Should: The Story of Three Men

Our pastor quoted a parable in Luke the other day that didn't leave me feeling all warm and fuzzy.  In fact, it stopped me dead in my thoughts.  Trying to track with Pastor Javy's Spanish was certainly out of the question.  Why did it sound so cold?  Why had I never heard this parable before?   

The parable was from the book of Luke, the 7th chapter.  Jesus was explaining to his disciples the relationship between master and servant.  He said:

 “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? ⁸ Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? ⁹ Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? ¹⁰ So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’"

 "Do as you're told" was ringing in my ears as Pastor Javy jogged through the remainder of his sermon.  Over the next several days, I struggled with why this passage seemed so cold.  I soon came to realize that what God considered a simple duty, "doing what I was told to do", had somehow become something in my heart worthy of recognition, praise from others, a proverbial "pat on the back" from God himself.  Its easy for missionaries to feel this way.  After all, we spend much of our time fundraising and saying to others in a loud voice, "Hey!  Look what I'm doing!".  In that moment, God convicted my heart that simply doing what I was told to do was not worthy of commendation or recognition, but rather it was the bare minimum; the expectation; the status quo.  Then, right on cue, God led me to the parable of the talents (Matt. 25).  

You know the story: a master gives varying amounts of money to his three servants.  Two of them invest it for a return and one does not, burying it in the ground and earning him the rejection of his master.  This time, the master hadn't left them any instructions for what to do with it.  He did, however, seem very pleased with the two who'd taken initiative and put their talents to work.  A curious thought occurred to me then, "The two who were successful were motivated out of a desire to please their master; to go above and beyond.  The one rejected was motivated by fear of failure and lowered expectations."  Then, right on cue, God reminded me of the prodigal son's brother.  I can hear his voice in my head now, "Hey, at least I didn't blow it like he did."

Suddenly, I'm convicted that "doing as I'm told" or as I "should" is not worthy of commendation, a medal of valor, a parade down 5th Avenue, or even a pat on the back from men or God.  It is simply something that, as a child of God, bought at a price and adopted into the family of God, is expected of me, His servant.  In an effort to feel special, I'd lowered that bar to a point where simply doing as I was told seemed utterly heroic.  Not only that, but I now realize that I should be motivated by a desire to please my Master, not out of fear of failure like the one-talent servant.  Finally, I must accept grace.  Unlike the prodigal son's brother, I can no longer view myself as better, more worthy of sonship, or somehow righteous for not blowing it or only doing as I "should".   

Video: Latest Project: Jericho Ministries, Danli, Honduras

Check out this video our team put together from our latest project to serve Jericho Ministries in Danli, Honduras!


eMi Jericho Ministries from Christine Parks on Vimeo.

Our landlord's father is a farmer that owns 2 oxen that seem to move all around the fields surrounding our house.  This morning, he brought me these bananas he had just picked.  They were so yummy.  I made banana crumb muffins this past Sunday, and they were sooo good, I think I'll make some more.  If you're interested in the recipe, here it is. It is listed as one of the top 20 recipes on allrecipes.com.  They really were delicious!!!!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Home Sweet Home

My, my, my has it been a long time since our last post.  This Spring was so incredibly full of amazing experiences, both in ministry and personally.  We were able to do so much ministry together as well as have multiple experiences with family that were just incredible.  I would also describe this spring as a traveling season.  We, I, he, she traveled A LOT!!!  Every 4-6 weeks, there was some type of traveling to do, from busing it from Costa Rica up through Nicaragua and El Salvador to Guatemala to travels to see family near and far.  Finally, we are able to say we are home, sweet, home for a little while.  In May, we also moved into a new home.  During the time Josh's mom lived in Costa Rica, she lived in a small house at the end of the driveway of the house we had lived in since moving to Atenas.  When she moved, we made the decision to move from our house to the house she had lived in.  We felt it was a blessing, and now wish we had lived here earlier.  Although a smaller house, the living spaces are more open.  The house feels like it just fits us perfectly...although we are dog sitting a friend's great dane right now and it's been some growing pains of fitting 2 people and 2 great danes all in this small house.  Overall, we love it, and feel so blessed to have something that fits us so well, and is 1/2 the monthly rent.  One of my favorite things about the house also is that we live so close to our landlords.  Our landlords live in a house that is about 40 yards from our house, and their entire family live in houses on the property also.  It is as though we have been inducted into a communal family living environment.  It is not full on family living as they give us privacy.  But, it is so sweet when our landlord brings over queso tortillas that she just made or comes over, as she did this morning, to teach me how she makes beans.  I am really enjoying being connected to our neighbors and the family environment that we have moved into.  Here are some pictures of our new house:

Newest Neighbor

So a few weeks ago, we got a new neighbor.  He's a little scared to be next to us.  When I ride the scooter down our driveway as I'm coming home, he doesn't seem to like it to much...a little skiddish.  But, he seems sweet, and we're glad to have him as a neighbor.  Meet our neighbor horse:

Live the Life I've Given You

The Lord has been teaching Josh and I many things over the past months.  Some things are easier to learn than others.  Some bring change like the turning on of a light bulb while others take time to process, mulling over what the applications are for your own life.  One of the more recent things that I have been learning came when God used something He was teaching my sister, Christi, as a catalyst to change and affect my own life.  She was sharing of something the Lord had been showing her about her own life one day.  She said the Lord had been teaching her to "live the life He had given her".  As in, live each day realizing that it IS the day the Lord has made for her, the life the Lord has given her...not waiting, sacrificing in obedience today for what you hope will be your life in the future.  Although the Lord was teaching her something entirely different, He has used this simple phrase to impact my life.  In several areas of my life, I feel as though I have been living as though there is this "life" waiting for me somewhere down the road.  Josh and I have been trying for several years to have children.  Although it is our desire to have children, it is not yet the Lord's plan for our lives.  I feel as though I was living life, but waiting for this future life that included kids and a "family" that would come down the road.  Now, I'm not saying those things are not in God's plan for us, but I think He has used this simple phrase to remind me that the days I am living right now are just as much those He's planned for me as whatever days lie ahead.  I feel a renewed desire to live fully the life HE has made for me NOW, soaking up each day and giving HIM the glory for his incredible sovereignty.  So, I encourage you to live the life the Lord is giving you today, bringing Him glory through your joy and contentment!

The First Step

The Lord has been teaching Josh and I so many things over the past year.  One of the main things is Josh has discovered that his passion to help people and serve the Lord through disaster response runs deep.  In different ways, the Lord has been shaping him, molding him and revealing gifts and abilities that allow Josh to serve and minister through disaster response.  Next week, Josh will be leaving Costa Rica to be part of a collaborative team with Food for the Hungry to do a week of Disaster Risk Reduction assessments in a village in Guatemala.  They will be working in a village in which FH wants to spread the love of Christ and His gospel through community development.  Although this will take Josh away from home for almost 2 weeks, it is a huge opportunity and first step towards what Josh has found to be a great passion.  I ask you to join me in praying for the team, the week they will spend in the village...that it will be fruitful, and that people will come to know the Lord through FH's work in the community.  This will be the first of many assessments throughout Central America, South America and the Caribbean.  

                                                         

Christmas and the Clinic

We had the great pleasure of going back to Georgia for two weeks to celebrate Christmas with our families.  It was wonderful to celebrate Christmas with some new and old traditions.  We celebrated with Josh's family and then mine.  Two highlights were seeing all of Josh's dad's family when Josh's dad had a fish fry the day after Christmas.  It was really fun to talk, catch up with some and meet others.  We also changed it up with my family a little this year and the "kids" (this is what we have called the 4 siblings who are now in their late 20's/early 30's since we were young) stayed in Atlanta and our parents drove to celebrate Christmas with us.  It was the first year in many that we have not driven to my mom's in Senoia and then my dad's in Columbus. My brother and sister-in-law wonderfully opened their home to us and we had a great time.  A great memory was that when we celebrated Christmas with my mom, we decided to not exchange gifts this year.  Instead, we  each came up with a Christmas family tradition to do together.   We had everything from hot chocolate and homemade egg nog, a yearly family photo in front of the tree, and the one that Josh and I did.  We decided to have a time of encouragement where people offer words of encouragement, say things they appreciate or have learned from/about another person this year.  It was a very sweet time.  Also, as my dad and step mom were able to drive from Houston up to Atlanta for a week, we were able to see them for several days instead of just a few hours like we normally do at Christmas.

