Catching up - December & January

 December:

Men’s Retreat: December got kicked off with a great weekend at Campo Alegria with guys from the ICF community.

Worship time at the Men's Retreat

It was a great time to build relationships, grow in our faith, and blow up watermelons launched from a trebuchet. 

Rivas Camp: Julia and I helped with a camp at Campo Alegria for the kids from the Rivas dump. As usual, we played, swam, and hung out with the kids from dawn to lights-out. We also taught English and crafts. It’s always so much fun seeing these kids enjoy their time there.

The kids arriving from Rivas

Desayunen

Fun in Lake Nicaragua

Surfing: We finally tried out surfing. I’m glad we did because it’s amazing, and has become a fun way for me and the boys to spend some time together.

Erinn’s Parents Visit: We had a full house at Christmas time, with Mom, Dad, and Josh all staying with us for the week from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Eve. It was an awesome time. We did a lot of things that we hadn’t tried yet here in Nicaragua. The highlight was going zip-lining as a family at Laguna de Tiscapa. Everyone did it despite any fears or anxieties. I’m especially proud of Sammy who was pretty terrified before he was sent zipping down the line.

Meeting Distant Tefels: Okay, so Erinn has studied her family history, probably a lot more than most people. Well, there is a bit of Nicaraguan family history that is explained here: http://www.izzosinnica.blogspot.com/2012/06/for-month-of-june.html

In fact, we even got to meet a couple of Erinn’s extremely distant cousins in Granada back in 2011. Anyway, on the way into Campo Alegria, there is a large sugar cane plantation that we must pass through to get to the lakefront camp property. (This is related to the Tefels, I promise). We’ve been through this huge farm many times. Well, Peter Willard, who started the camp, was invited to a dinner hosted by the plantation owners a while back, and he noticed that the owner’s last name was  Fernandez Tefel. Knowing about Erinn’s family history, Peter said to him that he had to meet Erinn, and that they must be related. So he passed along his number.

Forward to the final week of 2012: With the family visiting, it seemed like a perfect time to get together with this possible relative. So we met Gabriel and his mother, Gloria, for lunch and compared family history. It turns out that, Erinn and Gloria are fourth cousins. The family who owns the plantation in Nicaragua that we had been through a number of times over several years just happens to be family! But wait, it gets better. The family, like many, moved during the Sandinista Revolution, when Gabriel was very young. It turns out that they settled in Towson, Maryland –only about 30 minutes from our home in Maryland – and moved back to Nicaragua about the same time that we moved to Maryland. Weird.

Christmas and New Year’s: Did I mention that Nicaraguans enjoy their firework?

January:

House of Hope Camp: Along with the Willards, we started the month by bringing a group of little girls from House of Hope to Campo Alegria for a few days. House of Hope takes in girls and women who have been trapped in lives of prostitution, and tries to help them reclaim their lives. To see these little girls playing and enjoying the camp after all that they have been through in their short lives was incredibly moving, but Erinn said it best when she posted, “It doesn't matter if you had a perfect childhood, or you've been through horrors. The giggle of a 9 year old playing in the waves is the same.”

Visiting Sucuyá: After many drives through the plantation, we finally got to pay an actual visit to the farm owned by Erinn’s relatives. It was a really good day, riding horses and getting to know Gabriel a little better. We got to get a good tour of the farm that mostly produces sugar cane, but also grows plantains, mangos, and some teak, among other crops. After lunch, we returned to Managua, but we hope to have Gabriel here for dinner soon.

An awesome day with family.

Julia starts school: After a semester of being a full-time online student, Julia started at NCA part-time (remaining online for the other part). Now all three kids are at NCA - Julia and Nate part-time, and Sammy full-time.

Costa Rica: When renewing a Nicaraguan Visa after 90 days, one merely has to go to the immigration office and pay some fees. After the second 90 days, the visitor is required to leave the country for a minimum of 72 hours. While many people told us we could probably get away with just going overnight, we didn’t want to take any chances. So booked a relatively cheap hotel and bought some bus tickets to Costa Rica. It was sort of cool to go to Costa Rica again, with the last time being on our honeymoon in 1998. At that time, it was the first country, other than Canada, that I had ever visited. Back then, we didn’t even need passports. We just brought our driver’s licenses and copies of our birth certificates. After 3 days, we were glad to return to Nicaragua. While Costa Rica was a bit more “American” in a lot of ways (including prices), we’ve found that we actually like some of the disorder that we experience here on a daily basis.

