...other seed fell on good soil

"A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown." Matthew 13:3-8

As I was on my way to the Project this morning I saw the literal apparence of this passage in a new field... there were stalks that had shot up high early, there were stalks growing well and steadily, there were patches where nothing good was to grow, and there were areas with more weeds than crop... and seeing this made me think of Matthew 13, then it made me think of my own experience the other day...

Michael is in second grade. He is 7 years old, has light brown hair which perfectly matches his skin tone, has teeth growing in, and talks with a lisp. In Music Class he enjoys singing, but usually gets tired of it after a song or two and would rather be messing around...
the other day with music class it was so hot inside that I decided to take them outside to sing under the trees. Going outside in the middle of the schoolday always excited kids, I think. It's refreshing, too. I taught them the song "Siyahamba ekukhanyen kwenkhos" (We are Marching in the Light of God; Marcharémos en la luz de Dios) and we sang it in all three languages. Most of the kids loved it, along with the dance that I taught them. There were a few boys who acted as though they were too cool to dance with us; so, they didn't put forth total effort. Michael was not one of these boys though... nor was he 100% into it and among those who asked if we could do it over and over... especially "¡En Africana!" He seemed to fall in the middle group, the one that partcipated... and had fun, but ehh whatever.

After a morning of making a fool of myself dancing around trees and singing loudly what sounds like gibberish to anyone who speaks English or Spanish... I spent a better part of the afternoon relaxing by the Pulpería and chatting with Darlin, David, Pedro, Manuela, and whoever else was around. At one point I was talking with Michael's older siblings Darlin and David (who are in 5th and 6th grade) and they were telling me about how many siblings they have... then asked me how many kids I want... and David asked me if I wanted Nicaraguan kids, and I said that it depends on who I marry, but it doesn't matter to me... so Darlin asked me if I wanted African kids... well, Michael was coming over; hearing the conversation he interjected that he could speak something in an African language... and started singing the song. Darlin and David thought he was kidding at first David rolled his eyes and Darlin responded in gibberish mocking him. And he turned to me and was like "No! Profe Rebekah, that's right isn't it?" and he sang it again... and when I assured him he was right he walked away with his head held high singing and dancing to Siyahamba ekukhanyen kwenkhos. It was so awesome to see the effect it had on him, and how much joy a simple song brought him.
.....................................................................................................................................................................

This morning I met Raúl on my busride to the Project. He started conversation with me for no apparent reason, maybe I looked cute this morning? Who knows... but he's 23 years old and lives near Masaya... however he works in Managua (that's a long trek, I know because I make it everyday). He works for Pepsi (by the way no one in Nicaragua drinks Pepsi, it's all Coke here) and was on his way home. He goes into work at 6 pm every night, and clocks out at 6 am. 12 hour shifts, 6 or 7 days a week, for not enough pay to live on... it's sad to see... and you may think, Poor kid, he has it rough. Yet, the truth of the matter is, he's pretty lucky. He's among the thirty percent of Nicaraguans who are employed. As I was thinking of this when I met him today, my heart ached anew for the people of this country. If you didn't know, Nicaragua is the second poorest country in our Hemisphere (only Haiti is worse off). 80% live below the Poverty line, and 70% are unemployed. These statistics are massive, and horribly sad... but when I meet these people, I stop thinking about numbers. I see desolation; I see difficult lives without a hope for a better future. The family I live with is poor, but there are many poorer... Raúl is poor, but there are many worse...

Thank you all for your prayers for me, I am overflowed with your love for me and with the Spirit...
Please pray for the people of Nicaragua who are living in poverty...

Please pray for the children at Project Chacocente that they grow in good soil...

historias pequeñas de una servienta pequeña

¡Tengo noticias buenas! Yo encontré la teclada para hacer ";"!
I have good news! I found the semi-colon key! ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Oh the joys of making proper sentences! ¡Gracias a Dios!

I haven't spent much time keeping you all updated lately, please forgive me. I have been very busy doing (and I do keep updated on my journal, and of course I email home) and not so busy informing you about it. Fewer posts on my blog site does not reflect the amount of work I am doing, rest assured.

