La Chureca

I've had an incredible week of seeing God answer prayers. I'll take this minute to thank each one of you for your prayers, please do not grow weary of them, they are hugely impactful in my life and in this place. I have been praying for weeks, months actually, since April, to visit the largest trash dump in Central America, named La Chureca. It is about a 15 minute drive from my apartment and God had obviously orchestrated circumstances and opportunities in my life over the summer so as I could not avoid the knowledge of this place in Managua. But months and even years of praying could not have begun to prepare my heart for the site I would behold in the reality of this place. I will start at the beginning.....a very good place to start.

Jesenia, the gal I put on my prayer list last week, the sweet lady who so faithfully and passionately ministered to my heart during this time here in Nicaragua.... she works with a ministry called Love, Light and Melody. They work alongside the leader of a band stationed in Denver called Braddigan (Brad broke away from the band Dispatch). Brad has turned his singing career into a ministry in which he comes down to La Chureca several times a year, works with specific families in the dump, and builds relationships. Then he takes stories, pictures, and film back to the states and uses his concerts as benefits for these families, but also giving people knowledge about this place and about the need here. I had e-mailed Brad after seeing a documentary film he did, back in April and the trash dump had been on my heart and mind ever since. After several more random encounters with people who had ministered at the trash dump I began to wonder what God had in store, I was beginning to see a pattern.

When school was canceled on Friday becuase of the Nicaraguan elections this weekend I began praying for an opportunity to visit la chureca with the extra time I had during the day. I struggle with praying so much and then wondering if I should wait for the Lord to answer my prayers, or for me just to plunge ahead in pursuit of the prayer. At about 10 am I had spent a lot of time with the Lord that morning and continued to pray for God's will for the day, whatever that may be. I felt the need to call Jesenia, though I had only had about a 1/2 hour conversation with her one time I decided to brave the awkwardness and my lack of spanish speaking skills....and I called. She was so excited that I had called and said she could take me to la chureca if I could meet her at 2pm at Siete Sur.....I hung up the phone and began freaking out that I had agreed to random things because I don't speak spanish very well and understanding over the phone is difficult! Did she say 12 0' clock or 2 0' clock? Where is Siete Sur? How am I going to get there? What if she had said tomorrow, not today? I had to pray and tell God that this was in His hands and control, not mine....then I decided to propose an adventure to my roommate....she quickly agreed to embark with me and we set out together, unknowing of what we would do or if we would even find Jesenia. God knew.

A wonderful taxi driver stopped, though we couldn't pay him the full amount because we only had american dollars, he still took us directly to Siete Sur, and we walked a couple blocks to the bank....Jesenia showed up 5 minutes early and we then set out for the first time on the bus system....it is NUTS! Crammed, all the guys yelling at you because you are blond, homeless people asking you for money.....quite the experience! Jesenia was a peaceful presence and just calmly showed us how to get about. The bus dropped us off in a random neighborhood and we walked down a street to find ourselves looking out over La Chureca. "Comenza la chureca," Jesenia said as a horrible stench began to descend upon us. Fly's everywhere, burning fires....cows and horses roaming amidst dogs and people in piles upon piles of trash for miles and miles. Men were hacking at the hug rib cages or cows, stripping any left over meat from the bones. Sometimes the smoke was so thick you could barely see in front of you where you were walking. Mud, human waste, and trash sloshed around our feet as we walked into the trash dump. It is a sight that reached past my eyes and struck my heart. It is something I will never forget.

As Jesenia introduced us to two families and many children that came up to jump into her arms I looked into the eyes of these people and loved them. I don't know how people can be so hardened by an environment such as this and still be soft enough for love to shine in their eyes. Living day in and day out amidst trash, searching for their livelyhood amidst the garabage the rest of the world discards....have we discarded these people as well?

