Spring Branch Community Church: Missions

Catch up...

noreply@blogger.com (jcaldwell) — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 10:47:00 +0000

It got progressively harder to get an update done as our week progressed, so here is an attempt at catching you all up.

Monday: Work projects dominated the daytime. We worked assembling and installing new closets and painting the inside and out of the older boys house. Don, Tony and David did a really honorable job of working behind and beside the local carpenters who were hired to work on the project. There are so many ways that we can trounce across cultural lines down here, our skilled laborers really modelled how to engage and LEARN from people here, adding what they can to the process while lifting up and serving the locals.

While that was happening we also had a team painting, a team filming video of each of the kids and a big group that worked doing art with kids. The art was hung on the wall in our team center meeting area and became a really impactful visual piece to the experience.

In the afternoon we headed to a local market for an excercise in shopping! The team was divided into family groups and given a family story. The stories were put together using real situations from different communities we had served in (Nueva Vida) and some that we would serve at later (la Chureca). The stories included a list of things they were looking to buy including school uniforms, soap, diapers, shoes and other seemingly neccesity type items. With the money they were given though, none of the teams had enough to buy all of their items, forcing them to make decisions about what was most important. The exercise gave us much needed perspective on how tough some of the choices are for some of the people we are serving here. It will be different heading to Farm Fresh to shop for ourselves next week...

Monday night we had what has become a very special part of our trips' over the last couple years. There are so many awesome children here to serve, love and play with that it can become very easy to overlook the staff who serve them all year round. We have really tried to lift them up and honor them over the years coming up with creative ways to show them they are our heroes. This night was another great time together. We began this event days earlier by asking telling them we wanted to take some time to be together and to encourage them and to do something special for them but that it must begin by asking them what they really would like and need. Their response was that they wanted to have dinner with us and that it would be special to have hamburgers, which they don't get very often. While that is certainly not what we expected we were happy to make it happen. We thought it would be nice since burgers are certainly in our mainstream, that we would cook them and prepare a big feast for them instead of going out or bringing them in.

More to follow...

Monday late afternoon we all took our cues from James Balam who had us scrambling in preparation for

Nicaragua 2010 Day 3

noreply@blogger.com (jcaldwell) — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 15:36:00 +0000

Happy 4th of July from Nicaragua! Although our day was not filled with BBQ's and fireworks, we were able to celebrate, laugh and sing none the less. Church in the morning was a delight as we sang songs of worship in Spanish and raised our arms in praise. After church we headed to El Canyon to meet the children and staff at another orphanage supported by ORPHANetwork. As our bus drove down the steep hill that is the road to El Canyon, you are immediately taken in by the lush tropical beauty. We enjoyed lunch and playtime with the kids, whose ages range from 2 to 18. The highlight of this visit was meeting Maria Jose, the woman who operates the orphanage. This woman's story is one of strength, wisdom, love, and frustration. We often ask during our trips here, "Where did you see the face of God?", "Where did you see Jesus today?" All of our eyes were fixed on Him yesterday through the life of Maria Jose. We often see the love of our Creator in the eyes of the children, who so innocently steal our hearts.....how much more should we see Him in those who care for and love the children who have no one else? After being filled with her story, we loaded up two buses and headed to the movies! Toy Story 3 was a huge hit with the kids, the challenge was for the Americans who watched Woody & Buzz in Spanish! While it is true that no world problems were solved as we watched our movie and ate our popcorn, the smiles and laughter that resulted must have been heard in heaven (: The ride home from the mall happened to be the most eventful and lighthearted part of our day. About halfway home the driver realized we were driving with no headlights. After a few attempts at fixing them a call was placed to send another bus. Thankfully, a bus arrived shortly after. But a much smaller bus, maybe equipped to carry 20 people max....just so happens we crammed over 30 people on! All the while singing songs from Grease and other various hits from the 90's. Our team continues to bond and learn about each other through experiences like these, even seeing God make our plans for us rather than the other way around. We are surely where we are supposed to be in each moment here. Trying our best to walk with our eyes and hearts open to all He wants us to see. Yesterday showed us again how blessed we are to be a witness.

