Thursday, April 30, 2009
Interesting motorcycles and México
So today I saw two things I have never seen on a motorcycle (and I have seen lots of strange things). First I saw a motorcycle that had 6 people on, yes 6! There was an adult male and 5 girls maybe age 8-14 all on the same motorcycle, quite crazy. Then I saw what is apparently normal here which is for the moto passenger to use an umbrella. Good times. Today I went to Tolú, a nearby beach town to do a few training sessions (and then take a quick dip in the ocean). Tomorrow is Labor Day and so I have no work. I only have a week left in Colombia which is crazy! There is a chance that Spearhead (my summer program in México) will be canceled. I'm not sure what I would do in such a case, more than likely go to Mexico anyway to have my surgery as I can't afford it in the US, but we shall see. Please keep Spearhead and Mexico in your prayers. Much love everyone and god bless
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
The art of the double meal
The art of the double meal is one of many things I have learned in my time traveling. Sometimes because of circumstances I go without a meal just because of schedules and my body has learned to deal with it. I have learned to eat when there is food and not to complain when there isn’t. An interesting situation arises though when one has already eaten and is a guest that is served a full meal after eating and has to gain the will power and courage to eat twice. I managed to practice that skill again yesterday on my visit to the later mentioned drug rehab house.
It seems like I am always writing that I can’t believe only so many weeks are left before I leave some place. In the past three years I have lived in four countries, 6 cities, 8 or 9 houses and never seem to stay in one place for too long. I have been blessed with friends and ‘family’ in all these places and in each place I know that a mark has been left on my heart. I know that from each country and city I have learned about God, myself and humanity and I hope that in each country I have left my mark as well. I know I can’t keep up this pace of changing countries and nor do I want to, but I praise God for the opportunities I have had. I know that for all the people and places I have gotten to know I can never be the same person again. This time in Colombia has been very different from my other experiences. Since my first summers in Mexico it was the shortest time I have ever stayed in one place. This was a very different experience because in previous short stays there was so much time to get adjusted to a new language and culture, but this time I arrived and quickly felt acclimated to the culture and adjusted to the language. I have thoroughly enjoyed my job and enjoyed being useful to the ministry and on the way learning a lot too. I have also enjoyed having another mentor of sorts in Dr. Befus, who was the LAM president and now works as a missionary/consultant and has a unique take on the world and serving the poor. I have enjoyed and gained so much from working alongside him and from being able to bounce ideas off of someone who also has a desire to love God and love people and use economic development as part of both. I have struggled at times with the small town feel but as my time comes to an end, feel like I have gotten to know a few of my neighbors and see that if I had to I could find a way to live here and be satisfied with life. I leave Colombia with more questions than answers, but perhaps that is a good thing.
On a side note from the microfinance I have a neat story to tell. I normally go to one of two internet cafes near my house every week night to talk to Rubia (my girlfriend) and/or friends and family back home. I can’t imagine the world without internet and skype, I don’t know how people kept in touch before them. I feel like I have actually grown much closer to my family having spent the greater part of two years out of the country; learning to appreciate and cherish my relationships with them and talking to them more now than when I lived in the country. But anyways, the reason I tell this story is that one day I was talking to Rubia (in Portuguese) about the book of Mark. We went through the book of Romans together and now Mark, the guy who lived at the house where they have the internet café noticed that I was talking about the Bible frequently and asked if we could chat. He told me how he had started a drug rehab ministry where 11 guys live in a house together, have two times a day chapel and have a small business making and selling cookies to be able to support the house. He invited me to come speak to the guys and spend the evening at the house. I said I’d be thrilled to and also shared with him about ADIN (my microfinance organization) and I’m hoping that we’ll be able to give him a loan to help grow both the business and ministry. It is really a perfect example of what I think is so necessary, to have a holistic approach to ministry.
