Paul's Letter to the Nicaragua Mission Team

No, not St. Paul, the apostle -- Paul Dinges, the "pastor in residence" with us on the Medical Mission Trip. He led us in prayer every morning before we opened the medical clinics to the people, and he led the devotions each evening. He was available to any of us who just needed someone to talk to, and he prayed for us often when we were totally unaware of it. Today each of us received an email from him, and I think it is very much worth sharing with all of you who followed the mission via this blog.

Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I pray that each of you are taking some time to reflect on the spiritual significance of your experience with the mission work we accomplished this past week. Remember, I gave you an assignment on the first night of our devotion time together. I asked you to be aware of the ways you were assured of God’s near presence in our midst. Well, I’m asking you to do that same thing in the next few days as you reflect on your personal experiences during the mission trip. Think about all the times and ways God made God’s presence known to you in very intimate, even life-changing, ways.

I also want to remind each of you that, while our mission work in Nicaragua has come to a successful conclusion, there’s still one very important part of the mission left for you to do. You must tell your story! It’s not enough that you experienced God’s near presence in mission, you need to share the Good News message of your experience with others whom God brings into your life and who need to hear precisely what you have to share. Never underestimate the power of the Spirit’s work through you and in the hearts and lives of persons whom you talk to about your mission experience. In many ways, each of you have gained an authentic mountain-top experience and are now called by God, as you return to the mission fields in the valleys of everyday life, to tell your story. Remember also, that only you can tell your own personal story and the story you share, no matter how seemingly insignificant or unimportant, is worth telling. I am certain that there’s at least one person you’ll come in contact with who needs to hear what you have to share.

In case you need inspiration to help you realize how you personally experienced the nearness of God during our mission trip. Here are just some of the ways I experienced God’s presence:

1.     In the beauty of nature as I was zip-lining above the vast canopy of trees and bushes on our fun day.

2.     In the awesomeness of God’s handiwork as I climbed the big hill behind the orphanage and took in the vast scenery at the top.

3.     In the faces of the orphans that never failed to offer a smile, a hug or a laugh in spite of their difficult circumstances.

4.     In the interactions with the volunteers, helpers, and translators as they humbly and sacrificially provided for all our needs.

5.     In the embrace and the tears of joy a grateful woman offered for having her extensive leg wounds cleaned and bandaged.

6.     In the loving act of providing a lunch for an elderly woman who hadn’t had anything to eat.

7.     In the desire for team members to go out of their way (literally) to care for and transport a mentally ill young woman to the hospital.

8.     In the ways team members refused to let significant obstacles, such as frustrating complications by the Ministry of Health and an orphanage van that refused to start, to keep them from fulfilling the mission work.

9.     In the times of heart-warming fellowship, containing both spontaneous bouts of laughter and sudden tears of joy, shared with one another.

10.  In the simple and profound act of rearranging the words of the Lord’s Prayer into a prayer that literally touched our hearts.

These are just some of the ways I felt God’s near presence in our midst this past week. How about you? I encourage you to spend some time reflecting on the ways you experienced God’s presence and then tell your story! I thank all of you, particularly the ever-patient and ever-loving pharmacy crew, for allowing me to participate in another wonderful mission trip with you. These mission trips mean a lot to me and I am humbled and grateful to be a part of God’s kingdom work with each one of you in this way.

Agape!

Paul

Back at Los Cedros and being a tourist again

Coffee shrubs grow in the shade under larger trees.

Zip-liners hanging upside down.

Ziplining -- Children at station where Joel aired a tire on van

Survivors of the zip-line experience

Construction team #2 shops at the pottery outlet.

Excellent restaurant:

Entertainer at restaurant -- Craftsman with palm fronds

Castle-type walls surround a more upscale marketplace.

Stalls full of various wares in the marketplace

Hammocks for sale.

Horse-carts mingle with motor vehicles on Nicaraguan streets.

Some stores have armed guards.

View through my Camino Real Hotel window.

