Settling In

It has almost been two months since our return from Nicaragua. We have been settling into our daily routines and reconnecting with our friends and family. Kevin is back at his job and really enjoying it. He loves the consistency and the people he works with, so that helps a tonne! We were both worried about a possible bumpy transition from one cultural extreme into another, but Kevin has handled it without any issues!Doesn't Kevin look so happy?! His boss took this picture even though he thought that I wanted it to sell Kevin on e-bay! Ja ja ja! Kevin is even wearing his Centro Nehemias shirt!

While Kevin is anchored down with a permanent, full-time job, I am working from home, yet still working in Nicaragua at the Nehemiah Center. I am officially working for Christian Reformed World Missions at the Nehemiah Center and do that about 10 – 16 hours per week. My title is Program & Training Developer. In a nutshell, I am working to further develop the Church Partnership Program to help bring it to a point where it is healthy and doesn’t need to be coddled but Steve and Alma can just run with it. Meanwhile, the second piece of my job description is to develop various trainings with Alma, Steve and Mark to use with Nicaraguan communities. The goal is for me to travel to Nicaragua three times in the coming year to put into practice the various pieces I have developed - to evaluate and then revise them. Hopefully, by my last time there most of it has been `perfected` and Alma can fully enjoy running with the program and trainings and not have to worry about all the development and implementation!

Along with working with the Nehemiah Center I need to continue to raise funds and encouragement to support me in my work. That means from this past July until July 2010 I will need to raise all the funds to cover my flights and expenses while I`m in Nicaragua and for my time while in Canada. When I am in Canada I will be working from home...so feel free to pop me an email, give me a call or stop by to give me that extra boost of encouragement and energy.

We are ever so thankful to God for all the people who have made a point to chat with us, call us or email us in the past couple months of transition. The transition is still not over, though, so we ask you for your prayers as we settle and find new moves to groove to.

People mentioned in this blog, in case you forget who they are:

Alma – Alma Hernandez works at the Nehemiah Center with CRWRC, CRWM, PWW. She is an incredibly gifted woman who is amazing at the work that she does, and a very good friend of mine.

Steve – Steve Holtrop is the missionary guy with CRWM and also the sub-director of the Nehemiah Center. A great guy, who is a blast to work with and is very good at what he does in connecting with the various community leaders.

Mark – Mark VanderWees is the missionary guy with CRWRC and is the guy that keeps everyone super busy! He is uber-connected with the communities and walks alongside them as they grow.

If you would like to support my work financially you can follow this link and donate online. Whether you are American or Canadian there is a online form for you to use. If you would like me to send you the information so you can mail it in please email me.