POST by JESSICA: Bus(t)

Jessica in a moto-taxi with Jed and Myron

This past weekend I went along with the Brien kids to support Fran in her Bboy competition.  Whilst there I was also able to visit some of the guy’s (Nicavangelists) homes and meet their families (as if I don’t spend enough time with them during the week).

On Sunday afternoon, while the Brien children were spending some quality time with their mom, I was invited to go to the mall with some of the guys just to walk around and window shop because they had nothing better to do. So after spending about two hours at the mall we headed back to the boys’ barrio.

I went straight to Jose’s house to meet up with Lorenzy and to use the internet. In all honesty, Jose and his mother have got to be to sweetest people I have ever met in my entire life. José’s mother was cooking up this big dinner to feed all of us, and might I say it was delicious!! She made baked chicken (one of my all time faves) and I swear I felt like I had just ordered it from a restaurant. 

I slept the night with the Brien children in the boys’ barrio. The night came fast, but the morning came faster. I was woken up at 7am by Jason, one of the guys in the group, who came to pick me up to head back to Nicavangelists Headquarters.

Well if anyone knows me they know that I AM NOT A MORNING PERSON, so there I was, half asleep, walking down the road to the bus stop at 7am with Jason laughing at me. Knowing I had the most tired/ disgusted look on my face I asked, “What are you laughing at?” which only made him laugh harder.

We finally arrived at the bus stop and it was like perfect timing, the bus was there to pick us up. We got on the bus and headed down the road trying not to be thrown into different people because the drivers here are not easy on the breaks AT ALL. Well before we knew it there were so many people on the bus that we were practically smashed up against the window.

A few stops into our ride there was this old man who looked homeless and he kept chanting the same thing over and over again. The only word I understood was “dinero.”  I looked up and to my little surprise I saw Jason digging around in his pocket and looking at the change we’d received after paying for our bus ride. Whilst looking at me he shrugged his shoulders, and handed the old man his money.

I had the biggest smile on my face and my heart was so happy. The guys (Nicavangelists) really are so amazing! They come from very little to nothing, and yet they are still willing to give some if not all that they have to people whom are not as fortunate as them.

I honestly am so thrilled that God has placed me in this group. God is changing these boys and their hearts daily, and they are becoming AWESOME young men of God.  

If you would like to partner with the Nicavangelists, please CLICK HERE... Thank you for being a part of what God is doing in the hearts and lives of young Nicaraguans... 

POST by FRAN: Tissue Toime!

Beautiful Francesca! (Watch out for that TREE!)

We have a big family and a lot of friends who live near and far from us… We have traveled a lot and we have only made more friends by doing so. Even if we go to the beach we make new friends.

Since November we have had family and friends come and visit, and most of the time it was hard for someone. One week Jenny Seaburg had a virus and it started out little but then it woke her up in the middle of the night and sent her to the hospital along with my Mum, Shane, Nanny, and myself as the translator.

It is important for us to know that we have friends that still love us. I know my friend limits are being lowered just because of the ministry I live in with my family and some friends’ relationships have changed so that now they’re like family to me.

This blogpost is sort of a good bye/I’ll miss you/thank you and memories to/for some of my closest friends and family.

Anna: I am going to really miss you when you go back to Minnesota, and if you don’t come back for a while I will always facebook and skype you. You are more than a friend to me… you are like my older sister that I have never had. I can’t wait to go to California and Minnesota with you!

Fran & Anna - Our first EVER GAP YEAR Leader... a GOLDEN GIRL if ever there was one!

Lorenzy: I know that you ARE my sister, but you are also my best friend. It will be harder to steal your clothes while I am in Canada, but when I see you I will. I have learned, with Anna’s help, that your sister is usually the only one that will always care about what is going on in your life. And you have always known and been there, in a way. I’m always here for you.

BFFs for LOIFE! Franny-pan & Renzy-roohs!

Jocasta: I have loved every talk that we have talked and every walk that we have walked, and I´m glad that you are back in Nicaragua. Don’t have too much fun while I am away in Canada I will miss you heaps! Love ya!

Jocasta the GREAT!

Natalie: I haven’t known you for that long, but you remind me of myself in some things. I know you don’t think so but, we are very similar in a few things, and I think you are a really nice girl.

Natalie, our latest GAP YEAR Leader...

Monica: I have known you for less than a week and I already think that you are awesome. You are like my Mum’s friend Racheal Morejon and I love you like a sister already! I’m happy that I have met you.

Monny, our newest Mexican-Australian Gapper - what a gal! We love you!!!

