POST by ERICSON: Thanks and Praise

Ericson performing at a Bboy event in downtown Minneapolis

On our first day in the United States, it was exhausting but it was also a new experience, a change in culture, big buildings, big cities and a good and new experience for everyone in our group.

In San Diego, we visited a really nice and humble family. The pastor and his wife received us with their arms wide open.

When we were in Davis, California, we visited a church where they had a lot of Mexicans and that church was really strong in the Lord. The pastor, his wife, and his kids gave us a lot of advice and a gift of a lot of blessings.

We also went to the New Life church in Sacramento. They were really generous because they gave each of us money and we helped with the community. It was really fun.

The second trip to the United States was when we went to Minnesota. There were really nice families waiting for us when we got there. It was a really nice experience because Gods plan was great and eight people in our group were baptised along with a lot of other people from the church. The people we performed for were accepting of Christ and it made me feel really happy because we were winning souls for Jesus.

The problems that we may face always have solutions and God always is with us. Everything is always in his hands and when we are with him, he will never leave us and he will always help us. He will move us and guide us.

The third tour took us to Richmond. This part of the USA was a huge blessing for us. There were a lot of happy families, happy because of our arrival. Also, they were happy and proud to have us with them. The people at the church had really good hearts.

We went to a Baptist church in Chicago that took us to a camp where we had a lot of fun. Video games, rides, water slides, and pools. It was a really pretty place, thank you for letting us have that great experience.

When we got back, we were visited an Assemblies of God church. We were there for two services and so we performed twice. The people there liked our praise and worship a lot.

When we went to the next church, Sezni was standing in front of one of the windows and he started peeing in front of it and the people where still in the service. Jed went to cover him because that was very embarrassing. He said, “Lets go walking to the other church and not wait for the transportation!”

Whilst in Chicago we were with both poor AND rich people. We did our CREATED performance for the people in Chicago and we won a lot of souls in churches and schools. We would invite people off of the street to come and see us perform. That city really was a blessing.

Right now we are in the house of a lovely family. Shane and Jenny and their kids take care of us really well and also everyone else that we have been with too. We are really thankful to all the people that have helped us and who we have stayed with, the people that have helped us with transportation, a place to stay and their love. Thank you!

This story was written by a Nicaraguan youth, and was voluntarily given to Capital on the Edge for publishing. The subject choice was his entirely. He has elected to write about his experiences for the glory of God and so that others may learn from his experiences. The translation of this work is performed voluntarily and not professionally, hence there may be some errors. Any decisive deviation from the text is in consultation with the author, and is done so to make clear the life events written about and to provide further information so that the story is more understandable.

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Ericson and Jonny being HE-MEN and lighting a fire with the Bridge to Hope folks in Richmond, Virginia

Primer dia en estados unidos muy cansado pratodos una nuava experiensia un cabio de cultura edificios grande y siudades grande una buena y nueva experiensia para todos los del grupo siudad san diego visitamos una muy buena familia y umilde el pastor y su esposa nos resivieron con los brasos a biertos y nos a consejaron la pasamos bien estubimos en siudad David california es tubimos en una iglesia de mejicanos una iglesia muy sometida Dios el pastor y la esposa el hijo nos direon munchos consejos y regalo una vendision tanbien estubimos iglesia new life hellos fueron muy buenos con nosotros nos dieron realos y simos a lluda comunitaria fue muy bueno y divertido.

Cegundo viaje a estados unidos fuimos al norte de america estado minesota Lindas familias esperando a todo el grupo fue muy buena experiensia por que Dios hiso la hobra con todo el grupo uvieron bautismos se bautisaron 8 personas del grupo y munchas personas mas y munchas personas arepintiendose y a sectando a cristo en sucorazon parami fue una dision ver todas esas almas ganadas para la gloria de cristo.

Los problemas que siempre pasavamos todos siempre se solucionavan nose pero yo se que Dios los solusionaba las vendiciones son muy grande a limento rropa un techo donde dormir es lamano de Dios moviendolos i guiandolos .