The week after Christmas, I was able to work in a clinic as a physical therapist.  This was a huge blessing as I was a little nervous already that I had forgotten my skills.  After 2 years in a clinic full-time, it was so wonderful to get back into a clinic and get my hands dirty.  I am grateful for a company like the one I worked with before we moved that will let me stay on as a contract worker and have the opportunity to work when I am in town.

I praise the Lord for all the blessings He has given us, struggles and "good" things.  That includes the rich, sweet time we were able to spend with family and renewing the joy or using my skills in a clinic setting.

Our New Neighbor

We are happy to say we have a new neighbor. Well, new, I guess, is a relative term.  Judy, Josh's mom, joined us down in Costa Rica the beginning of September.  Her initial plan was to stay a few months, but God has different plans.  Two weeks after arriving, Josh and Judy were taking the trash up the driveway on trash day.  They were stopped by Yamileth, our neighbor, who told Josh if we knew anybody that was looking for a house to rent, her rental property would be coming available October 1.  Her rental property is a small house right at the end of our driveway.  We all thought it was God's timing, and Judy made the decision to stay here for a longer term.  It has been nice to have family close by and Josh is loving being able to eat his mama's potato salad and meatloaf.  I love seeing how God works in ways we don't expect or imagine.  Judy continues to get settled in here.  She and her landlord (who does not speak any English) are learning to communicate very well through signs and facial expressions.  As you can imagine, it has been such a blessing to have her close.  Here are some pictures of her house.

Manualidades Navidenas

Back in September, the Lord placed on my heart a desire to have an outreach activity at our local Costa Rican church.  Christmas here is a pretty big deal, and the season starts very early as they obviously don't celebrate Thanksgiving.  The idea was to have an afternoon of Christmas crafts where ladies from the church would attend and invite their friends who do not know Christ.  It turned out that the only day we could host the event at the church was the Saturday after Thanksgiving which just happened to be the day my sister and brother-in-law left after their 1.5 week visit.  I felt very much like the Lord was leading me to ask our church back in Atlanta, Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, to partner with us in this event by donating the supplies needed for the crafts.  They gladly said yes, and found a weekly Bible study class who was interested in partnering with us to donate all the materials needed.  Through the generosity of the class, my sister and brother-in-law arrived with tons of supplies and materials...everything we needed and more.  Parts of the next week were spent organizing everything into craft packets for each activity.  By the day of the event, I was pretty tired, but the Lord was faithful to give me strength and endurance.  We ended up having almost 60 ladies attend the event.  We had two craft sessions with a time of cafesito (coffee and pastries) and one of the church ladies gave her testimony and a very clear presentation of the gospel.  Praise the Lord at least one woman chose to accept Christ.  It was a wonderful time of fun, sharing and loving on the ladies.  This has been the first time in a long time that the Lord very clearly placed an idea on my heart of what I can do to help spread His Kingdom.  The feeling of having been used by the Lord to bring people to Himself is a little overwhelming and just really cool.  I praise Him for all that was done at this event and the new sister in Christ we have today. 

 

Visitors

Although being far away from family is difficult, living in Costa Rica does have its advantages.  It's incredibly accessible from the States, especially Atlanta which is where we are from.  Our first short-term visitors for the year arrived the week before Thanksgiving.  My sister and brother-in-law came down to celebrate their 5-year anniversary as well as celebrate Thanksgiving and spend time with us.  I cannot fully express the joy that I felt in their coming.  It was a wonderful time or rest, renewal and relationship deepening.  We spent many hours just laughing and talking about life, family, God and everything in between.  It was such a special time.  During their visit, we finally went to visit volcano Arenal.  I can't believe it's taken us almost 3 years to go visit for the first time, but we were very excited.  I had hoped to get to see more of the volcano, but it was raining almost the entire time we were there.  So, we spent long hours reading books, talking and resting.  I think the Lord gave us the best, and what we needed most which was rest.  Here are some pictures from their visit.

