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!

Good News!

I thought today I’d take the time to update you on our Bola Bola campaign with the kids.

Susi, Me, Kendall, Fabri
(some of our Bola Bola kids)

First off: we got the $20,000 grant from the municipality!!  This is a huge hurdle that we have successfully jumped and it feels great, let me tell you.  The kids are thrilled, Rachel and I are so proud, and the whole community is pleased with our efforts.  We are continuing to spread the news of this most recent success but it seems as if word spreads like wildfire and more people already know about it all than we think.  Now it’s time to celebrate!  We have plans in the making for a time of pizza by the pool for all those who’ve worked hard for this.  I’ll let you know how that goes :)

But… there’s a twist.  Another hurdle to jump.  Another bridge to build and then cross. (Isn’t it always that way?).  The $20,000 isn’t enough to fix the whole court.  According to the Municipality and their fancy plans, it’s only enough to dig up the old court, prepare the ground, and build the roof.  Seriously?!?  What good is a roof when the ground is still a pad of mud?  Ok, I admit, getting a roof is a HUGE accomplishment and we are extremely happy about that. 

What else is there?  Well, we have the roof.  Check.  What we still need is the cement floor (and the painted lines too, please).  And we need fencing (so that we stop losing our soccer balls to the surrounding rooftops).  That’s it, just those three things: roof, floor, fencing.  So, we’re 1/3 of the way done (though the roof will cost the most so maybe we’re more like half done).  Apparently we have more work to do.

Playing soccer in the dark

What now?  We spoke with our local political representative and she told us we might have a chance to ask for another grant yet this year with another governmental body—the district committee (the first grant came from the county committee).  What we have to do is present something so persuasive that they can’t refuse us.  So we’ve begun that process, turned on our creative juices, and got back to work.  We are going to create a video, take pictures, and write up a statistical report on the uses and potential for the court in the community.  It’s going to be epic, I can feel it.  The only thing is, we have to get it done and present it by the end of the year.  Basically, this will be the last thing I do with Bola Bola before I leave in December.  Sniff sniff.  But I am so proud of every one of these kids, for all the hard work they’ve done, for sticking with it when it was hard or boring.  I know I’m leaving this in good hands :)

If you’re interested in hearing more about this campaign and the community organizing theory that’s gone on behind the scenes, let me know.  Rachel, Guissell and I have a blog about it and it’s a great tool to stay in touch with the campaign.  It’s a private blog (to keep away from prying eyes), so I need to send you an invite.  If this interests you at all, just send me you’re email address and I can get you an official invitation.

Stay tuned as we continue to fight for our court and work together to win this!

One Year

First off, a couple of announcements for this week: Happy Independence Day Central America!  And, Happy 25^th Anniversary Mom and Dad!  And finally, Happy 1 Year Kelsey!

So, tomorrow makes one year to the day since I first arrived here in the beautiful country of Costa Rica.  I thought it might be appropriate for me to do some reflecting on what I’ve learned, experienced, seen, done, and loved since then.  And my thoughts on this matter unfortunately are WAY too many and so I can’t include them all here.  Nevertheless, I thought I’d share those that shine the brightest, punch the hardest, and or stick out over and above the others.

To start with, let me just say that I am not the old me anymore.  That Kelsey has officially left the building.  And she ain’t coming back either.  But I’m still me.  Only different.  Like now without thinking I point to things with my lips or chin instead of my fingers.  And living with 16+ people doesn’t phase me anymore.  And now my hair is really long.  You know, things like that :)

Along the way, I’ve seen some amazing places, experienced new and strange cultures and customs, and met some awesome people, many of whom I now call friends.  One of those newfound friends recently posted this quote on her Facebook and I couldn’t agree more: “You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart will always be elsewhere.  That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place.”

Susi, Rachel, Guapo, Fabri, Kendall, Me, Tali

So what have I learned?  Well, I’ve learned that EVERYONE has a story, a history, a background.  I’ve learned that I do too, a story that I had not once perceived nor appreciated.  And I’ve learned that we are not the sole owners of our stories—they are meant to be shared, to be spoken aloud, to be collectively learned from.  And each of our stories brings us to God in our own way—our faith becomes very personal when we look at it from this light. 
 

I’ve learned also that God speaks to us in a multitude of different ways and that he is in all things if we only have the eyes to see Him and the ears to hear Him speak.  And this continues to be a big challenge for me.  How are we supposed to see God in the drug addict on the corner, in the consumerist consumed teenager at school, in the manipulative gossiper in town, in the angry preacher at church?  How are we supposed to see Him when someone hurts us, lies to us, or betrays us?  How are we supposed to see God when all we can see is hopelessness, apathy, injustice, inequality, and hate?  I don’t have a textbook answer for you, only to say that He is there and to keep looking.