Spiritual Emphasis Day: At NCA, they provide all the 7^th-12^th grade students with a sort of youth retreat/convention with live worship, a keynote speakers, and breakout sessions with guest speakers. Erinn and I were asked to do one of the breakout sessions, and we were really happy to be a part of this day. As Casey Bonham sang, and I watched students respond to his music, I was overwhelmed with appreciation for both NCA and Mountain Christian School. I really do feel so privileged to have had my children attend these schools - not because they are private schools, but because they are Christian schools. Both schools aim to give an outstanding education while creating outstanding characters by putting academic and spiritual growth side by side.

Erinn and I got a chance to talk to students about what the Bible says about parents and how kids should respond when parents fail.

Pictures of NCA's Spiritual Emphasis Week
Pictures of NCA's Spiritual Emphasis Day 

Catching Up - November

Since I’ve been so bad at keeping everyone up to date on what’s been going on since the last blog, I’ll give you a brief update on what we’re currently doing. Then, I’ve decided to post an update on each one of the past few months – one month every few days this week. So before I get writing about what’s to come in the future, let me update you on what’s happening now, as well as the past few months.

Right now, 

Erinn is hammering away with work, teaching two classes at NCA and coming home to hours of freelance work each day. It’s a blessing that the freelance work is coming in because money has been tight, but it’s really tough on us because the work burden is almost completely falling on Erinn’s shoulders. While I have only had some sporadic freelance assignments, work for Erinn has been streaming in pretty consistently since Christmas. While we’re grateful for the work, we definitely wish some of that load could be shifted over to me. Hopefully things will turn, and this imbalance will only be short-term.

Other than that, we feel that we are at a crossroads here that we will be sharing with you in the coming week or two. Just remember to keep us in your prayers.

For now, here’s the past-due update on:

November:

It was pretty mild to begin with, but it was as if the rainy season switch was suddenly turned off in November. It dried up and the breezes pick up. Beautiful.

Some of the kids in Acahualinca.

 We continued to visit the feeding center and help out with the kids’ program in Acahualinca, near the dump. We also made a visit to Granada where we sometimes visit the dump for a Bible Study and feeding program. That trip was far from routine after some problems we encountered, which I’ll describe below. These are some of the memorable moments from November:

30 Hour Famine: During the first weekend of November, Julia, Nate, and I were among the NCA students and adult leaders that took part in fasting for 30 hours to pray and raise money for World Vision’s aid to Afghanistan. It was a difficult and fulfilling retreat where we saw a lot of spiritual growth.

Josh Arrives: The same day that the 30 Hour Famine began, Erinn’s youngest sibling, Josh, arrived in Managua for the beginning of a 3 month visit, that is now in its fourth month…and counting. Josh came down to really experience Nicaragua, immersing himself in the culture and language. Though he visits us occasionally, we dropped him off in San Juan del Sur about a week after his arrival, where he has spent the majority of his time here at language school. San Juan del Sur is a beautiful Pacific beach town about a mile from where Survivor Nicaragua was filmed. It’s been amazing having him here, sharing part of our life here together.

Car Accident: On the morning trip to Granada to help out at the dump, we were driving through the narrow, somewhat chaotic streets of the city when we began to cross an intersection and got hit from the side by a pickup truck. In Nicaragua, after an accident, the vehicles are required to stop where ever they come to rest, despite what that may do to traffic, so that the police can get a better understanding of what happened. So, I stopped just through the intersection, and everyone was okay, but the van sliding door was pretty messed up. The guy driving the truck was okay too, and quite friendly given the circumstances. You see, unknown to me, I ran a stop sign. Not any ordinary stop sign, but a sort of phantom stop sign. One was supposed to be there, but it wasn’t. There was just a small hole in the sidewalk where the stop sign should be. Take a look:

See that dark gray patch of concrete? That's where the stop sign should be.

I called my friend Mario who leads the Bible Study program at the dump and he rushed over to give me some translation help. The officer who came to the scene was really nice too, contrary to what I’ve heard, and even complimented me on my Spanish (That rarely happens, trust me!) All in all, no ticket was given at that time because of the sign situation. I was just supposed to appear at the police station to officially exchange insurance info with the other driver. Well, when I showed up at my appointment there the following week, they wrote me a ticket for running a stop sign anyway. How could I be that upset though? It was a $25 fine and nobody was hurt or angry, and the damage was relatively minor (The van could still be driven). It eventually was fixed up for a fraction of what it would have been in the US (Thanks to some generous friends!)

