Mom day

 

I am falling apart tonight…..

It is POURING right now in Nicaragua. Which is abnormal since it’s still considered the dry season…..

As I have a leak drip into my house and onto my bed I struggle. I run over to the kitchen and I grab a pot to catch the water… but It’s pointless. I know the water will fill the pot as the roof leaks. But so does my heart….

This weekend I met a woman named Reina. (Pronounced Ray-ee-nah) She has 2 boys in our ministry in Los Brasiles and one baby that’s 6 months old.

She is a sweet woman. She has been very inviting and in my last video blog you met her. She also comes across as a strong Christian. I come across a lot of people in Los Brasiles and normally one of the first things out of their mouths are asking me for something. Sometimes it’s food, sometimes its clothes, and sometimes it’s just money. But talks normally lead to a “I’m so poor can you help me” conversation.

I understand and feel their pain. Or I thought I did. That’s until it rained….

Reina has never complained to me about anything. She has said…. “I know I’m poor, but yet God has blessed me with soo much.” This is the lady who a year ago her husband left for Costa Rico while she was pregnant to get a job and send money. After about 2 months he stopped sending money and instead she was informed he met another woman and wasn’t coming back.

Yet she says she is Blessed?

Today I was talking to her and her boys for about 3 hours and I asked her about her house. We have some groups coming down and a couple that want to plastic wrap some houses for the rain. She took me inside and gave me a tour of her 15×15 house. She showed me the dime size holes in the rusted metal roof above her bed where daylight was coming in. The beautiful ray of sun was welcomed as a source of light in the house. That is until it rains. She pointed out many more holes. Then she showed me one of her walls. I thought it was metal until I got a closer look to see it was a wall made of cardboard.  I told her we will get plastic on her house in a month…..

A month? Seriously? I sit here and stare at this pot and I don’t even care that my house is filling up with water. Because I picture her and her boys shivering as they sit on their soaked bed. How there is probably 3 inches of rain on the dirt floor of her house. Actually it’s probably solid mud. This is personal now. I saw the holes, I heard the story, I made a connection. And now I sit here in tears because I can’t do anything about it tonight. I want to take off and drive to Los Brasiles and tell them to hop in my car and we can sit there for a while. At least they will be dry. I want to go out there in the morning and do something. But I don’t know where to start.

Pray for Los Brasiles. Pray for these families. Pray for Reina and her boys. As I look at this picture, I can’t help but wish I could trade places with her. Or even take her family and put a real roof over their head for a night. I am falling apart tonight. My heart is broken. Lord take control….

Tour of Bario Nuevo

This is a video blog tour of the new community in Los Brasiles. A lot of our children are from here. Check it out! (Sorry for the shaky camera work. Watch at own risk if you get sea sick easily  )

and part 2…..

Fast, sad update…

My Macbook died about a week ago. So My newsletter and blogs are going to be put on hold till I can figure out a way to get a new computer. So sorry for the lack of updates. Everything is great. Getting ready for a busy summer. I’ll borrow my friends computer and do a real blog soon. Love you all.

 

Love,

Tom

Ok….. Spring Cleaning

Well… we had our little vacation at the beach. It was nice. Ron is gone and I don’t have any groups for a while.  He finished tiling the girl’s house…. they are gonna miss him…

It’s back to a normal life for a bit! It’s time to gear up and get ready for summer. Hince why I called this spring cleaning.

I am really pumped. I have a couple of former youth coming down with The Journey church this summer. I am excited to have them and to lead that group. Coburn is coming in May with a group of men to do some work. Paul is moving down here in May to join my with Imagine Ministry. It is going to be fun.

Pretty soon I will be swamped with groups and running around with kids! I am finishing up a newsletter/donor letter that you should get in the mail shortly. It should fill you in on all we are doing. You could also check out my website at www.xalted.org or find me on facebook.  I have all my pictures on facebook and a lot on my website.

Our next project is to finish Blanca’s house. The cost of man labor is a little more than I was expecting, so we are about $600 short. It’s funny how things work in Nicaragua. I remember the first time I asked a Nicaraguan how much it would cost to finish they told me $300 more. I have come to find that they had no clue. After having contractors look it over it is going to cost about $2,500. I have $1,900. So if you want to help with this project, you can go to my website and send money by paypal by clicking on the paypal button.

I have a little video blog of Ron. I debated on posting it because the volume is sooo low. You might need to turn it up all the way to hear Ron. But here it is. Thanks Ron.

