Soul Sister 3:16

In truth, I do not...John Bland is one of the kindest, most big-hearted people I have ever met, and BOY can that man work!   I imagine if he were to compete on Survivor, the $1Million prize money would easily be his, because at 60 years old, he can ourwork, outplay and outlast most 20 year olds. John is wiry, and sinewy.  His skin is tanned from hours in the sun, and John loves a "farm day" at Amigos for Christ because in his heart, I think he is a farmer.   John and his wife, Sabrina, are the ones that started the organization Amigos for Christ.and yesterday John accompanied the group from Holy Spirit church in San Jose to the farm. First, there was a 45 minute ride on the back of a flat bed truck through the "wild".  With diesel fumes spewing the entire way, and branches that threatened to "whap" everyone in the face, the terrain was is akin to a LONG Indiana Jones ride at Disney World. When you finally get to the farm, you notice it is different than th...

  In the book of Genesis, Abraham (who Christians, Muslims, and Jewish people all recognize as a pillar within their faith), is called by God to go from his country, his people, and his father’s household, to a land that God would show him.   So, at 75 years old, Abraham left everything he knew – taking his wife, and his nephew named Lot, to set off for the land of Canaan.     After some time in Canaan, the flocks of both Abraham and Lot grew so large that the men needed to separate in order to prevent conflict.   So, Abraham told Lot that he could have the pick of the land for himself – and Abraham would take the remnant.   Then, after looking at all that was available, the Bible says Lot chose the best property for himself. (Genesis 13) As I reread this story this week, some things about it struck me, because I remembered that later in Genesis 19, God destroys the land that Lot chooses (the area of Sodom and Gomorrah) because of the wickedness and dep...

  I’ve heard it said that in order to refine silver it is heated to nearly 1000 degrees.   Then, the silversmith will remove the impurities (called dross) which float on the top.   Once it is clean and pure, the silver will be so reflective that I’m told the smith can even see his/her reflection in it. When I am here experiencing life in the rural community of San Benito, Nicaragua – I can’t stop thinking about the silver, and how, if I envision God as the silversmith – and the people of Nicaragua as the silver, His reflection must be staring up at him. For when you strip away the dross of life – the “extra STUFF” that we Americans have so much of, you get hearts that love like Jesus; with compassion that extends to strangers, generosity that is abundant, and joy that overflows. As I am here, I find myself reprioritizing things that matter most:   God, family, relationships with others, kindness, generosity, and willingness to share the love of Christ.   ...

(written on 6/26) The words “failure is not final” are ones often heard from my pastor Brad Powell’s lips; and they are ones I have certainly found to be true in my own life... Today would have marked my 33 rd wedding anniversary had I stayed married.   And I feel the failure of that marriage every day, for I failed it in every way possible. Jim and I have talked about this before and he knows these feelings are not commentary on him.  He recognizes that  I love him dearly and think that he and I are a good match.   He told me that even in high school he felt we could/would/should be married.   Strange that…but I guess I should have listened! More than anything – with the fact that I am divorced, I lament the dissolution of the “family”.  I HATE sharing Max and having him shuffle between two homes.  I hate the fact that Chris won’t talk to me.  I hate that the Bible tells me God hates divorce – and that because it also says God once div...

(written on 6/25) I love people, and I have many in my life who I consider friends.  This past week, I made a few new friends… Heather, Matt and Emmett are from Austin, Texas.   Emmett plays baseball.   This year, in lieu of spending the money to go to a big baseball tournament in Florida, they decided to spend the money to come here to Nicaragua.   Heather had googled Baseball Service Trips – and found Amigos for Christ, because in addition to water systems, and building bathrooms and schools, they host a baseball academy for young men living here. Heather’s family was hard working and kind.   Back in the states she runs her own environmental landscape business – Regenerative Environmental Design, and though while at the academy she took a line drive to the arm, leaving her with a tremendous bruise – this picture shows her lugging 20 lb buckets of fertilizer for the pitaya plants – continuously encouraging us all. At night, while they were here – Heat...