I went to the house last night and shared from Hebrews 11,12 about how we are all foreigners in this world. I talked about how most of the examples of the faith screwed up royally in their life at some point, but God used them because they were screw-ups who knew they needed God and knew that they couldn’t do it on their own. It was cool to be able to share my testimony and a bit of my story with them and hopefully share with the hope that I am learning and living for. Hope that really only comes from placing our complete trust in Jesus. I think that its so easy to talk a big game but in practice not really trust God. I am learning to do this. I also shared from Luke 12 (I think) about how we shouldn’t worry because God takes care of the lilies and the birds and how he’ll take care of us if we will only seek first the kingdom of God. I really enjoyed my time with the guys and hope to return at least one more time before I leave. I only wish I had found the ministry earlier in my time. I thank you for all your prayers and support. I will be leaving Sincelejo on Saturday the 9th to go to Cartagena and then leaving Cartagena on Monday the 11th, spending two days to relax and debrief my time before I head off to México. Please pray for México with the flu problem, a recent earthquake, the drug war and the economic crisis it is going through hard times. Pray that Spearhead would be able to happen as scheduled and that the students that come might be a blessing to Mexico City and leave changed. Pray too that I will be able to travel there safely in a little less than two weeks, that the back will hold up and that they won’t shut down the borders or anything crazy like that. Much love to everyone and God bless. (Sorry for no pictures from Colombia, but my camera broke, thanks to my generous parents I should have one in Mexico, my flight connects in Miami and I’m gonna stop by the LAM offices and hopefully see my brother and my friend Jim in my 7 hour layover there.)
It seems like I am always writing that I can’t believe only so many weeks are left before I leave some place. In the past three years I have lived in four countries, 6 cities, 8 or 9 houses and never seem to stay in one place for too long. I have been blessed with friends and ‘family’ in all these places and in each place I know that a mark has been left on my heart. I know that from each country and city I have learned about God, myself and humanity and I hope that in each country I have left my mark as well. I know I can’t keep up this pace of changing countries and nor do I want to, but I praise God for the opportunities I have had. I know that for all the people and places I have gotten to know I can never be the same person again. This time in Colombia has been very different from my other experiences. Since my first summers in Mexico it was the shortest time I have ever stayed in one place. This was a very different experience because in previous short stays there was so much time to get adjusted to a new language and culture, but this time I arrived and quickly felt acclimated to the culture and adjusted to the language. I have thoroughly enjoyed my job and enjoyed being useful to the ministry and on the way learning a lot too. I have also enjoyed having another mentor of sorts in Dr. Befus, who was the LAM president and now works as a missionary/consultant and has a unique take on the world and serving the poor. I have enjoyed and gained so much from working alongside him and from being able to bounce ideas off of someone who also has a desire to love God and love people and use economic development as part of both. I have struggled at times with the small town feel but as my time comes to an end, feel like I have gotten to know a few of my neighbors and see that if I had to I could find a way to live here and be satisfied with life. I leave Colombia with more questions than answers, but perhaps that is a good thing.
On a side note from the microfinance I have a neat story to tell. I normally go to one of two internet cafes near my house every week night to talk to Rubia (my girlfriend) and/or friends and family back home. I can’t imagine the world without internet and skype, I don’t know how people kept in touch before them. I feel like I have actually grown much closer to my family having spent the greater part of two years out of the country; learning to appreciate and cherish my relationships with them and talking to them more now than when I lived in the country. But anyways, the reason I tell this story is that one day I was talking to Rubia (in Portuguese) about the book of Mark. We went through the book of Romans together and now Mark, the guy who lived at the house where they have the internet café noticed that I was talking about the Bible frequently and asked if we could chat. He told me how he had started a drug rehab ministry where 11 guys live in a house together, have two times a day chapel and have a small business making and selling cookies to be able to support the house. He invited me to come speak to the guys and spend the evening at the house. I said I’d be thrilled to and also shared with him about ADIN (my microfinance organization) and I’m hoping that we’ll be able to give him a loan to help grow both the business and ministry. It is really a perfect example of what I think is so necessary, to have a holistic approach to ministry.