And for the tricker boys… I will miss you all after a while, but only after I get really home sick and start skyping everyone… haha just kidding… I really feel like you guys are my brothers and I will miss you guys just as much I will miss everyone else.

Francesca on tour in El Salvador with the Nicavangelists

And for my 3 real little brothers… stay safe, don’t get into trouble, and always trust your family. Sez lay off of the wii for a while, Raf don’t start any drama, and Billy stay little and cute.

Franny having a Good ol' laugh with Raffy

Mum and Dad: I have had a hard time and I know sometimes it was hard for you too, in understanding me. But I really haven’t been the best person for you to talk to. I haven’t been trying to change my attitude into a bad one.

Thanks for the opportunity to go to Canada. I’m preparing myself to go travel with all the boys and you guys to the states and I can’t believe that the visas got approved and it is such a blessing from God - I can’t wait to see their reaction on the plane! I’m already laughing! LoL… anyway, I’m just saying thank you and I hope you understand me… LOVE you guys lots!

Brian, Mummy, Franny & Daddy xoxoxo

 Always remember that Family and friends are the best thing in life. For me this year is going to be great!

The Brien family...

Health: Nicaragua Declares H1N1 Health Alert

First lady and government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo today announced a nationwide health alert for the H1N1 and H3N2 influenza strains following the detection of nearly two dozen new cases of the viruses in Managua, Estelí and Chontales.

CLICK here to learn more

POST by SHANE: Hope for the People (Part Two - Visiting the Edge)

In the 2004 film “Hotel Rwanda”, the true story of hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina (portrayed by Don Cheadle) saving over 1,000 refugees from the nation’s genocide in 1994 was told.  Part way through the movie, an exchange takes place between Cheadle and an American camera man played by Joaquin Phoenix. 

The dialogue is as follows:

Paul Rusesabagina (Cheadle): I am glad that you have shot this footage and that the world will see it. It is the only way we have a chance that people might intervene.
Jack Daglish (Phoenix): Yeah and if no one intervenes, is it still a good thing to show?
Paul: How can they not intervene when they witness such atrocities?
Jack: I think if people see this footage they'll say, "Oh my God that's horrible," and then go on eating their dinners.

I’ve always found that excerpt to be one part powerful and the other insightful. We commonly watch the news; make broad statements to those within earshot about how things need to change and then move on with our lives. It’s an understandable reaction within a culture where every terrible thing happening on earth is hurled at us each day by a myriad of media sources. 

A little CHAMPION in Managua's Children's Hospital

We battle to push it out of our heads. We distract ourselves to avoid facing the thought. We make up excuses to focus on something else. Many people sleepwalk, some stay in the shallow waters of the pool to avoid the depths they’ll find at the opposite end, and still others hone their ability to remain apathetic. These are all ways to cope so that we can remain happy and optimistic about life, but unfortunately, they are also equally ineffective at solving these terrible things that are happening.

The people of Nicaragua are poor. 

Oliver & his family's Pigs

The average per capita income is less than $1,000 a year. Nicaragua is the second most impoverished nation in the western hemisphere (Haiti being first) and the poorest Spanish speaking country in the world. The underemployment rate (those unemployed or working for less than Nicaragua’s legal minimum wage) hovers close to 50%. Minimum wage scales range between $0.40 and $0.80 per hour (officially) depending on industry. Those in the population not malnourished subsist on a diet of mostly rice and beans every day. 

Elizabeth handing out medical equipment in Solis... Thanks Shane & Jen for your support of our community!

 Houses, particularly in rural areas, are often made up of a composite of materials from the nearby landscape, both natural (stones, tree trunks or branches, etc.) and fabricated (aluminum, tin, lumber, etc.). There is no heat and no air conditioning in almost all of the country’s non-commercial structures.  The rural population approaches 50%, but only about 1 in 20 Nicaraguans own an automobile. The average person spends less than 5 years in school and almost one-third of adults over the age of 15 are considered illiterate. All of this is ordinary to the citizens there.

Cedro Galan public school

So, imagine a life where all of the above is true. You are average, which means you are poor and surrounded by those who share that same status. Jobs are scarce and when available, they are hotly contested to the point where the winner often ends up working for a wage beneath the required minimum. The government and police exist, but make little more than you (sometimes less) and are almost never above reproach. Most are only accustomed to small bribes, but there is always the possibility they are complicit in more serious and violent crimes. Theft is so widespread it is an accepted part of daily life. Trust, as we understand it, is a foreign concept.

Billy & Francesca Learning to DANCE!