Erinn’s Birthday: Erinn celebrated her 29^th birthday this past November ;). We celebrated with a movie. As a bonus, when we got home, we saw our first tarantula in the house. And thankfully, the only one…so far.

Changed our look: Normally this wouldn’t be noteworthy, but considering how long it had been - Nate and I each got haircuts. Some would say they were way overdue (like a year for me).

The NCA Talent Show: So many talented students. Nate performed two acts – he played his cajon drum in a band that a few kids in the neighborhood put together, and he did his well-known cover of Brian Regan’s stand-up comedy. 

The Colonia Becklin Band

Nate doing his comedy act

Spanish Class: I finished up my first 5 week session of Spanish (2 classes a week/3.5 hours each class)

So, that’s November in a nutshell. I’ll tell you about December in a day or two.

Sorry For the Delay

Okay, so I haven’t blogged in a while and have a lot to catch everyone up on, but first I need to explain my delay. It’s pretty silly really…after the last couple of blogs (written about 3 months ago), I checked to see the numbers Blogger recorded for our page views, and it was pretty discouraging. For a long time, it was telling me that the last blog wasn’t viewed at all, and the prior blog was only viewed like three times. So every time I sat down to write, this voice in my head would tell me, “Why bother putting all that time into writing? Nobody’s going to read it anyway.” And then, just like that, I’d get up from the computer and forget about writing. 

Around the end of December, I started to plan for a year end/year start blog entry, and again checked the numbers. Still nothing. Despite this, I moved ahead with my plans to do a blog that presented each family member’s most vivid memories of 2012and biggest prayers for 2013. Between the lack of page views in the back of my mind, and the lack of willing participation from a lot of the family, I gave up again.

I started to think about blogging again this week. After all, some pretty exciting stuff is going on that we want to share, and will definitely need some help with. So, I talked to some friends about nobody reading my blog, and they insisted it must be a technological error from Blogger. When I got home, I explained to Erinn why I hadn’t written, and she immediately logged in to see if the numbers were true. When she logged in, the numbers for our past two blogs were actually among the highest we’ve ever had! 

So the moral of the story is that it shouldn’t matter what the numbers say here anyway. I shouldn’t be following what the negative thoughts in my head are telling me; I should be writing these blogs for even one person who might enjoy reading it. Thank you so much for reading our blog and staying connected with us even though we are far away. Y Lo siento por mi falta (And I’m sorry for my mistake), and I will do my best to keep the updates current. 

As for what’s happening here…that is going to take a little longer to write up, so stay tuned.

3 Months

So, I went down to the Immigration office last week and renewed our Visas, which of course means we’ve been in Nicaragua for 90 days now. A lot has happened in that time, and I’ve been slacking with my writing, so a lot has happened since our last blog post. So, here we go… 

(*MountainCC people – look for an announcement at the end of this blog entry)

A trip to the immigration office is a lot like a trip to the MVA/DMV.

Erinn:

Although there wasn’t really any intention of teaching here when we moved, Erinn has been using her gifts as a part-time staff member at Nicaragua Christian Academy (NCA). There was a need for a calculus teacher back in September, and Erinn happily stepped into that role. So she happily took on a class of a whopping four students and has fit right in with the other staff at NCA. 

More recently, NCA decided that their Geometry class would be better served if it were split into two smaller sections. So Erinn took on an additional class – this time a class of 14 Geometry students. 

She really seems to like the faculty and students at NCA, and is enjoying her work there.  Looking at her teaching as her main ministry, Erinn has also been providing some math tutoring for students who need it.

Wendy got Erinn and early/surprise birthday gift - special delivery of Flavor Cupcakery!

 Since Erinn has been the main income provider, she has also been doing some contract educational writing, and we recently became incorporated. This will allow a broader range of contract work for both of us as needed, and was necessary for a specific contract that Erinn will soon be working on.

Jeff:

Mostly, I have been serving where ever I can, whenever I can. Along with the Willards, Erinn and I have been bringing missionaries and their families to Campo Alegria to explore how they might be able to use the facilities for their own ministries. I have been visiting various ministries regularly to help out, to see what God has going on around Managua and Granada, and to get some ideas for how I might fit in here long term. I am starting to get some real ideas for ministry here, and exploring how they might be put into place, which is pretty exciting.

Playing with the kids at the Managua dump is a highlight of our week.

