It's Official!

It’s Official!—October 29

It’s official, folks!  I am leaving the country on the 29^th of November.  BUT I won’t actually be Stateside until Christmas time… :)

On the 29^th I’ll be flying north to San Salvador, El Salvador to stay for a few days with some friends, to eat some pupusas and all around enjoy Salvadoran culture.  From there I’ll make my way one more country north to Guatemala to meet up with Rachel and other friends.  This will be my first trip to Guate and I plan on enjoying the time exploring the cultural context as well as seeing what some partner mission agencies are up to.  There will also be a few work meetings scattered in there and who knows what else.  From Guatemala, Rachel and I will hop on a bus north to Mexico where we will go city hopping, from Chiapas to Mexico City to Tijuana.  We have many friends and contacts at every stop who can both host us and show us around.  It should be a blast!  Eventually we’ll make it to California (our goal is before Christmas) where I’ll spend some time with Rachel and her family at their home in Santa Barbara.  Then, when I’ve had my fun, I’ll fly home to chilly Michigan sometime in early January.  Save some hot cocoa for me!

You may have also heard that I will be returning to Central America next year.  Fact.  But first I get to spend 5 months at home, so don’t worry about me running off just yet!  I won’t leave Michigan until early June, which leaves plenty of time for us to catch up.  And, I don’t want to give away any of the details just yet, but I’m cooking up some fun things to do once I’m in Michigan.  And by fun, I mean educationally fun…  don’t turn your nose up just yet—it’ll be very worthwhile.  I’ll make sure of it. 

Guiss and I in Leon

You may have also noticed that I didn’t update my blog last week, and I apologize for that.  I was not actually in the country at the time and so I was unable to write anything.  But I’m back now.  Last week, Rachel and I went north to León, Nicaragua to visit Guissell as well as my new bosses.  Yep, next June I’m moving to Nicaragua!  This time, I’ll be working as a partner missionary with the Nehemiah Center (http://nehemiahcenter.net/) which means no more volunteer status!  Working my way up the professional ladder, as it were.  And I am absolutely thrilled with my job description!  I get to work with the Nehemiah Center’s cross-cultural educational programs, ranging from high school students to adults, from one-week trips to semesters abroad to long-term internships.  I get to put not only my anthropological background to use but also my experience here in Costa Rica.  To boil it down, I’ll be helping to design and develop better ways to experience living in a new context to ensure that participants get the best out of every moment.  I want them to feel like they can take something home with them and not feel forever stuck in the tourist phase of cross-cultural exposure.  The idea is NOT to have them come down to Central America to change the world.  The idea is for them to be changed by Central America.  And then go home and plug-in to their communities, sharing their new perspectives, ideas, and experiences.  We want to create people who become newly dedicated to their North American contexts, contexts where they have the advantage of being local experts (rather than being naïve outsiders).  Slogan: Live in a new context to learn how to appreciate your own context.  Leave, be liberated, return, liberate others.  As I’ve said before, missions is not just for far off countries.  Let’s not forget about our own backyards, our own neighbors, our own homes. 

And I’m so thankful that I get to be a part of it :)

For those of you who hate paragraphs, here’s a bullet-point summary:

• I’m leaving Costa Rica on November 29 to begin a bus trip north
• I’ll be in the United States (California) by Christmas
• I’ll be back in Michigan by early January
• I’ll be moving to León, Nicaragua sometime early June (details above)
• And I have no idea how long I’ll be there :)

Stay tuned!

Dead or Alive?

Katherine, Me, Kendall

This past Saturday a small group of us ventured up into the mountains not for a hike but rather to participate in workshop on community development and faith.  Rachel, Kendall (one of our Bola Bola leaders), Katherine (a short-term intern at Casa Adobe) and I had the special privilege to sit alongside fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to hear what Lois Ooms had to teach us.  Lois was a long-time missionary in several countries in Africa before she recently moved back to the States.  Ever since, she has traveled the world giving these seminars, sharing her experiences, and teaching others how to “do missions” better. 

