Nicaragua

After Guatemala, I headed down to Managua, Nicaragua where I stayed in the ministry house of Campus Crusade for Christ. Here I also did campus ministry going to a couple of the university campuses to share the gospel. I went with Junior, CCC staff and Antonieta, a student leader. We got to share with many, and even saw one student pray to receive Christ! I wish that I had more time to spend in Nicaragua to get to know other ministries in other cities, but I had to move on to make it to Costa Rica for Thanksgiving. But I did go to Pochomil on the coast with Angel and Rafa, to find a location for a christian leadership training camp coming up in December. I also went up to Matagalpa for the weekend with Oscar, another volunteer leader and worked with a church ministry up there for a couple days.

Here is one interesting story is about my roommate in Managua. I slept on a mattress on the floor of the ministry house, and when I woke up one morning, there on the floor beside me, was a giant Tarantula!!! And those of you that know me, know that I hate spiders!!! I took a couple pictures before smashing it with a shoe!







Political ciaos broke out in Managua while I was there. There was an election and the political party in power called the Sandonistas blatantly cheated the election process saying they won. They threw out votes, closed poles early, and kicked out the governing officials to count the votes in private. The Liberales, an opposing political group, planned a peace march on Tuesday afternoon to protest the election. The Sandonistas went out first into all the city plazas with masks and wielding bazooka-like weapons that are normally used for fireworks, but they would fill them with pieces of metal and shoot them at people. They also closed down all the main roads, blocking them off with busses. Their whole goal was to scare and threaten the Liberales from assembling and protesting. The police, who are under orders by the Sandonista government, didn't care about the fighting going on in the plazas, their only job was to keep the journalists out. The president didn't want the world to know what was going on in Nicaragua. I didn't dare venture into the plazas that day, but could hear the thunder of the bazooka weapons firing throughout the day and night. I did see some videos on local news channels that were sent from cell phones of reporters that had gotten in, but that's about all I saw of the fighting. I left the next day. Please pray for this situation in Nicaragua and that they can peacefully work out the election in a just manner without blood-shed.

Guatemala

In El Salvador, I met a guy named Ryan from California who has been traveling over a year now, but he started in the south and is heading north back to the US. He invited me to travel with him up to Guatemala, but I told him that I was heading the other direction down south. He then told me that we could go "jump off of things" including cliff jumping inside a cave! That was all the convincing that I needed. I was actually waiting to continue south because one of my missionary friends just had a baby and I was waiting for a better time to go visit them. So I had a week to kill and decided to spend it with Ryan in Guatemala. It was awesome!!! We backpacked, staying in hostels and living/traveling as cheap as possible. Most of the time, we traveled in chicken buses (school buses packed full of people) or in the back of trucks, which are not known for their safety, but we did fine.

We did have one bad incident though. We got on one bus that was waiting to leave, but realized that this was not the bus that we wanted. I opened the back door to get out and when one of the bus guys saw that I wanted to get off, he ran up, slammed the door shut hitting me in the face, and then smacked the side of the bus signaling the driver to take off. The driver took off despite our yelling to stop and that we wanted off. We went about 2 blocks to the next stop and the bus guys wouldn't let us off unless we paid 10Q = $1.50 (about half the fair to the next city). We were furious, but didn't have time to argue because we didn't want to miss the correct bus. We ended up paying him half that and got off the bus, but it left me really upset to be taken advantage of like that. Ryan was upset too and we talked about it on the next bus. We also talked about what the Bible says and that we are not only to forgive, but also pray for our enemies. And after some prayer, I got my perspective right and my heart changed from wanting bad things to happen to that man to having compassion on him and desiring that he would know my Lord and Savior to be freed from his own anger and suffering.

We live in a fallen world full of bad people, but there are also some good ones out there. Not more than a couple hours after the bus incident, we met one of them. Her name is Magdelena and she owns a "hotel", which is actually a room in her house in the town of San Juan. It was further away than most hotels, and probably not as nice, but for some reason I felt like God was leading us to stay with her. On the trek to her house, I found out that she is a single mother with an 8 year old son named Ezekiel and that they are just trying to make ends meet, so Ryan and I decided to share our spegetti dinner with them. We sat down together and I began to pray and bless the food and she started singing praises out loud! She was a christian and was so excited that she had 2 christians staying in her house because she had never had christians stay with her before! She told me that she was a believer, but had strayed in her walk with the Lord because of an ugly divorce with her alcoholic husband and because of financial problems. We talked until late in the night about the Bible and God's faithfulness. We also cooked them dinner the following night, baught them a few groceries, and sung some spanish praise and worship songs to the mandolin. I think the fellowship was very encouraging for Magdelena and she was very sad to see us go. I remember that I left the room the first night to go to the bathroom and I heard someone crying. I listened a little closer and realized that it was Magdelena praying to God through tears! Please pray for Magdelena and Ezekiel and that God would comfort them and provide for all of their needs.