I went to the house last night and shared from Hebrews 11,12 about how we are all foreigners in this world. I talked about how most of the examples of the faith screwed up royally in their life at some point, but God used them because they were screw-ups who knew they needed God and knew that they couldn’t do it on their own. It was cool to be able to share my testimony and a bit of my story with them and hopefully share with the hope that I am learning and living for. Hope that really only comes from placing our complete trust in Jesus. I think that its so easy to talk a big game but in practice not really trust God. I am learning to do this. I also shared from Luke 12 (I think) about how we shouldn’t worry because God takes care of the lilies and the birds and how he’ll take care of us if we will only seek first the kingdom of God. I really enjoyed my time with the guys and hope to return at least one more time before I leave. I only wish I had found the ministry earlier in my time. I thank you for all your prayers and support. I will be leaving Sincelejo on Saturday the 9th to go to Cartagena and then leaving Cartagena on Monday the 11th, spending two days to relax and debrief my time before I head off to México. Please pray for México with the flu problem, a recent earthquake, the drug war and the economic crisis it is going through hard times. Pray that Spearhead would be able to happen as scheduled and that the students that come might be a blessing to Mexico City and leave changed. Pray too that I will be able to travel there safely in a little less than two weeks, that the back will hold up and that they won’t shut down the borders or anything crazy like that. Much love to everyone and God bless. (Sorry for no pictures from Colombia, but my camera broke, thanks to my generous parents I should have one in Mexico, my flight connects in Miami and I’m gonna stop by the LAM offices and hopefully see my brother and my friend Jim in my 7 hour layover there.)
Friday, April 24, 2009
Great day! only two weeks left...
Today was definitely my favorite day of my entire time here, it was sort of the culmination of the learning I have learned and done so far in my time in Latin America. As I have mentioned previously, my timing to come here to Colombia couldn’t have been more perfect. I literally arrived the week that ADIN (Spanish acronym for the Association for Holistic Development) lost their second employee and thus stepped right into a position where the organization was in need of another worker. Often I have felt in my ministries over the past two years that I wasn’t really needed and often to be honest I wasn’t. I have been happy to be a learner, to be a fly on the wall, to submit to local leadership and to understand that I was a short term guest and here to learn and serve, if that meant just watching I would watch, if that meant helping I would help. Here in Colombia I have been fortunate to be able to fulfill a job and a need. Often when foreigners come, especially for a short term there isn’t a certainty as to where to put the person or how to keep them busy. At times I have felt like I was a third wheel and while my learning was useful for me I often felt like I had minimal tangible help for the ministry other than another body.
Here in Colombia I have actually filled an important need for an organization and been able to jump in rather quickly to become a “field worker” (loan counselor, loan assessor, teacher). It has felt good to feel needed and to be able to do something that at least is related to what I studied in college. I think too I can see all the progress I have made in my Spanish and in my cultural understanding of Latin America. Four years ago I set out on a journey to Mexico for what at the time seemed like an infinitely long two months, scared to death of a new language and people. Very much stuck in my middle class US bubble, nervous and excited to shatter the bubble and learn about the world. Four years later I have certainly done some serious damage to the bubble, I have in many ways become very Latino, or better said bicultural. I will never stop being a North American, I will always have my college degree and passport that open doors for me, but I have also become very Latin American. I take bucket baths here in Colombia without a second thought; I flush my toilet by throwing a bucket of water in it and find that to be normal. I eat brains, liver, heart or any other body part with a smile (at least on the outside), I comfortably ride all sorts of public transportation in various places and most importantly have learned how to relate to people of all backgrounds and social classes.
I can go into an internet café and speak to a few of the other customers in Spanish, call my girlfriend and speak Portuguese and then switch back to Spanish with some people before speaking in English to someone in my family. I say all this not to sound like I’m such a great person or anything, but I’m excited that I feel like I am finally not a baby in my cultural understanding, now that I’m four years old I’m starting to say some words and get the hang of how this life thing works.
