Restoration of the Nations

Thursday, May 12, 2011

A Beautiful Day with the Boys

Today started like any other day; sunshine, blue skies, chores, assessing school activities and then suddenly - no electricity. Hmmmm, 9AM, kind of early for a power surge! Except this time, it was not the usual power surge. There were several workers outside our house and one of them on a ladder at the utility pole began cutting wires.

Our first thought, did we forget to pay the power bill? Nope, found the receipt, everything good there! Then, one of the workers wanted to come into our gated area and was pointing to the meter. We told him we paid our bill. He kept pointing to the meter. So, we let him in the front area and he proceeded to take the meter off the house. WHOA, we need that meter; we have school today, we have a refrigerator (a lot of families do not), the washing machine WAS going, we need the fans working. Our minds were checking off all possible things that we would be without.

As we tried to "chat" with the worker, we noticed that the other men began taking meters off the houses around us. We were told that we would be without power ALL day. We quickly finished our chores, minus the laundry and we talked about what to do in class without the use of power.

The early training in the beginning days of the carpentry class was the use of hand tools. We told the boys that this was essential for a number of reasons. One, was the affordability of hand tools versus power tools; the other was to combat the numerous power outages that can be experienced in a week or day. The boys have come to rely on and REALLY like using the power tools. But, this day will be a proven lesson in the advantages of knowing how to use hand tools.

When the boys arrived for class, they quickly discovered it was hot in the house, no fans. Second discovery was, no power tools would be used today. They went about doing a little sanding, a little cutting on some of the simpler items of the projects; we tried to stretch the tasks. Then the silliness took over, the heat must have been getting to their brains. The power tools were becoming props and toys. The lessons in safety (power or no power) were ignored; as you will see in the video.

So, we made a quick assessment and determined that they needed a change of scenery. So off to the park we went, all twelve of us walking the 1-1/2 blocks to the park. The surrounding neighborhoods are getting use to seeing us head out to our outings, whether it be to the lumber yard or the park. It would remind you of a pack of ducks; we act as the protective "parents" with Sandra leading the way, the "ducklings" follow behind and Preston is in the rear watching over everyone. We sat for a couple of hours in the cool of the huge shade trees sipping sodas and talking what we call "baby talk". That's American for sentences consisting of 2-4 words in Spanish.

When we made our way back home, several of the boys were reluctant to leave to go to where they lived. For the first time, one of them asked if they could stay. 4 of the boys live in the Remar rehab facility and it never occurred to us that they would be able to spend additional time with us. There are very strict rules that govern what the boys are allowed to do. Preston walked the 2 blocks to the facility to ask permission for the boys to stay for dinner and we would accompany them back for the evening services. Permission was granted and the boys were extremely glad to hear the news.

Now, you have to understand the mindset of the teen boys in this country. They want to be clean; they shower several times a day and despite their poor existence, their clothes are always clean and pressed. So, next on their agenda was, they NEEDED to head over to the Remar Leon facility (the boys live out on the farm) to shower and change clothes. There was no talking them out of it. They insisted that they get cleaned up, you would have thought they were going out on a date. They think that we gringos are gross because there may be some days that we will only shower once. Well, away they went and returned in 25 minutes, smelling and looking good!

We had one boy who lives several miles away that we invited to spend the night. When we insisted that he call someone to tell them of his plans, the other boys thought it was funny to hear his side of the conversation. One can only imagine who he was talking to and what he said; remember, we still speak very little Spanish. So now, he needed a shower. We rummaged around to find something clean for him to change into. We gave him the option of wearing a blue or pink Tshirt and he chose the pink. Guys here are not afraid of color.

As the evening went on, it just got better and better. The boys are use to our home so they feel at home here. There was lots of laughter, cutting up, sharing in the few chores that needed to be done and conversation. Their faces and attitudes said it all, they were grateful and happy to be in our home for dinner.

After dinner, we walked together to Remar for the weekly Thursday night services. The worship was especially anointed and you could sense the Lord's presence heavy in the room. The lights were lowered as the men and boys sang Agnus Dei. Hearts were being touched and lives changed. Two of our boys who have gone through a lot in their young lives and are being transformed daily by God's love were overcome with emotion. I watched as Israel opened himself up to worship the Lord with his whole heart. While I entered into worship, I almost missed the most amazing moment. Leo who has been learning to surrender to the Love of God turned to comfort Israel. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

These 2 teens put aside being cool and caring about what others think in order to surrender and embrace the moment and each other. God was at work in His Way in their lives. More healing, more love being poured down upon and into them.