I learned a lot from her colorful anecdotes and potent life examples, hearing how these shaped her view of missions and faith.  One of the things that really stuck out in my mind though was the idea of holistic reconciliation and redemption.  She showed us this diagram, illustrating the relationships humans were created to have and how they looked before and after the Fall.  Before the Fall, our relationships were concrete and stable; after, they became distorted and warped, though not fully destroyed.  And therein lies our hope: our relationships are NOT FULLY BROKEN and so they can be mended and healed.  Every single person in this world, believer or not, bears the image of the Trinity and NOTHING can destroy that.  No person is ever too far gone for healing and reconciliation to reach them.  There is always hope.

Another thing we talked about was what a healthy, alive church looked like in comparison to a dead one.  A dead church is full of people, worshiping in an orderly fashion, focused very much on renewing one’s personal relationship with God.  Unfortunately, that’s where the blessings end; dead churches forget that one’s relationship with God is not all there is.  We humans were not made to be isolated little creatures wandering the earth focusing only on our Creater (though that is important).  No, God made us to live in community, not only with other humans but also with the earth.  And those relationships have become distorted as well; they too need healing.  A church that focuses too much on reconciling their relationship with God becomes closed off to the world around them; the walls become thick, the doors shut, the windows sealed.  The Church becomes the building itself, a place to go to restore one’s spiritual life—nothing more.  This is what a dead church looks like.  A white-washed tomb—beautiful on the outside, full of people on the inside, but VOID OF LIFE. 

An alive church is much different.  In these churches, the Church is the people not the building.  Their congregations are the ones out living in the streets, being with people, seeking reconciliation in all relationships.  Members are active in all areas of life: education, politics, society, the environment, culture, development, economics.  No area exists apart from God’s sovereign reach, and where he is his followers are also.  Coming together in communion with fellow believers is their spiritual bread, their motivation, their energy.  Believers come to church to be fed so that they can be renewed to begin again, ready to face the world and the challenges that lie ahead.  Not only that but believers come to gain insight, encouragement, and support from fellow believers.  It is this give-and-receive dynamic that defines a healthy church, an ebb and flow of never-ending movement  between church and community.  One’s faith is not limited by walls anymore.

During the conference, Lois asked us what our churches were like: dead or alive?  Or somewhere in between?  She then reminded us that no matter how bleak the outlook, no person, no church, no society, no system is ever too far gone for reconciliation and healing.  We should never give up hope and we never stop trying.  This is our calling as followers of a just Father, a healer Son, and a moving Spirit.

Stay tuned!

We are People

I read something this week, something that initially I thought to be quite wise and insightful.  Something about it nagged me though, rubbed me the wrong way, made me uncomfortable.  The more I thought about it, the more I disliked it.  Seriously, what an idiotic thing to say… 

It’s a quote from our dear Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, a wise and wonderful women held in high regard in our culture.  However, not everything a famous person says makes it good.  Here’s what she had to say:

“Great minds discuss ideas;

average minds discuss events;

small minds discuss people.”

 

And I disagree.  Entirely. 

It is people that God made, people that God loves, people that he tenderly created and cares for.  The church is made of people.  The world is full of them.  History has been shaped by them.  The future will be determined by them. 

We are people. 

And to discuss us is not an error; it’s not shallow, not simple-minded, not dumb.  Sure, this type of conversation can be all of those things—it can be abused, used to spread rumors, hate, despair.  But it can also be constructive. 

The second we stop to talk about the people and look only to events and ideas is the moment we lose our humanity.  We essentially take a giant Pink Pearl Banford© eraser and rub away the face of the problem.  Ideas become grand generalizations belonging to someone else, to another time, another existence.  Problems that arise from the discussions of ideas become someone else’s responsibility.  If we have no faces and no names to identify with, why should we care?  Poverty, homosexuality, abuse, globalization, freedom, peace, liberty, love—these are all faceless if we don’t talk about the people who are affected by them every single day.  Otherwise, the victims of these ideas remain voiceless, amorphous blobs of un-identity forever stuck in a state of non-existence and injustice.    