I’ve also learned that what it means to be a Christian, what it means to live radically as Jesus did, what it means to truly live out my faith.  If I am to follow what I say, what I believe, than living in a life of luxury, comfort, and tranquility is not where I need to be.  If I lived there, I would fall prey too quickly to the complacent, apathetic, blind lifestyle of many lukewarm Christians.  I am not disciplined enough to not need a constant reminder of the fallen world around me, a glaring sign blinking at me reminding me to seek justice in all areas of life, to actively love and live with the crucified peoples of the world.  In light of this weakness, I have decided that I could not morally agree with living in my own cultural context right now.  I have too much to learn, too much to see before I can even begin to entertain that thought.  So, for now, Central America is going to be my new foster home.  And you’re welcome to come visit me anytime :)

Stay tuned!

Perspective

Santo Domingo Graveyard

Cool REALLY old family tomb

Yesterday, Rachel and I took a day off—it was a chance for us to relax a bit, get out in the sun and enjoy where we’re living without feeling so bogged down or tied to our jobs.  It was a welcome breath of fresh air, let me tell you.  As we walked to the bus stop, I spotted a cemetery in the distance and begged Rachel to spare a few minutes to go explore.  From eye to eye all I could take in were the above-ground graves of the departed, many adorned in statues of a humble Mary, a Risen Jesus, Mary and baby Jesus, a cross, or an angel.  In the center of the graveyard were large family tombs, mausoleums towering over the nearby graves, their Greek columns and arched windows stretching to the sky.  And everything was white—white statues, white tombs, white headstones, white plaques.  A literal sea of white washed tombs.  It was an impressive sight and I couldn’t help but remember Jesus giving a warning to all false believers: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs,which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.  In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” (Matthew 23: 27-28). 

This past week, I was surprised by many joyous things amidst the trials and difficult times I trudged through.  Small things, at first glance, things that I might usually overlook or take for granted.  Things like harvesting arugula from our garden, having a small campfire, celebrating a birthday, playing a game with friends, listening to new music, cooking dinner, talking with my brother, visiting a church, or getting caught in the rain.  These are the little things that brought flashes of light into my otherwise storm-cloudy days.  And it was these moments that reminded me that there are good things going on outside of my little life bubble right now, and I can experience those too if I just open my eyes to them.

The storm clouds I refer to are issues I have needed to tackle this past week, both issues of my past, my present, and my future.  Luckily, these issues in the past have hit me at separate times, each devouring my attention and energy but nonetheless at separate times from each other.  This past week however they all threw a party in my name, a party that I could not not attend.  And so I’ve felt pulled in many directions at once and have found it difficult to find my feet on this slippery ground.  And what I’ve realized is that I have become bogged down by all the little decisions I need to face without focusing on the bigger goal ahead.  In community organizing we call this becoming too fixated on the tactics and forgetting about the overall strategy.  And I have fallen victim to this.  And not only have I in my personal life, but so has Bola Bola in the life of our campaign.  We have become so distracted (and by consequence bogged down) by the little activities, the small tactics, that we have lost sight of our campaign strategy.  And by doing so, we have forgotten to see how far we’ve come, what we’ve accomplished, and celebrate that.  Today, our goal is to get our focus back.  So what have we accomplished so far?  Well, we’ve stuck with this campaign for the past 7 months, we’ve played more soccer than we ever thought, we’ve coordinated and met with various community leaders, organizations, and politicians, we’ve gotten the community on board with our campaign, we’ve learned things like presenting in public and how formal meetings work, and we’ve gotten the donation for the fencing and the roof!  That is a HUGE accomplishment.  It’s time to recognize what we’ve done and to have a party already!  And then we can focus once again on what we still have to do (basically all we’re missing in the donation of a cement floor) but this time we’ll be energized enough to get there. 

So pray for us as we all learn about perspective today, to remember not only where we’ve been and to see how far we’ve come, but also to re-focus ourselves on where we want to go and how we’re going to get there.  Stay tuned!

The Ache of Sorrow

There is an ever-present ache in this sorrow… the hurt shocking and overwhelming, the silence profoundly numbing… Death once again has extended its grasp into my life, leaving a dark and depressing void in its wake. 

