Dear child, yet within the womb

Today Nicaraguans, or those with confidence in the political process, are headed to polling stations for elections, which includes who will be president for the next 5 years.  Daniel Ortega, this time with his wife as vice president, is likely headed into his third consecutive term since his return to office in 2006.  In the 80s, he was "Coordinator" after the Sandinista revolution for 5 years, and then a term of President, before losing to Violeta Barrios de Chamorro in 1990.

There is speculation that the election process opened up late after pressure from the United States' proposed legislation to limit investing from the US in Nicaragua if there were not steps toward a fairer democracy (the Nicaragua Investment Conditionality Act, with the handy nickname NICA Act).

It's nice for the U.S. to be concerned about democratic processes in other parts of the world. At the same time, it appears that much of the world is concerned with the democratic process in the United States, which has been a reality show that has landed two very unpopular, and one highly inexperienced candidate (to say the least) at the top of the ticket.

Over these last few months there have been some movements that have fanned the flames of xenophobic nationalism, in the US and abroad: the Trump campaign, responses to refugees, and the Brexit vote, for example.

With this swimming in my head, it dawned on me that the baby we are expecting will be born beyond his/her parents' nation's borders, and it will likely be some time before he/she becomes fully acquainted with the settings that are most familiar to the rest of his/her family.  So this song comes out of a sense that, as with any baby's birth, there is a new opportunity to understand Family and Community and how we belong to one another around the globe.


Dear child, yet within the womb
Derrick Charles

Dear child, yet within the womb
Let me tell you a story just a year old
of your mother, father, sister, and brother
who held onto the wings of a great bird
came to live in another land
struggled to understand
but sitting and listening would hear God's heart
beating in our new neighbors' hearts

And now you're to join us
You'll have a place with us
and a place with brothers and sisters near and far
For God's kingdom knows no borders
God's kingdom is a union of hearts

Dear child, yet within the womb
Let me tell you a story 500 years old
when citizen meant Christian, and infant baptism meant citizen
and believers gathered to read and understand the word
breaking ties with the state
joining a community of faith
water over Blaurock on his knees
choosing to follow the Prince of Peace


Dear child, yet within the womb
Let me tell you a story 2000 years old
of Jesus, child refugee, and rejected in his home town in Galilee
said the Kingdom of heaven is coming
welcomed the helpless and the poor
said that's who God's kingdom is for
Drinking from the Samaritan woman's well,
said our holy mountains are too small, God's love is for all

Vacation in the USA

We've just returned to Managua after a couple weeks of visiting family and friends in Pennsylvania and Virginia.  It was quite an eventful time; we'll just share a few of those moments here.

Working with Grandma on what would become a baby blanket

A family and friends gathering in Lancaster.  We were humbled by the travel time some put in to make it.

One of many games of Tic Tac Toe with Grandpa

Visiting Naomi and Andrew, their new house, new dog, new jobs, in Charlottesville

Apple picking with Naomi, Grandma and Grandpa Good at Carter Mountain Orchard, Charlottesville

Meeting new baby cousin Evelyn at Hannah and Pierce's home in Richmond

Another gathering near Harrisonburg at the Hershberger barn. We were really glad to have this chance to reconnect, although briefly, with many good friends!

With Jim and Ann at their farmhouse. We really appreciated their hospitality and conversation!

With Miguelito at Harrisonburg's International Festival

Back in Lancaster, Silas learns to ride a bike without training wheels.  Great fun.

Last evening with the Charles family, hosted at Michael and Rachael's home

Last evening with the Good family, also last gathering before Clair and Beth move to eastern Congo for their new roles with MCC. 

Birthday, Normal days, Holidays

Here's a little run of pictures from the last week or two.  We enjoyed celebrating Silas's 4th birthday, at school, among ourselves and with the MCC team as well. What a great little guy to celebrate!

Legos.

Enjoying guest readers Sharon and Andrew at bedtime. 

