Nicaragua2012 (Part 2)

*Post two of my Nicaragua2012 Posts.*
*This is partially for you, and partially so I have a place to write it all so I remember it. So pardon all the horrific details.*


OK. So you may remember, when we left off, I had come back from the beach. The next four days were our designated "work days". I'll begin there...

If you want the most basic overview, "We built two houses."

They started lifting before I could get to the side...

For a more detailed description, I'll just write what I wrote in my journal after day 3:
"It's been a ton of fun. You never get overworked, because there's not enough work for everyone, so you can easily take breaks. But don't think it's easy! I wake up every day more tired, and super sore!
People are so helpful! Sammy spends the entire time giving herself to all the little Nicaraguan children, and also is constantly offering to bring people their waters bottles! Everyday, Tara goes out of her way to cover all of the backpacks, so the when it rains, (which it does everyday here) none of our stuff will be ruined! No other specifics, but everyone gets whatever you need, and if you need a break, they jump at the chance to get back to work!

Putting in the floor boards

At some points throughout the day, I just spend some time with the little boys. We just run, fight, growl, and tickle (Yes. I did say tickle.) Even though we aren't doing anything, they still have so much fun, and the glee on their faces is amazing to watch!
I also love watching the teenage Nicaraguans. I can't understand much of what they say, but i feel a connection. We're just a few teenage guys, out here building to help some people out!"

So there you have it. That was my play-by-play, in the midst of the action.

On Thursday night, we went to Church. The preacher was another visitor, and he had a ton of great stuff to say about worship.
Here's some of my notes:
Ephesians 2:10
       God designed us to worship Him through good works.EVERYONE WORSHIPS SOMETHING
       What do you worship?
What is worship?
       Singing?
       Praying?
       Praising?
             All three of these, but more! Worship is doing what the the Holy Spirit leads us to do, and its from
             your heart!
Whatever you do, do it for God!
Romans 3:23
Worshiping is reflecting the glory of the Master.
Love like He loved, Grace like He graced, and Forgive like He forgave.
God is most Glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him!
You have to KEEP your heart close to God.
You don't plan to fall out of love. It comes from not continually coming to Him.
Worship: an outward expression of your inner love.
Do you know Him? If not, you can't truly worship Him.
Psalm 139:14
       You will never be able to worship God if you think He made a mistake in you.


And that's the conclusion! Now on to post numero tres!

Nicaragua2012 (Part 1)

*Post one of my Nicaragua2012 Posts. For the rest of the story read the next few posts!*
*This is partially for you, and partially so I have a place to write it all so I remember it. So pardon all the horrific details.*

If you didn't know, I went to Nicaragua (in Central America) a few weeks ago!
It was an incredible experience, I learned a lot, and I will for sure be going next year!
We first got started back in January/February, when we got to know who all was going, and then we had 3 other meetings between that and the trip. I had so much help from people paying for the trip. I had to raise $2100 dollars (if you include my Chicago trip), and I got it completely paid for by peoples fabulous donations!

So the day of the trip arrives. We have our packing party, go over final details, and head home for a few hours before we leave. Some people slept, I on the other hand watch The Batman movies, and an episode of The Walking Dead. :D
Then we head back, take the 2 hour drive to Chicago, and fly from there to Miami, and then to Managua, Nicaragua. (That's fun to say!) We spend the night in a hotel there. It consists of tons of pizza, even more pool-dunking, an hour long talk with Riley and Jeffrey about awesome movies, and my headphones disappearing overnight. Then we take a smaller propeller plane (a 46-seater) to Puerta (Port) Cabezas. Surprisingly that was my favorite flight! I sat next to Austin, and played solitaire, war, and chess. And then we were there.

The night we got there, all we did was play with the kids. Me and Brennan were chasing around a little boy and girl, letting them go chasing them some more...and so on. We also sat around for a bit, and learned this weird hand pounding rhythm thingy. (I forgot that one, but I learned another one later which I remember!)

Day 2:
We went to Church this day! It was a flipping awesome experience! There were three different languages being sung, but even if they were singing in one of the other languages, I could still understand, and connect in my own. It just really showed how Jesus isn't American. He is universal. We so often think of Him as our own, and this was just awesome to see how much He did in the lives of people who wouldn't understand a word of our English bible, but have there own way of sharing the Good News. And then we got to hear a great message from our very own John Keim, in English, and translated to Spanish. Their services are long! Johny even had a short message, and the service was still two hours long! But I wouldn't have missed any of it for the world!
After church, we took all of the kids to the beach. It's Nicaragua, so of course it started raining as soon as we got there. But after the initial ten seconds of disappointment, (and after I covered Katie and I's bags with my poncho) everyone started having even more fun! Some people were playing beach-rain-soccer, others were building sand castles, and others (me) were having an all out war, dunking, throwing sand, etc. No casualties though! One little girl kept throwing sand at me, so i would scare her, or throw sand at her or something. At the end we shook hands, which I thought meant we were cool. But then she threw sand at me again!! What a jerk...haha
Gotta love those children...(but boy are they tiring!)


Well, I'd say thats a good place to end this one. You can find the next one here:

Relapse

Here's some background: for a while now, I've been dealing with stuff in my personal walk with Christ.
I touched on this in my post about Romans 7. Struggling for months, and then I go on a mission trip in Chicago. I'm positive that if I could've dealt with it before Chicago12, god could've done a lot more with me, but I was unable. Or maybe I didn't really want to. Regardless, I got back on Monday. I was sitting on the couch, on my iPod. I saw a link that piqued my interest, so I click on it. As it's loading, I feel a tug on my heart, and suddenly realize, "This is exactly what I was promising, no, vowing, to put behind me this very morning!"
I just spent a wee serving others, and I almost went back to my selfish ways less than an hour after I got back. I believe that if not for Him holding me back, I would've fallen...hard.
And so I truly owe it All to Him.