Saturday Recap...

noreply@blogger.com (jcaldwell) — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 14:58:00 +0000

What a day! We jumped into the day by looking at God's word with the older boys and girls. James Balam for the boys and Stephanie Clark led the girls. You know those moments you have when you are aware of God's presence and nothing else matters at all? That was our morning.

At breakfast we watched Germany beat Argentina in the World Cup, much to the disappointment of the kids and then continued our work projects (painting and building closets in the older boys area). Some of our team also did art projects with the kids. The result of this time are now hanging all over our team center area. It looks amazing.

After lunch we set off for a boys/girls day full of fun. The girls departed and went skating at Chava Landia. They all had a blast and most of them had not skated in years. The girls from the orphanage and from our team were having trouble a time where they all laughed as hard and long as they did watching each other "gracefully" skating. After the skate party they went out for dinner and really leaned into our main goal on this trip of building relationships with these special kids.

The guys day, well it was guys so give us grace for this...we went and played paintball. Nothing like shooting the people you came to serve right? It was awesome! Picture 30 people laughing, competing and just having an adventure together.

An interesting thing happened to both groups as they were out an about in Managua. It is the anniversary celebration of the Sandinista Revolution in 1979 and the streets were full of parades and parties and speeches and songs. As we waded through traffic to get home both teams got an up close and unique cultural experience. It was humbling, unnerving, prompted much political discussion, helped us to learn about this community in a way a book or speech never could, and drove us to prayer and confidence in a God and Kingdom that is not bound up in this temporal world.

At porch time (where we process the days events and seek God's guidance) there was a lot of laughter over moments with kids, much discussion of where we saw and felt God at work, and encouragement to make our faith matter in this world.

This was a full day and the team slept well. All are healthy save a few bumps from paintball hits and skating falls. Enjoying God's presence and each others'. These kids are precious and it is an honor to get to be with them!

Day 1 thoughts...

noreply@blogger.com (jcaldwell) — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 22:01:00 +0000

Just a quick update for you. Everyone arrived just fine (10 of us had an interesting run to a connecting flight that we were late for. fortunately Courtney who was ahead of the rest of us refused to get on the plane without us. it turns out creating a commotion works well for delaying a flight).

Half the team spent half a day with the kids at the orphanage while the others were still in transit (yesterday). They assisted in several English classes, got to know the kids and even found time for a game of dodgeball.

We began today by sharing in devotional time with the older boys and girls and afterward we did a service project in the community of Nueva Vida with 20 of the kids from the orphanage. Together we met Pastor Berman who showed us his church. We were really blessed to experience his church today. We saw his church in action today making bread, cutting lumber, making jewelry, teaching children and then feeding children. We commented to him that his church looks different than most, and he responded by sharing that when several years ago they began to consider how to be a blessing to the community around them and not just focus on those inside their walls (who had considerable needs by the way) that their actions, faith and mission took on a different approach. He summed it up by saying that they aim to Show people the love of Jesus instead of just telling them about it.

With the kids from the orphanage we served food at 3 different feeding centers at 3 different churches in the community. This was really interesting. All 3 churches talked about the Spirit that is creating unity in the community, that their churches are looking beyond denomination and style toward impact. So cool to hear that!

Before we left this community we shared with Pastor Berman and some of his youth volunteers what we saw and experienced in and through them today. The team told them that they saw his vision in action, that the love of Jesus was made visible in them and their ministry! The team told them that they saw great human and Spiritual leadership building something special. As we prayed for them and their ministry it felt right! It just felt right.

There is some pretty broken stuff in all of us. Some of it is easy to see, some not so much. But God is certainly on the move.

Will update again soon. For now it is off to painting, assembling some closets, English classes, dinner and then worship with the kids worship team tonight! We can't wait to tell God that He is awesome.

Family Trip 2010

noreply@blogger.com (jcaldwell) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 02:44:00 +0000

Hello Friends and Family!

