johno's posterous

 This is a picture of the project. We started from nothing but dirt. Everyone here is great. The Nicaraguan pastors have such amazing vision for the church in Nicaragua and a visible love for God.

 Johno

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Many of you know that I started racing motocross at age 6 and raced for about 10 years, mostly in central and southern California. I still have a passion for the sport and miss the risk, the adrenaline and the way racing allowed me to escape. I still follow the riders and get to the races when I can. My time on a bike has diminished considerably and I usually only get out on a track once or twice a year.

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I haven't posted in a while, but I read this on the WSJ website today. If any of you are on facebook and or like scrabble, you know for an extended period of time we all played Scrabulous on facebok until the Scrabble people made facebook turn it off. It has since returned, but under a different name and a different layout (not as good as it once was). Now Scrabble has created it's own app. for facebook, it's good, but the original Scrabulous was still the way to go.

Bendecido - You are Blessed

I love this greeting. It implies as Jesus would intend the greeting to be... You are not going to be blessed, you are blessed. Jesus has this way of speaking that we sometimes overlook in scripture. Sometimes the english translation doesn't always portray the meaning and tense in which Jesus was speaking. To embrace the transformation in you and allow Him to work through you. There is a longing and desire for God and His Kingdom to come quickly in Nicaragua that I do not see represented here in the U.S.. So Bendecido holds such a depth of connection when greeting one another. It has a way, just in word to move past the superficial greetings we commonly use. Blessedness is not a future goal, or defined by acquiring something and there is no separation of work, family, or life. The faith and love was lived out as one life encompassing all these things. A Blessed life because of Christ, no matter what the circumstance.

The Project.
We were in Nicaragua to partner with the ministry there and help build, add on to, the existing carpentry shop. This is a ministry for at-risk youth in Nicaragua. This ministry gives the youth in the area an opportunity to learn a craft while praying with one another along with bible studies and a daily devotional. This trip felt so much like home in regards to the type of serving because as church body in Palo Alto, this is what we are doing every day in EPA. It's given me such a greater respect for my friends who work or have worked for Bayshore Christian Ministries in East Palo Alto.

The photo above is of our first day on the site. This is the back of the carpentry shop. We were clearing out an area where dorm rooms are going in to provide shelter for the young men that will hopefully find there way to Pastor Rigo, Pastor William and the carpentry shop. This was just one of the many projects we would begin over the 2 weeks.

First let me give you some information on the town of El Crucero. The town is on the top of a mountain with valleys on either side, so the wind is strong and whips through every day. If you look closely at the trees, you will see them all leaning to the west. El Crucero is also in the sulfur path of one of the many volcanos in Nicragua. This creates a major problem with a metal roof or exposed re-bar. In most cases in central america we would build using tin as the roof top, but you can't use the tin roof in El Crucero. The sulfur form the volcano eats away so rapidly at the metal, the roofs in El Crucero are made of asbestos and all the metal flashings and crossbars need to be treated before being installed. This is a tough little town.

We begin by moving lots of dirt, this will be the ongoing theme throughout the trip. We needed to level the area in the back and bring the dirt to the front for the showroom area(see picture below). Some of the team at this point and throughout the trip were also helping prepare food, tying re-bar and going to the local towns to shop for the food. We would rotate to experience serving in different capacities.

Take notice of the front here and the back in the previous picture, because it will change quite a bit over the next 12 days. We worked very hard and tried to keep up with our Nicaraguan brothers and sisters, but their work ethic and servant hearts were evident in all that they did. It was a hard task in deed to keep up.

The morning started early and I was feeling anxious on Sunday before we left that Monday morning. We worry so much about what could happen or what will happen, not only about the trip itself, but what will happen while we're gone. Most of my worry was about work prior to leaving because we just completed a major upgrade of servers and database infrastructure. This worry would soon subside as we moved along that first day. Control is such a big part of our lives, I know it is for me it is. How do you let go of the control in your life, leave your projects, schedules and your daily decisions behind and just simply follow. Somehow this becomes more clear as the days progress and the words of Jesus become more than words, but a way of life. Jesus' request is simple in form, "Follow Me".

We began the trip by meeting at the Mountain View site at 3:30 am Monday morning to pile into vans and head to the airport for the 6:10 am flight to Miami... Brutal. We have such a great team. This trip is especially meaningful for me because there are 4 high school students going, 3 just graduated and 1 upcoming sophomore, as well as some youth staff I serve with on a weekly basis. I looked forward to spending this last trip of sorts with the students heading off to college, my friends and the new friendships that would be cultivated on this trip.

I tried not to think about what was going on at home and really wanted to give my heart, my soul and mind over to God and the mission he gave all of us. Moment by moment I was letting go and letting my focus become about serving God and partnering with Him and the "Church" to accomplish something more in me as well as in Nicaragua. I found this to get easier each day because of the awesome people on this trip. I'm incredibly blessed to part of a community of believers that are so mission focused and supportive of one another.

Anyway, long flight to Miami, but the layover was fun because we bonded as a team eating airport food and playing cards in the middle of scurrying people. We also had a celebrity come by and comment on our card game, which was really cool. If you've seen the Pirates of the Caribbean, Guess Who, or Drum Line, you might know Zoe Saldana. It took us a minute or two to identify who she was, but some of the girls in the group got it right away. They are calling our flight to Nicaragua, so off we go. Shorter flight, but a little bumpy. We arrived in Managua and got through customs rather quickly for 25 people, so Mike our in country leader was barely ready for us.

We got all of our luggage and got it to the curb outside and began the process of cramming all we could into a little truck and two vans. Mike packed as all in and we were off to dinner first and then to our hotel for our first night in Nicaragua. We stopped a local fried chicken place just outside of Managua for dinner. It was good for our first in country meal and wasn't going to test the constitution of anyone so we ate well and pressed on. We stayed in the town of San Marcos and Mike reserved a dormitory of sorts for us to stay in while working in El Crucero. Steve and Mark were my roommates and our room did not have a bathroom or shower for the first three days because they were remodeling much of the building trying to get it ready for us. They were a little behind, but we made due and used Matt and Jehann's room or the bathroom and some other rooms to take a shower. So Steve, Mark and I settle in and we get ready for some rest and preparation for the next day. We were all tired from the early morning start and long travel, so our bodies were a little weary, but our hearts were ready to serve and meet our Nicaraguan brothers and sisters. Bendecido for now, part 2 coming and more on the  meaning a purpose of Bendecido.

Johno