To get back to how today was my favorite day in Colombia this afternoon I went to this little town called Los Palmitos about a 45 minutes less than a dollar bus ride away from the town I live in. I could buy a house there for like $2000 or rent one for about $35/month. I have spent a lot of time there recently working with our various groups there and had to go there today to collect money and to give a few training sessions. The first group I taught a few things about how to put together a basic financial report and stressed the importance of accounting and budgeting and was excited to hear about people’s small businesses and to actually be able to help them with some basic business knowledge. The second training session was with a group that just started with us and is so excited to have a loan from us that they can’t get the smiles off their faces. They are so conscientious about their payments and about showing up and so eager to learn. Today we talked about the vicious cycle of poverty and how we hoped that ADIN’s combination of a loan, training sessions and business appraisal/ consulting would help them break the chains of the cycle and be able to sustain their families better. Many of these people have been affected by the civil war and to hear them talk about the poverty cycle was moving. At one point I asked them if they understood the diagram about how the vicious cycle of poverty worked and then realized the foolishness of the question and my own ignorance. It was they who understood and I who stood to learn from listening to them talk about their experiences. Talk about failed government and other intervention efforts (among them the USAID, the US international development organization) that didn’t have any lasting affect and didn’t seem to care about them as individuals. I shared with them my passion for God and how God has a passion and love for his people and doesn’t want to see them starve and wants to provide for them. We finished the lesson and after answering some business questions two of the guys from the bank maybe in their late 30’s walked me to the highway to wait for my bus and we talked about Brasil (and my girlfriend), my time in Mexico and Colombia and what I wanted with my future. I realized what a gift it was to be able to share with them my life and my experiences and knowledge and for them to be able to share those very same things with me. Although we come from very different backgrounds and experiences I think we both learned from each other today and left better for it and closer to God too. I thank God for moments like today. Simple joys, simple joys of seeing a twinkle in someone’s eye that there is hope for them to have a job and support themselves and that there is a God who loves them and wants to take care of them.
I realized during our meeting as they chatted about their own stories, struggles and triumphs I was so privileged to listen to that conversation, to have their confianza (trust). I still don’t know what I want to do with my life, but I know that God wants us, that Jesus led us by example to be incarnational, to live with and among our brothers and sisters. I have had an interest in economic development for a while, in using business to help people, but always felt like it didn’t work right because most international aid is to make the rich country donors feel good about themselves, to give away money and feel good that they helped some poor person. I didn’t feel that way today, I felt like I had the privilege to get to know the people I work with, I don’t see them as some poor person, but as a friend and a brother. I still don’t know how God will use me, I know that I have been blessed in so many ways and given so much. I recognize how privileged I am and often struggle with that, but I pray that God might use me to show his love to people, to be salt and light, to reflect the hope that Jesus brings and to be able to work for holistic development of the body, mind and soul.
As the bus approached we wrapped up our conversation and they told me to keep in touch so maybe one day they could visit me in México, Brasil or the US. As I got on the bus, my stomach dropped and a tear welled up in my eye to know that I would most likely never see them again, but to know that I carry their story in my heart and that they aren’t just some poor people that make $4/day but they are people I care about and know. I praise God for the little that he has allowed me to do here in Colombia to serve people and at the same time learn from them. Thank you all for helping make that possible.
Here in Colombia I have actually filled an important need for an organization and been able to jump in rather quickly to become a “field worker” (loan counselor, loan assessor, teacher). It has felt good to feel needed and to be able to do something that at least is related to what I studied in college. I think too I can see all the progress I have made in my Spanish and in my cultural understanding of Latin America. Four years ago I set out on a journey to Mexico for what at the time seemed like an infinitely long two months, scared to death of a new language and people. Very much stuck in my middle class US bubble, nervous and excited to shatter the bubble and learn about the world. Four years later I have certainly done some serious damage to the bubble, I have in many ways become very Latino, or better said bicultural. I will never stop being a North American, I will always have my college degree and passport that open doors for me, but I have also become very Latin American. I take bucket baths here in Colombia without a second thought; I flush my toilet by throwing a bucket of water in it and find that to be normal. I eat brains, liver, heart or any other body part with a smile (at least on the outside), I comfortably ride all sorts of public transportation in various places and most importantly have learned how to relate to people of all backgrounds and social classes.
I can go into an internet café and speak to a few of the other customers in Spanish, call my girlfriend and speak Portuguese and then switch back to Spanish with some people before speaking in English to someone in my family. I say all this not to sound like I’m such a great person or anything, but I’m excited that I feel like I am finally not a baby in my cultural understanding, now that I’m four years old I’m starting to say some words and get the hang of how this life thing works.