The past two weeks has had its ups and downs - each day does - but lately I have had significantly more "ups"; in addition, every "down" seems to have a brighter side.
I don't really want to recount the goings on of each and everyday... not only because I can't remember everything, but also because I don't want to bore you to tears! (I am not so egotistical that I presume you would like to read of every single happenstance in my day - but of course Pops, I know the world revolves around me... love you!) Rather, I would like to share with you a few experiences... as each experience has its own story.

Last week I had the opportunity to go with Gabriel and Juan Carlos to Masaya to buy a keyboard for music class. I found one for a great price in ElectroNica! (ElectroNica's mascot is a lightning bolt that has a face with a cowboy hat and it holds a lasso... weird). It's a Casio, has 4 octaves, and plenty of settings, as well as a song bank with a large selection. So, I was quite pleased with my purchase. The trip to Masaya was truly enjoyable, as I had the chance to chat with JuanCarlos. It is really wonderful to get to know the families at the Project - especially the adult members. I spend all day with their children in classes; so, I think I should know them too! (Alright, so this little informative bit isn't really a main part of the story I was going to tell you... but I was really excited about my new keyboard, and I had a great time with Juan Carlos and Gabriel. If I were writing this as a narrative for English class, I would most definitely omit a significant part of this paragraph because it holds no weight in the actual story - but this isn't English class ... and you all should feel my joy of forming a friendship with Juan Carlos :-) ). The next day whenever I walked into the school carrying the keyboard in its box, I was immediately surrounded. Every single student wanted to see the new keyboard.

¡Que bonita!

¿Es tuyo?
¿Es para enseñar música?
¿Puedes tocarlo?

It was awesome to see the excitement in their faces, their eyes shone with anticipation of hearing music from the keyboard, of having the opportunity to play it... sure, all kids love new things, but these kids don't get "new" very often. I didn't have a class until after recess. While I was setting up the keyboard and giving it a whirl many of the students who usually would be outside playing baseball or tag or eating a snack were crowded around me. They wanted to help me open the box, find something to set it on, plug it in, turn it on... (in reality they just wanted to touch it, haha). It was so cute to have their attention (and believe me a new keyboard was a great attention holder for class that day!). One of my favorite parts of the day was during Pre-scholar music class. I gave the students the opportunity to play the keyboard. Of course I wasn't expecting (or even considering) a Mozart to pop out from the bunch, and yes, I realize that none of them would be able to play a song. I just wanted to give them the chance to try it out. I love seeing the different ways kids approach a piano - it so often parallels with their personality. The shyer/quieter ones - like Eveling and Adrianita didn't even want to try it at first... whereas little Miss Eva - she's a talker and most certainly has a mind of her own - was ready to play away. Some of the kids only used one finger, and touched one note at a time, as though they were afraid of making a mistake. Others went at it full force and just jammed away... and others attempted to imitate my playing. I actually did this activity with all of my music classes that day - although Pre-scholar was the most enjoyable... the first and second graders couldn't understand the concept of taking turns, no matter how many times I said only one at a time, wait your turn, make a line, no pushing, etc. etc. With my dear first graders I got so frustrated that I had to turn the keyboard off and had them sing without it the rest of the class. But you know, they sang with so much joy and enthusiasm, and still loved me... even when the kids get unruly and my head starts to hurt a bit these kids bring a smile to my face!

Another day last week I had to teach 5 Art classes, three groups of first graders and two groups of second graders (they had art and computer classes back to back - so we split them up). It was a surprise because there is an art teacher at the school (who was hired to teach English and also has been teaching art... although he's not a very arty person - he was just available and they didn't have a volunteer to teach it at the start of the semester) but he didn't show up that day. So rather than my being there to help him teach art, I had to come up with an idea... and just go with it. Well it's October, and Halloween is coming -

sidenote: Nicaraguans do not celebrate Halloween, as it doesn't have the reputation that it has in the USA, you know a day for kids to dress up and eat candy, the no-harm-Halloween... however, it is slowly becoming more accepted, and Cheryl Avery (project director) likes Halloween, and wants the kids to have the fun of experiencing dressing up in costumes and getting candy and making jack-o-lanterns etc. Therefore, Chacocente celebrates Halloween in the school.