Hotel swimming pool

Casino next door to the hotel

Coconut palms and other lush tropical vegetation at hotel

Parrot in huge cage/display near entrance to hotel

Our plane the morning we left Nicaragua

 I had said yesterday that I planned to stay at the orphanage and not go on "play day" with Construction team #2, but plans got changed. The truck I had planned to ride to the hotel in got re-scheduled to morning instead of late afternoon, and I didn't want to hang around the hotel alone most of the day, so I played tourist. I had a good time, got some good photos at the zip-line, bought another ceramic piece at the pottery shop, had a very good lunch at a better restaurant than last Saturday's, and enjoyed shopping at a marketplace I'd never been to. I've had NO time to work with photos, though, and, since we have to be up before 5:00 A.M. tomorrow, I need to get to bed. I won't be able to add anything to the blog tomorrow, either, because we'll be flying home. But next week--at home--I'll finish posting photos covering the last two days and sum up the whole adventure. Best wishes from Nicaragua, and God bless you.

On Tuesday, Feb. 1st, back at home in Illinois, I finished going through and selecting some photos to share with you from my very last day in Nicaragua.  I didn't participate in the zip-line experience, but without a guide to inhibit me, I found a better location to photograph from, and I got some good photos of the guys and gal of Construction mission #2. I would identify them for you, but since I was only with them two nights and one day, I didn't learn all their names. This photo was taken after they finished the last zip-line, so it includes only the members of the team who did it; several didn't--including me.

We visited the same pottery place the other two teams visited last Saturday, and I found another ceramic piece I liked, so I bought it. I was fortunate that all three pieces I bought made the trip back home OK in my carry-on.
Our next stop was lunch. We ate at a very good restaurant. I don't remember its name in Spanish, but it means "My little old ranch" in English. The food and service were good, and the entertainment was a man wandering around playing a portable xylophone-type instrument. I gave him a tip for allowing me to take his photograph.

Joel took us to a different marketplace than the one the other teams visited. This one was more upscale, much cleaner and neater. A young boy outside the place entertained us with his prowess at making things out of palm-fronds--something like origami, only with palm fronds instead of paper. He made a grasshopper and several hearts for people for $1 apiece.
I walked across the street to a grocery store to look for some salsa and chilero (they didn't have it), and noticed that they had an armed security guard outside the place. As I passed by him I raised my hands like I was surrendering, and he smiled. Since he seemed friendly, I asked if I could take a photo of him. He allowed it, and I gave him $1.
Joel took us to the hotel about 4:00, and we checked in and relaxed until suppertime. I took a few photos on the grounds of the hotel. Compared to much of the rest of Managua, it was pretty opulent.
Supper in the hotel restaurant was good, and we tried to get a good night's sleep, but having to get up at 4:15 to get to the airport before 5:00 made it a short night. The last photo I took in Nicaragua was one of the plane just before we boarded. The clouds and mountains in the distance were pretty.
The flight home was without any major incidents--on time in Houston, and on-time in Chicago. Mark Hinrichs (of the 1st construction team) picked us up at O'Hare in the Wesley UMC church bus, and we rode to Bloomington. My wife picked me up there, and we drove home to Bartonville. Mission accomplished. Good to be home.