I love this Book…

I am reading “Radical” by David Platt. In his book he says this….

“In the late 1940s, the United States government commissioned William Francis Gibbs to work with United States Lines to construct an eighty-million-dollar troop carrier for the navy. The purpose was to design a ship that could speedily carry fifteen thousand troops during times of war. By 1952, construction on the SS United States was complete. … The SS United States was the fastest and most reliable troop carrier in the world.

The only catch is, she never carried troops. At least not in any official capacity. The ship was put on standby once during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, but otherwise she was never used in all her capacity by the U.S. Navy.

Instead the SS United States became a luxury liner for presidents, heads of state, and a variety of other celebrities who traveled on her during her seventeen years of service. As a luxury liner, she couldn’t carry fifteen thousand people. Instead she could house just fewer than two thousand passengers. Those passengers could enjoy the luxuries of 695 staterooms, 4 dining salons, 3 bars, 2 theaters, 5 acres of open deck with a heated pool, 19 elevators, and the comfort of the world’s first fully air-conditioned passenger ship. Instead of a vessel used for battle during wartime, the SS United States became a means of indulgence for wealthy patrons who desired to coast peacefully across the Atlantic.

Things look radically different on a luxury liner than they do on a troop carrier. … After all, the troop carrier has an urgent task to accomplish; the luxury liner, on the other hand, is free to casually enjoy the trip.

The church, like the SS United States, has been designed for battle. The purpose of the church is to mobilize a people to accomplish a mission. Yet we seem to have turned the church as troop carrier into the church as luxury liner. We seem to have organized ourselves, not to engage in battle for the souls of peoples around the world, but to indulge ourselves in the peaceful comforts of the world. This makes me wonder what would happen if we looked squarely in the face of a world with 4.5 billion people going to hell and twenty-six thousand children dying every day of starvation and preventable diseases, and we decided it was time to move this ship into battle instead of sitting back on the pool deck while we wait for the staff to serve us more hors d’oeuvres.”

What does your church look like? I have been in many Luxury Liners. Does your church care about preserving the beauty of the atmosphere, or does it get down and dirty using every dime to bring people to Christ. I would much rather be in a church that is in a warehouse, than a multi-million dollar building or some “Historic” building. Our LAST focus should be on the building itself. Our budget should be on saving souls. Cause Christianity is a battle. We have a war to fight. And as we celebrate Easter today, remember this is when it all started. He rose from that grave and equipped us with a weapon: The Gospel. It’s your job to fight and use your weapon!

Semana Santa!

Hey all….

It’s Holy week here or as they call it… Semana Santa. It is also the day Ron leaves. He has done some amazing things. He tiled the girls house, fixed their sink, made 3 picnic tables, fixed our shower, and I’m sure there are other projects he has done that I didn’t see.

He has been a blessing. It’s been fun having him here and a great experience for both of us I’m sure. A couple of days ago we took the girl’s house to the beach and spent the night. Here is a picture of him and the girls…

 

Well Semana Santa is the biggest holiday of the year down here. The whole country shuts down for the week. Think of it as Christmas day/new years day, EVERYDAY for a week. All stores are closed except the big grocery stores, malls, and movies. Everyone floods the city to see Parades, concerts, and just to party. From what I understand, it gets super crazy since everyone is off school and work.

So some of the Buzbees always leave the city and go to their property on the beach for a couple of days. That little rancho you see in that picture…. We will be sleeping under that in our hammocks, camping out under the stars, and being lazy. This is pretty much the only “official” vacation I am forced to take down here. It’s the “get out of the craziness and go find shelter at the beach”.

So after I drop Ron off at the airport, I’ll be heading to the beach. In all honesty…. I need this. I know people think that Playing with kids and taking them to the beach can not be very hard work. But I have had a “group” here since jan 25th!!! Over 2 months I have been responsible for someone else staying in this country. This will be the first time I can actually kick my feet up and rest and do whatever I want and not have to worry about taking care of someone else.

I am going to miss Ron like crazy. I hope he gets back and talks other people from Murray in to coming. But at the same time. I’m going to enjoy my camping and hanging with my friends. I have my Bible, my worship music, and some other Christian books that I am planning on reading as I relax.

So I have a lot to write about when I get back. But I need to run right now. Off to the airport and then time to flee to the hills and then the beach to escape this insanely packed city! See you guys on Easter! (which is also my birthday. What a blessing to share this day this year!)

God Bless you all. Talk to you soon!