So, we made spiders to decorate the classrooms. These spiders were awesome. I made one as an example... cut out a construction paper body, added some pipe cleaner legs, some puffy eyes, and then made a spider web out of yarn with popsicle sticks as the frame for it... and hung my spider from it... Then I got the kids started. Some of them thought the spider was so cool - but were completely unconfident in doing it themselves. The second graders were significantly more independent and creative, adding detail and color and personality. The first graders took awhile to catch on to this. But although the classes were frustrating because it was a lot of cutting and glueing and helping... paper and yarn flying everywhere and a lot of yelling "¡No toca!" y "Un momento!" y "¡Esperate!" y "Necesitas secarlo!" My voice hurt, I was tired, I had a headache, I didn't know if I had helped everyone... but at the end of each class I had a desk covered with the awesomest, most creative, paper spiders... of all different forms, colors, shapes, sizes... and the kids as well as both Profesores Yamileth y Marbel were pumped to hang them up in the classroom!

This weekend I had the unfortunate experience of being sick - Friday and Saturday. My stomach was horrible, I slept from 4 pm on Friday until 8 am on Saturday, and lounged around most of Saturday, slowly recuperating. I missed church Friday which was disheartening because I so enjoy worship here, I'm always so filled with the spirit worshipping with my brothers and sisters in mi iglesia here in Sabana Grande... but you know some days I'm going to be sick. Some days are going to be rough... some days I am just going to want to go home, but I have to get through it. If it wasn't a bit rough, then where would the reward be? If I didn't have a little struggle, how could I feel accomplishment? Being sick gave me a lot of opportunity to think - which is something I really love to do... I did a lot of meditating, and praying, and writing... and it was refreshing. Then, today not only did I feel better physically, but I woke up so refreshed mentally... just ready to praise the Lord; after all it's Sunday!

Culto was so meaningful today (both this morning and tonight). This morning one thing we did in church was read Joshua 1:8 over and over to memorize it, and then Pastor Pablo had people in the congregation recite it from memory. So, I'm trying to memorize it too, and I mostly have. What made this "exercise" (for lack of a better term) so special for me was that everyone in the church participated without a thought. Everyone saw the purpose in memorizing a scripture... it's not to be able to recite it in front of the church, or some useless activity to take up time... it's to imprint the words on your mind and your heart... to mull them over, and have them mean something to you... God's words in Joshua 1:8 reflect an important discipline of the Christian walk...

Nunca se apartará de tu boca este libro de la Ley, sino que de día y de noche meditarás en él, para que guardes y hagas conforme a todo lo que está escrito en él, porque entonces harás prosperar tu camino y todo te saldrá bien. Josué 1:8

Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. Joshua 1:8 NLT

drenched in experiences

Yesterday was absolutely wonderful... and extremely trying... much fun... and challenging as well. But it was all in all a blessing. When I decided to come here, to follow a calling I felt... I only really thought of all the awesome fun exciting new experiences I would be having. I considered that not everything would be easy or positive, but I didn't dwell on all of the opportunities for things to go wrong. Yet, as I am here and experiences difficulties right along with joy... I still am not dwelling on the "bad." It would be so easy to complain about all the rough things, and the adjusting I have to do... but I signed up for this. I feel I am called to be here surely, but ultimately I chose to make the journey. And on this journey everyday I am learning. I learn as much from the difficulties (if not more than) as the "good" experiences. And each day seems to have a little mixture of both.

Wednesday was such. I woke up refreshed (as I had Tuesday off, because there was no school), and ready to get going! I met up with Guillen and Rafa and took the bus to Zona Franca as usual. I walked through the Market and got on a bus that said "Tipitapa, Managua." This bus wasn't a full sized bus, but I'd taken various looking buses before, and never had a problem. As long as the sign is the same, I feel pretty secure. Well, this was not the right bus. It took a different route through Tipitapa, and did NOT pass by my stop. I am not familiar with Tipitapa, except for my bus stop, and the road that leads to and from it. When this little bus was emptied, and not anywhere near where I needed to be, the bus-man asked me where I was headed... I explained where I needed to go, and he got me a taxi. The taxi man assured me that I should take an Express van towards Masaya, rather than going to the bus stop, because it would be faster. So, I took the advice, and went to an Express van... but while I was waiting, I felt extremely uncomfortable with the doorman. He was just... well for lack of a better word... a creeper, and I did not want to be around him... he was looking at me in a way I did not enjoy... so, while I was waiting in the Express van uneasily, I saw a bus that said "Tipitapa, Masaya" (which is the next bus I take), so I bolted for it. I was not going to be in a situation where I didn't feel safe. I got on the bus, and paid my 6 cordoba... ready to go to Santa del Fine... and relieved... although I was late. Well, I got comfortable too quickly... I hadn't thought to inquire anything about the bus... yet again... and after a five minute busride, was still in Tipitapa... the bus was returning from Masaya. WAY TO GO BEKAH! So, I got off, and got on another bus... that was getting ready to leave for Masaya... and in about another half hour... and 26 cordoba poorer... I was off to my bustop - Santa del Fine. I arrived without a problem. Thank God... and although I was an hour and a half later... and frazzled from the transportation mistakes I'd made... I felt good. I had a nice, muddy, bike ride to the Project... and the day just got better and better!