Campamento

I have been here in San Salvador about 2.5 weeks now and still loving the ministry here. I have worked a lot with the Crusade team, but have also gotten to work with a few other ministries. One of the Universities has a ministry led by a couple student leaders. I helped them out with a retreat that they were planning and it was awesome! There were over 100 students that went to the camp and we loaded up in 2 buses and traveled out to a beautiful ranch right on a lake made from an old volcanic crater. The whole camp brought me back to my days of Young Life where we divided up into teams and competed in many different activities throughout the camp. I was constantly asking myself, "what would my crazy YL friends do in this situation?" and did whatever silly thing I could think of to draw my team together. We named out team "Las Aguilas" (eagles) and we had a cheer, hand shake, and by far the most team spirit! We came together and actually won the over all camp competition! On top of that, a few people on our team prayed to receive Christ that week!!! (Williams in the picture to the left was one of them) The student leaders did a great job planning the camp and I beleive 10-12 students accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior that weekend!


The pictures below are of some of the activities that we did at the camp:

El Salvador

I have been in El Salvador just over a week now working with Campus Crusade for Christ in the city of San Salvador. I am really excited to be doing college ministry again and it is the ministry that I have the most experience doing because it is very similar to what I did in Argentina. I am currently staying at the STINT team guy's house and it is drastically different from the sleeping conditions I had in Honduras. I have a mattress, hot running water, electricity, and even internet! So that is definitely a blessing. They are the first STINT team in El Salvador and are pretty much laying the foundation of ministry on a few new campuses. It is exciting to be a part of that and see their vision for the future of the ministry. They are all from California and make fun of the fact that I say words like "yall", but thats OK cause I can make fun of their spanish, having only been here for 2 months. But they are awesome and it is a blessing to be a part of their team for a while.

I am really enjoying the ministry here and the fellowship that I have with the team as well as some awesome Salvadorian Christians that I have met. And I think that I am going to stay here longer than I had planned. But thats whats nice about flying solo. Its just me and God and there is freedom to go or stay as He leads.

The picture to the right is of us using a tool called Selarium to share the gospel with a group of students. It uses a set of 50 pictures combined with a set of questions that help transition into deep spiritual conversations.

Philippians 4:13

¨I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.¨
Philippians 4:13

I went to 3 Pentecostal church services on Sunday, one right after the other and each one lasted at least a couple hours. I was invited to play my mandolin and sing ´´Yo te Busco´´ (I Seak You) in front of the church. That was definitely an honor, but what was much more fulfilling was what happened later in the service. Everyone was worshiping when I saw a guy stumble in off the street obviously drunk or on drugs. I felt called to go talk with him and when I did, he smelled of alcohol and he later told me that he had been using cocain as well. He told me that he was passing by and felt a call to walk in the church. We talked for over an hour and I shared with him my testimony and the gospel and the freedom that we have in Christ from sin. He shared with me about his life and all the things that he is involved in. He confessed that he has killed people and that there are many who are trying to kill him. But he said that before they do, he would like to clean up his life. I told him that it is impossible to do it on your own and that it is only possible through Christ as it says in Philippians 3. We prayed together for Christ to enter his heart and to begin working in is life. I also told him that I wanted to talk with him more when he is not drunk and drugged and he promised me that he would remain clean to be clear minded when we met again. I got is cell number and called him the next day, but haven´t been able to get a hold of him. His name is Juan Jose and please pray that he will seek the Lord with all his heart and that God will work powerfully in his life. Also pray that I will get to meet with him again before I leave for El Salvador. Juan Jose is in the picture to the right.

Another similar story. Yesterday I climbed up a small mountain to get a good view of the town and also to pray, but God had other plans for me. There were three guys already up there and they were drinking, using drugs, and huffing glue. It was such a sad sight and I felt burdened to share with them. The one that was the most out of it was only 19 years old and I could barely understand anything he said. We sat talking for a while and after a few attempts to transition into a spiritual conversation without success, I prayed for God to open the door to share with them. Then one of them asked me to give him my ring that had a cross on it(probably to sell and get more drugs). I asked him if he knew what it meant, and then shared with them what the ring meant to me. We talked for a while, but unlike Juan Jose, they were not ready to recieve the life saving message of Christ. Please pray for them as well and that God would continue working in their hearts and that their satisfaction would not be found in this world.

A Change of Scenery

The week before I left on this journey, I was at the outer banks for my sister´s wedding where we stayed in nice houses with pools, hot tubs, pool tables, huge beds, and big LCD TV´s in every room. The scenery has changed quite a bit since then. I have been staying in a different place almost every night and most don´t have electricity and a few houses don´t even have running water. I sleep on the floor on top of my sleeping bag and ground pad because it is too hot to sleep covered up even though it exposes me to the mesquitos and giant cockroaches. And even though I have mesquito bites head to toe, and shower from a bucket of water, I am loving every bit of it!!! It is a big change, but I am learning so many new things, having advendures every day, and I have already seen God do some amazing things! Ill write about a couple of them.