Tercer viaje SIUDAD RICHMOM Fue una vendision muncha familias a legre de nuestra llegada munchas familias a legre y horgullosa de tenernos conosimos familias muy podres y buenas de corazon estubimos en una IGLESIA BAUTISTA con una familia muy a legre hellos nos llevaron a un canpamento pasamos un buen momento en el canpamento estubimos en video juegos y juegos mecanicos y picinas fue un lugar ermoso gracias por esa experiensia

Regresamos y estubimos en una IGLESIA DE LAS ASANBLEAS DE DIOS . Y llegamos y nos resivieron muy bien es tubimos en dos cultos y simos dos precentasiones y alas personas les agrado cuando regresavamos a la hotra iglesia SEZNI separo en la ventana de la IGLESIA estava horinando y era todavia el tiempo del culto y jed su padre corio a cubrir a su hijo de la pena jed nos diojo vamonoa a pies no esperamos los veiculos y llegamos a la hotra iglesias .

Salomos a siudad chicago estubimos con personas de munchas razas podre y ricos y simos la hobra de Dios en CHICAGO munchas almas ganadas en escuelas y Iglesias estubimos in bitando en las calles para la hobra y fue una vendision esa siudad .

A hora en la actualidad estamos en la casa de una ermosa familia SHANE Y JENNY ellos y sus hijos son muy vondadoso estar con esta familia y todas las hotras que hemos estados le estamos a gradesido familias a mables de buen corazon Dios les dara reconpensa y los vendesira por cuidarnos gracias por todo familias por los alimentos y techo y trasporte y su amor gracias.

POST by LIZ: Insignificant

It’s been a zany week – Jed was robbed by a gang of youths while he was filling up at the petrol station in the early hours of the morn – hardly ever do we have huge amounts of cash, so it wasn’t like they hit the jackpot or anything; he ain’t no granpa driver either, so he floored it home and made the necessary calls to the powers that be – thank God, our accounts were untouched. 

But this petty robbery has affected us greatly.  No access to banks means that we have been unable to purchase food for the week etc. Naturally, this is also the week that our much needed rear-end tire decided to split in two!!  AYE CAREYE!  For the record: this is the 7^th popped tire we have incurred over the last 3 months!  (Note to self: send prayers up feverishly requesting that oh-so desired four wheel drive with tough state-of-the-art tires!)

And YES! We have been told by many different people, on many a various occasion, that we Brien’s seem to have the worst luck in the world!

But I am going off on a tangent - so I will make no haste in disclosing to you my main reason for shedding this insightful piece of info: Without a car with wheels, I am forced to do my traveling using public transport.

Now hear me out - I have nothing against public transport or anything, but honestly it’s hard to stay cool, calm and sane when one is squished up against other hot, sweaty beings, where every area of your body is cruelly meshed with another’s - like we are all just pieces of playdough that mold together and form some terrible ghastly sculpture entitled ‘Sick Joke’.

Elizabeth in Wisconsin - Where is she? Who knows...

I confess that I found it particularly difficult trying to function as a civilized human being today, I was faced with a tough decision as to which passenger I’d be better off to face: the sweltering, perspiring, lass whose armpit was so close to me that every time I dared take a breath, the hair from her armpit would tickle the insides of my nostrils, or the elephant wrinkled faced fellow with sandpaper stubble and a wry grin sporting two crooked, yellow tarnished, gappy teeth and a breath which smelt like a cocktail of pig-dung, cigars and rotten eggs and kept calling me his ‘amor’.

But the swerving, swaying, bipolar bus deprived me from drawing a solid conclusion; engulfing me with these oddly characters and throwing several more my way to-boot.

As my limbs slowly started to numb, my eyes remained active - drinking in the status quo.  As the bursting bus swallowed and spewed, swallowed and spewed, I looked at the conductor and the driver – we were nothing to them, just another body to cram into the overly full space, we were not even a number – what was the point in counting!  

I started to picture the lads whom we have taken in under our wing.  They have lived their whole life like this.  Feeling as if they are more of an inconvenience to their families, their friends, their society – feeling insignificant.

Yordy is one that struggles with feeling insignificant – that it wouldn’t matter if he lived or died - as a result he causes a lot of pain to himself and to us who love him.

Eliezer is another who believes this lie – that he is a nobody – so he thinks his actions and words affect no one – when reality is, his daily decisions are huge waves that wipe us out.  