This past weekend, while many of you were camping, enjoying the presence of friends and family, maybe swimming in the cool waters of Michigan’s many lakes and roasting marshmallows over the crackling flames of a bonfire, I was working.  Yes, laugh at me, call me ridiculous, but here I was, in the office or with the kids, working.  To be honest, I forgot is was Labor Day until my computer calendar told me it was in fact a holiday weekend!  How easy it is to forget the North American timeline when you no longer live there!

Looking at that picturesque watercolor of weekend getaways and the last summer hoorahs, I get very nostalgic for my home life.  However, when I look closer, there is a dark brush stroke that bleeds across the painting, staining an otherwise beautiful scene.  Many this weekend mourned rather than rejoiced, cried instead of laughed, sat in silence rather than enjoyed the company of happiness.  And the stain has bled into my life as well—this past weekend, I lost a good friend of mine from high school, a death that continues to lock me in a stunned bewilderment. 

Though we have lost contact over the years, Scott Silvernail and I hung out almost daily throughout high school.  Chilling with friends, bonfires, service opportunities, lunches, going to prom, going to the movies—these were the things we shared.  His laugh was contagious, his passion for all things outdoors entertaining, and his love of life and people inspiring.  To hear of his sudden death continues to be outside of my realm of belief… could he really be gone?  Though there is no consolation in this, at the very least he died doing something he loved: leaving his tire marks on the sand dunes with friends by his side. 

In the hopes that it may help both me and you in this moment of sadness, I’d like to share with you an excerpt from Sarah Young’s Jesus Lives titled “Sorrow”:

“Trust in Me at all times.  I know the pain and the sorrow you are feeling, and I want you to pour out your heart in My Presence.  You need to release all those emotions in a safe place.  Demonstrate your trust in Me by opening up your heart to Me; as you do so, I promise to keep you safe.

     “Remember that I am a Man of sorrows, fully acquainted with grief.  Because of all I suffered I can empathize with you and share you pain.  As you pour out your emotions in My Presence, your heavy burden grows lighter.  You no longer carry your sorrows alone.  You release them to Me, and I then relieve and refresh your soul.  Moreover, as your heavy heart grows lighters, you are freed to learn more of Me: who I really am.

       “Come to Me and get to know Me in ever-increasing depth and breadth.  You will find that I am indeed a Refuge—a safe place flooded with eternal Love.  Linger a while in My Presence, letting My Love soak into your soul” (p. 32). 

Scott Silvernail, you will be missed.

Stay tuned…

A Daunting Path

As I look ahead at the daunting day before me, at the daunting week that lies before my very feet, I feel my steps waver, my mind pause, my spirits drop.  I don’t want to go there.  Can’t I just skip ahead?

Rachel, Guiss and I at the Nicaragua/Costa Rica border

Today marks a big work day for the Bola Bola project with meetings and playing soccer and strategizing.  But more than that, today we are having a good-bye party on behalf of Casa Adobe for Guiss.  She leaves Saturday.  This Saturday.  Wow.  It’s not like I’m losing a friend forever or anything but it will definitely be hard not to see her every day.  You can’t be very good roommates if you don’t live together anymore…

So, yes, I would love to jump ahead and not live through this week.  But I know I can’t.  And I know it wouldn’t be wise of me even if I could. 

I read this morning a prayer from one of Rachel’s devotionals and it really resonated with me, so I thought I’d share it.  It’s from the Diary of Daily Prayer (Second Edition) by J. Barrie Shepherd:

Journey

“Another day begins, Lord,

Another journey—dawn to dusk—

In the voyage of discovery we call “life.”

As I set out, I pause to ask your blessing,

Your guidance along the way,

Your welcome when I reach my destination.

Grant me this day

The smile of a song upon my lips,

The lilt of lively companionship along the road,

The wisdom to see the way ahead and hold to it,

The strength and courage to overcome all obstacles,

And the openness to share these gifts

With all whose way is tangled and obscure.

Do not permit me, Father,

To wander from the route,

Mazing myself in the circling paths of selfishness,

Straying with pride

That always seems to dog my footsteps.

But also, Lord, do not allow me

To travel with such intense concentration on the goal

That I cannot take the time

To enjoy the wonders along the way,

The tiny, everyday marvels that call on me

To stop a while, and celebrate,

And praise you for the journey

As well as for the destination.

And when I reach the journey’s end,

Grant me safe lodging,

Loved ones to greet me,

And a place to rest and be with you again” (p. 15).

Please keep all of us in your prayers as we go through these next difficult days and help us to not get so consumed by the destination and remember to enjoy the small gifts along the way.  Stay tuned!