Jinotega, Nicaragua: Fifth Clinic Day

First thing: Don't forget that Construction Mission #2 has a blog also. It's at: http://www.nicmissiontrip2.blogspot.com/
Today was not only a clinic day, it was a travel day as well, and I didn't reach my destination--the Los Cedros orphanage--until about 9:30, so I haven't had the time to go through the photographs I took today, select some to share, and reduce them to a size that will upload in a reasonable length of time. Therefore, I'll just tell you how the day went and hopefully post some photos tomorrow.
We got up early, intending to get an early start to our half-day clinic at a little schoolhouse not too far away. Life gives us little setbacks sometimes, and today's was that Joy's van wouldn't start. Joy is the missionary in charge of the orphanage. Oscar, the bus driver, and two of our team members, Tom O'Donnell and Mitch Cogswell, worked on the car, changing the battery, jump-starting it from the bus, etc., until they finally got it started. That put us an hour behind, so we arrived at the clinic-site an hour late, finished the clinic work and left an hour late, had lunch an hour late, and were an hour late getting started back to Managua--about 1:30.
I should mention what a great lunch Martha and Martha served--pizza! It was really delicious.
Joy had picked up part of our coffee order in Jinotega (Most of us bring home coffee in our luggage--the bags we brought down medicines and clothing in, which are now empty), but we had to stop in Matagalpa to get the rest of it. Oscar drove rather fast to Managua--not that difficult as it's mostly downhill--and we made it to the marketplace in the center of the city by 4:30. The market officially closes at 5:00, but that's Nicaraguan time, which means "whenever,"--especially on a Friday night--so most of the shops were still open long after that, and we had plenty of opportunity to pick up a few souvenirs.
After shopping, Oscar drove the bus to the Camino Real Hotel, and dropped the medical team off there so they could spend the night and take the shuttle to the airport early in the morning. I rode back to Los Cedros with Joel, who had come to pick up the translators--including Stephanie, and Julia (Joel's brother David's wife), to take them home. By the time those errands were run, it was nearly 8:00, and we were starved, so we stopped at a McDonalds. Never has a double-quarter-pounder, fries, and "Coca Light" tasted so good! Then Julia needed to pick up a few things at a store that is Nicaragua's version of a Costco or Sam's Club. They have anything and everything in a huge warehouse in great quantity. I told Joel that I think once a country has McDonalds and a Sam's Club equivalent, it should no longer be called a "Third World Country."
Managua also has a "rush hour," and it is absolute madness. We were in it. We saw several accident scenes. Nicaraguan drivers drive too fast for conditions, cut each other off, blast their horns, pull out in front of people, and generally drive like everyone else should get out of their way--like maniacs, in other words.

The orphanage at Jinotega, bus at left, Joy's van at right.

The night-guard getting coffee in the morning.

Team members in line for breakfast in the dining hall.

Oscar doing "maintenance." One of the resident children.

Resident children having a meeting before breakfast.

Joy Pulsifer, missionary & headmaster. One of the Marthas.

Children at the orphanage have work duties to perform.

Kim Auth with a Nicaraguan boy very fascinated by computer.

Fran Tatum and Trena Buggs, both RNs

Nicaraguan child on a horse in the community nearby.

Site of the 5th Clinic, a schoolhouse. Students were on break.

Interior of school; we used this room for pharmacy & clothing

Family in front of home across street; yes, that close to the road.

Stephanie is cold. Dr. Tim sees one last patient by the gate.

Loading the bus after the clinic.

Francys and boyfriend Carmen waving good-by to us

On the road from Jinotega toward Managua

Coffee beans drying in the sun in Matagalpa.

Bags of coffee, after drying, ready to be processed

Coffee warehouse in Matagalpa; we picked up coffee here.

Arriving back at Los Cedros finally, I enjoyed a nice phone chat with my wife via "magicJack" attached to a computer--something we didn't have up at Jinotega. Tomorrow is Construction mission #2's "play day." They'll probably go zip-lining, eat out at a restaurant, and shop at the market--all things I've already done--so I'm thinking of staying here until Los Cedros personnel take the team's luggage to the hotel and ride along. That way I can relax, read a while, and catch up on sorting photos. We'll see how it goes.

Jinotega, Nicaragua: Fourth Clinic Day

I like the painting on the back of this truck.

 We had a great breakfast this morning. Martha and Martha fixed the best sweet rolls! Muy bueno! Delicioso! Then we rode the bus only 20 minutes or so to a little community south of Jinotega. We followed this truck part-way through town, and I was impressed by the painting on the back of it. We hardly ever see a truck that doesn't have somebody riding on top of it like these guys. Whenever we go places I take a few photos out the bus windows--like the one of the fruit market. They have a lot of these here. Just south of town you can see a little yellow church down in the valley. Our bus driver, Oscar, told us that was our destination.

I love the open-air fresh produce markets in Jinotega.