The most interesting part of this whole experience I think was not as much the sweet embraces and dirty smiles...not the overwhelming mountains of trash, or the disgust of living, moving and breathing amidst such a place...but it was as we were saying our goodbyes to one of the sweet families, we turned to see a large school/tour bus making it's way down the "road," kicking up mud as the tires tread the trash. A group of American's were inside, white faces, staring out the windows at the people they passed, pressing camara's to the glass and flashing pictures. Their eyes showed terror...not love. Their camara's flashed messages of judgment, not acceptance. I do not know what this group was doing, or why they were driving through the dump. I am sure God had called many of them to serve for a time in the dump and to share hugs and embraces and take home stories and pictures to the states....but for me, standing with the people and watching this occur hurt my heart. It made me look at our American way of life with such disgust. We know nothing of the ways of Jesus and how he served us.....

Philippians 2: 5-11

"5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! 9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

My heart cried out with a longing to serve these people humbly, becoming like them, obedient to death of the old way of life.

I don't know what God started doing in me as I stood in that trash dump....but it is something gripping my soul, squeezing my insides, pleading with my mind, drumming on my heart.

We will see what God has in store. For now brothers and sisters, join me in prayer, join me in humility, join me in obedience to our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus as a response to a glimpse into the lives of these people, God's children, living souls worthy of some uncomfortable feelings and some ponderings of the soul in the way that you live and serve where you are at. May your attitude be the same as that of Christ Jesus.

Here is the Love, Light, and Melody Website if you would like a greater glimpse of this ministry: http://lovelightandmelody.org/home.php

Oh Culture!

Here are some of the cultural differences I am beginning to embrace here in Nicaragua:

1. Lizards run all over the house, they are harmless, but they "bark" or "squeak" loudly when talking to one another.
2. There is no hot water anywhere, only one nob on all faucets, including showers......cold!
3. When walking down the street for about a 10 minute period it is likely that a blond american girl will get whistled at, cat calls, and other forms of yelling out the window of cars about....18 times. (I counted)
4. There are no street signs and directions are given by land marks and rotundas.
5. Most Nicaraguans cannot pronounce the name Nyhoff, so they just call me "Miss! Miss!" and the closest spelling one of the students has attempted looks like this: Ninehawlf
6. Fruit baskets are the highest honor of gifts to give and recieve in social situations
7. Trash is burned anywhere and everywhere you go....there is always the smell of burning trash in the air (It makes me laugh at the people who are afraid about the American atmosphere, you should try coming to third world countries)
8. School can be canceled by the government, then switched back, then declared a national holiday the day before....this makes for difficult planning, but nice days off!
9. I have so many mosquito bites I look like I have chicken pox everyday...and feel like it too!
10. Nica time is SLOW, everything runs at least 30-70 minutes behind schedule all the time!
11. A swarm of ants will attack a piece of food dropped on the counter or floor in approximately 38 seconds
12. I have never sweat so much in my life and have yet to wear a long sleeve shirt or any kind of jacket! I knew I would love this country! :)

13. Rice and Beans(name: gallopinto) is eaten for every meal: lunch, dinner, and especially breakfast!

Be joyful always.....

Here is a quote from Amy Charmichael that I want to share with you, so inspiring!

"Too few Christians live radiantly, beautifully, abundantly. We do not rise to the level of the joys that are ftting of God's heirs. There are far deeper joys within our reach than we have experienced. The beauty of the Lord does not shine always in our faces and glow in our characters and apear in our dispositions and tempers. The trouble with us is that we've been trying only the shallows of God's love. We must cut the last chain that binds us back to the shoare of this world, and like Columbus, put out to sea to discover new worlds of blessing."

One month mark...assailed by hardships, but not overcome

It seems like it has been forever since my last update two weeks ago. Teaching has picked up at a rapid pace and suddenly I find my free time diminishing as lesson plans consume much of my mind and time. This past week was very difficult for me, yet filled with huge blessings at the same time. I am learning many things and count it a privilege to be able to share some of the things God puts on my heart with you so candidly. Hang with me, this could get long. J
Here is a journal entry that will help get me started,
Gracias a Dios,
Oh that every breath would be an exhale of thanksgiving, that every inhale be prefaced with praise – “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.” The Psalms leave us with this grand command and how many breaths do I waste in praise to myself, or mutterings of discontentment, or sighs of complaint. Lord, “Let every breath, all that I am, never cease to worship you!” “Tune my heart to sing your praise.” “May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to you O God, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