  These past few weeks I’ve been observing some of the hardest working people I’ve ever seen.   Sure, the community members who live in an area that has never had water are willing to work hard.   After all, it means the generations to come will have an improved way of life.   But there is another group of people I want to talk about this morning.   It is the ladies who work in the kitchen here at Amigos for Christ. A typical day for them begins around 4am, and ends sometime around 5pm.   Their chores include cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner for over 100 people – using a wood fire stove and a grill for most of it.   Breakfast always includes gallo pinto (beans and rice), trays full of cut fresh fruit, and usually eggs, pancakes, or taquitos.   The lunches they make are for the staff (usually somewhere around 60 people) who are going out into the field to work.   Dinners are always delicious.   Last night it was skirt steak, chimic...

  Scott Cunningham is a powerful preacher.   He and his family moved to Nicaragua from Michigan over a decade ago as missionaries, working with the Amigos for Christ organization.   Yesterday, Scott he did a morning devotional that really struck a chord with me – so I thought I’d share…(note – I’ll paraphrase a little here) There is this guy in the Bible called Moses, maybe you’ve heard of him…as a baby, he was the adopted son of Pharoah, the most powerful guy in Egypt; and all he had to do to live a comfortable life for the rest of his life - was NOT SCREW IT UP.   But one day Moses saw an Egyptian beating an Israelite, and being an Israelite himself, it disturbed Moses to the point that he killed the Egyptian.   That caused him to have to run from Egypt into the hill country where he was a shepherd for the next 40 years. Now a shepherd is a pretty boring job.   All you do is sit out in the field and count the sheep (maybe the dumbest animal on the pla...

  Before I headed to Nicaragua, I had the opportunity to see Fiddler on the Roof on TV.   It had been a while since I’d seen the movie and I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to see it again.   As I watched I it though, I could see a lot of myself in Tevya. First, there was the fact that his girls were growing up and starting to leave the nest.   As a parent, that one hurts, and I feel it as Max splits his time between Michigan and Texas and when in Michigan, between me and Ally.   Ally is a wonderful girl – but some days I wish I had my little boy back... Then, beyond watching our children grow up – Tevya and I shared a longing for wealth.   I know I certainly did when I was younger and it was a driving force in my business career.   But do you know what – when I am here in Nicaragua – watching how the people live life “to the full” I get the feeling that they recognize something Tevya and I did not. What we need and what we want are two VER...

It’s all true – Luke 16:19-31 tells a rather scary story… There was a rich man, who was dressed in purple and fine linen, and lived in luxury every day.  At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table.  Even the dogs came and licked his sores.  The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side.  The rich man also died and was buried.  In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.  So he called to him, “Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in the water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.”  But Abraham replied, “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.  And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to g...

Each week in Nicaragua we have been exploring the concept – God in All Things.   Of course, it is easy to see Him in nature – the majesty of the landscape, the shockingly beautiful color of the dragon fruit, the power of the thunderstorms… But more than anything, I have seen Him in the people. I have been asked why I wanted to come here for 7 weeks this summer, and in truth – it is because when you are working alongside those who are unencumbered by the trappings of our American life – what you get is love the way I believe Jesus intended.   Neighbors help neighbors.   They welcome strangers.   They offer themselves and their possessions without a thought about cost.   They are genuinely gracious.   They are genuinely loving.   They are genuinely kind. The Bible book of Acts describes a community very much like the one I have been experiencing while I am here… “All who believed were together and held everything in common and they began selling ...

  I once had a preacher who did and object lesson in church.   First. he got two boards, and between them, he ran a line of wood glue.   Then he pressed the two boards together.   Next, he took out a power drill and a couple of long screws, then he screwed the two boards together.   After that, he picked up a hammer and some nails, and for good measure, pounded a few nails through the two boards to ensure they were tightly joined.   And finally, he took a roll of duct tape and wrapped it around and around the two boards.   He told us THIS is how close God is to you at all times, and one of my favorite verses – Romans 8:38 confirms it:   “For I am convinced that neither death or life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” When I live my life like this is true, it...