 Not the church, actually, but the community it was in. Kaye and I took a short walk from the clinic building up the road to photograph the church. Later we would be visited by a nun from that church--a missionary from Ohio called Sister Rosanna. She came to greet us and see what we were doing at the local clinic, because one of her parishioners had come to show her a photograph of her with her new baby. She was in tears, because the photo meant so much to her. It seems the woman lost a child a year ago; then she recovered and had another baby. Perhaps her emotional response was because she didn't have a photo of that baby, but now she did have one of her new child..

Notice the little yellow church on the lower left.

I haven't mentioned it, but we've had rain almost every day this week. After all, they call it a rain-forest. This is supposed to be the dry season, but Tuesday we had a little bit of misty rain, but it didn't affect us much. Then yesterday it rained pretty hard for a while, and we had to move the "photography studio" under a portico where we were in the way of people trying to get to "ropas" where the clothing was distributed. The people who came to see a doctor either stood in line under umbrellas or just stood in line and got wet. It didn't seem like many left and went home.

Today's clinic was held near the little yellow church.

 Again today it threatened to rain, but it was only a few drops, so we weren't affected. Good thing, because there was no porch we could get under. It's almost bedtime as I write this, and I can hear a gentle rain on the roof of the orphanage. I have my clothes packed--except for what I will wear tomorrow--so we can complete a half-day clinic nearby and do the long bus trip back to Managua. One of the fun things we did today was to take a picture of a man's horse and give it to him as he left. He was very happy to get it.

Why does this place remind me of the Old American West?

The guy with the FBI shirt laughed when I pointed at his shirt, smiled, and took his picture. Later I learned that he had bought the shirt on a trip to Miami. Must be one of the wealthier citizens. It was a very busy clinic. The medical providers saw 161 patients and Alan, Kaye, and I took 138 portraits and gave them to people. Kaye thought to take a photo of one of the appreciative clients showing off her picture to a friend.

Why indeed!?!

These clinics we do are very much under the cooperation and supervision of Nicaragua's Ministry of Health. At each clinic there have been M. of H. representatives either doing blood tests or giving inoculations.They have always been friendly and cooperative hosts. Also each day we have taken photos of them and given them prints, and they have been happy to receive them. Taking over 100 portraits in a day is real work, and I don't get a lot of free time to wander around the site and see what everybody else on the team is doing. We're usually set up near "ropas," so we see what they're doing, and sometimes we're within sight of the pharmacy, but the doctors are in rooms inside the building, and we can't just barge in on them when they are consulting with a patient. They work even harder than the photo team, of course, and are doing the really important work while ours is just "icing on the cake."

As usual, our clients were waiting when we got there.

Most came on foot; several came on horseback.

 I have mentioned before that much of the work on the farms here is done by hand and on foot. The two guys spraying the tomato field nearby spent virtually all day doing it.

Representatives of the ministry of health were there.

The M. of H. people were doing vaccinations today.

Waiting their turn for clothing.

Jane Romack discusses clothing needs with a client.

Kaye Kimpling took this photo of clients enjoying their photos.

Workers in a tomato field nearby were spraying the crop.

I liked the FBI shirt; he got it in Miami.

We gave the owner of this horse a print of this photo.

A face with the "character" of a lot of years.

There is much construction going on in Jinotega.

We visited this Catholic church in Jinotega.

When we finally closed the clinic about 4:00, we stopped in Jinotega and visited a large Catholic church, a nice park near the center of town, and some of us went to the Pali market again while others went to the Flor de Jinotega coffee shop for a drink. Supper tonight was broiled chicken, potatoes, carrots, rice, salad, cole-slaw--quite a spread! I worked on choosing and re-sizing photos for this blog between supper and team meeting/devotions at 8:00. We took communion together, and we're all trying to wrap things up for our last day tomorrow. I will take photos, of course, and hopefully share some of them back at the Los Cedros orphanage. The medical team will spend tomorrow night in a nice hotel in Managua, while Tom O'Donnell and I re-join construction team 2. The medical team flies home Saturday; the construction team flies home Sunday. It has been an interesting and rewarding experience--and I think I can speak for all of us in saying that. We have grown spiritually, we have renewed old acquaintances and gained new friends, and we have a sense of being a part of something larger than ourselves, and those are all good things.

Noelia, Harvey, and Michaell -- "more than translators"