As I write this, the person you are here checking in on is probably packing their suitcase and trying to remember all they were thinking of bringing. Here's who is going on this trip:

Stephanie Clark, James Balam, Karen and Juliette Beristain, Kary Ann Nixon, Katie Beasley, David Jeffers, Chris Workman, Kay Windsor, Ann Taylor Windsor, Parker and Caroline Thurman, Alicia and Patrick Ryan, Tony and Bryce Cutrino, Courtney Parkinson, Rik and Peggy King, Don Carter, Pete, Debra, Chandler and Taylor Wright, Joe Caldwell, Debbie Perkins and Lindsey Willis.

We will be in Nicaragua from July 1st- the 8th, please check in and leave a comment for your team member and see what is happening on this trip.

Here's what we know so far about the trip / We know it isn't about us. We know that God has a unique and special plan for each of the orphans we will get to care for. We know that God has arranged everything to have us go. We are excited about learning as much as we can about the people we meet. We are excited to share who we are with the kids and staff we will serve and serve with. We know that it is great to be part of a church that cares for people beyond our own walls. We know that we will give it all we have. We know that God is with us now, was with us before and is ahead of us on this trip. We know that His Body on earth is alive. We know that we are poor in so many ways. We know that we are rich beyond measure in Him.

We will do our best to keep you all updated as to what we are learning and doing. Please know that you are with us on this journey and in this relationship with the Casa Bernabe orphanage!!!

Talk to you again soon.

We are HERE!!

noreply@blogger.com (vintagechica) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 21:28:00 +0000

Your SBCC Women’s Mission team arrived in Nicaragua yesterday, welcomed by warm weather, the most amazing Southerly breeze and more smiles than we could have ever dreamt of. After we unloaded our bags at the team center, we walked the short distance to the orphanage to meet the children. There, we were joined by Eddy Morales and Dick Anderson of ORPHANetwork. Eddy and our translators took us on a walk through the Vera Cruz community located right outside the orphanage. We had a VIP escort by many of the children who live in Vera Cruz while Eddy shared with us a little about the history of Nicaragua, the Vera Cruz community and the orphanage.

To really get the local feel, we ate a typical orphanage dinner the staff and kids – rice and beans with plantain and pan fried cheese. This was a very moving experience for many of the women as they watched as the kids shared their dinner with their guests.

The highlight of the day was getting to be apart of the Youth night where we were treated to a concert performance by the kids. They have been taking music classes and it was a memorable experience to see them using the gifts God has given them to make such beautiful praise.

It was a long day of travel and getting our feet firmly planted here in our new home for the next 5 days. We went to bed exhausted...the best kind of exhausted there is...exhausted from being exactly where you are meant to be doing exactly what you were meant to do.

noreply@blogger.com (vintagechica) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 03:48:00 +0000

What is poverty. Do we really understand what poverty means? What is the face of the poor? Who are the faces of the poor? Our team experienced a place, that for many of us, was the worst place we have ever been. A place that is replayed in countries throughout the world. La Chureca is the dump in Managua and inside the gates is a city, a community of people that live off the trash and waste of others. In La Chureca, fires burn around the area with smoke hanging in the air. Flies buzz around everyone and the scent of rot fills the senses. Among the waste and smoke, a child smiles over the fence and waves at us. We wave and call greetings to those close enough to see us. Many are working and wave back to us. We have spent the first part of the morning with a ministry that provides child care to some of the youngest kids of the dump. The ministry is limited to the number of kids they can afford to feed. Part of our trip is a donation to this ministry to enable these people to feed kids what may have been their only full meal that day. Such a small amount can feed kids here for weeks. And having spent a day with these kids, babies, and workers, we see the face of poverty. We see that those faces are no different from our own. The children smile and climb on us, they help us wash walls and show us their worn toys. Back at the dump we see kids given food. We see the small spark that happens with the presence of those who want to make a difference. There is also a difference in us. The face of poverty has become personal. We struggle with how this can exist. How this can change. Can we change it?