I learned to make tortillas over a wood fire. So far, all the cooking has been done over wood fires like this one.

I also learned to prepare fish from the ocean. It is a lot more complicated than just cutting it open and pulling the guts out! Fresh fish is so delicious, but I think my hands still smell like fish.

I have also tried so many differnet kinds of fruit and some I had never heard of before. I have eaten mangos, papaya, coconuts, oranges, hicaco, and many others that I don´t remember the names of. But all of them came straight from the tree or ground. The picture to the left is when I learded to cut open a coconut with a machetti. The picture below is of some gourd-like thing that I can´t remember the name of.

I have also seen so many different animals that pretty much go where they want and live in the houses as well. Here are some pictures of them: (Turkey, Baby Goat, Pig, and Crab)

And the Journey Begins...

I can´t believe that just the night before last, I was in my bed at home. I feel like so much has happened since I left. Ill start from the beginning. I finished packing at 2:30am tuesday morning, woke up at 5am to go to the airport, and then flew to Miami on the same flight as my sister and her husband on the way to their honeymoon (complete coincidence I promise). I then flew to San Pedro Sula, Honduras after being told by the man at the check in desk that I wouldn´t be allowed through customs unless I had a return ticket. I told him that I would take my chances and just pray that I get through... and I did. I then met Victor, a pastor from Honduras, his wife, Justancia, and their 2 year old daughter Eliabeth (Ill post a picture when I get a chance) and we drove 2 hours to Victor´s home town called La Entrada. I met the family, went to honduran birthday party, and then to a prayer meeting at his church. I got more stories, but no more time to write. But I do feel like I hit the ground running. I am really excited about the road ahead!

My Last Day at Home

I leave for Honduras in about 4 hours!!! I am pretty exhausted and not completely packed yet, and when I probably should be freaking out, I instead have sense of peace about everything. So I thought that I would take a break from packing and write about it although I am half delirious. I can always sleep on the plane.

Today, my last day in the US for a while, has been pretty crazy getting last minute details taken care of, but it has also been so encouraging. The day started out with a text message from my good friend Flor in Argentina, who sent me some scripture verses that would help me on my journey. Here are a couple of them that I really liked:

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." ~ Joshua 1:9

"The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save." ~ Zephaniah 3:17

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." ~Hebrews 12:1-3

The first two verses I really like because it assures me that God will be with me on every step of this journey, even when I feel alone and home sick. And not only that, but it reminds me that I serve a powerful God who can move mountains, and split oceans, and change the hearts of men. There is nothing that God can’t do. All I need to do is fix my eyes on Christ and He will take care of everything else.

The day ended with getting to see and be prayed for by some of my closest friends. It was a very bittersweet moment, praising God to have such great friends, but also realizing how much I am going to miss them!

The Jump

I distinctly remember the first time that I ever jumped off the high diving board at the pool where I grew up. I was probably 4 or 5 years old and at that age, 3 meters is like a sky scraper and I was really scared, but I really wanted to do it! I remember standing up there on the edge of the diving board looking way down in the water where my dad was waiting, treading water with his arms extended up telling me to jump and that I could do it. I don’t remember how many times we counted to 3 together without me fulfilling my end of the bargain. My legs were shaking uncontrollably and the more I put off the jump, the more scared I got and the harder it became to do it. But then my dad told me, “Trust me! I would never let anything bad happen to you!” This was my dad who loves me more than anything in the world and I believed him and I trusted that it would be alright. So I mustered up all the strength I had left in my shaking legs and took the leap of faith! It was amazing and I have never looked back since!

If I had not trusted my father’s words that day and given into my fears, I would have missed out on an amazing adventure and many more exhilarating jumps to follow. In fact, I became quite good at it and was even on the diving team in high school! Well the point of telling this story is that I feel that this journey is another leap of faith like that one. Many times in my life, I have felt God’s call to jump and He has never, not once let me down. He says “trust me”, and when I have responded in faith, the result was more amazing than I ever imagined! I have learned to trust His word and call in my life. Right now, my father in heaven is calling me to leap on a journey down to Central and South America, and I plan on running off this diving board as fast as I can because I know that He is going to do great things both through me and also in my heart!

What is the Purpose of this journey?

1. Take a leap of faith and trusting God with the results.
2. To serve the Lord full time in Latin America in any way that He leads me.
3. Get to know different ministries through out Central and South America with the possibility of returning for a longer period of time if God so calls.
4. To be stretched, challenged, and even humbled through trials resulting in a deeper love for Christ.
5. Not come back the same man I am today.

Why the journey?

Why not? I am out of school, I don’t have a family to support, I am currently not working, I have no debt, I have been able to save up some money from my last job, I don’t pay a mortgage or rent (thanks mom and dad),… in other words, I will never be as free as I am right now. So why not go? If I didn’t take advantage of this opportunity, I would regret it for the rest of my life!