To get back to how today was my favorite day in Colombia this afternoon I went to this little town called Los Palmitos about a 45 minutes less than a dollar bus ride away from the town I live in. I could buy a house there for like $2000 or rent one for about $35/month. I have spent a lot of time there recently working with our various groups there and had to go there today to collect money and to give a few training sessions. The first group I taught a few things about how to put together a basic financial report and stressed the importance of accounting and budgeting and was excited to hear about people’s small businesses and to actually be able to help them with some basic business knowledge. The second training session was with a group that just started with us and is so excited to have a loan from us that they can’t get the smiles off their faces. They are so conscientious about their payments and about showing up and so eager to learn. Today we talked about the vicious cycle of poverty and how we hoped that ADIN’s combination of a loan, training sessions and business appraisal/ consulting would help them break the chains of the cycle and be able to sustain their families better. Many of these people have been affected by the civil war and to hear them talk about the poverty cycle was moving. At one point I asked them if they understood the diagram about how the vicious cycle of poverty worked and then realized the foolishness of the question and my own ignorance. It was they who understood and I who stood to learn from listening to them talk about their experiences. Talk about failed government and other intervention efforts (among them the USAID, the US international development organization) that didn’t have any lasting affect and didn’t seem to care about them as individuals. I shared with them my passion for God and how God has a passion and love for his people and doesn’t want to see them starve and wants to provide for them. We finished the lesson and after answering some business questions two of the guys from the bank maybe in their late 30’s walked me to the highway to wait for my bus and we talked about Brasil (and my girlfriend), my time in Mexico and Colombia and what I wanted with my future. I realized what a gift it was to be able to share with them my life and my experiences and knowledge and for them to be able to share those very same things with me. Although we come from very different backgrounds and experiences I think we both learned from each other today and left better for it and closer to God too. I thank God for moments like today. Simple joys, simple joys of seeing a twinkle in someone’s eye that there is hope for them to have a job and support themselves and that there is a God who loves them and wants to take care of them.
I realized during our meeting as they chatted about their own stories, struggles and triumphs I was so privileged to listen to that conversation, to have their confianza (trust). I still don’t know what I want to do with my life, but I know that God wants us, that Jesus led us by example to be incarnational, to live with and among our brothers and sisters. I have had an interest in economic development for a while, in using business to help people, but always felt like it didn’t work right because most international aid is to make the rich country donors feel good about themselves, to give away money and feel good that they helped some poor person. I didn’t feel that way today, I felt like I had the privilege to get to know the people I work with, I don’t see them as some poor person, but as a friend and a brother. I still don’t know how God will use me, I know that I have been blessed in so many ways and given so much. I recognize how privileged I am and often struggle with that, but I pray that God might use me to show his love to people, to be salt and light, to reflect the hope that Jesus brings and to be able to work for holistic development of the body, mind and soul.
As the bus approached we wrapped up our conversation and they told me to keep in touch so maybe one day they could visit me in México, Brasil or the US. As I got on the bus, my stomach dropped and a tear welled up in my eye to know that I would most likely never see them again, but to know that I carry their story in my heart and that they aren’t just some poor people that make $4/day but they are people I care about and know. I praise God for the little that he has allowed me to do here in Colombia to serve people and at the same time learn from them. Thank you all for helping make that possible.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Half way through my time in Colombia
My how time flies, I can't believe I've already been in Colombia for a month. It has been an enlightening time here so far and I am really glad I decided to gut out the back pain and spend two months here in Colombia. I can't say that the ministry is particularly amazing or that I feel that I am making a big difference, but I am certainly learning a lot and am continually challenged in my thinking processes and contemplating my future. I have read a whole bunch of books about business and missions and find bits and pieces of them to be applicable to my situation and am continuing to put together the puzzle pieces of my call and where I feel like God is leading me. A typical day (if there is such a thing) I will spend either the morning or the afternoon in the office doing paper work, filing, collecting money or a variety of other tasks and the other part of the day I visit one of our community banks to either give a business/ethics training class, collect money or evaluate businesses to determine if we should give another loan. I feel like I am helping the ministry and the people while at the same time learning a lot. I am working on my own now in these dinky little towns around the dinky big town I live in. Definitely a unique experience. I am looking forward to getting to Mexico, but happy with my time here. I miss you all and appreciate your prayers and support. Let me know if you want to support me in Mexico and I can tell you how. Much love and God bless.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Support Letter
Dear friends and family,
I want to start by thanking you all for your incredible support over the past few years as I learn to love God, love people and serve them both in Latin America. My journey in Latin America began innocently enough with two months in Mexico City with the Spearhead program that lead to 3 more summers, then a year in Puebla, México teaching English and working with college student ministry. I was continuously challenged by my own cultural shortcomings and limitations and as I continued to stretch further out of my comfort zone forced to place more and more trust in God and less in myself. With the skills and experience I learned in my times in Mexico and a heart for loving marginalized people wherever they might be I set foot on a plane 7 months ago for Brasil. I was filled with anxiety as I knew no one there, wasn’t confident in my Portuguese and was unsure of how I would survive the 6 month journey. I knew that God had looked over me when I went to Mexico City for the first time, then again when I branched out to another Mexican city, but nonetheless butterflies filled my stomach as our pilot announced the plane was landing in Brasil. I sat there on the runway wishing that we still had some more time in the air, feeling that I was not prepared for what was ahead of me. I quickly found myself loving Brasil, São Paulo and the people that surrounded me in my ministry. I lived in a community house/church (Casa Esperança, the house of hope) in a favela (squatter community) called Buraco Quente (more or less translates to hell hole). I lived and ministered with a girl from Switzerland and four Brasilian young people.