One thing that strikes me, that I was not prepared for, was the community in this place. When I picture people living off a trash dump, I imagine a survival of the fittest atmosphere. And I'm sure that that is present. What I was not prepared for was a community caring for each other amidst the poverty. How can we build into this community the message of hope? We wrestle with this. And we hope that you will engage with us in our desire to enrich the lives of those we meet here. We live in a world that searches for a purpose, and we serve a God of hope. And we rejoice in the prospect of hope. -Lindsey

noreply@blogger.com (vintagechica) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 01:56:00 +0000

The internet is sketchy to say the least tonight...we've been trying to upload photos and update everyone for over an hour now. We're sitting outside next to the orphanage office under the lights, bugs hitting us in the face, kids just had dinner and have been surrounding us demanding to see pictures of our day. One of the boys is being pulled in one of our suitcases down the hallway at full speed. So, Im just going to post a few photos of our day at the beach yesterday.

Last night we were so tired, people were falling asleep during porchtime (our time each evening for processing our day) despite Joe's eloquent words.

I know...missions work is tough, eh? But connections are being made with the children and staff. Friendships are forming. God is good.

We're headed to La Chureca tomorrow, so we're off to bed. It ought to be a long day filled with much to think about.

We Are Here...

noreply@blogger.com (vintagechica) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:19:00 +0000

walking through Vera Cruz

making new friends

After many hours of travel we arrived in Nicaragua Thursday afternoon. We quickly loaded our luggage (over 2,100 lbs of donations from friends and family!) onto the bus and headed to Casa Bernabe in Vera Cruz. The afternoon was spent just hanging out with new and old friends as we played with the kids here. After dinner we got together for porch time where we were able to share our thoughts and stories of the day and saw that God was at work with us here already in so many ways.

Friday morning we met Eddie Morales, the on site director of OrphaNetwork and learned about the amazing work that is going on here! Then we took a walk through the village of Vera Cruz. As soon as we were outside the orphanage gates we were joined by dozens of women and children from the community. As we walked we heard stories and played games with the children.

We are looking forward to taking the children to the beach tomorrow and going to Verbo church in Managua to see a talent show some of the kids are performing in!

Arriving in the Nation's Capital

noreply@blogger.com (jcaldwell) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:44:00 +0000

Ok...the trip is officially on its way!

Group A (11 people): Their flight is a 6:55 am in Norfolk. So, their alarms should be going off RIGHT NOW so they can make to ORF.

Group B (10 people): Our flight is at

Preparing to go...

noreply@blogger.com (jcaldwell) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:30:00 +0000

We will be updating you as we can about what is happening on the ground in Nicaragua over the next week or so but we first wanted to introduce you to everyone who is going:

Laura Baity, Ryan Baity, Ana Vasquez-Morina, Luke Morina, Cailin Rogers, Annah Rogers, Mysti Koontz and Phil Koontz, Stephanie Clark, Eren San Pedro, Windy Mason-Leslie, Joe Caldwell, Colby Lenz, James Balam, Caroline and Parker Thurman, Caroline McKinnon, David Jeffers, Peggy King, April Rudman, and Lindsey Willis.

In preparation for the trip we have walked together through a couple of scriptures and we figured we'd share those with you as well.

We first discussed Phillippians 2:5-8
"Your attitude should be the sames as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-even death on a cross!"

We talked and prayed about this verse and are committing to a humble attitude and to a servant mentality on this trip. We are excited to be able to wake up each day with a clean slate and no distractions that we seem so often pulled into. We will be looking for ways to serve and encourage the kids and staff that we meet and to learn as much as we can along the way.

A second part of this verse we talked about was that Jesus gave up a lot to take on flesh and walk with us. From creator to servant is quite a travel and we think this creates a special relationship between the poor of this world and Jesus. Who could understand poverty like a Creator who left heaven to be human on this earth?

Another verse we spent some time looking at is Luke 9:46-48:
"An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him. Then he said to them, "Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all-he is the greatest."

We talked about how curious it is that the child Jesus grabs is described as "little" and not "cute" nor "smart" "athletic" "gifted" or anything like that, just a little child. Eren San Pedro walked us through this verse and had us think of how we would describe success. Then she had us think about how we would describe greatness. We noticed that our lists of adjectives describing these two things didn't match up very well.

