We are entering the hottest and driest month of the year here in Nicaragua, April, and things are beginning to heat up with the sports ministry at New Song. We received a large shipment of equipment about two weeks ago and have started up with practices. So far there seems to be a good mixture of kids who have not played very much, most are in the intermediate level, and there are a handful of kids who have some serious ability. Although we are looking to add one or two more, we already have a solid group of coaches who are passionate about baseball and are eager to teach the kids the skills of the game. Little by little things are starting to come together but there are some interesting obstacles that one has to deal with here in Nicaragua. For example, to let the kids know about practices it is not as easy as sending an email or even calling families to notify them rather you have to go searching for the children, and it can almost feel like a scavenger hunt. There are no addresses here instead they have a “direction”. So one kid’s direction might be, from the bridge 2 ½ blocks down and 25 yards to the west. After you get close to this point you begin asking people if they know where “Little Luiz or Maria” lives and depending on whether or not you are in the right area affects how many people you have to ask to find Luiz or Maria. This is just one example of how things are a little bit trickier here in Nicaragua than in the United States, but it is a joy nonetheless.
As far as an update on the field, in the middle of February the water pump we had been using to water the fields broke. It was advised that a new well had to be dug and like every other thing so far, we have had hiccups with finishing the well but it seems to be on the homestretch as far as completing it. When the pump had initially broke we were in the process of planting grass and fortunately only about right field was planted so we have been able to maintain that grass by hand irrigating it daily with 1 inch pvc pipe connected together to a motorized pump that is taking water from a little creek close to the fields, it is Nicaraguan innovation at its finest. As you all may or may not know, getting the fields play ready has been quite a long and frustrating process, and it can be discouraging and one can begin to lose faith/hope that it will all come together eventually. It is easy to lose patience sometimes especially in the society that we live in. We are so accustomed to having things now. The Israelites wandering in the desert for 40 years is a very widely known story, but most of the time the emphasis and the focus is on the disobedience that put them in that position. But in the end the Israelites showed amazing obedience and patience and God kept His promises to them. One of the most powerful excerpts from the Bible is found in Joshua 14:6-14.
“Now the men of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jepunneh the Kenizzite said to him, ‘You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, but my brothers who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly. So on that day Moses swore to me,’ ‘ The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.’ ‘Now then, just as the Lord promised He has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this MOUNTAIN that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.’ Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jepunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly.”
There are so many things to take away from those verses that charactarize what it truly means to walk the Christian walk with faithfulness, boldness, obedience, zeal, patience, willingness and so much more. What an incredible level of patience Caleb showed by waiting 45 years to receive the inheritance God had promised and even then he still had to go in and drive people out of his land. We sure hope that we do not have to wait 45 years for the fields to be ready but it does put into perspective God’s timing verses our timing and how we need to continue living a life of patience accompanied with obedience. Six months seems like quite a long time now but six months compared to twenty years of blessings that these fields could produce is minuscule. With that we do encourage you all to continue to join us in prayer that the fields will be completed and that God will bless that land. We also ask that you pray for the seeds that will be planted through devotions with the children and coaches, and that God will bless those times. Thank you for your support and prayers. God bless!
February and March 2015 Update
We are entering the hottest and driest month of the year here in Nicaragua, April, and things are beginning to heat up with the sports ministry at New Song. We received a large shipment of equipment about two weeks ago and have started up with practices. So far there seems to be a good mixture of kids who have not played very much, most are in the intermediate level, and there are a handful of kids who have some serious ability. Although we are looking to add one or two more, we already have a solid group of coaches who are passionate about baseball and are eager to teach the kids the skills of the game. Little by little things are starting to come together but there are some interesting obstacles that one has to deal with here in Nicaragua. For example, to let the kids know about practices it is not as easy as sending an email or even calling families to notify them rather you have to go searching for the children, and it can almost feel like a scavenger hunt. There are no addresses here instead they have a “direction”. So one kid’s direction might be, from the bridge 2 ½ blocks down and 25 yards to the west. After you get close to this point you begin asking people if they know where “Little Luiz or Maria” lives and depending on whether or not you are in the right area affects how many people you have to ask to find Luiz or Maria. This is just one example of how things are a little bit trickier here in Nicaragua than in the United States, but it is a joy nonetheless.
As far as an update on the field, in the middle of February the water pump we had been using to water the fields broke. It was advised that a new well had to be dug and like every other thing so far, we have had hiccups with finishing the well but it seems to be on the homestretch as far as completing it. When the pump had initially broke we were in the process of planting grass and fortunately only about right field was planted so we have been able to maintain that grass by hand irrigating it daily with 1 inch pvc pipe connected together to a motorized pump that is taking water from a little creek close to the fields, it is Nicaraguan innovation at its finest. As you all may or may not know, getting the fields play ready has been quite a long and frustrating process, and it can be discouraging and one can begin to lose faith/hope that it will all come together eventually. It is easy to lose patience sometimes especially in the society that we live in. We are so accustomed to having things now. The Israelites wandering in the desert for 40 years is a very widely known story, but most of the time the emphasis and the focus is on the disobedience that put them in that position. But in the end the Israelites showed amazing obedience and patience and God kept His promises to them. One of the most powerful excerpts from the Bible is found in Joshua 14:6-14.
“Now the men of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jepunneh the Kenizzite said to him, ‘You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, but my brothers who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly. So on that day Moses swore to me,’ ‘ The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.’ ‘Now then, just as the Lord promised He has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this MOUNTAIN that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.’ Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jepunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly.”
There are so many things to take away from those verses that charactarize what it truly means to walk the Christian walk with faithfulness, boldness, obedience, zeal, patience, willingness and so much more. What an incredible level of patience Caleb showed by waiting 45 years to receive the inheritance God had promised and even then he still had to go in and drive people out of his land. We sure hope that we do not have to wait 45 years for the fields to be ready but it does put into perspective God’s timing verses our timing and how we need to continue living a life of patience accompanied with obedience. Six months seems like quite a long time now but six months compared to twenty years of blessings that these fields could produce is minuscule. With that we do encourage you all to continue to join us in prayer that the fields will be completed and that God will bless that land. We also ask that you pray for the seeds that will be planted through devotions with the children and coaches, and that God will bless those times. Thank you for your support and prayers. God bless!