I realize this has not been the most informative or organized blog and I appologize but I also ask that you please be patient with me and hear our story. When I was first asked to be the blogger for this trip I found myself with 2 different feelings about it. The first was anxiety due to my sometimes slow process for writing anything coupled with the fact that I have never blogged before in my life (I usually don't even put anthing on Facebook). The second was excitement because it was a chance to do something I had never done before. As I began to prepare for the trip, I started trying to come up with ideas of how I would approach the blogging task. I had expectations that I would be able to tell the story of our trip on a day to day basis. I had not taken into consideration any of the circumstances we would find ourselves in or any of the challenges we would face. There were some busy times that would not allow the opportunity to write. There were continuously hot days that would sap your energy and quench whatever desire you may have had for writing. There were a few days in the mountain that had no internet access and for the most part no phone signal except in short instances. Then upon returning from the mountain I found myself trying to write about whar happened in the mountain but at the same time trying to keep up to date with the current day's events. Mostly there was such an information and emotion overload that you would step back and say, "Wow, this is such a story here and such a story there... How do I even begin to process and share it?" My expectations seemed to have broken down over the week. I know I have taken the risk of sounding like I'm making excuses but please be patient with me and hear our story.
When I came to Nicaragua to do mission work, I came with feelings of anxiety for not knowing what it was that I was getting myself into and feelings of excitement because it was a chance for new opportunities. When I came, I was looking to go on a mission trip, which in my mind meant coming to work on something or build something or find a worthy cause to donate money or time to. I was so eager to jump in and do something. But like my expectations of what I thought the blog would be, my expectations of this mission trip began to break down and crumble before me. The only difference was that the break down and crumbling in this situation wasn't a bad thing. So many times we are eager to be the good guy, to be taking care of people and doing the works of Christ. Some times we are so eager that we forget the most important part... the people we are trying to help. Sometimes we come with our own expectations and don't realize that we need to be patient and hear their story. Sometimes we just want to get at the solution that we don't even give both sides time to sit down and talk things over, we just want to fix it quickly. Sometimes we are so eager to bring a fish to a hungry person that we don't realize they might be better off with a fishing pole (give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for life, we've all heard that one).
I also came expecting that we would find people who needed a hand-out of some kind or another. Instead I found people that were looking for a hand-up. What I heard could have been said like this. "We are a people who have had difficult lives and have been in hard situations. We are working to improve our situation and are continually seeking new ways that would help us continue to improve our situation. We are honored that you are here, because it gives us encouragement to continue on our journey as we work towards a better tomorrow. We ask that you get to know us, to hear our story, and then perhaps TOGETHER with God's help, we can find ways to work together towards our goal."
So I ask you as part of this Vision Team (as Todd has so aptly put it), to be patient with us as we start to share what happened in Nicaragua; as we share with you our experience with the people; as we share with you the stories of CEPAD, and Matasano, and the Women's Health Center, and the Women's Co-op, and Espernza en Accion; as we share with you pictures that can tell a thousand words and express so many emotions. We have stories of great faith; stories of triumph and empowerment in people's lives; the story of the child in the corner; the story of the midnight roosters; the story of former victims who are now helping other victims; stories of living rooms bigger than houses; the story of the sick, the bruised up, and the guy who had his bed fall down in the middle of the night. We have stories of a God-loving people; stories of chickens in church, stories of enlightement, and even stories of "Sunshine and the Three Amigos" breaking international language barriers as they sang Journey's hit "Don't Stop Believing." We've shared tears, feelings, laughter, and hope. We've shared hot days, ideas, reflections, and bread.
We have so much to tell you so please... be patient with us and hear our story.
