Sledding

Happy holidays! While you all are enjoying the cold, snowy weather [most of you, anyway], we've been basking in the sun. Although, basking makes it sound downright enjoyable. More accurate phrases might be 'sweltering in the sun,' or 'suffocating in the heat.' Now that's probably an exaggeration. Suffice it to say, we miss the comfort of a warm house when it's cold outside. Our James Taylor Christmas album doesn't sound the same at 90 degrees! When we heard about the early snowstorms and saw pictures of children and animals frolicking in the snow, we decided we needed to do something about this lack of winter activities in our lives. So we went sledding. Here in Nicaragua. More on that later.

We're continuing to learn Spanish every day. Right now we need practice, practice, practice. One way we've been practicing is by taking advantage of our flexibility and traveling! It's been nice to get out of Managua and see some of the other cities. Taking a bus is very inexpensive, so we're able to move easily through Nicaragua, and we're hoping to continue traveling as much as possible before our jobs begin!

After spending Thanksgiving with other North Americans who understood the holiday, the next day we caught a bus to León, an old city to the northwest of Managua. We stayed for two nights, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Lauren now has a favorite city in Nicaragua :) The city has a much different feel than Managua, and it was nice to walk the streets comfortably after dark without much fear. There were many families, tourists, and students taking in the sights. One of the coolest parts of the city is the cathedrals. We went touring on Sunday morning and attended 4 different masses [a portion of each]. It was pretty cool to be in buildings that were so incredibly old, yet still filled with people seeking the Lord.

But the most unique part of the weekend was our Saturday morning activity, volcano boarding. Much to Mitch's surprise, Lauren wanted to sled down a volcano. So we signed up and joined a group that took us to Cerro Negro, a volcano 30 minutes from León. We hiked to the top, battling some serious winds while holding our boards, which acted like extremely heavy kites. After turning the corner on one of the switchbacks, Mitch's sunglasses were blown right off his face and down into the crater! Managing the boards and traversing a narrow path with steep drops on either side caused a few moments of angst for Lauren, but no harm befell us.

When we reached the top, our guide told us to sweep aside the top layer of sand and feel the ground underneath. It was extremely hot! Cerro Negro is an active volcano, and there was clearly action under the surface. After catching our breath and calming Lauren's nerves, we prepared to slip over the edge. There's no denying that the hill was steep, and quite a few people were feeling less than brave. The guide showed us how to ride the boards and how to control our speed. Knowing she could slow herself down if she wanted made Lauren feel much better about the whole situation.

Finally people started the descent on two separate tracks. The boards zipped right over the volcanic sand and kicked plenty up of dust. Mitch waited at the top until Lauren went so she had a little extra moral support. After she started, Mitch took off on the second track. Even though Lauren had a 30 second headstart, Mitch arrived at the bottom and had time to take quite a few pictures and a couple of videos of her descent. Let's just say she didn't break any speed records.

Nevertheless, it was an exciting ride down, though once was enough for Lauren. We got the chance to go a second time, and Lauren chose to run down while Mitch boarded. Doubt we'll ever do it again as a couple, but if you're looking for something to do while you're here, Mitch would gladly go with you!

That's the most recent news from us. We'll probably post something soon about how we're fitting in to a daily rhythm, but we wanted to share our trip to León because it was a great time for us to get out of Managua and relax for a bit. If you do come visit, León would be a good candidate for us all to explore together! Below you'll find a few pictures of our sledding adventure, plus a video of Lauren tearing up the mountainside. Below that is a sampling of the beautiful cathedrals we visited. If you're sitting in the snow and cold, enjoy the sun in our pictures! We'd gladly trade a little bit of sun for a little bit of cold :)

Make it a great day,

Mitch and Lauren

Before making the climb

At the top with our gear

Lauren blazing down the mountainside

At the bottom, feeling joy at our safe arrival

Fish and Chicken

We thought we'd share some interesting quotes from our local church here in Managua. Here's just a sampling:

"We all have fish, and the only way to receive salvation is to ask the Lord to forgive our fish."