My neighborhood is infamous for drug trafficking and being a difficult place for ministry or a church. I entered for the first time with fear and trepidation, but quickly found myself at home there as I walked through the maze of walkways to enter or exit the favela. I so cherish my time there in the favela. Things were not always as I wanted them to be and the idealism and romanticism quickly wore off for the reality of day to day life. Some days I came home feeling confident in my Portuguese and Brasilian cultural ability and that I was truly making a difference and other days frustrated with life and ministry and sure that God couldn’t possibly have called me to this life. I still as I look back on all my experiences am filled with doubt as to my future in missions, but I am certain that God has brought me to all the places he has taken me for a reason and that in each place I have left a changed person and hopefully having planted seeds of God’s love there as well.
My first day in the favela I walked out of the entrance where the drug dealers are with a bit of fear that someone would try to talk to me. Just when I thought I had successfully escaped without having to talk to someone I hear a voice that I realize is directed towards me. “Hey, you, are you a gringo? Are you a missionary?” My first thought is to pretend I didn’t hear or understand him, I assume he wants to give me a hard time. I do my best to ignore, but he repeats the questions. I finally turn and say in my best Portuguese that I am both of those things and I prepare myself for his reaction. He makes a fist in his right hand raises it in the air towards me and hits his chest, “you have a good heart, I want a heart like you” he says in his deep raspy voice. I was caught quite off guard and wasn’t sure how to react. This conversation was the first of many, often with the same theme, sometimes he was drunk sometimes sober, but always working the drug trafficking. His name is Claudio; I discover that he spent most of his life in an infamous Brasilian prison (Carandiro, there is a movie made about it) for killing a police officer at a young age. I spent my six months talking with him and sharing with him that there is another way and that another life is possible. On one of my last days there he asked me for a pair of shorts and I gave them to him and saw that he was wearing my way to big shorts and bragging to all the other drug dealers about his North American shorts. I keep him in my prayers still.
I spent most of my time in Brasil working with kids and young people from my neighborhood, teaching at a futsal school (sort of indoor soccer), tutoring kids and mainly just being an older brother. I leave so many little brothers in my neighborhood. I love each and every one of them like a brother. They along with Claudio and so many other people I have met over the last two years have left indelible marks on my heart. While in Brasil I also had the chance to make a dream trip through Brasil, Argentina and Uruguay with my college roommate, managing to cover many thousands of miles and about 100 hours in buses visiting Rio de Janeiro, Iguaçu waterfalls, Buenos Aires and Montevideo. It was a trip we dreamed about in college and was awesome to see happen. I also spent two weeks in Bahia (northern Brasil) taking part in a missions trip with my Brasilian missions agency and serving to my surprise as an effective translator for a group of students from a US seminary. On that trip I also met a beautiful girl from São Paulo named Rubia who is now my girlfriend. Unbelievably in six months I managed to leave Brasil speaking better Portuguese than Spanish and feeling very attached to my neighborhood and the country.