Go to YouTube and view the video that depicts our beautiful day in pictures. The theme "What A Wonderful World " describes this day and our life. We are blessed to be a part of what God is doing in the lives of some extraordinary teens.

http://youtu.be/sGGqfub3LJU

Friday, April 29, 2011

Covenant

"A solemn agreement between the members of a church to act together in harmony with the precepts of the gospel."

We are joined in a covenant partnership with New Day Church at High Point. The members of New Day have been a constant source of encouragement, prayer and support. During Easter week or Semana Santa as it is called in Nicaragua, we were blessed to have members of the church visit us.

After spending several days in Managua visiting Pastor Eddy and his church, La Casa del Padre, the team along with Pastor Eddy and several of his members came north to Leon. Each time our church family visits it is a time of deep refreshing for us. As much as we love living and working in Nicaragua, loneliness can and does set in. It was a whirlwind 2 days with much activity and lots to talk about.

The visits always begin with lunch; the tradition of Christians gathering for meals is still much alive no matter what country you are in. This is a perfect time to mention a favorite place we discovered and have turned other missionaries on to it, LaRosita's. It is an old colonial style home that was refurbished by the owners and turned into a restaurant. The restaurant is always enjoyed by the guests that we take there. Whatever health concerns a team may have had about the food, it is never an issue when they see the restaurant.

We spent the afternoon opening gifts and mentoring to the students. Oh, let me tell you about the gifts. We have been wanting a wood planer for the school. All the wood that is harvested in this country is immediately sent to the "tiendas" and sold. It is rough and never dried, thus it is extremely wet. The wood we purchase is needed right away for projects, so handling it is tricky and time consuming. Hand planing the wood is right up there as one of the least favorite tasks of the students. It is hard work. Now we have a new planer that will diminish the time spent on getting the wood ready to use in our projects.

Another gift came as a total surprise. I don't know what meant more, the actual gift or the fact that someone noticed a casual comment I made more than a year and a half ago. There is a very talented artist in the church who paints pictures, murals and instruments that adorn the sanctuary. One of the first paintings that was done was in the fall of 2009. I mentioned how much I liked it to the pastor. This comment was remembered a year later and the church gave the painting to me to be used in my prayer room here in Nicaragua. I was moved beyond words that someone thought enough about me to remember and sacrifice this beautiful painting.

The biggest blessing of each visit by a mission's team is there ministry to the students. They pray for the boys and have prophetic words of encouragement for them. When the team's members speak God's Words over the boys, there are immediate and astounding changes that take place. Visibly there are changes in their appearance. Before long, you begin to see changes in their behavior.

This visit was highlighted by the meeting for the first time of the associate pastor from New Day church in North Carolina, Pastor Eddy from La Casa del Padre in Managua and Pastor Jose of Nueva Restauracion, our local church in Leon. We've sensed for some time that this meeting would be a divine appointment. We all joined together in worship, prayer, neighborhood evangelism and the joy of experiencing the heavy presence of the Lord in our gatherings.
Covenant, it's a strong word. It carries with it promise, hope and power.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Pablo - We rejoice with him

Pablo Ernonde at age 12 is one of the earliest students in the vocational program, not to mention, our youngest student. We made an exception to our rules when we accepted him into the vocational school. We said we would try him for a week or two, evaluate him and then make a determination as to whether he would continue. He showed so much determination that it was unthinkable to turn him away.

He resides at the Remar International - Leon facility due to a gambling addiction. You read it correctly, our Pablito is a card-shark. He was an excellent student in public school but dropped out to pursue the gambling. He left the rehab facility for a few days a couple of months ago, but had to return; his habit was still not under control.

Each day he attends class, is a day of surprises; you never know what you will get from him. He is whitty, talkative, bright, enthusiastic, determined and very charming. He's more than capable of taking care of himself, but the other students take on the role of big brother and feel it is their duty to watch over him.