In addition to serving, I have been taking Spanish classes at Universidad  Centroamericana (UCA), thanks to some friends who arranged the classes for college students they bring in to serve here. I just finished week 4 of a five week basic Spanish course. We meet twice a week for about three and a half hours. I’m still a very basic speaker, but I understand much more than I did a month ago.

I recently picked up where I left off in the states as a youth group leader. Last week, I had my first small group with a group of 8^th grade boys. Next week, I will be joining them in the 30 Hour Famine to raise funds for World Vision. I’m looking forward to getting to mentor and just have a lot of fun with a great group of kids.

I also have the distinguished honor of being the first one in the family to need a trip to the ER here in Managua. Many of you probably saw most of the details on Facebook - basically, I had a little banana cutting accident and had to get a couple of stitches and a tetanus shot. Overall, I was very impressed with the whole process. The check in was quick, the doctor was very friendly and professional, and without insurance, it was cheap (by US medical standards). 

A trip to the ER for 2 stitches + tetanus = 45 minutes and $89. Not bad.

For fun, I still get out and enjoy running whenever I can. Last weekend, I did a long run with Managua Runners on the trails of a coffee plantation in San Marcos - very cool. Pretty soon, I will be preparing for a 50k race on Ometepe Island in February called Fuego y Agua. The island consists of two volcanos, one of which I will summit and descend during the 50k. I have also been going to the gym pretty regularly with my friend Maynor.

Climbing a volcano as the last leg of a 31 mile race? No problem!

Nate:

Nate’s daily life has changed quite a bit in the last few weeks – probably even more than Erinn’s. A few weeks ago, after Erinn started teaching her second class, we decided to enroll Nate part-time at NCA. It’s been a great change for him, and he really seems to be enjoying it there. So, in addition to his homeschool English, Science, and Social Studies courses, he is now taking Geometry, PE, Bible, and guitar at NCA – and Erinn is his Math teacher.

Nate in a drama for the Kid's Program at the dump.

While Nate hasn’t had much of an outlet for his love of acting, he has been busy with music. Aside from his guitar class at NCA, he is improving his drumming by taking private lessons once a week. He play on one of the worship teams at International Christian Fellowship (ICF), where we usually attend on Sundays.

Julia:

Julia has been doing school online through The Keystone School, which is a very well designed online high school program. But, for any of you that know Julia, she is an extremely social creature. With the rest of us out and about doing our thing, she is often home alone. So as of January, when the second semester starts, we plan to enroll Julia part-time at NCA, along with her Keystone studies. Since she already knows many of the students there, she seems really excited to get to be in school with them. Like Nate with the drums, we plan to get Julia started soon with private guitar lessons, as well.

Julia serving for the Eagles (look at the ground - yes, there are rain outs and delays for volleyball here).

Julia has also been active as a member of NCA’s volleyball team, which is wrapping up its fall season. It’s been fun for her, and definitely a major social outlet for too. She has also been involved with Young Life here, which she really enjoys. Since their schedules are more flexible than Sammy’s (who is a full-time student), Julia and Nate have served in various ministries together with me when ever we can.

Sammy:

Ah, last but not least. As a full time fourth grader, Sammy has been the one in the family who has had a pretty consistent schedule since August. He has really turned it up a notch this year at school. Sammy works so hard, and his grades have been reflecting that. He has been making a lot of friends and really seems to be fitting in well. He sings with a cute fourth and fifth grade worship team for his Wednesday morning chapels. They practice together most Tuesdays after school. He was also elected as a representative in a school-wide election a few weeks ago. 

Is this the face of a politician?

For fun, Sammy still builds everything Lego. He’s currently in a Bionicle phase, but still love him some Ninjago. Since moving, he’s also become a huge Netflix/Power Rangers fan.

**************************************

*Mountain Christian Church short-term mission opportunity – Easter 2013:

What would be a better way to celebrate Holy Week than by being salt and light, serving as a family in Nicaragua?

Well, we want YOU to come and experience serving in Nicaragua first hand March 28 – April 4.  It would be VERY cool to have some Mtn families here to work alongside of us at Campo Alegria – to make Easter extra special for all involved. The cost of the trip would be in the ballpark of $1,000 each, but may vary according to several factors.

  

Maybe you can’t go, but please think of others who may be interested…Mtn families we might know.  We have been emphasizing families because this is a great, safe, family oriented trip for kids and with kids. But, by all means, singles are welcome too!

This trip may or may not be advertised broadly at Mtn…we are hoping to “capture” 4-5 families that want to go then get them ready to make the trip.

If interested, please contact Jeff, Erinn, or Tom Moen.