Time to break out the traditional clothes for Independence day activity at school! Lia's class practiced memorizing some stanzas from Darío and a dance to Flor de Sacuanjoche and Silas's class practiced a song, Como te quiero Nicaragua. He was less enthusiastic, but he cooperated and joined his class on stage.  We're proud of both of them.

YAMEN Orientation / Orientación de YAMEN 2016 Nicaragua

(Español abajo)

People in the U.S. and Canada connected with MCC have a good sense of the going and coming between North America and the countries where MCC has a presence. Less obvious to the residents of the U.S. and Canada might be the exchanges that happen outside of that two-way street, one example being the YAMEN program (Young Anabaptist Mennonite Exchange Network), which is partnership between Mennonite Central Committee and Mennonite World Conference.  The cycle for the service year follows the same calendar as the two other young adult service year programs that MCC runs, SALT and IVEP.  While SALT and IVEP now share an orientation in Akron, Pennsylvania, YAMEN has an Orientation in English, which was held this year in Thailand, and one in Spanish/Portuguese, which we were happy to host this year in Nicaragua.

We were glad to welcome 8 YAMEN participants, coming from Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia, Bolivia, and Mozambique (and a Brazilian interpreter who is currently working with MCC in Colombia), who will be traveling to serve in Cambodia, Mexico, Colombia, Bolivia, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. Exciting times! We wish them God's blessing in their year ahead.

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Las personas en los EE.UU. y Canadá que están conectados con el CCM entienden bien el ritmo de la salida y entrada entre Nórteamerica y los paises donde el CCM tiene una presencia. Lo que no es tan obvio para los residentes de los EE.UU. y Canadá puede ser el intercambio que pasa a fuera de esta calle de dos vías, un ejemplo siendo el programa de YAMEN (por sus siglas en inglés, Red de Intercambio de Jóvenes Anabautistas Menonitas), que es una colaboración entre el CCM y el Congreso Mundial Menonita. El ciclo para este año de servicio sigue el mismo calendario que usa los otros dos programas de servicio para jóvenes que coordina el CCM, SALT y IVEP.  Mientras que SALT y IVEP ahora comparten una orientación en Akron, Pennsylvania, YAMEN tiene una orientación en íngles, realizada esta año en Tailandia, y una en español/portugués, de la cual  estabamos muy contentos para dar la bienvenida aquí.

Estabamos contentos para recibir 8 participantes de YAMEN, llegando de Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia, Bolivia, y Mozambique (y una interprete Brasileña que está trabajando acutalmente con el CCM en Colombia), que estarán viajando para servir en Camboya, Mexico, Colombia, Bolivia, El Salvador, y Nicaragua. Un tiempo emocionante! Les deseamos la bendición de Dios en el año que viene.

The YAMEN Spanish/Portuguese Orientation group 2016 /
El grupo de Orientación de YAMEN en español/portugués de 2016

Very interesting session with Andrew /
Sesión muy interesante con Andrés

Photo credit/Creditó de la foto: Laurey

Another, possibly less interesting session with Derrick /
Otra, posiblemente menos interesante sesión con Derrick

Photo credit/Creditó de la foto: Laurey

Last day of Orientation at Laguna de Apoyo /
Última día de la Orientación en la Laguna de Apoyo

Photo credit/Creditó de la foto: Jhon

New member of the MCC Nicaragua team, Jhon from Choco, Colombia /
Nuevo miembro del equipo del CCM Nicaragua, Jhon de Choco, Colombia

A month later - good memories from Michael, Rachael and the kids' visit

After Michael and Rachael left we had hit the ground running, starting off with a supporting role in a Brethren in Christ Canada Learning Tour, and then preparing for the arrival of a new family coming to join MCC N&CR.  So here I am, over a month later, with these pictures, half of which were taken and already shared online by Michael and Rachael.  We do what we can.  

