So, from the last two days of being at la chureca this is what I have learned.
People dont want to be there.
Because of the harhness of living there the people lose hope of getting out, even for their kids.
Jonathan
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
Who you are and where you stand in the struggle
my biggest frustration is how much people ignore their own surroundings. its always frustrated me... while in LA, people who live in lofts on 5th and broadway live two blocks from skid row but will probably never know what its like to be their neighbors. just as it is here in nicaragua, specifically in managua and in la chureca. what must it be like for the casa pellas car dealership owner to know that the rims on a car in his lot are worth more than 10 houses a block away from his business. what must it be like to not realize whats in front of you eventhough you smell it, you step on it, you see it right in front of you... what must it be like to blame the world and the government for what youve failed to do to help your neighbor. its easier to blame something bigger than you, something you would consider inevitable in order to ease the pain of knowing youre only as strong as your weakest link in society.
to see yourself in the mirror and see the face of the broken and their despair instead of seeing how lucky you are for not being born in a dump.
for those who know me, im the first one to criticize the goverment, society, the church, etc. i can criticize just as everyone else does but if i have not love and i have not passion to change the things that are before me or to never be satisfied with the way this world is going, than i have no right to criticize. unless i live and breathe my neighbors struggle, i am at fault for his pain and for his situation.
i know this seems a bit sad but God never called us to make each other feel good about our inactivity. He´s called us to call each other out when we remain silent while our brothers and sisters are screaming for help.
thats it for me. oh, and we´re at la chureca now. the managua trash dump where over 800 people live, eat, and work off of the trash. google it.
.dory.
to see yourself in the mirror and see the face of the broken and their despair instead of seeing how lucky you are for not being born in a dump.
for those who know me, im the first one to criticize the goverment, society, the church, etc. i can criticize just as everyone else does but if i have not love and i have not passion to change the things that are before me or to never be satisfied with the way this world is going, than i have no right to criticize. unless i live and breathe my neighbors struggle, i am at fault for his pain and for his situation.
i know this seems a bit sad but God never called us to make each other feel good about our inactivity. He´s called us to call each other out when we remain silent while our brothers and sisters are screaming for help.
thats it for me. oh, and we´re at la chureca now. the managua trash dump where over 800 people live, eat, and work off of the trash. google it.
.dory.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Guanacaste
This past week was very interesting. From my observation, if you the reader were able to sit down with each member of the team individually and ask ´what made guanacaste for you´I would not be surprised to hear that you would get a different response from each member.
Our goal was to bind with the community, and we did just that.
I am writing this next section purely from my standpoint, please keep that in mind.
The people of Guanacaste, Santa Lucia, haev made it through some tough times, and they deserve my upmost respect for that point. They live life daily without many of the things that I would just consider to be givens mirrors, running water, etc... They are a strong people emotionally, and much can and should be learned from the people.
What I observed and what I ask for you to pray for is unity in Christ for the people of Guanacaste. They have toughed it out through a rough hardship, what they need is our prayers of encouragement that they will keep going and never feel any less than anyone else. I could keep going forever on this topic, but I will recess myself at that.
Keep the prayers for us and the other teams this summer going. Especially for those who lost family members recently, and also for the APU community because of the loss of a fellow student recently.
Godspeed,
Jonathan E. Reyes
Our goal was to bind with the community, and we did just that.
I am writing this next section purely from my standpoint, please keep that in mind.
The people of Guanacaste, Santa Lucia, haev made it through some tough times, and they deserve my upmost respect for that point. They live life daily without many of the things that I would just consider to be givens mirrors, running water, etc... They are a strong people emotionally, and much can and should be learned from the people.
What I observed and what I ask for you to pray for is unity in Christ for the people of Guanacaste. They have toughed it out through a rough hardship, what they need is our prayers of encouragement that they will keep going and never feel any less than anyone else. I could keep going forever on this topic, but I will recess myself at that.