                                       Jenn, Patrick and Josh at the central market in San Jose

                                                                         Orosi Valley

                                              Central plaza in Zarcero on the way to Arenal

                                     This is pretty much what we saw of the volcano for 2 days

                     Jenn took a surf lesson on one of their last days here.  She even got up on her first wave!

Tribu

So, I (Allison) have been helping with the newly re-formed youth group at our local church here in Costa Rica.  The group is called "Tribu" which means "the tribe".  It was an interesting start, and has definitely taken some time to get to a point where the youth feel comfortable with me and are starting to open up.  This past Saturday marked an important point in my life.  For the first time, I lead the teaching part/Bible study part of the youth meeting.  Needless to say, I was totally nervous.  The time was covered in much prayer and thought...and practice.  Practice because, just like in English, I hate talking in front of crowds and the words just seem to leave my head.  I think I talked through the entire 30 minute Bible study 4 or 5 times.  Praise the Lord, I lived through it.  I hope that the Lord used it to speak to their lives.  I will say one thing, we also have had in the past few weeks to make some conduct codes due to disruptive behavior.  I was a little nervous about this because disruptive behavior could've been very distracting.  I don't know if it was the Lord's provision just for me or what, but they were the most attentive, well-behaved group of 25 youth I'd seen at Tribu yet.  Praise the Lord!  Please continue to pray for me as I seek to speak into the lives of the youth at Valle de Beraca church, sharpening them and pushing them towards holiness.

In the Trenches

I feel sometimes like I'm back in college.  Life in college was very cyclical.  You had very definite beginnings and very definite endings, beginnings and ends of semesters and classes and activities.  There was the excitement of the first day and overwhelming joy as you walked out of that last final, along with some relief that you actually made it through.  And then there's the part about 3/4 of the way through where both of those joys and excitements don't play into your daily life, but you just are walking daily to learn more or get work done.  I feel like that's where we are...at the 3/4 mark.  In the EMI Latin American office, we have intern and project cycles.  Three times a year, we have new interns come in and with each semester comes new projects where the team members serve the Lord and help to spread the gospel through their professional design and engineering skills.  You have the relief and joy when the final project report is completed and sent off, knowing that you have fulfilled a divine purpose and have served the Lord with your life and skills.  Then, some weeks, somewhere in this 3/4 point of the semester, you're just living daily to serve the Lord, trying to get work done and move towards the completion of projects.  We praise the Lord for the opportunity to serve him.  We praise him for the excitement that comes with the fresh faces of new interns and new projects and look forward expectantly to the finality of the project and the sad goodbyes to the interns (and time with family to celebrate Christmas!).  But in this moment, we are simply praying for continued daily perseverance, motivation and encouragement.  Praise the Lord that He is always with us!

SOME PICS FROM THE LAST MONTH:

 
With Fall interns at Host Family Appreciation Party

 Duke with our 11-month great dane Duke

Aguacero

So, it's literally been raining for the past 10 days straight.  I absolutely love the rainy season because of so many reasons...mainly though, because it cools things off so nicely.  Without the rain, it's HOT!  I also love it because it makes things so incredibly lush and green.  I don't see why people would come visit Costa Rica in March when it's so dry and hot and everything's brown.  Anyways, back to the rain.  Aguacero means a terrential downpour.  I feel like that has been our life for the last two weeks.  I've washed two loads of laundry, both small and had to hang them up in the bathroom on hangers with fans blowing on them.  It still took 2 days for them to dry...2 full days!  Praise the Lord we have clean underwear, though.  I didn't go to the Friday morning fresh vegetable/fruit market because it was so yucky outside and I didn't feel like trying to maneuver through the outdoor market with an umbrella and my purchases.  This morning, we have had cloudiness, but no rain.  I hope this is a sign that the weather is returning to normal.  I miss my sunny mornings!  Thank you, Lord, for the chance to be grateful for the beautiful sunshine.  The rain has been a reminder that sometimes the darkness and hard times reminds you of how grateful you are for the sunshine.