Cousins playing together after a year apart

Looking for a cool escape from Managua, we headed toward a favorite destination: Selva Negra, Matagalpa. This time at Cabaña Gretel.

Opposite view of the window in the previous picture.

Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a child to imagine a fish and who knows what they'll do.

Memory with Aunt Rachael.

Hitting the trails. All photo credits from this one on down go to Michael and Rachael and their phone.

On the colorful stairs at the Feria.

Some downtime with Netflix.  Love Meredith's smile in this one.

The group picture from the trip, kids sitting on the pedestal (which appears to have lost a plaque or something) in the middle of the nearby park. We were so glad to have had these days together and look forward to visiting again, next time in the U.S., in a few weeks!

Celebrating 10 years!

For anyone who missed MCC's telling of this story, here's the link: http://mcc.org/stories/mcc-love-story

Thanks, MCC, for helping us celebrate! August 5 was a fantastic day in 2006 and fantastic day in 2016.

Parent, child, traveller, host

Over the last few weeks we have had the great privilege of welcoming my brother Michael and sister-in-law Rachael and their two kids, my nephew Caleb and niece Meredith. Our kids were on top of the world (sometimes a bit out of this world) with the chance to play together with their younger cousins again.  It was really interesting to see how these four children have grown in the last year, and see how they interact in new ways.  Active and creative play with Caleb. Curious and caring play with Meredith, who's now a year old.

In the last week we had the great privilege of welcoming a family into our MCC team in Managua, Darrin and Julie, and their three children.  I'm noticing Lia and Silas again on top of the world to be with these new friends, who are a little older than they are.  It's been interesting to observe the new children on the team as well, each processing the new setting in their own way.

Watching these children in these last weeks has made me think again about what children can teach us.  Jesus says we need to become as children to find the kingdom of heaven.  Something that kids do better than anyone is imagine and play.  It's been a long time since I've picked up a few inanimate objects to spin some story for personal entertainment.  But this is part of how kids process things.  Poor Silas is terrified of the fumigators who come through the neighborhood to smoke out the mosquitoes.  But not long ago I saw him playing with an astronaut Lego man, pretending that the astronaut's equipment was some fumigation equipment as the little man made his way through the Lego house.  I'm also impressed by how quickly kids can (not always) adapt within new settings. Last school year Lia and Silas settled into multiple childcare/school settings each time picking up on the routines, learning to read people of different ages and languages in each setting.

Somehow we carry the assumption that we will offer our children a solid foundation that supports them as they grow.  Roots and wings, some say.  When living and adapting in a new cultural setting it becomes obvious to us, and to the kids, that we are figuring this out as we go.  I suppose that is true for parenting even when everyone is in their "home culture." Regardless, everyone parenting really gets just one swing at this opportunity. We are hardly a solid foundation. We are just as vulnerable as our children, but we aren't as quick as children are to re-imagine our world and adapt within it.  In order to understand ourselves, those around us, and find/receive the kingdom of heaven, we need to become as children.

In this last week we have felt uncomfortable as the cases of Zika feel closer. The numbers of cases in the news tick upwards and we now know a handful of people personally who have had it. Rebekah is now well into her second trimester, which according to many sources is much less risky, but there is still plenty of unknown.  We continue to take all obvious precautions, but there is still a frustratingly mysterious side to this:  mosquitoes bite through clothes (even when soaked in permethrin), the asymptomatic cases, and limited availability of testing and limited confirmed science around what anyone would actually do if they had a positive test.  Anyhow, when we feel vulnerable, it seems easy to lose our creativity, our imagination, our ability to be flexible and adapt.

We find ourselves on all sides of these relationships we inhabit.  Sometimes we feel like the parent, the host, the teacher, the leader.  Other times we are the child, the guest, the learner, the follower.  Mostly it's all mixed up.

I wrote a song about this several months ago. It seems to take slightly different meaning for me at different moments.  I'll share it here.

Grace and peace to you and yours, whoever, wherever you might be.