Recently he shared with us that he wanted very much to change his behavior but he always found himself doing what he knew he should not do. Does that sound familiar? During the weekly gathering with our Pastor, Pablo was asked to elaborate more about why and how he wanted to change. In his usual style of honesty and sharing deep from within his heart, he talked about his life and his desire to know more about the Lord. At that moment, the presence of the Lord was felt in the room; He definitely was in our midst. Pablo accepted Jesus as his Savior and committed to serving Him with his whole heart. He had an intense desire to worship and all of us stood in a circle singing; except that I found myself watching Pablo. As his eyes were closed, swaying to his own music, he had a smile on his face that could be described in many ways: joy, peace, happiness, contentment. For a time, I know that he was "not in that room"; he had journeyed somewhere else within himself. On the drive home, I asked Pablo how he felt in his heart. He said "it felt empty, not in a bad way, it was free".

Pablo stays in a facility located far outside of town on a farm. It is very remote, thus it is very dark at night and he gets frightened a lot. The next day after his encounter with the Lord, he shared with us an experience he had at bedtime the previous evening. While lying in bed, he was scared and he started praying to Jesus. He said that he saw 2 "Lights" on either side of him and he knew that they were Angels. He started talking to them and singing. One of the other Christian boys in the bunkhouse told him to be quiet or the others would think he was crazy.

Yes, we are rejoicing with Pablo! We are happy that he has found more joy than he can contain. This young boy has a very special calling on his life and we get to be a part of watching it unfold.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Claudio's Birthday

One of the boys who now lives with us has a birthday for the first time. Today, he is "officially" 18 years of age. How can this be?

One night at dinner, we were having conversation with the boys who live in our home. We asked them how old they were and when was their birthday. When it came time for Claudio to share, he said there was no record of his birth (more on this in a later blog). He said he was 18 but he did not know when he was born. We told him that we needed to establish a birthday for him. We asked him to think about when he would like to celebrate his birthday.

During that discussion of birthdays, it was revealed that everyone at the table had a birthday in March, everyone except Claudio. So, he decided that he wanted his birthday to be in March. We asked him what day in March would he like to celebrate his birthday and he chose the 10th. When I asked him why the 10th, he said it was because he liked the number.

For over a month we have been building up to this day - Claudio's celebration of his birthday.

I asked him this morning, how old was he today. He again said he was 18. I want to try to establish how old he really is but for now we will continue to say he is 18. When he told us previously he was 18 he might have been referring to the number of years that he has been alive. Claudio may not grasp the concept that with a birthday you add another year to your age.

Last night after supper, he and I walked to the store to buy mix and frosting so that I can bake him a cake. He wanted chocolate; is there any other flavor for a teenage boy? On the way home, we practiced his English. He is now learning how to count to ten and colors. One number that he really loves is 6. He was calling a lot of numbers "6". I tried to get him to slow down and think before he would answer.

The other "task" I had with Claudio was to read him the book of John in the Bible. Pastor Jose has assigned the reading lesson to the boys. Claudio does not know how to read. His reading ability would be equal to an elementary student in the States, reading "Dick and Jane and see Spot run". I have a bilingual Bible. I would read to him in Spanish and if there was a word I could not pronounce, he might correct me if he recognized the word. Or if neither of us could pronounce the word, I had my google translator next to us and I would type the word into the computer and we would both listen to it. Whenever he recognized the sound of a word that I was mispronouncing, he would correct me. It brought a lot of pleasure to him.

Yesterday, was a very special day for me. a walk with Claudio and time reading the Bible together. Also, it was Wednesday and that means Pastor Jose comes for a couple of hours to spend time with the boys. I so much enjoyed my one-on-one time with Claudio. He knows now that we will have a "date" each day to read the Bible.

I have a favor to ask of anyone reading this blog, if you desire. Would you email a birthday greeting to Claudio? I would like to show him that there are many people who know who he is and care about him.

Post to us on Facebook at our wall: Sandra N Preston Barnum

We will share those posts with Claudio. I'd love to show him that the World says....

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CLAUDIO"

Thursday, February 17, 2011

When Love Hurts

We are having to set boundaries with a boy that we love very much and has been in our lives for over 3 years. This incident is just another example of the mindset of the young men in this nation. But, not so very different from the rest of the young people in this world. A generation that much of the world is starting to call "the entitlement" generation.

We met Kervin on our first trip to Nicaragua and immediately, God joined our hearts. We loved him no less than our own children. He and his younger brother live with an aunt in an over crowded home in a rural, poverty stricken village. They had been abandoned by their mother over 12 years ago while she went to Costa Rica to work, but never returned. When we first met Kervin, he was not attending school and his aunt was wanting him to work in the cane fields in order to provide income for the family. We made arrangements to provide the equivalent of a salary in order for him to return to school. The only stipulation we asked of him was to do well in school and continue to attend church.