Currently I am living in Sincelejo, Colombia. It is a small town about 40 minutes from the Atlantic coast of Colombia that was severely effect by the Colombia guerilla forces. It is a part of the country that was forgotten in development and is full of refugees from other parts of Colombia. Just a few years ago it would not have been possible for me to be here and even today it is not recommended by the US embassy (sure they wouldn’t like Brasilian favelas either) to be here (I make the 3rd foreigner here, David and Connie Befus, whom I’m working with are LAM missionaries here). I work with a microfinancing organization that works among the poor and displaced people to help create jobs through small loans and business training. I arrived at an opportune time as one of their two full time workers just stepped down and so I stepped into his place while they search for a new employee. I have enjoyed giving business training classes, showing how God created work and that it is a good thing and seeing people’s faces light up when we tell them that their microbusiness could one day be a source of jobs in the community and freed from loan sharks how they can advance forward in their businesses.
I will be here in Colombia until May 11 when I travel to Mexico City to be a leader for the Spearhead summer program. I will serve as a guide, mentor and cultural go between for a team of North American young people who will be serving God in Mexico City this summer for two months. I will also be looking to have surgery on my herniated disc at some point after my arrival there. For those who don’t know I began to suffer with back pains in late January that progressively worsened even with doctor’s visits, rest and medicine. I finally got an MRI which revealed a several herniated disc in my back that requires surgery. As I am without health insurance or the money to have the surgery done in the US I am hoping to be able to have surgery in Mexico. I have been in pretty severe pain for the last few months that is only bearable with pain medication. God has spoken to me a lot in my pain and I have learned and matured much in my faith, but definitely have moments where I shout to God ¡Ya basta! (enough already) I’ve learned the lesson take away my pain. All this to say that I appreciate all your prayers and support; I know that if nothing else in the last two years God has changed my heart and my life. I am both anxious and excited to see where he takes me in the next few years. In México for the summer I will once again be working officially with the Latin American Mission. I will need to raise about $2,000 for the summer program. Donations can be made to the LAM with the attached paper, at this moment donations can’t be made online, but that could be a possibility (email me if you want to do that). For those not concerned with tax deduction you can mail a check made out to me to my parents’ house 4210 Home Dale Rd. Sykesville, MD 21784. As always I keep my blog at www.radicalordinario.blogspot.com and love to hear from you all. Much love and God bless.
Um abraço,
Andrew
I want to start by thanking you all for your incredible support over the past few years as I learn to love God, love people and serve them both in Latin America. My journey in Latin America began innocently enough with two months in Mexico City with the Spearhead program that lead to 3 more summers, then a year in Puebla, México teaching English and working with college student ministry. I was continuously challenged by my own cultural shortcomings and limitations and as I continued to stretch further out of my comfort zone forced to place more and more trust in God and less in myself. With the skills and experience I learned in my times in Mexico and a heart for loving marginalized people wherever they might be I set foot on a plane 7 months ago for Brasil. I was filled with anxiety as I knew no one there, wasn’t confident in my Portuguese and was unsure of how I would survive the 6 month journey. I knew that God had looked over me when I went to Mexico City for the first time, then again when I branched out to another Mexican city, but nonetheless butterflies filled my stomach as our pilot announced the plane was landing in Brasil. I sat there on the runway wishing that we still had some more time in the air, feeling that I was not prepared for what was ahead of me. I quickly found myself loving Brasil, São Paulo and the people that surrounded me in my ministry. I lived in a community house/church (Casa Esperança, the house of hope) in a favela (squatter community) called Buraco Quente (more or less translates to hell hole). I lived and ministered with a girl from Switzerland and four Brasilian young people.
My neighborhood is infamous for drug trafficking and being a difficult place for ministry or a church. I entered for the first time with fear and trepidation, but quickly found myself at home there as I walked through the maze of walkways to enter or exit the favela. I so cherish my time there in the favela. Things were not always as I wanted them to be and the idealism and romanticism quickly wore off for the reality of day to day life. Some days I came home feeling confident in my Portuguese and Brasilian cultural ability and that I was truly making a difference and other days frustrated with life and ministry and sure that God couldn’t possibly have called me to this life. I still as I look back on all my experiences am filled with doubt as to my future in missions, but I am certain that God has brought me to all the places he has taken me for a reason and that in each place I have left a changed person and hopefully having planted seeds of God’s love there as well.
