Pinatas

THIS SUNDAY
February 17, 2008
8:00: Mike R. preaching
9:15 & 10:45: Bruce Davis, the Praise Band, The Horns Of Jericho & The St. Andrew’s Singers present: BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY.
Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?
Featuring Nate Underwood
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I’m writing from Continental flight 1775, bound from Managua to Houston. It’s just after 8:00 AM on Sunday. Managua and Omaha are in the same time zone, so services will have just started at St. Andrew’s. I know you’ll be having a grand Love Sunday.

This was my fourth visit to Nicaragua with the Rainbow Network, and I’m thinking perhaps it was the most meaningful yet. The first one, nine years ago, was memorable for the culture shock. I did not know such poverty actually existed. What made this visit so significant was reconnecting with people of San Andres, recognizing people who I met in last year’s visit. I felt less like a tourist/gawker, and more like I was visiting family.
I am resolved to start a photo chart, chronicling the growth of some of these children from year to year.

For those of you who are new to St. Andrew’s, we are starting the second year of a three year covenant with our namesake community of San Andres, in very rural Nicaragua. We have committed to raising twenty thousand dollars a year to cover the estimated cost of health care, education, micro-loans, a nutrition program--all delivered through the Rainbow Network out of Springfield, Missouri.

While my heart is warm from visiting the people, travel is never without challenge. I congratulate Homeland Security in Omaha for confiscating my toothpaste before I left Nebraska, thwarting my plot to brush my teeth in Nicaragua. I humiliated myself in San Andres. The kiddies were hitting a piñata; I think the plan was to let the children hack at it, then let the Norte Americano Pastor have the honor of actually breaking the thing. My only excuse is that I was blindfolded—and they were using a rope to jerk the pinata up and down. I made contact a few times, but it was weak contact. Finally, I said no mas, whereupon a 14-year old girl had to be summoned to finish the piñata off. (I figured I’d better own up to it before Mark R. and/or Dean H. try to blackmail me with photographs. It really was a poor performance.)

Every time I come down here, I reassure myself the roads can’t be worse than the last visit--but the one traveled on Friday, to Las TiPeech (that’s how it’s pronounced anyway) may be the single most potent combination of ruts, sand and incline that I’ve seen yet. At one point, Mark and Dean were standing in the back of the van, trying to add weight to the back of the vehicle, in the hope of getting traction.

We had dinner last night with a guy named Dave McCready, who is now Rainbow’s director of North American operations. We’re hoping to make next year’s trip a more work-oriented experience. There are some intriguing possibilities. By now, we’ve got a nice group of folks who have first-hand experience with Rainbow, including Dean and Mark, of course, and Mark’s daughter Elly (who was down here with her dad in December), Larry A., John A., Adrian A. and Mark V. I know any of us would be excited to talk with you about the power of this experience.

To quote Freddie Mercury, this trip is “no bed of roses, no pleasure cruise.” Trying to process words on the plane is complicated by the fact that my neck and shoulders ache from all the bouncing around on the ruts of Nicaragua. But I have treasured my relationship with Rainbow, dating back to my first visit to Nicaragua, nine years ago; now the relationships we’re building with the people of San Andres have brought a whole new spark to my enthusiasm.
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From CHANTELLE HAMMOND.:
St. Andrew’s CEC (Childhood Enrichment Center) is currently accepting applications for Full Time & Part Time Toddler and School Age Teachers. If interested, please apply at the CEC.
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From BOB DAVIS.:
Paintball time is here! Youth grades 6th-12th are invited to go paintballing at KerSplat on Saturday February 16 from 9am to 11:30am. The cost is $25 dollars per youth and this includes everything needed. I am asking that parents drop off and pick up their youth from the KerSplat building. Each youth is required to fill out a paintball wavier form found on the KerSplat website http://www.kersplatpaintball.com/ (this form must be signed by a parent). I will also need a new 2008 St. Andrew's youth medical release form filled out for each youth (this form can be found at www.standrewsomaha.net by clicking on the forms button). KerSplat is located at 9006 Maple Street.......68134. Please e-mail me no later than Wednesday Feb. 13 to sign your youth up. Please share this information with your youth as I only sent out e-mails to parents.
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PRAYER CONCERNS: Our dear friend Sandy M. is having surgery this afternoon at Immanuel to repair a broken hip. We have received a prayer request from Norm and Jan C., for the Scott and Judy F. family; Judy's father Reginald (Reg) R. passed away Sunday.
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Rock of ages, cleft for me
Let me hide myself in thee
Let the water and the blood
From thy wounded side which flowed
Be of sin the double cure
Save from wrath and make me pure
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BRD

P.S. I realize I’m not going to get any sympathy here, but going from the 90+ temperatures of the tropics back to this refrigerator seems to have done something to my system. Referencing an article above, I’m feeling KerSplat myself.