We loved visiting with he and his brother on our trips to Nica and looked forward to the day when we would be here full time and see them on a regular basis. I have no idea what went awry. Were we too generous? Did we not instill in them the desire to reach for the future, that anything was possible? Or, is the Nicaragua mindset of "life is what it is and it will never be different" too engrained in them?

Kervin was several years behind in school and he struggled, but he kept pursuing his education. He is passionate about music. When I say passionate, I mean music consumes him. He is practically self taught on the piano and guitar. There was a time his desire was to be a famous Christian recording artist so that he could make lots of money and help his family and country. I feel that his dream of being a musician is dying. He seems to be settling for what is available to him NOW. Maybe the pursuit of music was too time consuming; maybe people started snatching that dream from him; maybe there was not enough encouragement from the people he shared a home with. Maybe life was just proving to be too difficult.

He came to us recently asking if he could live with us. I was thrilled at the thought of being able to spend more time with him. But it became very apparent in our conversation that he expected a lot of perks without any responsibility to us or our home. He wanted total freedom to pursue his interests and agenda without submitting to standards that we have set for any of the other boys that we educate or allow to stay in our home. I won't go in to the details of his change in spiritual beliefs and behavior; but I will say that this is not the same boy that I knew just 6-9 months ago. At 19 years of age, if he chooses not to pursue his education and prepare for his future, we could not continue to support him financially or provide him with a home and meals.

One of the purposes of our being in Nicaragua is to encourage young men to strive for a better future. We will not enable them to continue to walk in the welfare mentality that seems to exist in regards to their relationships with the missionaries that serve here. It's ironic that we have been tested within our own "Nicarauga family" to walk out our ministry principles and purpose.

Kervin stayed with us for the night and our hearts were very heavy. The next morning he came to me saying that he was very sad and I shared with him our pain. It's been weeks since we said "good-by". I worry about him and what will become of him. He is a young man with so much ability and talent. We talked with him all the time about making choices that would ultimately change his circumstances and thus begin changing the poverty that had been so much a part of his life and his family.

I ask myself would things have been different if we had been here years sooner; did we arrive too late? Or is the system so broken that we may never reach the young men with the idea of a life free from oppression and poverty? Maybe, it is a matter of them not being able to dream of the possibility of a life different from what they have always known.

We have experienced disappointments and hurts since our arrival in Nicaragua, but this hurt hit too close to home. This time it was "our son" that chose to keep his life, for now, as he has always known it.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

The Restoration Begins

Starting tomorrow, the ministry of Restoration of the Nations begins to walk in the fullness of it's original vision: ministering to the total needs of the young men of impoverished nations. Not only are we to teach vocational skills in order that young men can be employed and thus sustain themselves and their families; but we will teach them basic life skills that should have been taught to them by their parents or other family members. More importantly, we want to fulfill God's command to "go into the world and disciple the nations". To us, discipleship is more than preaching God's Word. It is a process of investing yourself into the life of a person, walking out the love of Jesus into their every day life.

We were given the vision that we would have young men living at our school facilities. These boys would be from places that were too far for them to travel to and from the school. They would be boys that may have been abandoned by one or both of their parents. They also may be boys who have lived part of their lives on the streets but wanting to make a change.

Right now, we do not have the facilities that we had envisioned to house such boys. But God has made it plain that we are not to wait. He has orchestrated events where 3 young men, all the age of eighteen, need what we have to offer. So, these young men are coming to live in our home. We have spent the last couple of weeks preparing our home to receive these boys. There is still much work to be done but we are far enough along that the boys no longer have to wait. It's by divine appointment that we have these boys.

Many months ago, we heard about a man, Pastor Dennis, who had a rehab center. We tried to find out more information about him but the people we talked with were not familiar with him or his program. Recently, we acquired a new next door neighbor who just happened to know the man and within hours had a meeting set up for us with him. Timing is everything! When we talked with him, we learned that his first group of men had completed their time at his rehabilitation center. He was concerned as to what would happen to the young men when they left the facility. They needed more training and time to transition themselves into society, but he did not have the means to do this. What we had to offer him was exactly what he felt the boys needed. Into our lives we welcome Eduardo and Elvis.