We ended the discussion by deciding to look for the image of the creator in the people we encounter in Nicaragua and in each other and finding ways to "welcome", care for and love Him!

Random thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (jcaldwell) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:24:00 +0000

August 17th after the 2nd service at Spring Branch we will be gathering to share laughs, and stories from our trip. You are invited to joing us. We will share some more details later but pencil that into your plans.

The team is on their plane to Miami, they left at 930am (your time) and should be arriving in Norfolk around 930pm.

Last Day

noreply@blogger.com (jcaldwell) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:06:00 +0000

It is hard to believe but Thursday is it for the team. We leave really early Friday so we squeezed every drop out of this day. We finished our portion of the painting of the orphanage, got shower curtains up in the girls bathroom, hung some doors in the bathroom stalls, all while having fun with children by our side.

A couple of our team members spent time in the school where they were grateful to see that the kids are being well led, but also found the school lacking some basic resources. A great connection was made here between the science teacher and Gillian (our science teacher). They have decided to stay in touch and to encourage one another in the work for growing children!

We had a farewell party late in the afternoon where a crazy clown led us all in some fun games as we ate popcorn, cotton candy and watched the little kids (and stephen, caroline and matt) bounce around in a moonbounce that was rented. It was a great way to end our time with the little children in particular.

In the evening we took staff and most of the older kids to the boys soccer game. While they didn´t win they did have about 80 more fans than their opponent! Having one last time to encourage and cheer for them was great. We hadn´t planned on being at any of these games and this proved to be a special treat for us and a great encouragement to them.

After the game we had our final porch time where we shared what we were feeling, what our experience has been like and we looked to the parable of the Good Samaritan for guidance on what to do with it. In this parable we find a man who crosses cultural boundaries, disrupts his plans, and pays money all to care for someone he saw that was in need. He also promised to return. We talked about the ways that we might return. Maybe that means to this place physically, but we talked about how to honor the relationships that were born while we were here. We were challenged to not allow this to be a trip or retreat that we return from to consider just the ways that we have been impacted but to consider how to honor these kids that we love.

We are not sure where all of this will lead but we are certain that He will be there with us as He has been this week.

Final thoughts for you. We have experienced a culture where everywhere we went and everyone we met was open and accepting. It has been moving to see the care and community that exists here. As we talked this out, we believe that there is something that rests in this community and it is something that is beautiful. We believe that in this place with great needs, there is also great need for one another. Being welcomed into that, and being able to meet many of the needs, has led us to a deeper understanding of what community can look like.

We have been forced to consider all of the ways that our culture tells us that we don´t need each other. We realize we have neighbors we don´t know that live right next door. The poor are rich in community! Rich in their relationships with each other and with God.

We are glad to be a part of a community at Spring Branch that by trips like this, and through A2 in particular, is committed to this same ethic.

Last thought and most important one! The kids at Casa Bernabe are growing! They are growing spiritually, they are growing in their knowledge of the Lord. They are growing physically. They are growing in their education and in their desire and hope for a brighter future. We are humbled to have been able to participate in our small way toward this growth.

Sorry for the delay

noreply@blogger.com (jcaldwell) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:40:00 +0000

We had some internet problems that prevented posting for the last couple of days, so we have some catching up to do.

On Wednesday we began the day with a trip to a marketplace for a little culture, shopping and an excercize where the team was divided into groups, or families of 4. We were then given $10 dollars ($190 cordovas) and told to go shopping to purchase enough food for our family for a week as many families here do. In addition to simply navigating through the marketplace and dealing with the language barrier, it was hard to make choices about what to buy. Make it taste good? Make it stretch? Get vegetables or just rice and beans, how much oil to cook it in, can we afford chicken or not? It was a good experience to walk, however briefly, in someone else´s shoes. We later gave all of our ¨family´s¨food to the security guards at the orphanage for their families.