I missed helping with the 4th/5th Grade art... and I missed my 3rd grade music class... but all was forgiven. People are late all the time here, and since I'm a volunteer, they're just happy that I come help. I was just in time for the Second Grade music class. I had gotten the words for Jesus Loves Me, in Spanish -

"Cristo me ama, bien lo sé. Su palabra me hace ver. Que los niños son de aquel. Quien es nuestro amigo fiel. Cristo me ama. Cristo me ama. Cristo me ama. La Biblia dice asi."

- and then taught them the good ol' summer camp version of Jesus Loves Me. With hand clapping, and shouting "Whoo!"... the whole works. At first they were all shy to sing, as well as horrible with the clapping rhythym (not too mention out of tune), but by the end of the hour they were laughing and singing, and having an awesome time. They sang by themselves, in pairs, in small groups, boys versus the girls... and they didn't want to stop. It was so rewarding to see them light up and receive so much joy, just because I taught them to sing and clap to a song.

The next class I had was first grade music. They were excited to see me, because I spent my first three weeks here in their classroom and they were used to having me there all day. The problem with this was that they knew me so well, they thought they could get away with misbehaving. I had to yell over them, and stop what I was doing to break them apart, or quiet them down, more than once. But once they understood that it wasn't a free for all they settled down. And it was as successful and rewarding as the second grade class. These kids love music, and to sing. They like to have a break from the writing and sitting... to have time to move around and make noise. I am so blessed to work with them, and I am glad I am teaching music!

The good things didn't end there!!!! Yesterday was a special day for Juan Carlos and Karen, a couple at the Project. They have five girls, two of whom had their birthdays yesterday! As well, Juan Carlos and Karen were married! I had thought they were married before, but I kind of gathered that they weren't legally... probably because of money. Anyhow, there was a huge fiesta at their house after school (which let out early for the party). We had two piñatas, and plenty of cake and pop for everyone, as well as a blessing cermony for the family.
It started to rain after the piñatas and we all went inside... but the party was still lively, and enjoyed by everyone. I felt so much a part of it, so included. It is amazing how in such a short time I can become so close to these people and become a part of their lives, their community, their family.

When the rain stopped I biked to my bus stop... because the path was so muddy my jeans were splatted with mud up to my thighs. As soon as I arrived at Santa del Fine the rain began again. In Tipitapa it was raining harder... when I got off at Zona it was pouring buckets, and the street was a river. Walking through the market was like fording a river. The busride home there was not a single person who was not completely drenched and dripping...

Back at the Tellez home the rain continued steadily. We did not have culto last night... but what we did do was as refreshing and beneficial, if not more. Pablo, Janeth, Belen, Isaac, and I gathered in the living room with Pablo at the guitar, for praise and devotionals. We were soon joined by Guillen, Manuel, Karla, and Jeryll. Even the rain would not stop us from praising. It was a beautiful spiritual reunion, as we sang and read scripture and devotional, discussed how it applied to us (And yes, I participated fully... and in Spanish!), and prayed, and sang some more. I cannot describe what we shared as the Holy Spirit moved among us, but I am sure that many of you have felt it before in similar situations of worship.

Renuevame Señor Jesus. Ya no quiero ser igual.
Renuevame Señor Jesus. Pon en mi tu corazon.
Porque todo lo que dentro de mi, necesita ser cambiada Señor.
Porque todo lo que hay dentro de mi corazon, necesita mas de ti.

God never stops showering me in blessings nor does he cease to drench me in new experiences.