La Piscina

When we returned to Costa Rica after our trip back to the States in August, I decided I needed to take up my pastor's wife, Cecilia, on her offer to help me with my Spanish.  Although conversationally fluent, I still make mistakes and still don't feel as though I talk like a true "tica".  So, every other week, I spend the day with Cecilia.  We talk, cook, eat, have coffee, run errands or any other thing that she wants to do that day.  Last week was an exceptionally interesting day.  We spent the first hour or so talking, with her correction/teaching.  Then, she said we were going to out to do some things and to eat lunch.  We walked all around the town she lives in, running errands.  We walked to a little store that, I promise, if there was an emergency, those people wouldn't make it.  We wound ourselves through little alleys (all with one way in/out) and finally landed at this little store way back and hidden in a maze of alleys that sold an eclectic mix of random things.  She was going there to buy hangers.  That's when I think about missing Walmart.  We ate lunch at bar stools in the central market at a little cafeteria there.  It was bustling and full of people.  It was a good test in Spanish because it's so hard for me to understand, even English, when there is a lot of background noise.  Finally, we ended our outing by going to the "piscina", as she called it.  "La piscina" in Spanish means "pool".  It didn't take too long for me to realize why it was called that.  The first 1/3 of the store was like a normal thrift store, with racks of clothes displayed on hangers.  The back 2/3 of the store were nothing but knee-high huge bins where they dump huge bags of clothes on top of the already mountainous piles.  In the "piscina", you just have to dive in, literally.  I learned the way you shop in the piscina is to sit on top of the piles of clothes and just dig through.  Everything is about 85 cents, and it's a lot of old, musty clothes.  We were able to find some "treasures", though, and it was a fun, bonding experience with Cecilia which was the best part of all.

Seeing the country from the passenger's seat

As some of you know, we have been in the U.S. for the last month.  The initial reason for our return was eMi's  World Staff Conference in Colorado.  Every 4-5 years, staff from all 7 offices gather in the U.S. for 5 days of encouragement, renewal and learning.  It was a great time where Josh and I both learned more about eMi's 10-year strategic plan for ministry.  We were also so encouraged to see how eMi has grown over the past 2 years.  I didn't recognize at least 30% of the people, meaning they were new staff that have come on since we joined.  We stayed at YMCA of the Rockies outside of Estes Park.  It was a beautiful setting and a great time of worship and fellowship with other eMi families.  I will say that the huffing and puffing after 5 minutes of walking because of the higher elevation was a little ridiculous!

YMCA of the Rockies

We participated in a photo scavenger hunt.  This is a photo line-up.

Awkward family portrait

Because of our return for the conference, we have been able to recruit volunteers for the Construction Management program for which Josh has a vision.  He is implementing a new format for the program, and wee are in need of volunteers.  So, we had the great opportunity to speak at different churches throughout the U.S. with which we have partnerships to recruit volunteers from the area.  We were able to see supporters that we haven't seen in quite a while, or ever before, to meet lots of new people and see the excitement they have for eMi's ministry.  It was incredibly encouraging, and we were blessed by the hospitality of so many to open their homes and lives to us.  The last 3 weeks have consisted of driving more than 4,000 miles, hosting 9 informational meetings, driving through 5 states I have never visited and seeing LOTS of corn.

Josh speaking at a church in Lake Jackson, Texas

Great illustration of eMi's role as a support ministry

Beautiful rainbow we saw driving through Nebraska...that and 8 hours of corn

...said corn.  It was actually very beautiful to see the countryside

We had a meeting in Illinois, so we spent some time in Chicago to celebrate our 6-year anniversary.  We were able to fulfill a bucket list item for Josh...to attend a Cubs game at Wrigley field.

Feliz Cumpleaños

Well, I had my 31st birthday yesterday, July 17th.  I decided I wanted to have a pizza party for my birthday.  One of the families working with EMI built a rancho with a pizza oven behind their home here in Atenas.  So, we invited friends from church, our EMI family and a few other close friends.  I was so excited!!  All in all, 30 people came to the party.  As I said to the party-goers at the beginning, I felt like the party was a two-fold celebration.  Yes, it was a celebration of my birthday, but it was also a celebration of what the Lord has done in our lives over the past two years.  I feel so incredibly blessed to think back on how the Lord has worked to build relationships with those around us.  I remembered the days of feeling like we'd never fit in or when deeper friendships with Costa Ricans seemed like something out of our grasp.  To stand in front of a huge extended family of Ticos who have accepted us as "family", love and support us left me without words.  To have our EMI family and our friends from church get to know each other was pretty cool also.  We ate LOTS of homemade oven-baked pizzas, had cake as well as cream cheese and cinnamon pizzas, opened presents, laughed and just had fun together.  They came to celebrate my life, but I was more giving thanks to the Lord for his continued faithfulness and plan for our lives.  He is GOD!  I am NOT.  He is SOVEREIGN and He is GOOD!