"This afternoon we will have a talent show to benefit the youth. They need a chicken for trips and other activities."

Oh, the joys of learning a language. You can imagine our confusion as we tried to figure out the great theological meaning of fish. Turns out that the Spanish word for fish, 'pescado,' is quite close to the Spanish word for sin, 'pecado.' We're glad the the Lord is forgiving our sins, rather than forgiving our fish.

And why do the youth need a chicken?

'Necesitan a pollo para excursiones y otras actividades,' is what we heard.

'Necesitan apoyo para excursiones y otras actividades,' is what the pastor actually said. The two underlined portions are pronounced the same, at least to our ears, but the second one means 'support.' The kids don't need a chicken to travel; they need money so they can go places.

Our days are filled with moments like these. Food vendors ask which we would like: chicken, pork, or cheese, and we answer 'Yes.' Our teachers ask us, 'How was your weekend?' and we answer 'Oh, not too much.' Someone gives us directions, and we look at each other to see if the other one understood. Then we say in broken Spanish, 'Sorry, I did no understands. Cans you tell another time?' Lauren says we're not quite as bad as that, but Mitch thinks it feels like an accurate representation of our interactions.

Regardless of the mistakes, we truly enjoy learning another language. It's difficult, and it can be frustrating if you aren't willing to laugh it off. It takes time, 4 hours of classes each day and a fair bit of homework each evening. And once you learn a topic, you can't speak it fluently until you've practiced, practiced, practiced. It's been said that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become a professional. Don't know if that's accurate, but it feels right :) Yet we're finding joy in it.

Where's the joy in all that time and difficulty? When we can understand the simplest things outside of our house. We took Emre on a walk and a man who met us said 'Qué bonito pastor alemán!' And without asking him to repeat himself, we knew he was saying Emre was a 'pretty German Shepherd!' That's a big deal for us. We get off the buses and can understand what the vendors are selling, without looking at their wares! That's pretty big, too. When people use a word we don't know, they can explain what it means in Spanish, and we understand!

Today was the most exciting. We sat through church and actually understood the bulk of the message! Definitely not all the words, but the main points. Afterward, one of the children asked if we understood the message, and we give an outline! First time for that, no question! So we know we're making progress.

Plus, the children and staff at CINAFE are incredibly gracious and patient. That doesn't mean they always refrain from laughing at us, but we all have fun with it together. And it seems like we're developing strong bonds with everyone there, which is the primary reason we decided to move here. God has it all under control.

He has been providing us with great ways of interacting with CINAFE outside of teaching English. It's nice to be a part of the daily life, and not just guest teachers from the U.S. On Friday, one of the girls cut Mitch's hair. It was her first time doing it, and it didn't go perfectly! So we stopped by and made her fix it on Saturday! We showed up and left as we liked, and we felt like it was natural to simply drop by for something we needed. It was fun to do something like that which didn't involve teaching or anything aside from being together. 

Also, last Sunday there was a talent show [which did not involve chickens], and the kids wanted to do a play for it. They needed someone to play God, so they asked Mitch. And they won the drama category! They were pretty excited, and we were happy they thought of us when they needed extra people. Plus, Elmer [house parent of CINAFE] wanted to rap a little in Spanish, so Mitch said he would accompany him with the guitar. Then Elmer asked him to sing the chorus, so Mitch had to perform a song in Spanish at the talent show! It wasn't the easiest thing, but Elmer rocked the mic, and they ended up winning the song category! So we all went back to CINAFE and celebrated with chips and pop. Just another time when we were extremely grateful for the way God has placed opportunities in front of us to connect with the people.