My first day in the favela I walked out of the entrance where the drug dealers are with a bit of fear that someone would try to talk to me. Just when I thought I had successfully escaped without having to talk to someone I hear a voice that I realize is directed towards me. “Hey, you, are you a gringo? Are you a missionary?” My first thought is to pretend I didn’t hear or understand him, I assume he wants to give me a hard time. I do my best to ignore, but he repeats the questions. I finally turn and say in my best Portuguese that I am both of those things and I prepare myself for his reaction. He makes a fist in his right hand raises it in the air towards me and hits his chest, “you have a good heart, I want a heart like you” he says in his deep raspy voice. I was caught quite off guard and wasn’t sure how to react. This conversation was the first of many, often with the same theme, sometimes he was drunk sometimes sober, but always working the drug trafficking. His name is Claudio; I discover that he spent most of his life in an infamous Brasilian prison (Carandiro, there is a movie made about it) for killing a police officer at a young age. I spent my six months talking with him and sharing with him that there is another way and that another life is possible. On one of my last days there he asked me for a pair of shorts and I gave them to him and saw that he was wearing my way to big shorts and bragging to all the other drug dealers about his North American shorts. I keep him in my prayers still.
I spent most of my time in Brasil working with kids and young people from my neighborhood, teaching at a futsal school (sort of indoor soccer), tutoring kids and mainly just being an older brother. I leave so many little brothers in my neighborhood. I love each and every one of them like a brother. They along with Claudio and so many other people I have met over the last two years have left indelible marks on my heart. While in Brasil I also had the chance to make a dream trip through Brasil, Argentina and Uruguay with my college roommate, managing to cover many thousands of miles and about 100 hours in buses visiting Rio de Janeiro, Iguaçu waterfalls, Buenos Aires and Montevideo. It was a trip we dreamed about in college and was awesome to see happen. I also spent two weeks in Bahia (northern Brasil) taking part in a missions trip with my Brasilian missions agency and serving to my surprise as an effective translator for a group of students from a US seminary. On that trip I also met a beautiful girl from São Paulo named Rubia who is now my girlfriend. Unbelievably in six months I managed to leave Brasil speaking better Portuguese than Spanish and feeling very attached to my neighborhood and the country.
Currently I am living in Sincelejo, Colombia. It is a small town about 40 minutes from the Atlantic coast of Colombia that was severely effect by the Colombia guerilla forces. It is a part of the country that was forgotten in development and is full of refugees from other parts of Colombia. Just a few years ago it would not have been possible for me to be here and even today it is not recommended by the US embassy (sure they wouldn’t like Brasilian favelas either) to be here (I make the 3rd foreigner here, David and Connie Befus, whom I’m working with are LAM missionaries here). I work with a microfinancing organization that works among the poor and displaced people to help create jobs through small loans and business training. I arrived at an opportune time as one of their two full time workers just stepped down and so I stepped into his place while they search for a new employee. I have enjoyed giving business training classes, showing how God created work and that it is a good thing and seeing people’s faces light up when we tell them that their microbusiness could one day be a source of jobs in the community and freed from loan sharks how they can advance forward in their businesses.
I will be here in Colombia until May 11 when I travel to Mexico City to be a leader for the Spearhead summer program. I will serve as a guide, mentor and cultural go between for a team of North American young people who will be serving God in Mexico City this summer for two months. I will also be looking to have surgery on my herniated disc at some point after my arrival there. For those who don’t know I began to suffer with back pains in late January that progressively worsened even with doctor’s visits, rest and medicine. I finally got an MRI which revealed a several herniated disc in my back that requires surgery. As I am without health insurance or the money to have the surgery done in the US I am hoping to be able to have surgery in Mexico. I have been in pretty severe pain for the last few months that is only bearable with pain medication. God has spoken to me a lot in my pain and I have learned and matured much in my faith, but definitely have moments where I shout to God ¡Ya basta! (enough already) I’ve learned the lesson take away my pain. All this to say that I appreciate all your prayers and support; I know that if nothing else in the last two years God has changed my heart and my life. I am both anxious and excited to see where he takes me in the next few years. In México for the summer I will once again be working officially with the Latin American Mission. I will need to raise about $2,000 for the summer program. Donations can be made to the LAM with the attached paper, at this moment donations can’t be made online, but that could be a possibility (email me if you want to do that). For those not concerned with tax deduction you can mail a check made out to me to my parents’ house 4210 Home Dale Rd. Sykesville, MD 21784. As always I keep my blog at www.radicalordinario.blogspot.com and love to hear from you all. Much love and God bless.
Um abraço,
Andrew
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)