Water for the Ixil (Guatemala, July 6-10, 2011)

Ixil Family of Xonca

Following a local bus ride from Atenas, Costa Rica to the airport to travel to Guatemala, a cheerful greeting from FH Staff in Guatemala City, the sweet, nostalgic taste of rosa de Jamaica with lunch, and a harrowing van ride from Guatemala City to the mountain town of Nebaj, my teammate Hudson and I were greeted by a damp, moldy room with two double beds, lumpy and sagging from age and the all-to-familiar smell of unvented sewer gasses coming from the mirror-less bathroom.  Exhausted from the journey which took us over mountains, valleys, and precariously close to unguarded cliffs and landslide-weakened roads, we promptly retired for the night.  Awakening the next morning to the foggy chill of high-altitude Guatemala, I fiddled with the shower for a few minutes to coax out what little warm water would come.  I brushed my teeth, gingerly swishing with water from a bottle, the infamous “Montezuma’s Revenge” ever present in my 

mind. 

Guatemalan Hillside & Creek

The Village Leaders of Xonca 

The day was to consist of a visit to the spring that the village leaders had discovered a year prior and hoped we could use to supply water to the 1,000+ residents of the village of Xonca.  With plans to perform water quality tests for alkalinity, hardness, iron content, bacteria presence, and bacteria quantity, we set out after breakfast, heavy-laden with testing supplies, a handheld GPS, and other odds and ends.  Little did I know, we were embarking on a 4-hour, 10km hike which would cover a total elevation change of over 400 meters (or about 1200ft).  We set off for the peak at about 9:00 in the morning, where we were told we would find the mountain spring, led by a small Ixil man and followed close behind by a train of 20 other dark-faced community leaders from Xonca.  The little 40 year-old Ixil man, Diego, who courageously led us machete-in-hand was more akin to a waterbug than a human, skimming across the muddy trails and cavernous paths with the greatest of ease.  Weighing all of 80 pounds, he quickly skipped down the trail unaware that his “gigante” Gringo brothers were trudging through the mire and the muck, ducking and dodging low-hanging branches and limbs he’d never noticed.  Outfitted with rubber boots, machetes, picks, shovels, filthy clothes and anxious smiles, the train of leaders behind us were raising a loud ruckus in the throaty Ixil language, exchanging stories of the night before and their commentaries on the excitement of the coming presidential election in Guatemala.  

Following the "Waterbug"

Our Entourage

As we marched, my legs became heavier and heavier, partly due to the load of mud growing ever thicker on the bottom of my boots with every step and partly due to the altitude and lack of oxygen causing the lactic acid to build with painful quickness.  As my lungs struggled franticly to keep up with our “waterbug”, I was constantly bombarded with questions posed in Spanish requiring answers…in Spanish.  We finally crested a hill and were welcomed by a beautiful green meadow rolling gently down to the valley below.  Here, we encountered their babbling spring of hope. 

Arriving at the spring

Spring

As we prepared and executed our water tests, fumbling with sterile bags of collected water, test strips, and collection vials, the long, dark faces of our village leaders looked on in stunned silence.  It suddenly dawned on me that they most likely had no idea of why I was spreading sweet-smelling clear gel on my hands (hand sanitizer), being so careful to avoid touching the edges of the clear, sterile bags I was filling with water from the spring, dipping little white strips of paper into the vials of water and seeing them magically change colors and then comparing them to other little squares of color.  This was a day, I was sure, they would not soon forget.  They would tell their children and grandchildren for decades to come of the day when the giant white men came to their spring to make paper change color!

Having collected our samples, GPS data, and other measurements, we made haste for Xonca hoping to miss the evening rains.  Unfortunately, the downhill portion of the hike was not any easier than the assent.  The pain that was in my thighs was now replaced by a shooting pain in my knees and heel, a nasty blister I would soon discover was building. 