That's the news from down south. May the Lord always forgive us our fishes, as we forgive those who fish against us. Make it a great day,

Mitch and Lauren

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Here's a link to part of the Spanish rapping extravaganza. Start watching around 20 seconds; the mic wasn't on at the beginning.

https://vimeo.com/112646459

Let's talk about food

The good:

     For starters, you'd better like rice if you move to Nicaragua, and it's good that we do. Almost every lunch and dinner we've been served at Cinafe, Fortress of Hope, or out at a restaurant, is served with rice. It's a good, inexpensive filler and goes with basically anything you put alongside it. For example - black beans, scrambled eggs, red beans, cooked potatoes & carrots, chicken, beef - we've had all of these things multiple times with our rice. We know it's only been a month and we've got many more meals to go, but for now, we're still really enjoying eating a ton of rice and whatever comes with it. 

     As we've said in previous posts, we've been enjoying going out to eat different times throughout the week because the local food is very inexpensive here, that is; if you go to a small open-air restaurant beside the road. The other week at our Spanish school, we saw one of our teachers leave around lunchtime and come back about 10 minutes later with a huge Styrofoam to-go container filled to the brim with what looked like an awesome meal. We asked her about it and she told us that she got her food from a woman down the road who makes food in her house to sell. [It's very common here for families to make food in their homes and sell it for very little.] She told us where to go, so we did the next day. We walked down the road from school, turned the corner, and went into a house. It didn't look at all like a place to get food, no sign on the outside or anything of the sort, and if it had been just the 2 of us walking, I don't think we would have found it nor would we have had the confidence to just walk in someone's home. However, we actually started walking right behind 2 other teachers from our school and we followed them right into the house. The lady there gave us her selections for the day and we each left with a tray full of shredded beef, lots of rice, a small side of black beans, a tangy coleslaw salad, and a madura (ripe banana cooked to perfection with a very sweet taste). All this for only 50 cordobas a person, which is equivalent to $2.00US. Lauren was explaining how a meal this large in the states would easily cost between $8-10.00 at a restaurant. All that said, it's hard not to stop by local places and take advantage of a well cooked, Nicaraguan meal. Especially since they even cook the rice differently here and we don't where to start. We've heard about the specific way to make rice but until we learn, we'll enjoy buying it locally.
*Picture below of our meal

The bad:

     It's hard to say "the bad" about the food here in Nicaragua. We really love it all. Obviously, there's one thing or two that's not our favorite, but we'll eat it anyway. So instead of "The bad", we're going to call it "The different". We really are enjoying the change in diet here. The only things that we miss, or shall we say that Lauren has observed, is the availability of good, green vegetables. Nicaraguan meals generally don't have many vegetables. We're not sure if you'd ever find a side of broccoli here. We'll keep looking. Lauren just WISHES we could at least buy some green beans at the store, steam them in water with a dash of salt and pepper, and a little bit of butter. But we can't. So for now, Lauren will settle for telling her wishes to anyone who is reading this and we'll call it good. As for food in general, we've been able to find almost everything we want and need at the local grocery store, La Union, similar to one you might find in the states

. It has lots of familiar brands, which is nice as we're adjusting to many not-so-familiar things.

     However, the other day we tried making pizza at home here for the first time, like we often did in Virginia. Lauren thought she bought all of the correct ingredients like flour, cheese, meat, onion, peppers, sauce, etc., but when we went to make pizza for dinner on Sunday, we found that the flour we bought to make the dough was corn flour, only meant to make tortillas and other traditional breads. We used it anyway. We found that our package of plain, ground up sausage we were planning to cook was actually chorizo, a different type of sausage with some tangy seasonings. We used it anyway. We opened our package of "mozzarella" cheese, smelled it and gave a taste test, only to find that it actually tasted a lot like a different local cheese we didn't care much for. We used it anyway. Our pizza actually turned out to be edible but nothing like the homemade pizza we'd come to master back in Virginia. Like any new place, there are things to learn and new things to try. Got a hankering for some Nica rice? Come on down to Managua.