After the marketplace we went to lunch with Bob and Myra (sp?) Trolese. They are the couple who started all of the ministries we served in this week. They moved to Nicaragua right after the revolution in 1979 and have had an incredible impact in this country and on us. They shared their passion for the people of Nicaragua and a hope that rests in Jesus that was incredible. Their message to us was that doing things within the context of a real relationship is the best way to serve and that churches must find ways to address peoples real needs (food, jobs, health), while bringing Christian principles to all of the issues.

We spent the evening in what we call ¨Guys night/Girls night¨. The guys went to the Sportsplex to play soccer and then went out for pizza. We gave it our all on the field but ultimately we have a ways to go to approach their level in soccer. It was fun to compete with them, to see their passion for soccer and to be with these incredible boys.

The ladies spent the evening at the Ranchon at the orphanage where they had dinner and spent the night getting to know one another better. Make-up, nails, new clothes, dancing, Cindy Lauper´s ´Girls Just Want to Have Fun´, and a craft project were all of the ways that the women were joined together this night. (it was great to see that the following day one of the staff members was working with the girls on the knew craft technique that they learned with our team, in addition to fun, there was a skill learned that they can carry with them) (good job God, thanks for putting Eren and Laura here!)

At porch time we talked about how this was another day that was full enough to be 3 days.

No title is able to capture another great day!

noreply@blogger.com (jcaldwell) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:41:00 +0000

Tuesday began with Lee Layden leading the morning devotional for the older girls. It was definitely one of the highlights of the teams service here. She shared her testimony and scripture with the girls telling them that they are not defined by their circumstances nor by their past, but by the fact that they (and we) are children of God who have moved from darkness to light. The staff for the older girls were grateful and felt this word from God had great impact. Good job God! (thanks for putting Lee here)

(by the way the last picture is how a pinata ends)

As the day moved on we spent more time painting and cleaning in the main orphanage building. It is an honor to be able to do these small but meaningful things here. The kids and staff deserve so much.

After lunch the team went to a community called Nueva Vida (new life) to play with and serve food to some children there. We go to support Pastor Berman and his teenage team of volunteers who serve younger children in this place. As we arrived the children were all seated in chairs, clapping for us. We sat down with kids on our laps as the volunteers began a time of worship. We clapped, they sang and the sounds must have been pleasing to God. We played games with the kids and the kids beat us soundly at everything. (Steven gave it his best)

In what was a nearly indescribable moment Pastor Berman gathered the children around us and they laid hands on us and prayed thanks to God for us and for His continued blessings upon us. You'll have to ask a team member about this.

After this we served the kids snacks and hung out with them. It was a little difficult to see that there were children who couldn't get a snack. There just weren't enough.

There is much need here. Learning to offer what we have and what we can has been difficult but good.

We spent some time with the Pastor learning about the community and about his ministry there. His energy, joy and care for children in this very tough place were striking.

The evening took an interesting twist as we learned that the older boys had a soccer game at 7pm. We adjusted some of our plans so we could be there as they played their second game in a soccer league in Managua. We were hosting the staff members for a dinner to appreciate their service and to get to know them better. (They were excited to be able to go to the game as well)

The dinner was great as we learned things big and small about them. They shared themselves, we shared ourselves and then we shared our common relationship with the Lord as we prayed together. Dinner was Great!

After this we went to the soccer game. It was just a soccer game but it felt like a perfect picture of what is happening at Casa Bernabe. The kids were able to enter the world not as orphans but as people. As the staff, ORPHANetwork, and Spring Branch came alongside them to encourage, support and provide physically (the cleats and shirts and shorts they were wearing) they were able to win! (not only did they win, but they play in a league that is all company sponsored, so they beat 20-35 year old men!) It's was just soccer but it sure was a beautiful sight!

Because we took most of the staff to the game, some of our team had the blessing of staying at the orphanage to help feed, clean and prepare the kids for bed. One staff member has an 8 month old daughter and Gillian was able to provide a working mother a much needed break by rocking and feeding her baby until it was bed time. Gillian has been particularly connected to this mother and her child (Fransuela) and in the context of that connection especially this service was very sweet and perfect. Tucking children into bed and providing a last bit of love before they fell asleep was a perfect ending to a full and productive day!

