POST by RENZ: Cooking up a STORM!!!

Lorenzy with her cute little cousins in Rochester, New York

Right now, I am in Rochester, New York. I am staying with some friends of mine and my family’s, the Seaburgs. I am also here to visit my uncle, aunt, and their kids. I love being here. The people are really nice.

Sometimes when I go places like church, or to someone’s house with the Seaburgs or my uncle or aunt, I almost always have somebody say “LORENZY!!! How are you? I haven’t seen you for so long! I think the last time I saw you was when you were like two years old!” And most of the time I’m thinking in my head “I have no idea who you are but I’ll just act like I know you.” So I’m like “Ohh yeah.. Hey… What’s up?” It is horrible. However, sometimes the people start out saying “You probably don’t remember me…” and that doesn’t make me feel so guilty.

About a week after staying in the Seaburg’s new house, Josiah (the Seaburg’s oldest child) and I decided to make cookies. But not just any type of cookies, chocolate chip cookies.

We had so much fun making them. Izzy (the youngest child of the Seaburg family) helped us by pouring the ingredients into a huge clear bowl that we were using. She accidently dropped some of the brown sugar on the floor but no one seemed to notice much.

I mixed the ingredients together and Josiah did pretty much everything else. Once the cookie dough was all done, Cora and Aidan  (Their other kids) came over to us and asked us if they could have some cookie dough. We obviously said “no” since we made the cookie dough and also we are just really mean!

One of the best parts was next. We got to grab the gooey yellowish coloured dough and shape it into not so perfect circles. We watched T.V. whist we waited and when the house started smelling of wonderfully baked cookies, we took them out and set them on a tray to cool and put some more on trays to go into the oven.

We did that about three times until they were all done. Then, Jenny told Cora and Izzy to go and take some cookies to the neighbors. After the cookies had been delivered to some of their new neighbors, we got to have a few cookies each. Only a few of the cookies that we made were burnt, besides that they were absolutely PERFECT!

About two days later, we decided to make more cookies since the ones we had made before were so good. We did the exact same things as before so that they would be as awesome as the last time.

However, Izzy did not help us this time. At the end, after we had made a bunch of normal sized cookies, Josiah and I decided to make one big cookie. We did not have too much dough left over but it was bigger and fatter than all the other cookies. When it was done we split it between ourselves (Josiah and I).

Lorenzy with the Seaburg kids, Josiah & Izzy - Renzy is having the time of her life!

To learn more about Renzy, please visit our page, Our People

If you would like to support the Brien family, please visit our support page and learn how you can be of help: Contemplating SUPPORTING something significant?

To learn more about the Australian Christian Churches, please CLICK HERE

To learn more about Capital on the Edge's home Church in Australia, please CLICK HERE

POST by RENZ: My Birthday in BALTIMORE!!!

Lorenzy  with Jonny & Franny

Today is my birthday! I am now thirteen. Right now, I am in Washington DC with my dad, my sister, Francesca, and my brother, Rafael. My mum and my other brother, Sezni went back to Nicaragua. 

Lorenzy & Rafael, GREAT friends...

Sezni and I have our Birthdays really close. His birthday is the second of May and mine is the third.

We are staying with a man and his son in their basement until Tuesday. The day before yesterday, I spent most of my time in the basement on the couch, sleeping.

Franny, Mummy (Lizzie) & Lorenzy

My dad was talking to the man and his girlfriend about what we do and what to expect since they are going to Nicaragua on a missions trip.

Then my dad said about my birthday. However, he was so jetlagged that he got the days all mixed up and said “Her (Lorenzy’s) birthday is tomorrow.” Then they started asking things such as what kind of cake does she like? What kind of food does she like? He said that I like cheese cake (my dad LOVES cheese cake) and he said that I like all kinds of foods… I was not with them in that conversation so I could not correct him. 

Lorenzy on outreach to El Salvador

 The next day, right when I was going upstairs to brush my teeth, my dad said to me, “So last night I forgot that your birthday was tomorrow, so I accidently told them that your birthday is today. When they say happy birthday could you do me a favour and just go along with it? Like, act all excited?” I didn’t really care so I just said “sure” and went upstairs.

When I went upstairs, the man straight away said happy birthday just as my dad had said he would. I acted all excited and then went to the bathroom as my dad came up to join us.

At night, I was still downstairs on the couch sleeping and everyone else was upstairs. My dad came down to get me and so I had a shower and then we ate. After we ate, they brought out the cheese cake. Everyone was laughing and having a good time. When they opened the cake they handed it over to me.

They were about to start singing when my dad said “We don’t have to sing” So they did not sing. Whilst eating the cake, the man’s girlfriend said to me “I’m so glad you love cheese cake!” and then she went back to eating. I looked at my dad like “What?!” He just smiled an awkward smile at me and then kept on talking.

Lorenzy with GOOD FRIENDS in Nicaragua

Everyone was still talking and laughing. I guess my dad thought that the mood was right and so he said to everyone at the table “Well… I have a confession to make. Lorenzy’s birthday is really tomorrow. I told her to pretend that it was today. Because when I told you guys I accidently got the dates mixed up and you’ve gone to so much trouble to make this day special for her. I am so sorry.” They said that it was ok and we all started talking again like normal.

Today is my birthday and I am again on the couch in the basement but the thing that is different today is that I have to do school work. (doesn’t she just RADIATE SUNSHINE???)

Ten things I want/am going to do to this year:

1.       Go to new York

2.       See my family

3.       See my friends

4.       Study

5.       Go back to Nicaragua

6.       Practice piano

7.       Serve God

8.       Be in the play Created and go on tour

9.       Be away from Nicaragua for most of the year

10.     Be away from family for some of the year

Lorenzy, part of the core of our team...