Until then, make it a great day,
Lauren & Mitch

Same-yet-different Sunday

On Tuesday we passed the 4 week mark! It's encouraging know that we've been here a month without major troubles. God has blessed us richly, and we're excited to see what else he has in store for us.

This past Sunday was full of same-yet-different feelings. We realized as our day progressed that we were doing many of the same activities we would have been doing if we were living in the U.S., but it felt quite a bit different in a different culture and climate.

In a nutshell, we went to church, ate lunch with friends and family, then relaxed in the evening while getting ready for the week. Sounds very much like many of our lazy Sundays in Virginia!

First was church, just like other Sundays. But, we went to church on a crowded bus. Church consisted of very loud, electronic music for worship, a troupe of dancers in the aisles, and an hour-long sermon. We arrived at church around 8:15 and left around 10:30. We only understood about 7% of what was said during the service.

Then we ate lunch with friends/family. But, we took a bus home from church. We ate a piece of chicken over a plate of rice with a fruit drink that I can't describe. Plus, we ate outside in short sleeves on November 2nd. And we were still sweating!

Then we relaxed and spent time with friends. But, Lauren was running around with our puppy and a gaggle of kids who live in a children's protection home in Managua. Mitch was playing guitar so that the house papa, Elmer, could rap in Spanish. Mitch was also trying to sing in Spanish.

Then we went home and got ready for the week. But, our preparation consisted of doing Spanish homework and preparing to teach English. We also had to figure out how to get a new bus card since Mitch lost his. And we did all this work in our house in Managua!

It's interesting that a couple can move to a completely new country and culture and find that certain routines don't change. Obviously there are differences, but once you can see past those, there are as many similarities as differences. And this is encouraging: to know that people share many things across languages, locations, and cultures. Clearly, a Sunday routine doesn't fully sum up the relationship between two cultures. However, it was something that gave us a taste of home when home is far away. At the same time, we're starting to feel like home is here in Managua!

Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support. We feel so blessed to be here and experiencing life in a different country.

Make it a great day,

Mitch and Lauren

New house! Dog! Tons of pictures!

Many of you said we needed to show you pictures of our house and dog once we arrived and got settled in. Here they are! If you want to see any picture closer, just click on it.

First, the house.

From the front entrance

Inside the front door - living area

Kitchen at the back of the house

Bathroom

Bedroom

Bedroom - other side

Spare room, full of Liverpool and music

Back patio - Emre's home during the day

And now, we present to you: Emre.

He's a wonderful little Germand Shepherd. About six weeks old right now. Just took him for a checkup Saturday, and the vet says he looks great. We're having quite a bit of fun together.

He likes to play and sleep right now, and that's pretty much it. Here's his sleeping posture:

Lauren likes to cradle him like this:

 He doesn't always love it. Mitch likes to read with him like this:

Pup never knows what's going on in the story. Finally, here's the most recent picture. You can see he's growing. His ears are losing their floppiness and starting to stick up. He figured out how to escape from his patio today, so hopefully he'll continue on the path of intellectual excellence. Say hi to Emre, and if you ever want to meet him in person, you can just come on down to Managua!

Make it a great day,

Mitch and Lauren

A day in the life...

Well, time keeps moving on. On Tuesday we will reach the three week mark, and today we thought we'd give you a little taste of what each day looks like now that we are settled into a regular routine.

Each morning we have language classes at VIVA Spanish school which start at 8:00. That means we have to leave our house at about 6:45 to walk to the bus stop. We squeeze onto a bus that takes us to a bigger bus stop. There we switch to a different bus which drops us off close to VIVA. We generally arrive at about 7:45 to enjoy some coffee and talk with other people at the school. It seems like we're making progress; 4 hours each day should be helping! Our teachers are fantastic, and the rest of the staff as well. We take lots of breaks, sometimes only having class for three of the four hours. We often feel like we don't need as many breaks, but there have been days already where we are grateful for them. In all honesty, keeping things relaxed will help greatly with avoiding burnout. Three months of language classes is a long time!