Keep the prayers for us and the other teams this summer going. Especially for those who lost family members recently, and also for the APU community because of the loss of a fellow student recently.
Godspeed,
Jonathan E. Reyes
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Esteli
Our two week stent here in Esteli is essentially over. The smiling kids and the fun times in the stinky room (imagine 10 smelly people in a small room watching independence day) become part of a memory. What I can take back from this experience is nothing truly new. What I can take back is knowing that in my short stent here in Esteli is this.
1. I helped lighten the load for a organization that, despite some of the downfalls, takes care of the special needs kids in Nicaragua.
2. I learned that our ´essentials´in the West may never really be an essential when you compare it to the people here and across the globe. They survive without many things here, and life still goes on without the laptop, the ipod, the annual dose of pizza and burgers.
3. What we take for granted in the West, maybe be an essential here.
Also, what must not be looked at is if we fixed a problem. What must be looked at, for me, is an alleviation of worries, an alleviation of worries that someone´s child wont be educated, no food available and so on.
Im not trying to be pessimistic, Im not trying to doubt the will of God or the will of the people. But we must focus on Christ, His will and His way.
We must be the Radical, the Crazy, the Ghandi, the Mother Theresa, the Scipio Africanus, the Giver and the Taker, all for Christ.
We leave for Guanacaste Santa Lucia tomorrow...
Pray for this next challenge of home stays...
GodSpeed,
Jonathan
1. I helped lighten the load for a organization that, despite some of the downfalls, takes care of the special needs kids in Nicaragua.
2. I learned that our ´essentials´in the West may never really be an essential when you compare it to the people here and across the globe. They survive without many things here, and life still goes on without the laptop, the ipod, the annual dose of pizza and burgers.
3. What we take for granted in the West, maybe be an essential here.
Also, what must not be looked at is if we fixed a problem. What must be looked at, for me, is an alleviation of worries, an alleviation of worries that someone´s child wont be educated, no food available and so on.
Im not trying to be pessimistic, Im not trying to doubt the will of God or the will of the people. But we must focus on Christ, His will and His way.
We must be the Radical, the Crazy, the Ghandi, the Mother Theresa, the Scipio Africanus, the Giver and the Taker, all for Christ.
We leave for Guanacaste Santa Lucia tomorrow...
Pray for this next challenge of home stays...
GodSpeed,
Jonathan
Friday, May 30, 2008
deja que el mundo te cambie...
so were here. rainboots, raincoats, and umbrellas yet were still soaked. tropical storms just sound exotic but they actually really suck. other than that. were good. today is mothers day in nicaragua and i miss my mom sooooooo much. for those of you that dont know im nicaraguan so i celebrate mothers day on this day too so not being with my mom is pretty hard. but its ok. i talked to her and all is well.
so were in esteli and we just have a few more days here. weve loved it soo far and have had some pretty great experiences. riding in the backs of trucks and watching some of our team members courageously butcher the spanish language. weve been with the most amazing children ever. i specifically fell in love with an 8 month old baby named josue that suffers from cerebral palsy and has two hernias. he cries a lot but i cant even imagine the pain he must be in. he has the sweetest face ive ever seen. his moms faith and the hope she has for her child are something i cant even fathom. a couple of the team girls were talking about which kids we want to take home with us (for such selfish reasons hehe) and so far we have a couple of aerobus planes packed with kids. :) i took steph and janette with me to limay last weekend and they got to see a whole new side of nicaragua. i went to limay to visit my aunts family. theyre a really poor family and the whole town is actually really poor but their faith and their love are like nothing ive ever experienced.
on a personal note... ive finally put a face to all of the things ive been learning about in my global studies classes. i see the poverty and analize it, the natural disasters, the dirty politics, and the cultural norms amongst many other things both sad and also good. to sum it up... i feel like God is awaking me from my slumber and showing me the world as it is and giving me a dream of the world as it should be. shalom. (thank you prof. slimbach) :)
some things that bring me joy: amanda rapinchuks facial expressions and imitations... card games at night and the fax machine game... also murals around the city. little fact: esteli is the mural capital of nicaragua. (allie zee, you would love it)
ok this is quite a ramble but i promise my blogs will get better. :)
random story: we were at the bus station in esteli and a drunk guy with a calculator in his hand told some of the girls in broken english: oh my God, you are so beautiful. i guess its not that funny if you read it... you have to hear the impression amanda makes of it. we have it on video. stay tuned.