The "downhill" portion wasn't so "downhill"

Waterbreak

Finally leveling off in the valley, I was hopeful that the trail would become easier.  However, much to my dismay, we made an abrupt left-hand turn into the cornfields.  I was again quickly left behind by our “waterbug” to fight the cornstalks and leaves by myself.  After an hour of fighting and swatting, we emerged into a clearing, Xonca. 

About to make the abrupt left turn...

We would soon be told that the poorest of the poor were living in Xonca and suffered from chronic malnutrition, the result of a limited diet of corn.  Corn and beans were the only crops the locals felt comfortable growing and were the only things culturally familiar.  Other organizations, along with FH, had been trying for years to introduce more nutritious crops into the Ixil diet.  The water system we were there to design was part of a multi-faceted attack on the malnutrition and disease that affected the Xonca population.  In bringing a clean, steady supply of water to the community, FH hoped to be a shining example of what God’s love was all about.  We were there, having been blessed by God, to be only a small cog in that wheel.  It was truly a blessing to have a part in the work that God was doing to bring His salvation to the Ixil people of Xonca!

Water = Life

¹¹ “Sir,” the Samaritan woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? ¹² Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
 ¹³ Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
 ¹⁵ The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
-  John 4:11-15


God uses water many times in his Word to us.  He tells us that we will only be satisfied when we drink from Him.  Even so, the Samaritan woman seems to miss Jesus's point again saying, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."  Often, when the lost's physical need for water is not satisfied, it can be very difficult to hear the words we are so desperately preaching.  


On Monday, June 13th, Josh embarks on a 9-hour bus ride to Managua, Nicaragua and another 2-3 hour ride to the province of Chinandega, Nicaragua to meet with descendants of the Miskito indians and Food for the Hungry, a Christian non-profit organization ministering to the community of Bayardo Arce.  Bayardo Arce is located on the outskirts of the city of Chinandega.  Most homes are constructed from scrap wood, cardboard and plastic with an outdoor latrine.  Families run small business ventures selling tortillas, fruit, water or other small items in the streets of the city to earn $2 - $3 per day, which is less than half of the cost of food to feed a family.  Rice, beans, and corn tortillas are the dietary staples, along with very limited amounts of fruits and vegetables because of the expense.  Regardless of the season, whether dry or rainy, the community's general health is poor due to poor hygiene, dust and dampness, or standing water that breeds mosquitoes.  They are connected to a municipal water system, with limited distribution spigots and no sewer system.  A nearby public health post has inadequate facilities for primary care or health promotion.  Common illnesses include malaria, dengue fever, anemia, malnutrition, respiratory infections and parasites.  Most of the school aged children attend one of two public schools (primary or secondary) located within 2 kilometers of the community for morning or afternoon classes. Because of economic needs of the family, some adolescents are required to skip school and help support the family. 


Critical issues in Bayardo Arce include the following:
The health of community members is generally poor because of the living standards of the community. The streets are very dirty and there are many mosquitos. Many people suffer from Malaria and Dengue fever. There are also many people that suffer from parasitic infections because of a lack of basic hygiene.  Many children especially suffer from malnutrition because they are not receiving basic nutrients in the food that they eat. Most families eat rice and beans but never any fruits, vegetables or meat.  About 50% of the community is unemployed and those that are employed are still barely able to provide a stable wage for their household.  There is not much emphasis on children's education in the community.  


This visit to the community is meant to be an exploratory trip to meet the people of this community and understand their needs as they pertain to the lack of consistent, clean water supply and a system to effectively and safely handle their excrement, wastewater, and trash.  This project is being pursued as a means to increase the overall health of the community in hopes that it will increase overall school attendance of the children of that community.  In ministering to the needs of the children, the hope is that this will open the door to Gospel to be heard.  Josh will be in Nicaragua until Thursday, June 16th.  Please join us in prayer for his safe travel, effective ministry, and soft-hearted reception of the community to our help in securing safe water for them to drink, a way to handle their waste, and ultimately the acceptance of the Jesus-founded love we hope to share through this project!  


Pray with us that the people of Chinandega would drink from well of Living Water!