After class we have a few hours of free time. So far we've found different places to eat, met up with different people for lunch and other things, run errands to get groceries and other things for the house, and spent time at home. We've got quite a bit to do at home each day. We have homework from VIVA, and we have to prepare to teach English at CINAFE each afternoon. PLUS, we have Emre to hang out with! [More on him later.]

At 3:00 each afternoon, we go to CINAFE to teach English to the children there. It is getting better each day. The first few days were very difficult. We didn't know how much English they had learned, and our Spanish was barely sufficient to explain things. After that we added songs, games, and hopefully useful vocabulary, and it seems like things are moving along quite well. Below you can find a nice little video from Valeska, showing a little of what she's learned. No cue cards or anything!

After classes, we get to eat supper with the kids and staff. It's been special to connect with them so quickly. CINAFE is the reason that we decided to make this move to Nicaragua, and we have been blessed to have them take us in and allow us to practice our Spanish and build relationships with them. We've gone to church each Sunday with them, and even participated in birthday celebrations. They are a great group of people, and we are so thankful that God has placed them in our lives. [Here's a little video of a Nicaraguan birthday piñata. It's quite a fun time.]

And now our blog post is getting rather long. We'll save Emre and some pictures of our house for tomorrow. Stop by sometime this week if you want to see our sweet new house and our sweet new dog!

Make it a great day,

Mitch and Lauren

Rain, thunder, and lightning

Yesterday we took the bus home from class. We had planned to go to the grocery store on our way home, but as we made our way home, the sky started to look rather dark. When we got off the bus, we decided to skip the shopping trip and get home before the rain started. It turns out that rainstorms in Managua don't begin slowly. We only have to walk 5 blocks from the bus stop to our house. That was plenty of time to become absolutely drenched. We got our backpacks under Mitch's rain jacket, but that's all that stayed dry.

We've never seen rain fall as hard as it did yesterday, save for the time Lauren nearly drove through a tornado in South Dakota. Other storms here have been that powerful, but we've been inside for those. The downpours are quite lovely from inside a sturdy house!

More amazing was the thunder and lightning. We've heard that you can count the time between thunder and lightning to see how close the storm is, and there were many flash-bangs that were too close together to even reach the number one. And the volume was unbelievable! Even though the lightning made it clear there would be a loud boom, Lauren found herself jumping multiple times. Never have we ever heard thunder that loud.

We are so grateful for the house we're able to rent, and for your financial support to do so, when we have storms like that. There are many in Managua who don't have adequate shelter for these storms, and in the last deluge, 5 people were killed when a barrio flooded. It's sobering to know that while we enjoy God's display of power, others are in dire situations. We want to say a big thank you for praying for our safety and for your financial support that enables us to live here safely. We are grateful for your support every day.

We'll try to give you another update this weekend about what we've been doing each day, along with pictures and videos. And for those who enjoy pictures and videos of puppies, we'll have those, too. Emre registers pretty high on the cuteness scale, so be prepared. Lauren was pretty taken by him before he was even in our house. Once again, a big THANK YOU to everyone who stands behind us while we live and work here in Managua.

Make it a great day,

Mitch and Lauren

One week

We've been here for a week! It's pretty incredible to think back on all the things that have happened since we arrived. The thing that sticks out the most is how God has provided for us through the people we've met. Everyone has been helpful and gone out of their way to help us feel welcomed and familiar with the city.

But before recapping our adventures so far, for those of you who were wondering: the earthquake here in Nicaragua was far from Managua, and there was no damage in our area. Schools were closed because there were parts of Managua without power, but we had no disruptions in our area. In fact, we didn't even know there had been an earthquake until the next day!