:) anyway. i love you all and i wish i could write soo much more about this trip right now but i will soon.
everyone is well. everyone is trying to poop normally. everyone is taking their pills if they have to. and we do a team countdown before we go anywhere... you know, no man left behind. haha.
love to you all.
please pray for us. but most importantly pray for nicaragua. this country has our heart and its had God´s heart forever... so you know, stay in tune with God´s heart...
love&grace.
.dory.
so were in esteli and we just have a few more days here. weve loved it soo far and have had some pretty great experiences. riding in the backs of trucks and watching some of our team members courageously butcher the spanish language. weve been with the most amazing children ever. i specifically fell in love with an 8 month old baby named josue that suffers from cerebral palsy and has two hernias. he cries a lot but i cant even imagine the pain he must be in. he has the sweetest face ive ever seen. his moms faith and the hope she has for her child are something i cant even fathom. a couple of the team girls were talking about which kids we want to take home with us (for such selfish reasons hehe) and so far we have a couple of aerobus planes packed with kids. :) i took steph and janette with me to limay last weekend and they got to see a whole new side of nicaragua. i went to limay to visit my aunts family. theyre a really poor family and the whole town is actually really poor but their faith and their love are like nothing ive ever experienced.
on a personal note... ive finally put a face to all of the things ive been learning about in my global studies classes. i see the poverty and analize it, the natural disasters, the dirty politics, and the cultural norms amongst many other things both sad and also good. to sum it up... i feel like God is awaking me from my slumber and showing me the world as it is and giving me a dream of the world as it should be. shalom. (thank you prof. slimbach) :)
some things that bring me joy: amanda rapinchuks facial expressions and imitations... card games at night and the fax machine game... also murals around the city. little fact: esteli is the mural capital of nicaragua. (allie zee, you would love it)
ok this is quite a ramble but i promise my blogs will get better. :)
random story: we were at the bus station in esteli and a drunk guy with a calculator in his hand told some of the girls in broken english: oh my God, you are so beautiful. i guess its not that funny if you read it... you have to hear the impression amanda makes of it. we have it on video. stay tuned.
:) anyway. i love you all and i wish i could write soo much more about this trip right now but i will soon.
everyone is well. everyone is trying to poop normally. everyone is taking their pills if they have to. and we do a team countdown before we go anywhere... you know, no man left behind. haha.
love to you all.
please pray for us. but most importantly pray for nicaragua. this country has our heart and its had God´s heart forever... so you know, stay in tune with God´s heart...
love&grace.
.dory.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
HELLO FRIENDS AND FAMILY - HAPPY DAY TO EVERY ONE!
Have you seen the news about Nicaragua? Do not worry it is just a Hurricane Alba entering Leon-Nicaragua tonight. I spoke with Dorenyse today, all our kids are safe, Esteli is not that close to Leon, Esteli is not near the Pacific Coast. Just keep Nicaragua in your prayers.
My name is Dorys Castellon, I'm Dorenyse' mom, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at (562) 400-2460 or via e-mail a tiapopy@aol.com
May God bless you,
Have you seen the news about Nicaragua? Do not worry it is just a Hurricane Alba entering Leon-Nicaragua tonight. I spoke with Dorenyse today, all our kids are safe, Esteli is not that close to Leon, Esteli is not near the Pacific Coast. Just keep Nicaragua in your prayers.
My name is Dorys Castellon, I'm Dorenyse' mom, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at (562) 400-2460 or via e-mail a tiapopy@aol.com
May God bless you,
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