During my family’s visit, it was unexpected, but at least a little encouraging finding that despite all of the above, happiness does not evaporate entirely. People smile and laugh easily once they’ve had a little time to warm up. They tell stories and ask how you are just like anywhere else in the world. To the casual observer, you might even say that they live like you might imagine you would in their situation. It’s when you peel back away from the surface a little that the differences become more apparent.

Chapel time on the Edge

While happiness and laughter are present, characteristics more rarely found are hope and a belief in the future. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that both are in such short supply. What the circumstances in Nicaragua seem to have caused is a permanent survival mode mindset.

In the U.S. people around my age associate the Latin phrase “carpe diem” with “seize the day” (that and Robin Williams standing on a desk at some stuffy New England prep school in the 1950s). However, it’s the extended version of the saying that goes, “carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero” meaning “'pluck the day, trusting as little as possible in the future” that applies here. You see, there is no future to hope for in the minds of many Nicacaraguans. There are only the needs of today that must be met and tomorrow isn’t considered until it arrives. Goals and dreams are commonly uncommon because, really, what’s the use? The population at an overwhelming rate is locked in a regular struggle to survive.

The Disciples, disciple...

I was supremely impressed by the 8 young men in the guesthouse that I met while staying with the Briens. All of them fall somewhere between very skilled and incredibly talented as “trickers” (street gymnastics) and/or dancers (bboy – breakdance, and electronic). They are delightfully adept at improvising and are applying themselves each day to learning choreography. They also seem eager to finish their education and learn English. Having said this, what does their future look like if they don’t have faith that there’s a good one waiting for them? If they don’t believe they can overcome the challenges they are sure to face, how far can they go? Absent hope, is the effort worthwhile?

Elizabeth & Lorenzy working with Missionary Doctors to Make Sure the People of Cedro Galan get Appropriate Medical Care

In the Bible (Jeremiah 29:11), it says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” This is what I pray for in those 8 young men and also for Nicaragua as a whole.

Francesca Brien, a 15 year old missionary in Nicaragua

I believe the opportunities will arrive, but also know that such prospects come and go frequently all around the world. Do the people of Nicaragua know they have a future and a hope? Is it just a whisper in the ears of a few or will it be heard as a shout from the lips of thousands?

The children of Capital Edge Community School

This is why my friends and others like them have come to Nicaragua. It’s so they can be used as tools to help bridge the gap between the few and the many.

What of you and me? Why have we been placed wherever it is we’re currently taking up space? What’s our purpose?

I think we can come up with more than a few good answers, but I’m pretty sure it’s not so that we can go on eating our dinner.

POST by RAF: Ropas Del Raffy

Raffy's NEW CLOTHES will make him look like the rest of the Troupe (Raffy is seen here in his old clothes)

One day my family and I were going to a big mall named galleries. So First my mom asked me do you want to go with granddad and granny or with daddy and mommy? I said after 2 minuets I don’t know 3 times so the forth time I said granddad and granny!

So my mom said to my granddad could you buy Rafael some pants and some shoes for a performance please? So my granddad said ok and my granny, my granddad and I went in to galleries.

Then my granddad bought me some shoes and some socks. After that we bought some candy and I had the most candy. Next we went to the clothes shop to buy some black pants I had to try 5 pants, 2 pants were to skinny, 1 pair was to short, 1 was to fat and 1 was gist right.

Last we ate and ate and ate. 

Raffy with good pal, and Capital Edge Community School student, Moises

POST by FRAN: Playing en la Playa

Setting up for our first night in the WILD...

Everybody love the beach, right? I know I do! My friend’s parents own a beach house on a beach called ‘Playa Hermosa’ (witch means beautiful beach). They kindly let us go and use their house on the beachfront for a few days. Playa Hermosa is about an hour's drive away from our house.

A lot of people we know own houses on that beach, but they only go there for holidays. So we always get the whole beach to our selves. This time nobody was there except three couples that stayed in a resort just off of the beach and we only saw them like twice. But other than them, we had the beach all to our selves!

We left for the beach on Saturday at 3pmish. It was a squished ride. We had all the luggage neatly thrown in the boot and then Lucky, Anna, Yordy and I were in the back seat with our heads banging up against the roof! In the middle seat was Mum, Lorenzy, Billy, Granny, Eliezer. And in the front were Dad, Grandad, Sezni, and Rafi.

Girls being girls: Liz, Fran, Renz, & our newest recruit, ANNA!!!

We were squished into an eight-seater car with a dog! We were all excited about the beach, we just weren’t that excited about the drive to get there!

We were about a third of the way there when Mum says, “WOW, the dog is doing better than I thought!” She spoke too soon! Just after she had said that the dog vomited all over her back! It’s bad luck sitting in front of a dog that hasn’t traveled before! Mum didn’t say much after we got the toilet paper and wiped off the dog vomit.