  In the Bible chapter of John 10, Jesus says these words, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” I love that sentiment and I have seen it played out in my life, and in the lives of every other “Jesus follower” I have met.   All of us have had a deep revelation – it is that Satan is a liar.   It says so in John 8:44 ….”When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Satan will tell you that you are not “good enough, smart enough, or pretty enough.”   He will whisper things like: My sins define me – and God doesn’t want me if I’m not “pure” – However the story found in John 8:1-11 dispels this.   It is the one of a woman caught in adultery.   By the standards of the day – her punishment would have had her stoned to death.   But Jesus challenged the crowd, “Let he who has not sinned, cast the first stone!”   And, after all of th...

  Did you ever see the movie, An Emperor’s New Groove?   (If not, I highly suggest a viewing as I think it is one of the most underrated Disney movies of all times…) The movie features a spoiled self-absorbed king (named Kuzco) who is seeking a place to build a waterpark as a present to himself for his 18 th birthday.  He covets a piece of land that is owned by a llama farmer named Pacha, and so he calls Pacha to the palace and demands that he move and give Kuzco the land for the project.  Meanwhile, after Kuzco fires his chief assistant, Yzma, she decides to poison Kuzco and claim the throne for herself.   However, her bumbling assistant mixes up the potions, and instead of killing Kuzco, turns him into a llama. At first, Kuzco sees himself as the victim.   He fails to recognize that he himself had previously victimized many.   I suppose like so many of us, he is the hero in his own story…   But when Kuzco ends up at Pacha’s house, and d...

  Martha, Martha, Martha! (As I write that I can hear Jan Brady lamenting about something her sister has done… 😊).   There is a story in the Bible book of Luke that is speaking to me today.   It is one in which Jesus and his disciples have found themselves at the home of their friends, Martha, Mary and Lazarus.   Because there is a crowd, Martha goes about busying herself with the tasks necessary to house and feed them.   However, her sister Mary its listening to Jesus and his teachings – not helping with the work. The Bible says this: “But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.  She came to him and asked ‘Lord don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself?  Tell her to help me!’ ‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed – or indeed only one.  Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her.’” (Luke ...

A Dragon Fruit (or a pitaya as we say in Nicaragua 😊 ) is fairly exotic looking.  It is oblong, and rose-colored with little “scales” that end in yellowish green tips.  The fruit is native to Mexico and Central America and it grows at the end of long arms that stretch out from a thorny cactus. In order to “farm” these plants, you begin with trellises which the cactus can use to support itself as it grows.   In Nicaragua, they use other trees as natural trellises.   However, as the Dragon Fruit plant grows, the natural trellis must be trimmed because the plant itself needs lots of sunlight.   And that is where things get a little tricky. I have said it before, but pruning a dragon fruit trellis is a little like wrestling a dragon.   You see, in order to make the necessary cuts, you must get close.   And often when you are close you get pricked and poked by the little needle-sharp spines of the pitaya plant.   As we were at the Amigos farm,...

  Maybe it’s weird that I wanted to spend 7 weeks in Nicaragua this summer.  After all, summer in Michigan is the best time to be there.  The weather is gorgeous, every town has a festival of some sort, and the skies are blue! Here in Nicaragua the work is hard.   The days are long.   I come home each day covered in sweat and dirt.   And when we’re done working and I get back to where I’m living, there is work to be done there too, so that usually by 8:30pm, I am ready for bed.   And though I am physically and mentally exhausted, I am also quite peaceful and happy, as there is something quite satisfying about leaning into work I know will have a meaningful and lasting impact.   I’m going to be 60 next month.   Much of my life has been lived in a very sheltered, very pampered way.   I have been blessed to have been born in America.   I had a terrific career.   I have a great family.   We live a comfortable life.   ...

  Last night in Nicaragua the rain started at around 6:30 pm.   It started as heavy, then quickly moved to torrential, and then to “holy smokes Noah, I think we might need another ark!”   Accompanying the rain, there was loud crashing thunder and amazing lightening.   And from the sound of all of it – it was right on top of us for hours. I couldn’t help thinking about the ditch we’d spent the day digging in the community of San Benito in Nicaragua.   Progress had been very slow because the soil was more rock than dirt – and I wondered if we wouldn’t simply find a swimming pool when we got there again in the morning. The sun rose at 5:33am, and with it came a most spectacular sunrise.   And as I looked upon the beauty and majesty of the morning, this verse popped into my head, “He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’” – Revelation 21:5 Isn’t that exac...