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 SHANE: Growing Up Brien (Part One - Visiting the Edge)

The Brien Family in 2006

 He looked strangely out of place as he traipsed past us in a spring jacket and maroon leather pants. It was January and 15 degrees Fahrenheit outside in upstate New York (that’s negative 9 in Celsius for those of you not still hanging on to old habits like we in the U.S.). It was also 9:00 AM on a Sunday morning. Our apartment complex housed many college students and he was obviously one of them.

It did strike me odd, though, and I remember wondering aloud to Jenny (my wife) if he was going to church. About three hours later I felt pretty terrible because not only had he been on the way to church, he had been on the way to OUR church, and we’d let him freeze as we drove past. This was my first experience with a Brien.

The Brien children travelling...

 

Despite the presumed hypothermia and frostbitten fingers that day, we did still somehow become friends shortly thereafter and with many trips around the globe since (mostly by the Briens), we’ve stayed that way.

Briens/Seaburgs at Taughannock Falls, New York

Briens/Seaburgs in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales

In the winter of 2001 Jed and Elizabeth Brien were both 24 years old. Meanwhile, their eldest daughter Francesca had just turned 3, and baby sister, Lorenzy, was only 8 months old. As a friend, it has been a joy to see their children grow, but also to see the entire family answer the call placed on their lives by God.

The Brien children: Rafael, Francesca, Lorenzy-Ella & Sezni

In the 12 years I’ve known the Brien family, I’ve observed with great interest and more than a small measure of curiosity as they’ve spent countless hours of time and energy on friends, acquaintances, and strangers with little thought for their own emotional or physical well-being. 

Lizzie in July Party (because Lizzie's birthday is Christmas Day)

During that period, their living room has been a revolving door to whatever community they’ve made their home. In the earliest days of our friendship, when both families were so poor we qualified for an American government program called WIC (free food for lower class families with young children), they were already donating to missions while we were still struggling to part with the money that went into the church offering basket. 

Project Runway in Mexico - the Brien Family (Trashy)

 When given the opportunity, they’ve continually chosen connections with people over tangible ownership of property. I have watched from near and far as their children have given or sold away the vast majority of their earthly possessions 4 separate times. So, when the day finally came that they announced they would be moving to the mission field full-time, I wasn’t surprised. Their life is the Great Commission (Matthew 28: 19-20) and they’ve been missionaries for as long as I’ve known them.

The Brien Family in Mexico

The Brien Family in Mexico

In Nicaragua, they’ve plopped themselves down into the thick of a poor barrio outside the city of Managua called Cedro Galan. Presently, their ministry there is three-pronged. 

First, they are sharing their home with a group of 8 young men between the ages of 15 and 20 who are being schooled so they can earn the equivalent of a high school diploma and trained to be part of the “Nicavangelist” group that will soon be dancing and tricking through churches across the United States.

Each of them has made a commitment to Christ and is being discipled, but as you can imagine, having 8 young men living in your guesthouse together can present a unique set of challenges.

Capital on the Edge boys: Yordy, Stivey, Beycker, Rene, Jonny, Ericson, Eliazer & Yader

Second, they run what I think most closely resembles a Pre-K school 5 days a week. There, children between the ages of 2 and 6 are taught stories from the Bible, basic reading and writing skills as well as being given an introduction to English.

Capital Edge Community School

Finally, every Wednesday and Friday night they “officially” open up their house to members of the community. There’s a swimming pool, basketball, soccer, a ping-pong table, checkers, and a pool table available to all-comers. On Fridays, worship songs and a short message are added to the games.

Capital Edge Community Center

 It used to be that Jed and Liz’s ministry was a partnership, but these days it’s a more of a family endeavor.

Francesca and Lorenzy both speak Spanish more fluently than their parents, so they are regularly used as translators for the people of the center and around the barrio. Additionally, they are both learning dance and taking part in the “Nicavangelist” training. I’ve witnessed them reach out to others in much the same way their mom and dad do. They are equally comfortable talking to other teenagers as well as adults. It’s an impressive sight as 12 and 15 year old girls handle such big tasks with a maturity beyond their years.

Francesca translating at Church

Meanwhile, no one is more helpful when tackling handy-man projects around the house than 10 year-old Sezni, always smiling and pleased to provide a tool when needed. 8 year-old Raffy is generally quieter than his siblings, but more times than I can count, I caught him whispering a translation while everyone else was still trying to figure out what had been said. I also noticed he is uniquely talented at understanding what Billy says (their 4-year old adopted Nicaraguan son who speaks an elusive combination of Spanglish and Masquite). They all pitch in everyday and it’s kind of beautiful to watch them work together.

Rafael pitching in with Sunday School, in El Salvador

By the way, as always, their living room is still that same revolving door. The bell at the gate begins ringing at 6 o’clock every morning and doesn’t stop until 11 or 12 each night (including weekends). A day doesn’t go by where friends and/or community members aren’t welcomed with open arms no matter the time or reason.

They daily juggle a multitude of issues and responsibilities while maintaining attitudes that are remarkably positive. While they prepare lesson plans, they have morning devotions with the boys. While they do devotions, children arrive for school. While pre-K class is in session, they manage homeschool responsibilities for their own kids. As coursework comes to an end, lunch is being prepared. As noon dishes are being washed, practice begins for the boys and on and on and on, only to be done again tomorrow.

Their work is exhausting physically and taxing mentally, but each day they gather their strength to meet what the Lord has made. I observe them as they die to self, over and over. Even though their energy level burns brighter than ever, the lines on their face remind me I’m not staring at the faces of two wide-eyed twenty-somethings any more. This isn’t a game and it’s not about having fun. More than a decade has passed since that cold January morning and my friends are at once the same as always and yet starkly different.

They’ve grown up.

Some Briens/Seaburgs in Managua, Nicaragua