Archive for the ‘Bekah’ Category

Nov
15th

8:30am Worship

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Our church meets the first and third Sunday of every month under a huge tree. There’s about 40 people in total, a healthy mix of Gringos and Nicas, recovering addicts and families, men and women, adults and children. The musical worship is pretty lively, involving a lot of offbeat clapping and shouting by our worship leader, Osiris. Today, we even had a little rap session during the last song.

Today, it felt like I was part of the community instead of just a visitor. This is happening a lot more lately. Life here is turning into our normal. It’s normal to have clothes stiff from the clothesline. It’s normal to drink grama out of a plastic bag. It’s normal to leave leftovers on our porch step for the dogs. It’s normal to walk most places. It’s normal to buy our vegetables and fruit in the market. It’s normal to have roommates.

I’m happy for normal. I’m happy not to feel overwhelmed, and to feel like God has given us direction here. We’re starting to develop classes and curriculum for small groups, and implementing everything we’ve learned at Brookhills. I can feel Christ changing us, and it is good.

Nov
8th

Grace

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el puente45

Surely he has born our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:4-6

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Nov
3rd

Disappointment

Posted in: Bekah, Nicaragua Life | 2 Comments »

The day before we moved to Granada, our missions pastor at Brookhills sat down with us to see how we were doing. At the end of this very positive conversation, he dropped a load of negativity on us. He told us that we would probably end up really disliking the people we were called to share the gospel with and that our fellow ministry partners would disappoint us time and time again. That we would, at times question God’s calling on our lives. But to hold on, because those times would pass, and God’s calling would be clear and relationships stronger through each struggle.

I thank God at least once a week for this wisdom.  Tonight, the disappointment with our ministry partners showed it’s ugly head. Through a series of miscommunications, a difficult conversation was had, without any real resolution other than an agreement to disagree.

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Oct
30th

October Update

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Our second month in Nicaragua has come and gone! We’ve officially settled in, now thinking it is normal for chickens to run around during activities. I thought it would be nice to explain more about why we moved to Granada, and what we plan to do here. Think of this as an insider’s guide to our life.

First up, El Puente aka The Bridge. This is our home base in Granada and the vision of Charles and Sarah Kaye. It’s a big complex dedicated to disciple making. Everything from Vida Joven (Young Life) to Men’s Bible Study (that women attend) is held there. Frank has fondly named the base “El Peezy.” The base is the center of all of our activities, from the dump feedings to literacy programs.

Much of our life is lived on one street, Santa Lucia. The base, our house, and the houses of the people we know are all within five blocks of each other. This has made us very familiar with the neighborhood. After two months, we can carry on stilted conversations with several of our neighbors. Which is our purpose in coming to Granada. To experience another culture, to equip Nicaraguans to make disciples, and to reproduce what we’ve learned in this beautiful colonial city.

So what do we do here? Here’s a list of programs and activities:

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Oct
17th

Nicaraguanse

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You know you live in Central America when a drumline randomly performs on your street, for no reason.

Oct
9th

October already?

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Seven of our 52 committed weeks have already passed. I am reminded of a post from our friends in Italy who wrote “the days may be long, but the years are short.” In our case, it is weeks. Each day dawns with hope and a sense of peace, and each hour is enjoyed fully. But by the end of the week, I’m not sure where it’s gone. Fridays are my “key” days. I plan ahead for them (teaching two small groups) and by the time the next day rolls around, I am unsure where the rest of the days went.

So what does daily life here look like? To be honest, it seems really slow to an American used to a fast paced lifestyle, but each week ends with a lot of work accomplished. We have a combined total of seven small group meetings, community dinners (sometimes twice a week), craft and literacy programs (more to come later), personal study and reflection, and discipling one on one.

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Sep
13th

Savior King

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Savior King (with Spanish lyrics), by Hillsong

Our church recently launched a new website that is much simpler and easier to navigate than the old one. You know we love a website that looks good and functions accurately. One of our favorite features is the “This Week” button on the front page. The page is faithfully updated each week with the sermon topic, verses, resources and worship music. We’ve started logging on each week to see what will be taught and if possible purchasing the music on iTunes.

So tonight, miles upon miles away from our home church, we are listening to the same worship music reading the scripture and preparing our hearts for the message we’ll hear via podcast tomorrow.

Aug
30th

Our First Week

Posted in: Bekah, Nicaragua Life | No Comments »

We’ve arrived! The first week is down and has been full of setting up our little room, learning the culture, and stumbling our way through conversation after conversation. God has already been answering prayers and building relationships. Frank starts a small group tomorrow morning at 7:30am, and I start meeting with a girl on Friday. Life is very good right now, and God is clearly showing us our path here in Granada! We’ll post more when we have a stable internet connection.

If you’re interested in seeing the details of our every day life, including pictures, you can find those over on my website at http://www.theburders.com/rebekah.

Aug
18th

If You Say Go, Rita Springer

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Shared by my lovely cousin as we prepare to leave in 5 days.

Aug
14th

Our First Newsletter

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It’s our first newsletter! The theme of this letter is God’s provision, and I know that will be the theme of this next year and the rest of our lives. The lists have been made,shots were survived, bags are being packed, and the apartment has been vacated! Our church is commissioning us on August 23rd (at the 9am service) and our flight leaves on August 24th.

God provided financially in huge ways for us. Less than five months after our official application was submitted and less than three months after the first support letter was sent, we are 100% supported. From $20 to over $10,000, each donation has been joyfully accepted. Every part of our moving expenses has been provided for as well, through Frank’s business income and gifts from family members. At the beginning of this process, we knew that every penny was already accounted for by God. It has been amazing to see that knowledge confirmed.

God has provided for us emotionally as well through counseling, AIM staff, and family members. We have both been amazed at the peace we have felt during this process, despite a few moments of panic. These moments typically happen when we focus on our needs and desires instead of God’s amazing grace and provision.

The icing on the cake is that we have a place to live when we move. We will be sharing a home with a Nicaragua couple who work for Vida Joven de Nicaragua. Those of you with high school students in your life might recognize that as Young Life. Language training starts the second we move in, as they know limited English and we know limited Spanish. We both look forward to learning the language and culture of Nicaragua from this couple. Frank was very excited to hear we would have a small air conditioning unit, a true luxury.

A few requests…

Please pray for our parents as we say goodbye to them. It will be the hardest for our mothers, and our hearts hurt when they are hurting.

Pray for the people we will meet and disciple in Granada. Discipleship is the primary purpose for our move, and we will be jumping into the ministry there.

Pray for the men we have been ministering to at Brother Bryan Park. The majority of people at the park have expressed happiness and joy, but two men specifically have mentioned us leaving them several times. Please pray that they will be aware of God’s presence in their lives and be comforted by the One who will never leave. Our small group has taken over this ministry, and we’re excited to see what God does through them!

Pray that we learn as much as we can about the culture, and that God would protect us from the negative aspects of culture shock. Pray that our minds be open to the people and that the feelings of homesickness will push us towards God and not away from him.

Pray that every situation, from buying groceries to teaching classes, be filled with opportunities to share the amazing grace and love we have received from God.

The adventure begins!

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