Being in relationships that matter and serving through them is indescribably great to be a part of. Thanks to all for your support in this and praise to God for His perfect will!

What a day!

noreply@blogger.com (jcaldwell) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 04:42:00 +0000

What a day.

The morning began with some of our team leading a devotional with the older girls before they went to school. We then went to work painting the dormitory where the younger kids sleep. It looks pretty good so far and we should be able to finish the painting tomorrow.

We then went to La Chureca which is a community inside the Managua city dump. Our bus fell silent as we entered the gates to the dump. The sights and smells were powerful, but it was the amazing people we met that were more impacting. We all felt the weight of the poverty lift as we got off the bus and met the children that we would spend the afternoon with. We went for a walk around the amazing school that sits in this place and met some wonderful people. In particular we were welcomed into the home of a remarkable woman named Ramona who gracefully let us tour her place. When we asked her what was really important for us to know about her community she told us that we were blessing them by coming and giving to the kids what they are not able to, she said they would pray that we would be blessed by God and that we could use that to provide for them. She also asked that we not forget them.

We promise not to.

We toured the school and prayed for the place, the children, the staff and the school that is such a refuge and source of hope in this place.

Then we took 21 children out for a wonderful lunch and playtime at a local restaurant. We were struck by several things in particular. They saved most of their meals to take home to the rest of their families. We actually had to convince them to eat the ice cream right then! Secondly, as we played with them, drew pictures with them and talked with them it seemed entirely normal, easy, light, joyful and meaningful. Friendship and connections were fast and strong.

These children understand community in a powerful way and it was an honor to enter into it with them. The staff of the school have asked that we encourage the children and talk with them about the future, about hope and about possibilities. We were obedient to this and it was an amazing experience.

Tomorrow another day with God and these amazing people!

Sunday in Nicaragua

noreply@blogger.com (jcaldwell) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 05:11:00 +0000

Church was awesome today. There was this really amazing moment during the worship time where the power went out, but the worship continued without skipping a beat. To hear the voices singing praises to God from a dark stage and from the people in the crowd standing and dancing in a dark church was really powerful. We all felt it was a beautiful and authentic worship experience and it seemed to actually add to the energy of the worship for the electricity to go out. There was a translator on stage who helped us to understand the message the Pastor shared about how to view your finances in a God honoring manner and how not to conform to the standard or the world but to rely on God and to be content as a source of strength.

After church we had lunch at a park overlooking Managua where we had a history lesson about Nicaragua by one of our translators. We learned some of the amazing obstacles that the people of this land have had to overcome. Hurricanes, earthquakes, corruption, wars, and there is still an amazing spirit of hope that we have felt in our new friends here.

Our night ended with a "club" time with the older boys and girls where we played some games (we learned that the maximum number of jumbo sized marshmallows that one person can hold in their mouth is 9) and during this time one of the girls at the orphanage shared with us her recent experience of serving in one of the poor communities just down the road. The staff of the orphanage led the children in gathering some of their clothing and taking some of their food to give to give to the people of this community. She shared that she had never thought about what she had to give someone else but now she will, she said it felt good to serve God and to know that they had helped people in need.

We want you to know that we agree with her and that she said it better than we can! We are learning a lot from these children and we are making a contribution.

Thanks for reading this.

noreply@blogger.com (vintagechica) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 04:43:00 +0000

It is 11 p.m. and we are all exhausted. The amazing kind of exhausted when you known you have done a good days work. So, for tonight just a few quick photos. Tomorrow, we are off to church Nicaragua style and lunch at the park with the kids and whatever else God has in store for us. One thing is for sure...when HE is with you its always an adventure.

Pancho

Xolchit (Solshee)

Ok, it just started raining and we are sitting outside the orphanage on picnic tables, so more photos tomorrow.

We are here!

noreply@blogger.com (jcaldwell) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 03:44:00 +0000

After a long day of travel and some minor delays we made to Casa Bernabe. After an awesome dinner we played ridiculous games with the kids and were amazed at how affectionate and welcoming they were to us. The ice cream was good but the smiles on the kids faces and on the faces of our team members were even better.