The Bible is Wrong

Okay, so the title might be a bit misleading. I still believe the bible. But I'm beginning to believe it differently. You may know I am in a biology class at school, which means we learn about evolution, and a bit of the big bang theory. Now, a  year ago I would've said that both were wrong without a second thought. However, I've also been talking, no, debating Christianity in things called "communities" on an app I got. (Shout out to all mis amigos out there!) Both of these combined got me thinking.
There is a lot of evidence out there for both Evolution and the Big Bang theory. Obviously, without a time machine, we can't say for sure. It would be like trying to prove that there isn't any God. You can't ever say for sure. But anyway, My point is, these theories are looking less and less like theories, and more like fact.
So here is my theory. God created nature right? So he created the laws of nature. So it's only logical that he would follow His own laws, right? The Hebrew word for day, "yom", can also mean an age, not just a twenty four hour day. Therefore the six "days" of creation could be...oh I don't know....4.5 billion years? So picture this:
God makes an atom. Then He explodes it. BOOM. Big Bang. He then causes a chain reaction that starts creating stars, and galaxies. He keeps it going, and eventually brings into being one specific planet. (Which He's been planning to use all along.) Then He mixes all the right molecules together to make DNA and RNA and all that fun stuff, which, long story short, creates life. After that, over billions of years he (with His own hand) uses evolution to form what he had in mind all along. And when humanity is ready, He gives us the final part of "His image". A soul. I believe the rest of the story is written down somewhere....


Keep in mind this is just a theory. It has it's flaws. But it currently makes sense to me, so say something about it to rip it into shreds.
Thanks!
 Adios.

1 Peter 3

*NOTE: This was written as part of the weekly bible readings for the GSM Nicaragua mission trip. So when I refer to "this trip," that's what I mean.*


This one is an interesting one. It starts by telling women to submit to their husbands. (4 sexist jokes just went through your head...shame on you...) It also says men should honor their wives. Then it talks about suffering even though, and sometimes because, you are doing something good!
If you didn't guess, this one is by Peter also. And boy is it relevant today. Peter tells wives to submit, so that their husbands "may be won over by their behavior." If that happened, along with men treating their wives with respect, so much fewer marriages would be lost! And, Christians around the world are persecuted just because they share Jesus! And it may not be as drastic in high school, but the more you stand up for Jesus in high school, the more others try to knock you down.
This one seems like it wouldn't be very applicable for this trip, but in fact it's the opposite! We may not be married, but there are guys and girls going on this trip. Girls, I'm sorry, but as Peter says, you are the "weaker partner." I'm not being sexist, but most guys are stronger than most girls. (Example: Hulk vs. Black Widow.) but guys aren't perfect, by a long shot. Girls, for one, actually admit to having feelings...(yeah, I went there.) as for suffering, it's gonna be hard work, and people here will question why you're even going on this trip. I mean really, who spends $1600 to spend a week of their summer helping people in Nicaragua? Oh, that's right, God's children do. Boom...roasted.


Get it? Roasted? Because its hot in Nicaragua??

Oh bad puns...

1 Peter 2

*NOTE: This was written as part of the weekly bible readings for the GSM Nicaragua mission trip. So when I refer to "this trip," that's what I mean.*

Also, that last one was supposed to be about 1 Peter 1, and that's what I made the title....but I read/wrote about 1 James 1.....oops.

Anyways, without further adieu, 1 Peter 2:

So. Summary. Let's see, first he talks about how we are a chosen people, and thought we will be rejected by men, we should still abstain from sin, "so that they may see your good works and glorify God" (v.2) He then goes on to say that we should submit to our 'masters' and authorities, (both kind and cruel) because it is commendable to God.
Peter was an interesting fellow. He had his dumb moments, but writing this definitely wasn't one of them. He realizes that we are going to have authorities in our lives, (be it teachers, parents, or bosses), and some of them won't be very nice, and may not even have our best interests in mind. But God wants us to endure submit, because it gives us love and patience, and it could show them Christ's love!
This section also has a lot to do with our trip. You are going to disagree with someone on this trip, and your response will have an impact on others on the team. It's up to you to decide whether that impact is positive or negative. Another connection is that we were all chosen for this trip by God and the leaders. God put something in each of our hearts to make us put in an application. (Because no one would fill out that much of an application for fun...just saying.) And I don't know how many (or if any) applications got rejected, but I do know that the leaders put a lot of time and prayer into who to accept. So each of us will have a specific part to play, and it's up to you to fulfill yours...

1 James 1

*NOTE: This was written as part of the weekly bible readings for the GSM Nicaragua mission trip. So when I refer to "this trip," that's what I mean.*

To sum this chapter up, it begins by talking about how facing trials and temptations will make us better and closer to God. Then it goes on to say how dumb it is to read God's word and not do what it says. (not in those exact words...)
James wrote this. He's Jesus's bro by the way. I think he wrote this because people back then struggled with the same things we do today. Lust, greed, etc. And the Word has ways to deal with these "trials and temptations."
This chapter tells us a few things. One, God won't send temptation on us. Our own desires tempt us, but God will help us through that temptation. Two, we can't fight it on our own. That's probably why I give in so much; I try to defeat temptation on my own. Finally, this trip is gonna be full of trials. But we should "consider it pure joy," because if we let it, it'll bring us closer to God and each other.