It is for the people that Jesus came to this earth; not for the ideas, not for the events.  He came for us.

So it should say: “Great minds discuss ideas.  Great minds reflect on events.  And even greater minds care how ideas and events affect people… and do something about it.”

Stay tuned!

Not All on the Same Page

Oh wow.  It’s already October.  How did that happen?!  Well then… Happy month of fall colors, hay rides, corn mazes, Halloween parties, apple cider and apple pie :)

So I’ve had the opportunity to chat with many people over the past week and have come to the realization that we are NOT all on the same page.  In fact, some people are a few chapters behind.  So I’ve decided to call an emergency book club recap meeting!   Chapters to discuss today:

1.       When am I returning to Michigan?

2.       Is my family coming to visit me?

3.       Rumors about living in Central America

4.       What am I going to do when I get back?

5.       Study opportunities

6.       Am I really addicted to coffee?

Chapter 1:  I plan on being back on Michigan soil no later than early January.   Well, Michigan snow that is.  I leave Costa Rica the end of November and I will be stopping to visit different organizations and friends in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico.  I will then spend a few days with Rachel’s family at her home in California before flying home.  Exact dates are a little fuzzy yet…

Chapter 2: Yes, my family is coming to visit me.  Family meaning my mom, dad, grandpa, and Beppe.  They get here just after my birthday in November and will help me move out of my house and get ready to come home.  I’m sure they’ll also enjoy the wildlife and culture of Costa Rica :)

Chapter 3:  Ok, so let’s not spread crazy rumors.  Yes, in a previous post I had mentioned that Central America was going to be my new foster home.  I had kind of meant for the next three months.  I didn’t really mean forever.  But, God had a slightly different plan for me.  Just after I wrote that post, I got a job offer from the Nehemiah Center out of Managua, Nicaragua (they’re a partner organization of CRWM).  The job is set to start next June.  Though nothing is set in stone or officialized quite yet, I’m pretty sure I’m going to take the offer.  So, yes, Central America will continue to be my foster home for a while longer.

Chapter 4:  Very good question.  I have lots and lots of plans (insert evil laugh here)!   Recently I’ve been talking with a program out of the CRC home office (called LEAP) about the possibilities of things I could do when I get back home.  Several ideas we’ve come up with so far have been ways for me to talk about my experience here with you all, sharing the lessons I’ve learned (both spiritually and culturally), and seeing if we can’t connect that to the larger picture.  I’d love to link our church to the surrounding community, cross-cultural programs and social justice initiatives—I really want all of us to be actively engaged not only in Wayland but also in West Michigan.  My challenge for all of us is to open our doors, get out there, put our feet to the pavement and get our hands dirty.  WE are the church, not the building.  So, let’s see what cool things we can do together in the next several months :)

Chapter 5:  Another note of news: I’ve applied within the last couple of days to a Master’s Program that will start this coming January.  It’s a fully accredited program through the Institute of Christian Studies out of Toronto, Canada.  It will be a Master of Worldview Studies in Urban Ministry.  The course will be taught by REALLY cool people living out their faith here in Central America, people whom I’ve had the awesome opportunity to meet this past year (like Joel Aguilar, Joel VanDyke, and Jim DeBorst).  And though I only just applied, I have a sneaky suspicion I’ll be accepted :)  If you’re curious, check it out at:  http://www.icscanada.edu/academics/master-of-worldview-studies/urban-ministry

Chapter 6:  Yes.

And so concludes our emergency book club session.  I hope we’re all caught up now.  And PLEASE if you have any questions or comments, let me know!  I am more than willing to spare a few minutes for Q&A.

Please stay tuned!