We ended the night with a brief Porch Time where we simply shared where we saw glimpses of God at work in and around us. He is with us!

We are grateful for our family and church support in this and look forward to sharing more of what we see and learn about God at work here.

As Long As I Can Remember

noreply@blogger.com (vintagechica) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 21:19:00 +0000

I have wanted to take a trip like this for as long as I can remember. I've been to tons of charity events, made donations to various organizations I support, but never did anything that felt like I was directly making a difference, a connection. Whenever I would see someone on Oprah talk about their experiences on such a mission trip I would think, "I wish I could do that." I suppose now that was God speaking to me, sending me signs, putting the desire in my heart. Whatever the circumstances of my life, however, I felt it wasn't possible for me to go. I had small children. I felt I should wait for them to to be grown, out of the house, on their own, before I could ever attempt something like this.

In January I was going through some challenges in my personal life and was considering all sorts of weekend getaway trips to renew my spirit. I looked at spas and yoga retreats, talked about getaways with girlfriends. I somehow ended up at Spring Branch one weekend and saw a posting about the mission trip to Nicaragua. As my always encouraging girlfriend, Shannon, reminded me, this was my year to say, "Yes!" to all great opportunities that came my way and put my worries and fears aside. At the first meeting I met Eren and Amber, who also have small children, and it was just in meeting them that I was really able to make up my mind and commit to going. If they had children and could go, so could I! Thanks girls!

As it turns out this has already been an amazing learning experience for my children. The girls now know all their countries in Central America (which is more than I knew a few months ago) and are really getting into finding things to send to the children in the orphanage. We have talked on and on about service to others, in our families, our communities, and in the great big world in which we live. They keep reminding me that I have so much love I just have to share it around. Plus they are practically pushing me out the door at the chance to spend a whole week with their dad who is taking off of work to be with them so I can go! Thanks Bill!

I am beyond excited about the trip. I am going without too many expectations. I am trying to break my Type A personality and I really like how Joe keeps reminding us not to rely too much on plans, but to wake up each morning and ask God what he needs of us. I am trying to live my life here, too, with that in mind.

Peace,

Caroline

Hey Friends

noreply@blogger.com (jcaldwell) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:57:00 +0000

At this point I'm not sure who will read this posting if anyone, but here is a thought to be shared.

Today, the group of people who will head to Nicaragua to serve and be with orphans on Friday met. And today, that group of people grew closer to each other and closer to the God who has led them to this trip. If you are a friend of one of the team members, family of, or a Spring Branch-er, or whoever might fall into reading this, please know that there is a God who cares about the orphans at Casa Bernabe in Nicaragua enough to draw this group of people to Spring Branch and then to call them to serve on this trip. Hearing this team share where they are coming from and how they arrived at going, in spite of money and time, with the love and support of family and friends, regardless of how long they've been attending Spring Branch or how well they know each other is all a wonderful snapshot of God at work in our midst.

We can't wait to tell you about the experience that lies before us. But first, know that God has already been at work in this, and is right now!

Getting Ready!

noreply@blogger.com (jcaldwell) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 22:10:00 +0000

We've got one week until we leave. In preparation, as a team we've looked at Mark 8 where Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ as a beginning point for us. Knowing and acknowledging that He is who He says He is we thought would be a good start. We used this as point in time that we could mark and say we are beginning this journey to Nicaragua with Jesus as the Christ in the lead and us as His children following His lead.

We also talked through Philipians 2 to learn about the attitude of Jesus Christ, and we will use this as our mindset heading into this trip. Conversation also turned to the section Mark 14 with the story of the woman who pours perfume on Jesus' feet. The context of the discussion was that this is a story where the woman does this great act of worship and service to Jesus but doesn't speak. Many of us will struggle with the language barrier while in Nicaragua and this scripture really was a great answer to that concern!

We will update this blog as often as we can while we are there. (July 11th-18th) Please keep checking for the updates and post a reply to your team!