      To learn more about Lorenzy, please visit our page, Our People

If you would like to send Lorenzy a small donation for her birthday present, so that she can buy some new clothes, please visit our support page and learn how you can send funds: Contemplating SUPPORTING something significant?

To learn more about the Australian Christian Churches, please CLICK HERE

To learn more about Capital on the Edge's home Church in Australia, please CLICK

POST by RENZ: Fisherman's WAR

Lorenzy at Fisherman's Wharf

On Tuesday, we went out to the pier here in San Francisco. The pier is called Fisherman’s wharf. It is really pretty when you are right on the beach because of all the birds and the sunset is to die for. We went to the beach so that we could go ‘busking’ but when we got there, we just wandered around because it was amazingly beautiful and because it was cold.

Lorenzy and Rene, BBoy Dancing

We wandered around on the sand for a while and the guys did a little bit of tricking. Then, we walked slowly over to the pier and started to stroll down it. There were quite  lot of people fishing there so we stood next to them and watched them.

Lorenzy & Rene at Fisherman's Wharf (the pier)

There was an Asian lady and a man that had this strange looking net. It looked interesting and so we went over to them to see what they were doing. When they threw the net into the water, we saw a figure in the water that was dawdling towards us.

When it was close to us, he popped his head above the water and we saw that it was a seal. The guys started making jokes about it such as “Hey, his face looks just like yours!” We just stood there and looked at it. I thought it was weird because it was so close to shore. Then the man pulled the net up and the seal swam away.

We stayed there waiting to see if it would come back. It did come back, but when it came back, it came back with a friend. Another seal. We kept on watching it and they would swirl in the water. My dad was further down and then he said “Here’s another one! There are three of them!”

The Cute little Seal

Once we got bored of looking at the seals, we walked down the rest of the pier. There were people swimming in the water. We took photos and did freezes on the wall. After we had gotten back to the cars we were all really cold.

From the beach, we went to the tricking place and we practiced with Brandon McCuien, a famous tricker that the guys are in love with because he is really good at doing flips in the air. We were there until two in the morning.

The Brien Family with Brandon McCuien, a famous tricker, in San Jose

POST by RENZ: La La en La Mascota

Nayeli, painting in the creche

When people from the community come to us for help, we normally help them as much as we can.

They ask us if we can take them to the hospital or if we can help them get medicine and things like that. If we have our car or if we have money that we can use to help them, then we help as much as we can.

One day, a mum of one of the kids from the school gave my sister a letter and she told her to read it to my dad. When she arrived home she read it to my dad. The letter read that someone in her family was sick and she wanted us to help her. It was a little girl that was sick but it didn’t say whom.

It was a Tuesday night and every Tuesday we go to barrio loco to play pool. Before we went to barrio loco my dad said to me if I wanted to go with him on a daddy-daughter date and I accepted. He said to me that first we would have to make a few stops.

The first place that we went to was to the aunt of the kid that was sick. My dad was going to tell them that we didn’t have any money to help and that we were very sorry we could not help. He then said to me that we could help a little bit if the little girl was from the school that we have, but he thought that she wasn’t.

We went to the mother’s house to tell her that we were sorry but we could not help right now. When we got to her house, he started telling her that but then he asked her who the kid was. She was holding Nayeli in her arms and said that they were going to take her to hospital.

Nayeli with her Mum & cousin

My dad asked her what she wanted him to do and she said that in the morning she had to go to the hospital and they were going to do some exams on the little girl and he needed another woman to help her hold Nayeli still.

She also explained that she has problems with nervousness and other people she had asked had said that they could not help her because they were scared.

Nayeli's Dad on the left (with Liz & Junior)

My dad said that him and I would go with her in the morning to the hospital.

In the morning, my dad woke me up and told me it was time to go. It was six o’clock on the dot and we had to go to the hospital.

I got ready as fast as I could and then went outside. I didn’t even have time to eat! Outside it was nice and cool. Sitting upon a bench on our front porch was Nayeli, her mum, and her dad.

Nayeli

As soon as my dad walked out of the house, we all jumped into the car and went off to the hospital. For most of the time, our journey was silent with just the radio in the background. We arrived at the hospital but the mum said that it was the wrong hospital.

My dad did not know which hospital the lady was talking about so he asked somebody from the hospital that we were at if he knew where the other hospital was. He told us that we were very far away from the other one, La Mascota, but an ambulance was going there and so we followed the ambulance.

The ambulance was fun to follow but he was going so fast and it was hard to keep track of him.

Once we got to the hospital we went into a room and they gave baby Nayeli an injection in the arm. Once that was done we had to wait in the waiting room for a very long time. My dad kept on asking me what we were waiting for but I didn’t know.

Finally they called us in after we had been waiting for a few hours and they took some x-rays (I think) of her. One of her body parts was too small and so they had to stick something in her too see what was happening.

They told us to take her pants off and lay her down on the table. Once she was lying down and they hadn’t even touched her she had already started screaming and crying.

Nayeli crying, Jocasta & Manuel

They told me to hold her arms down and so I did it. They told the mum to hold her legs open and so she did it.

The doctor came over and put some needle thing attached with a cord in her and then he told us that we just had to wait, so we waited whilst they put stuff in her.

Once they finished that part they took out the needle and told her to pee and then she could go. She didn’t want to and so she started screaming and crying even louder.

We waited about ten minutes until she finally did it. They then put her in a shower and rinsed her off. Then we left and the little girl was normal again.

When we got home I was so tired and everybody was asking us where we were and if I was ok because I was so tired. I told them that we went to the hospital.

Now the girl is ok but they have to give her medicines and things like that.