When we woke up, we had a regular morning. Then, as we arrived at our Spanish school for classes, everyone was talking about the huge earthquake off the coast. [It registered as a 7.4, and parts of the coastal region were evacuated because of fears of a tsunami.] Everyone was sharing their story of their house rocking and swaying. Lauren and I looked at one another and felt completely out of the loop. Apparently we had slept through the entire earthquake! Everyone else was dumbfounded that we had not woken up.

When we got home, our landlady came by and asked where we had spent the night. We said we were at home, but she didn't believe us. She said she had pounded on our door and yelled our names because she wanted to make sure we were okay and nothing had fallen in the house. We must have been extremely tired from our first day of Spanish classes because nothing could rouse us!

Speaking of Spanish classes, we are about to start our third day at VIVA Spanish School. Our teachers are great, and we are enjoying the way things are set up. Right now we are reviewing many things we already know, but we're finding that there are many things we don't know thoroughly. We have 4 hours of classes each morning, so we have a good opportunity to correct any mistakes!

After class ends at noon, we take the bus home or to a restaurant or store because we have a little free time until 3:00. At 3:00 we go to CINAFE to teach English to the children and staff. Right now we have two groups, about 45 minutes each, and we are doing our best to figure out what they already know. We're excited to spend that time at CINAFE building relationship with the kids and the staff.

There are lots of other things that we've experienced so far, but we'll save some for a future post. Just wanted to let you know that we've started classes and that the earthquake didn't harm us!

Make it a great day,

Mitch and Lauren

Emre - Our new guardpuppy

We thought you'd like to meet the newest soon-to-be-occupant of our house [or as Lauren would say 'member of our family.'] We chose him this afternoon, and we'll get to bring him home next week!

Arrival!

Hello everyone!

We are here safely in Managua and are enjoying every minute of it so far! We’ve been here for 3 days and it’s been fun to get settled in to our new house. We want to thank everyone for all of your prayers along the way; they’ve surely been felt by us. We are grateful for every one of you.

On Wednesday, our first full day here, Lois Orozco (a woman who we met back in March, originally from MI) took us out to shop for many different things we needed to get – food, household items, cell phones, etc. It was so nice to have someone we already knew take us around the city and show us places that will be helpful for us as we live here.

Yesterday, Thursday, we adventured out and took the bus through the city to find our school where we’ll begin taking Spanish classes. Once we got off the bus, it took us a little while to find the school but when we did, we set up our classes to begin this coming Monday!

Today, we’ve been spending more time setting up our house and, after waiting in line for an hour, we also got the bus cards we need for riding the city buses to and from school each day. We’ve also been enjoying the rain shower we’ve had for the past 2 hours J

Tomorrow, we don’t have much planned at all except to go meet our new puppy, Emre, who we’ll be bringing home, fingers crossed, next week!!!

Look for pictures to come soon!

Make it a great day,
Lauren & Mitch

Less than a week

We have less than a week left in the United States. Only one day left in Harrisonburg. Now is the time for being overwhelmed, stressed, scared, and anxious.

Strangely, those words don't describe us. Our brains know that others expect that from us, and frankly, we anticipated describing our thoughts and feelings that way. But, those feelings haven't made their way to the front of our consciousness. That's not to say we haven't thought them, but so far we feel calmer than you would expect.

Why? Because there is a blessed assurance in knowing that you are following God's will. In our minds, there is no doubt that we are taking this step because it is what God desires for us. He has shown us in many ways that He wants us in Managua. That knowledge can quiet any fear.

• "What about being in a country that speaks another language? You won't be able to communicate with people, so even the simplest task will be fraught with difficulty!"

• "What about trying to find a way to interact with children and staff at the orphanage you want to be a part of? Dropping in and forcing yourself into the daily life of an institution won't be easy!"

• "What about having only three months of preparation before beginning your school year? When January arrives, you'll have to teach and talk with co-workers IN SPANISH! You don't know very much; do you think you'll be ready in three short months?!?"