We got to a little village that was twenty minutes away from the beach and Mum said, “We need rice and matches and plastic plates!” So Dad stopped at a venta (a shop that is built in to someone's house). Lorenzy and Eliezer jumped out and asked if the lady in the venta had rice, matches and plates.

“Dad I want to run to the beach!” Sezni yelled at the top of his voice. “Me too” said Rafi like a little mouse. “Go ahead! You turn right at the end of the street” Dad explained to the both of them. “So this is right?” Rafi held up his left hand, “and this is left?” pulling up his right hand. “No, the other way around!” said Dad, not really explaining it properly to them.

Lunch, with Franny Brien

“I got it Dad!” Sezni replied, as he started running off with Rafi following shortly behind.

Five minutes later Lorenzy and Eliezer got back in the car with three match boxes, ten pounds of rice and three bags of plastic plates. Dad started driving, “Let’s catch up to those boys.” We turned right and then went on. “Where are they?” asked Grandad. “They wouldn’t have come this far!” said Mum. “Go back! We missed them!” Mum started panicking.

We turned around and went back to where we started, “Have you seen two little boys?” asked Dad. “No,” was the reply. “Let’s go left just in case.” Dad said. “You’re driving!” said mum. We went left and asked two girls if they had seen them, “Oh they are two little white boys? Yeah they ran down there.” “Thanks!” We got to the end of the road, which forked off into four ways, we went straight.

Lorenzy, Eliezer, Lucky and I got out to look for them, “SEZNI...RAFI!?”

After looking for ten minutes Sezni and Rafi came out from the overgrowth crying. “We got lost,” Sezni explained as he climbed into the car. “Did you guys follow my instructions?” asked Dad, wondering why they had gone wrong. “We went this right (putting up his left hand and then we forgot the rest so we just kept going! sob, sniffle, sob” explained Rafi.

Fran & Billy in a tide pool

We got back on track and every one was silent for a while... nobody had anything to talk about. We were all squashed into our car. We were all hot, “Can you turn on the AC?” complainingly asked  Lorenzy. The windows were rolled up and Sezni pushed the AC button. The AC made everyone much happier.

We got to the beach and in total it took us an hour and a half, but when we got there we didn’t care about the long prison ride in the car, we went to the water and just played and had a really happy afternoon.

We forgot to get gas so we cooked over a little fire that took us ten minutes to start. We ate hot dogs with onions! The first day at Playa Hermosa was probably the best. We went to bed at nine thirty, we thought it was like eleven or something, we were all so tired!

The next day I woke up at nine, Yordy had his music on and was practicing tricking with Sezni and Rafi on the sand by the beach house. Mum and Dad were sleeping, so was Anna and Lorenzy upstairs. Eliezer had gone for a walk with Billy.

Franny & Yordy enjoying the rock pools with Lucky

I went into the kitchen and got something to eat, cerial. Anna came downstairs and grabbed some too. After breakfast I got my swimsuit on and went and sat on the sand looking out at the beautiful ocean. Mum eventually woke up and came and sat with me, then came Anna, followed by Lorenzy.

Mum did a little devotion and after the devotion we went and ate more breakfast! Once we were all full we all got ready to go to the pools by the big rocks, thats when we realised that we didn’t bring any sun cream! Oh well. We hit the beach without it, besides my quinse is coming up and I need to get rid of my bad tan lines!

Fran, Yordy & Billy, enjoying the freedom of being at the Beach

The water was so nice and refreshing, but the sun was so hot and we were so vulnerable! The first full day at the beach was so nice - I had friends and family with me enjoying the entire day!

We dug holes and buried people in them so that you can only see their head! We climbed rocks and looked out on the ocean. We looked where the sky met the water. I drew a little and we just had a lot of fun!

Renz, Anna, Yordy, Fran & Sez on the rocks (with Lucky of course)

In the night we made another fire, this time a lot bigger and closer to the water. We roasted marshmellows to flames! We went on a walk and went for a swim for two minutes (we got scared)! We took a few silly pictures and did silly poses. We listened to music, it was so much fun!

We walked up the beach and realised that every step we took there would be some glowy stuff that would glow and then disapear. We decided to run back to make it look like the glowy stuff was chasing us. And when we got back to the fire we all laid down and looked up at the sky, it was a moonless night, filled with stars!

“Wow it is beautiful!” We all eventually said these words out loud. I spotted a shooting star and that’s when I finally said these words, "Nights like these are the ones I appreciate the most, when you're with your friends and family and eternity!"