  I can't get over the fact that 80% of the inhabitants of this country lives on less that $2 a day!

One of our team members got sick on the way back from the hike.  I tell this story not as an embarrassment but to help you get a sense of some of the hardships in the Matasano area.  So many times back home when we are sick we seek to make ourselves as comfortable as possible.  That seems like such a hard task when you are sick, temperatures are in the 80's and 90's, there are no air conditioners to keep you cool, there is no fully stocked corner drugstore to run to find something to get to fix whatever it is that is ailing you, there is no indoor plumbing, and the only shower available is a makeshift outdoor shower where, if your lucky there is enough rain water stored up so that you can turn on a spigot, and stand beneath the faucet as the water flows.  If there isn't enough water you may have to dip a cup into the water and pour it on yourself to shower.  The water flow idea sounds pretty good but if the water hasn't been warmed up by the sun you better be prepared to have your breath taken away; it is cold!

During another visit to some of the places in the Matasano area we had to get out of the van and walk because if we tried to drive the van would not be able to make it back up the hill because it was too steep.  One of the group members ended up taking a nasty spill down the hill.  As I reflected back later on what had happened I realized how something like this could have turned very bad very quickly.  It is bad enough to live so far from medical attention (though there is a clinic that is sometimes open there at certain times on certain days of the week).  What makes it worse is that some of these roads aren't readily accessible and there isn't a helipad just around the corner.  We saw signs of progress as work crews were working to improve the roads while we were there, putting down more dirt and smoothing it out with a grader.  But progress takes time and money.

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Mighty God, help us not to be so complacent with our lives that we forget to thank you for what we do have or be so bitter that we start complaining about what we don't have.  Give us eyes that are willing to see the struggles others must face.  Give us hearts that are open to the hurts others must go through.  Help us to face this world together.  Amen.



Matasano - Women's Center

We arrived in Matasano and settled in to the Women's Center.  This would be our sleeping, eating, and general living quarters for the next 2 days.  Here we met with some of the community leaders who welcomed us and told us a little about themselves.

 

The Women's Center - The mat lying on the floor and others like it

would be our beds for the next few nights.  There are no window panes, just

metal grates for windows.  I know the floors don't look very

comfortable but unlike some of the nearby homes, these floors

are made of concrete instead of packed down dirt.

 

 

This is the kitchen just off of the main room.  Pay close attention to the stove.

One of the health issues in some of the communities has to do with

the prolonged breathing in of the smoke from these types of stoves.

 

 

 

Wood for the stove.  Parts of the visit gave me a small deja vu feeling

 of my grandmother's home way back when I was just a kid.

 

 

 

Our bathrooms.

 

 

 

Another view of the main room.  Notice the object up near the corner of the roof.

 

 

 

Although none of us are allergic, it wouldn't have mattered... they didn't bother us

and we didn't bother them.

 

 

 

 

 This a banner hanging across the ceiling at the center.  Though some of its letter are missing,

Carl told me it basically says "Stop the silence now."  It helps show how CEPAD is teaching the

abused women in some of these communities to speak up and be heard; not to continue to

live in fear and silence as so many had used to do.

 

 

 

 

Some of the signs hanging on the wall at the center.  I'll tell you a little story about the last one...

 

 

As I was looking over some of the signs trying to figure out what they said, Melvin began explaining them to me.  Melvin is Yelba's cousin who lives in Nicaragua and he volunteered to spend time with us on our visit so he could practice his English.  As he started explaining the signs to me he also started giving me a lesson on the Spanish alphabet and the Spanish names for the colors.  Later on as we prepared to turn in for the night, he brought out his English language workbook he had and I started going over some things in it to help him out.  After a few minutes of this, he got very quite, lowered his head, and said "When I was younger I was a bad boy, very bad.  I was vulgar.  Vulgar!  But God has changed me.  God has changed my heart.  God has given me my family, my son, my church, my home... God has been good to me.  God is my everything.  Everything!" 

 

I know we have brothers and sisters in Christ in other parts of the world, but to hear one of their personal testimonies was a very heart warming experience.  A Nicaraguan brother trying to teach an American brother Spanish; an American brother trying to teach a Nicaraguan brother English; and both able to say in so many words the universal Christian proclamation "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.  I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind but now I see."  As I would find throughout our stay, God and faith are very important in the Matasano community.

 

 Que dios te bendiga (just bendiga or Dios bendiga for short I think) - God bless you

 

 

 



Matagalpa

We packed up the van on Saturday morning and headed to Matagalpa.  Notice all the water and the food.  Whenever CEPAD takes a group out into a community they will supply the food and water for the group.  This helps to ensure the group has access to good potable water for the duration of the visit.  Visitors usually don't have the immunities built up in their systems to handle some of the bacteria in the water.  Unfortunately, some of the local water isn't even good for the locals.

 



I think the trip from Managua to Matagalpa was at least a 2 hour trip.  We stopped off at the CEPAD office in Matagalpa to talk with Juan Carlos Palma, who oversaw that office.  Juan talked to us about how CEPAD works.  It is something they've done for quite a while and, in my opinion, it sounds like they have gotten very good at it.  It's not about going around to see who needs a hand-out but about going around to see who wants a hand-up.  CEPAD will go into a region and go around to different communities trying to find ones that are interested in trying to improve their situation.  After finding 6 or 7 willing communities, CEPAD then works through organized processes to try to find out about those particular communities and how they function.  They get to know those communities.  CEPAD then spends the next 5 years working with those communities, teaching them better ways to farm and ways to market their products, facilitating credit and skills training, and teaching youth and women about their rights.

 

This is at the CEPAD office in Matagalpa.  Standing here are Inocente (I think that was his name - he is one of the Matasano community leaders), Juan Carlos Palma, and Doug Orbaker.

I found this organization to be a great model on how to the communities to help themselves.  It made me start thinking of communities back home in WV and changes we could make.

My prayer is that God will richly bless CEPAD with caring workers and communities that are willing to be part of their program.