• "What about trying to find your way around the city? Managua is confusing, it doesn't use addresses or street names, and you don't speak the language of bus drivers or bus riders. How are you possibly going to find your way to language classes and back each day?"

• "You expect to feel safe there? You're going to stick out like a sore thumb. People say that no one should be out after dark, especially not white norteamericanos, and darkness falls around 6:00. All you can do safely is sit in your house; everything else will be more dangerous than you should risk."

Yes. Those are all legitimate fears. We can be completely paralyzed by all the bad things that might happen and all the hard things that will face us in the first few months. Or, we can have faith that God has called us to Managua with a purpose. A purpose that is worth striving toward.

A purpose that does not avoid the above fears. A purpose that embraces difficulty and hard work. There is no way to move to a foreign country without difficulty. We will have to work extremely hard to see progress. We will be overwhelmed, stressed, scared, and anxious, plus very tired, on a daily basis. At the same time, we know that God did not call us to Managua for a cakewalk.

God called us to Managua so that we could serve. BUT, He also called us so that we could learn. There is so much that we can gather from the people around us and from the hardship we face. If we go down there looking for ease and comfort, we are going to be sorely disappointed. For us who have lived nowhere else, nothing will be easy in a country that is not the United States. We know that, we embrace that, and we look forward to the benefits we will receive in the long run.

We write this now so we can look back in the hard times and remember this: "Even though this is difficult in the moment, we have chosen this path so God can work in us and through us. Hard work and struggle are not things to shy away from."

Pray that we will remember this when difficulties arise.

Make it a great day,

Mitch and Lauren

'Are you going for missions?'

Only 8 days left here in the US! Today we're packing up couches, chairs, bed, dresser, dining room table, and chairs. Our apartment will feel rather empty this evening, I expect.

As we tell people we are moving to Nicaragua, Lauren and I have encountered many who have asked if we are 'going for missions.' The answer is 'Yes,' but we believe there is so much more to missions than people moving overseas. Sometimes we respond to that question with 'yes,' sometimes we try to share our perspective, and we spend considerable time discussing it with each other and family and friends. Some of that discussing led to us sharing our thoughts at church on a Sunday morning. If you're interested in an in-depth description of our perspective, you can listen to our sermon at the following link. [Note: Mitch is the speaker, but his message contains both of our thoughts. Also, the recording from Sunday morning did not work. This is a re-recording of the same message, so it sounds a little bit different than it did that morning.]

http://www.eastsideharrisonburg.org/sermons/missional-living-from-mitch-yoder/

Make it a great day,

Mitch and Lauren

Needs for Support

As we are leaving, many people have asked about how to support us. We told you that we would put the details on this page, so here they are! Below we've posted an info card. It includes a very brief overview of what we will be doing, along with our needed support. Everyone can pray for us, and our specific prayer needs are on the card at the bottom of this post.

Financially, we need about $10,000 for the first three months. [An explanation of that number is at the bottom of the info card.] We have been extraordinarily blessed by very generous people, and we are getting closer to what we will need. The easiest way for you to support us financially is to mail a check to Fortress of Hope. Here are the details:

Write out a check to 'Fortress of Hope,' and put 'Mitch and Lauren' on the memo line. Then, send the check to the following address:

Fortress of Hope

PO Box 200

Hartville, OH 44632

Yes, we need money, but we are not worried about our finances, and we're not going to say 'We need that amount or we can't go!' We don't want to tell you to give so you can check 'tithe' off your to-do list. We want you to learn about what we are doing and come alongside us as we all respond to God's call. He is calling us to Managua, and He will provide for us through people who believe in what we are doing. In that vein, if you have any questions about what we will be doing, why we think it is important, or how we will use our money, please ask! We want to make sure you understand what we are doing.