Honestly, I have been broken this week. The message God seems to be continually speaking over me is humility and meekness. How I fail at these two things. When God brings about things to put me in a place of humiliation I revert to complaining and discontentment. I see through myself so clearly here. There is nothing to hide behind here, no retreat. I continually am reminded that I am nothing, that I am sinful, prideful, selfish, and the only good thing in me is Christ. But when I see my faults and shortcomings so much I fall back on the magnified name of my Lord. Oh how strong He is in my weakness! Though it is painful, I would desire no other thing than for me to be a broken pot. Jeremiah 18: 1-6 says,
This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah, “Go down to the potter’s house and there I will give you my message.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping was mared in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me, “O House of Israel, can I not do with you what this potter does?” Declares the Lord, “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in My hands.”
God is making something new out of me, the mared and broken pot.
This week I struggled continually with teaching. Again, my pride brought me low to humiliation. I think that I know how to do many of these things and have the natural ability and talent to teach, but this week of teaching definitely stretched me more than ever before. Ultimately, I failed at teaching my students anything this week. I got a lot of feedback from the principal and my partner teacher. Hours of conversation on how I could do better, what I need to change…..it was exhausting….questions whirring in my mind…. “am I doing anything right?” My immediate unspoken response, “I hate this, I can’t do anything right, I want to give up. Why do I hate this so much?” I came home Friday afternoon with piles of planning to have done by Monday, almost in tears at the aweful week I had just had and the weekend of work ahead after just another lecture on what I needed to do to be a better teacher.
Oh Beloved, when you are weak, then I am strong. Boast all the more in your weakness so that I may be evident in MY strength over your weakness. God’s voice sang over me as I slept Friday night and I awoke Saturday morning with new motivation, ideas and passion to do the best I could in this situation. Oh how God is close to the humble in heart.

I share all this with you as I lead into this next part, so hang with me.
Throughout this process of molding there has been an even clearer theme I see in scripture I read, conversations I have, or prayers I pray…..Thanksgiving.
As you can see from my journal entry, thanksgiving has become an ever present process and I have been overwhelmed with the results of the breathing in and out of thanksgiving. I had the privilege of joining in a Thanksgiving celebration with the ministry I will be involved with in January. Yes, the date was set 3 weeks early so that everyone could be a part of the gathering as many travel to different places in Nicaragua over this holiday. They so kindly invited me, and I couldn’t wait to meet everyone. Let me tell you, it is truly a family and I am so excited to be a part of this group of believers. We spent most of the evening (about 3 hours) talking and sharing God’s faithfulness and blessing over the past year. Every eye had tears at different points. The director of this ministry shared about thank offerings in the bible and celebrations God’s people had regularly to remember what He had so graciously done for them. Celebrations of God’s faithfulness are so important, and we need to be more serious about our thank offerings not only once a year, but celebrating all the time! A heart of thankfulness is often transformed into praise and praise into transformation of attitude and heart towards things eternal.
The next night I met a wonderful lady at a gathering I was at. She spoke only Spanish….perfect opportunity for me to practice! J We had a little bit of a hard time communicating at first, but you could tell our hearts were connected in the Lord. After some introduction conversation she asked me right off, “What is God teaching you?” I shared everything I could put into words in spanish and she understood. She then went on a 15 minute Spirit led speech about how I need to be using this time in adoration. I understood every word that she said because God knew I needed to hear those words, whether in Spanish or English. Tears came, oh how sinful I have been in not continually turning to Christ in adoration, praise and thanksgiving for not only the blessings and good things, but the hardships, trials, and pain. “Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thes. 5:16-18)
I am not doing these lessons justice in simple words, but I pray that you can hear my heart speak to yours. Oh that we filled our speech, worship, prayer, and every movement with more thanksgiving…how our light would shine in the darkness. Prepare your hearts for the Thanksgiving holiday with a daily, heartfelt, attitude of thanksgiving in the next few weeks. Not only turning to him in thanks for the blessings, but for everything.

“We always carry around in our bodies the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that His life may be revealed in our mortal bodies.” ~ 2 Cor. 4:10-11