Answering questions

A while back I put something out on our Facebook page about things you may want to ask about our ministry or me personally. I got some responses but not many. I thought it would be good to finally answer some of those questions and some that have been posed in the past.

I have been asked many times what got me in to doing missions. That could be answered so many ways. The quick answer is I had a strong foundation from a Christian family. That did not however stop me from rebelling in my youth and making some poor choices. I spent many years doing things I am not proud of but yet it has made me who I am today. I still live with some of the consequences from those poor choices but they are no one’s fault but my own. After the years of bad decisions I finally made a right one and returned to church. After some time of healing and asking forgiveness I noticed a difference in my life. I was asked to join a small team from church to join them on a trip to Nicaragua. The moment I stepped off of that plane my world changed. My struggles were nowhere near what I thought they were. The way I worshiped was nowhere near where God wanted it to be and my love paled in comparison to where God wanted it shown in my life. I felt the calling and even though it took two or three more short term trips to realize. Nicaragua is where God was calling me. I had trials to go through during my time in Nica and would actually change what I was doing there to suit what God was calling me to do.

I was asked once how I plan for trips and do those plans always go the way I plan them. I used to plan down to the day however I quickly learned that missions work especially here goes on its own schedule. Nica has its own way of going through its day. If you say 5pm don’t expect anyone until 30-45 minutes later. For those of you that think you’re smart and would just say 30-45 minutes before you actually want someone there that only works once or twice before they figure you out then they will be 1-2 hours late. It’s neither rude nor done on purpose it’s just how it is. I have learned to plan a tentative schedule and then leave it to God’s timing. His way usually works better than mine anyways.

“What is the biggest struggle you face”? That question could take me a while to answer but I will keep it short for now. The biggest thing I struggle with is the things I don’t share publicly. What I mean by that is when I am face to face with a problem that I can’t fix or help. One example is a young man named Oscar. The day I met Oscar was a heart wrenching day. I walked up to his house and could smell urine almost immediately. When I got closer I saw a special need young man that was literally chained to the wall. He had a clasp around his skinny ankle, that clasp had a chain connected to it that was cemented in to the wall. You could tell this was a permanent thing. This was not a temporary fix to a temporary problem this was his life and had been for a while. These are stories I usually only share with a select few. There are many more similar stories like Oscar some worse some not as bad but still heart breaking.

 Another struggle and will always be a struggle is getting support for what I do.  This struggle has a lot of components. There is the struggle of having people say they are going to support you and you get all excited but then nothing comes in. This adds to the struggle of cynicism. I struggle with trying not to get angry when I see people complain about being broke or not having money but see an endless amount of vacation photos or Starbucks selfies. When I see someone talk about their $40 Yeti cup I can’t help but to think of how many people I could feed with that much money.

A hard struggle is being away from family. I miss my son and my niece and nephew. I miss my mom and dad and other friends while I am in the field here.  I often catch grief for being here so much when I have a son at home. My normal response is a bit sarcastic but still very true “If I was a solider going off to war, you would call me a hero. I am on God’s battle field and you want to give me grief for it”. I do miss my son with all that I have. We talked at length before I took on the role of full time missions and he agreed that it was something that was needed and worthy. I don’t let the criticism get to me like it used to but at times it still troubles me. The flip side of that coin is the way I miss my family and friends here when I am at home. No I don’t have blood family here in Nica but my close friends are my family.

 “What is the craziest thing you have done, eaten or experienced as a missionary”? There are about 100 different ways I could answer this one. We will start with the craziest thing I have done. I would have to say the not so smartest thing I have done was chase an 8 foot boa constrictor in to a mango orchard with a machete or the time I went deep in to the mountain woods with a disgruntled Nicaraguan that was carrying a machete.

  The craziest thing I have experienced would be everyday life here to be honest it’s always an adventure but I am getting used to it and it is normal for me now. One time sticks out in my head though would be a trip back from Omotepe Island with friends and the taxi driver had a coke bottle as a gas tank hanging from his rearview mirror. It was hanging upside down and had a tube running through the AC vent to the carburetor. That wasn’t the crazy part. It was scary and unusual but not crazy. The crazy part came when the driver fired up his cigarette right beside said gas tank/bottle. I was sitting in the middle of two full grown men in the backseat but was the first one with feet on the ground. There was another time that our minivan broke down in Honduras and we pulled it back with clothesline string all the way back to Nicaragua.

  Now to the question I get asked the most. The craziest thing I have eaten. Well I have defiantly thrown back some strange grub. Top three would have to be Grilled guinea pig in Ecuador and Iguana and coconut grubs in Nicaragua. The craziest drink was chichi de Yucca in the indigenous zone in Ecuador where the lady of the house chew yucca until it is liquefied and then spits it in a cup for you to drink before entering the house. This is not the norm though. I typically dine on rice beans and chicken. There are those occasions where tongue and other treat meat are served but rice and beans is the norm.

 I will try to get to some of the other questions on a later blog but now it’s time to get back out there