The very next day after our meeting with Pastor Dennis, our interpreter received a phone call from a person who heard about our vocational school. She knew about our desire to have young men not only attend the school, but live at the school to receive the additional help they needed to become more self-sufficient in every way. Into our lives we welcome, Claudio.

This is a huge step forward for the ministry and for us personally. We look forward to the building of relationships with the boys as well as imparting to them skills which will lead them into a life that is productive and full of peace, love and joy.

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Monday, January 24, 2011

Bethel Church

We were blessed to host a short term mission's team from Bethel Church in Redding, CA. It was our first time meeting the group. They arrived to our home when we were without electric or water, not too uncommon for us; except that this outage lasted for about 36 hours. They were good sports when it came to using our laundry tub's pila (we keep filled with water) in order to wash off the day's dirt and grime.

The team ministered to some of the boys in the carpentry class. A local pastor, his wife and son stopped by and joined the team in ministry. They prayed and prophesied over the boys. One boy, Jose, has had the same Word repeated to him by each missions team that comes here to visit. He is destined to preach. All the boys have been chosen by God for special purposes. We look forward to the upcoming years when we get to witness them begin to walk in their callings.

The evening was spent with the group ministering to us and other local mission's leaders and pastors. Being in the mission field, a person's soul can get very dry. Visits like this from fellow English speaking believers, who's only purpose in coming to visit was to pour into us, does so much to encourage and refresh us.

Time was also spent ministering to the youth at a local church called Nuevo Restauracion teaching them how to "hear" from God. They prayed over each young person and imparted a Word from God to them.

There was a couple who was a close friend to the team leader that experienced a mission trip for the first time. It was apparent that their lives were forever changed. It will be interesting to hear in the upcoming months what direction their lives will be headed.

The team experienced how most Nicaraguans eat their meals. After the time of ministry to the youth at Nuevo Restauracion, we stopped at a late night vendor who sells food along side the road. We took home our meals wrapped in banana leaves and had a feast of typical Nica food consisting of gallo pinto, chicken, beef, pork, plantains and tortillas. All eaten with the fingers. I love the fact that it cuts down on having to wash dishes.

Meeting the team from Bethel is the beginning of what appears to be a lasting relationship. Their heart is joined with ours in seeing the youth of Nicaragua rise up and become tomorrow's leaders in their homes and in their communities.

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Sunday, January 16, 2011

Scarleth

As we begin ministry in the new year, we are very much aware that we could never do this without God's help and the helper He provided for us.

We met Scarleth Chavez 3 years ago while she worked for another ministry. We would tell Scarleth on many occasions during our first year in Nicaragua that she needed to find us our "own Scarleth". When the other ministry went through many internal changes in structure, Scarleth became available to pursue other work. We immediately recruited her to work for us part time until we moved here and now she is permanent.

In her private life, she is a mother to a 14 year old son and wife to a handsome man from the Dominican who has a passion for baseball. She is beautiful with a spirit to match, witty, and brilliant. When she is not working for us, she loves to work as an interpreter with small mission groups that come for a week or two to volunteer their time and services.

Scarleth is our interpreter, advisor, instructor, mediator, miracle worker on the seemingly impossible and most of all trusted Christian friend. She not only speaks Spanish and English but learned French as well. This gives you an idea of the drive and passion that she has for education. She studied in France to better learn the language but returned to her beloved Nicaragua.

She has a heart to see the young men of this nation arise to become the leaders God meant for them to be in their home and community. The only way this is possible is through education and a personal relationship with God. Scarleth fits in well with the boys in our school, they love her. She is a natural teacher and mentor. She helps to balance us out and is patient with us in our misunderstanding of the cultural differences.

We cannot count the times that she was called when we were in challenging situations: such as the house being flooded because the roof was leaking during a torrential downpour, or when we were left alone between the borders of Costa Rica & Nicaragua unable to understand the person who took charge over us, or to simply comfort me (Sandra) when I was having a melt-down. We have cried together and laughed heartily more often. We've celebrated the American holiday Thanksgiving together as well as New Year's.

Scarleth is very important to the every day schedule of Restoration of the Nations. Shortly, we will begin another class of carpentry for beginners and Scarleth will be the instructor. She has picked up the training techniques quickly and very much enjoys working with the boys. We are blessed to have her contributing to the success of the ministry.

We are more than blessed to call her friend.

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