One final note, we will soon have prayer cards that you can keep as you remember us in prayer. They are being made through VMM, and you are welcome to request those cards by sending us an email, contacting VMM, or Eastisde Church. Thank you to everyone who keeps updated on what we are doing. It means the world to know that there are people around us who care. Make it a great day,

Mitch and Lauren

The basics

We're moving to Managua, Nicaragua.

Why? We're going because we feel strongly that God is calling us to do His work there.

What is He calling us to do? We are trying to follow His calling as best we can, but we realize that we can never know God's plan in full. He has placed good work in front of us, and we will do it faithfully, knowing that He could change things.

The main reason we are going to Managua is to work with Fortress of Hope, a children's home for orphans and children who can no longer work at home. The organization has some needs that we feel need to be filled, and we feel God has called us to fill those needs. We're working with the board to figure out our roles. When we get to Managua, we will be spending time with the kids and staff and building relationships. God's going to be working in our lives and showing us how we can best serve Him. He has so much to teach us through the people we will be working with, and we pray that we can be willing and eager workers.

Fortress of Hope was started by a group of churches in the Midwest, and the board of directors is comprised of members of those churches here in the US. There is also a full staff of Nicaraguans working in Managua at Fortress of Hope, known in Managua as CINAFE. Part of the board's vision is to have us act as a kind of liaison between the English-speaking board members and the Spanish-speaking staff. That means we need to learn the language and learn it well!

After we arrive in October, we will spend the first three months [October, November, December] taking intensive language courses at VIVA Spanish School. Those classes will consist of 4 hours each morning, Monday through Friday, working one-on-one with an instructor. Twenty hours of language instruction each week is quite a bit, so we pray we will have the stamina and dedication to learn the language as well as possible.

In January, our schedule will change quite significantly. Since we will not be working full-time at CINAFE [there's not enough liaison-type work to do full-time], we decided it would be a good idea to seek out other employment. We were lucky enough to visit NCA: Nejapa [Nicaraguan Christian Academy: Nejapa Campus] on our first visit, and as this move became a reality we stayed in contact with the director. Long story short: we will both be employed full-time at NCA Nejapa!

NCA Nejapa is a private Christian school, located just outside Managua. It is a sister school of NCA - a private international school started by missionaries for their children. NCA follows the U.S. school calendar, is accredited in the U.S., and conducts classes in English. Our school, NCA Nejapa, shares a board of directors, but it follows the Nicaraguan school calendar and is entirely in Spanish. NCA Nejapa serves about 440 students, from kindergarten to high school.

Lauren will be working as an assistant in a kindergarten classroom. She'll be helping the teacher carry out lessons and working with the students in Spanish. Mitch will be teaching English to middle school and high school. He will spend half of his time teaching, and the other half supervising and assisting the other English teachers. Both of us are excited to share some of our knowledge and experience with the staff, as well as learn different ways of teaching and working with children. NCA Nejapa is looking to implement new teaching strategies, some of which we are familiar with, and we hope our input can be valuable and effective.

We have been lucky enough to find a house in the San Patricio barrio [near the Kilocho bus stop on the map], which is where CINAFE is located. We are in walking distance of CINAFE and about a 15 minute drive from NCA Nejapa. Also, you should know that we have a couple extra bedrooms and there is a guesthouse on the same block that can hold up to 60 people. So if you want to come visit, you have no excuse for not making the trip :)

Finally, although it looks like we're going on our own, in reality we have many people supporting us, and two great organizations. Our home church, Eastside Church, has commissioned us and is providing ongoing prayer and feedback. Over the last four years, Eastside has helped shape us, and we are extremely grateful for our church's role in this endeavor. Additionally, we will be working under Virginia Mennonite Missions' 'Partners in Mission' program. VMM will provide us with coaching, training, and other resources to make our time in Nicaragua a success.

Those are the basics. We're putting ourselves in positions to do God's work, and we pray that we are humble enough to listen for His direction as we begin life in a new city and new culture. Here's to whatever comes next...

Make it a great day,

Lauren and Mitch