My own precious daughter, Lorenzy, has ridden the roller coaster ride of ‘feeling insignificant’ – convincing herself that she doesn’t matter.

And if I’m ready to be honest with self – I constantly push away the thoughts that what I say and do are some feeble efforts that seem like one tear drop in a vast ocean - my feeling of insignificance talks me out of being someone who God wants to use to be rather momentous spiritually!

I am seeing that feeling insignificant is dangerous ground!    

A person who feels insignificant will not think their actions nor words, make any difference.  They will live a life that breeds destruction and death and remain unaware of the mammoth impact of their very being. 

Insignificances is an ugly virus that the devil spews onto us as he knows the spiraling death it can bring about. Believing the lie stops us short of living a fulfilling life.

Someone who feels insignificant is actually incredibly significant! They are just deaf to the blazing negative impact their actions of insignificant cause.

I am realising that my actions and words, as a result of trusting my feeling of insignificance, have greatly wounded and scarred many people but yet, when I know and live out a life that reflects who I am in Christ, the enemy’s plans are thwarted and the lies he feeds me are seen for what they are - nothing.  

POST by RENZ: The Haunt of Our Jaunt

Lorenzy with her NEW YORK cousins

Right now we are in Wisconsin at a camp. We have been in Minnesota and Wisconsin over the last week. On the first day of being here, about a few hours after arriving, Jose, Orlando, Eliezer, and I decided to go into the woods that were close by and well, just explore.

We decided to make it even more fun by recording it and pretending like we were in a horror movie or something like that. My phone battery was low so we decided to use Jose’s huge, black phone.

When we were about 30 feet away from where we entered, we came across a really big, wooden, old looking door. It was really tall and creepy looking. On the other side of the door, there was a net hung up and on the net were black strips of some sort of plastic. It was the only way to get to the other side and so we raced through it not wanting to stop, for fear of the nasty black things being some sort of poisonous snake animal.

Once we were on the other side of the strange obstacle, Eliezer told Jose to pause the recording until we found something else interesting. He went to pause it, when a shocked expression appeared on his face. We all looked at him waiting for him to explain why he looked shocked.

He glanced at us and with embarrassment and said that he had accidently not been recording. We just stared at him and then burst out laughing so hard. He just stood there looking embarrassed until he decided to laugh along with us. Once we had gotten back to normal, we kept on walking.

We had not been walking for too long when we came up to this tarp covered hut thing. We found the entrance and before slowly walking in, Eliezer told Jose to make sure that he was actually recording this time.

It was really dark but we just kept on going. Once we found the exit, we climbed onto this black thing and then jump off at the other side. After I had jumped of the wobbly wooden thing, I looked at it and saw that it was an empty broken coffin.

We were just wandering around when we came to another sight. This time we discovered three wooden crosses. (I wonder why everything was made out of wood and the black tarp stuff…) On a tree close to the crosses we saw the head of a deer hanging onto the side of a tree. Lying on the floor underneath it was the skull of a dear head and a few bones.

Orlando picked up the skull of the deer and started talking into the camera. Eliezer stood underneath the deer attached to the tree and made ‘deer’ faces. We became bored and kept on walking.

We were strolling along and found an even bigger, tarp covered, fort thingy. It wasn’t too far away and so we started walking towards it. Then we heard a bush move on our left side and automatically froze. We looked over and saw that there was nothing there. We keep on walking.

*SNAP* a branch behind us broke and we looked ever so slowly behind us. We saw that what had snapped the branch was actually Erick. He told us that he had been trying to scare us, but had failed miserably.

Once we got into the huge dark fort, I saw that there was a steering wheel at the front and looked around. It was an abandoned school bus with a tarp over it!! We walked through the bus and then entered this really bright room. On the top there was white fabric and hanging down were sacks with who knows what inside.

I walked through and then felt something hit my back. I looked behind me to see Eliezer bending over laughing, and a sack flying through the air. He threw the sack at me! I ran out with the rest of the group, leaving him there running around like a lost sheep stuck in a bush of thorns.

Our group ran all the way back until we got inside, laughing and joking all the way. After not too long, we each fell asleep wherever we could. It was an exhausting day. Traveling, and then having an adventure. How cool was that?

Lorenzy with her little cousin, Allegra