On Mission, Nicaragua

Hola, everybody. This posting will be a little different in that you are going to hear from Norma and me in the same writing. I will start and at some point she will jump in. 

We have some really “shaking” news for you, literally SHAKING news. While we were eating lunch last Saturday, (June 15) the table began to shake and then the room. There was no noise, just shaking. As Norma mouthed the question to the groundskeeper just outside our door, “Terremoto?” he motioned for us to come outside. We stepped into the center of the parking lot with a few other neighbors and waited for a few minutes and that was the extent of it. The tremor lasted 1.5 minutes.  We learned later there was a 6.6 earthquake with the epicenter located just 31 miles off the Pacific Coast of Nicaragua at Masachapa. That seaside village is 30 miles west of us here in Managua. We’ve heard no confirmed reports of any injuries or damage. I have been in two or three tremors in my lifetime, but this was the strongest I’ve ever felt. For us at 60 miles away, it was just a tremor and nothing else.  So now you have heard the “shaking news.” 

Most of the rest of our news is so funny that it keeps us smiling at God’s wonderful sense of humor. We hope you’ll enjoy the humor too.  At the same time we enjoy the funny side of life, we are also blessed and grateful for the opportunity to serve in Nicaragua in a capacity that our Ginger Creek pastors have been teaching…“On Mission” and “Life Mission.”  We have been so excited about the “out-pouring” of God’s blessings over us.  And as Norma likes to say God “winks” at us in many ways that are simply icing on the cake. He’s such a good Father and so typical of our sovereign Lord to give his children sweet little additional blessings on top of the many necessary provisions he showers on his children. I will let her tell you about the next one. 

Norma: Yes, it’s both humbling and empowering the way God has showered his many blessings on us. It’s so much like the tropical rains this time of year in Nicaragua. Out of seemingly nowhere, literally buckets of cooling, soothing rain simply fall from above to calm the hot, humid and exhausting days here. God literally floods us and overwhelms us with his provision and goodness.

We’re relieved to finally have some wheels! In our search the first week in Managua to buy a dependable used car and after being dumped a couple of times on the side of the road by two different vehicles we were test-driving, we quickly realized God had deeper things for us to learn than trying out two cars. It was much about meeting the two owners. One was a gracious new missionary friend at the Nehemiah Center who was kind enough to rent us his old Toyota for $10/day, while deciding if we wanted to purchase it. What a joy to get to know this retired dairy farmer/agronomist/missionary to tropical countries. He has eagerly agreed to meet our pastor friend Jorge on Pochocuape Mountain to assist in the church communities new efforts to compost, recycle and grow crops. Jorge and wife Monica are excited at the prospects of learning God’s ways to steward the use of his land for the benefit and development of the community. The other vehicle owner is a blessing just to speak with. He’s a Nicaraguan pastor/mechanic. What an encouragement to hear of his deep faith in God and vision for his own church and community (at the foot of Pochocuape mountain). We look forward to introducing Jorge to Bismarck (pronounced bees-mark).

We ended up purchasing this white Toyota Land Cruiser from a third new acquaintance, another retired farmer/missionary who’s also a mechanic. Having a vehicle gives us a whole new perspective on ministry here because transportation is key. The test for all vehicles was whether they could tackle the 30 degree incline on Pochocuape Mountain and this Land Cruiser got an A+. What a relief to have transportation. It looks, smells, drives and rides like a safari jeep that’s made many trips across desert and outback. It’s wonderful! We want to name it. If anyone has a suggestion better than Mater, please feel free to tell us. J

Ok, this is Dock again.  I just have to throw my two cents about our car deal. 

Most of you who know Norma well, know she is a bargain hunter. She has saved us lots money over the years with her skills in researching good deals.  She had been searching for a car long before we ever left the States.  She had contacted a family in Leon, about an hour away. They called me the other night, wanting to drive their Toyota Land Cruiser down to Managua to show us and see if we were interested.  The owner told me on the phone that if I saw it and drove it, then I would want it.  Sure enough, he was right.  It is an old car (1987), but has been kept in superb condition.  It was checked out by two good mechanics (one from the Nehemiah Center) and both of them said they had never seen a car that had been kept in such superb shape mechanically.  And, for its age, it looks pretty good too.  The mechanics say that these cars are in great demand in Australia, and they run forever.  It is sort of like a tank.  Four wheel drive, 6 cyl. diesel with great A/C, which here in Nicaragua is as much for safety as it is comfort.  So, we are just praying that it is as good as it appears to be.

Norma again:  We are camping out in this cute little ground floor, 2-room apartment until the furloughing missionaries’ house is available July 3. (We have the white door with a window on either side.) We met the missionaries who will be allowing us to use their home. Once again we were fully blessed and surprised by God’s goodness and provision. Lots of praises! It's been an exciting week. We are enjoying lots of impromptu, drop-in meetings with each of the Ezra Team at the Nehemiah Center. They are the national leadership of the NC ministries. We attended our first staff meeting at the Center last Thursday with two Nicaraguans, two Canadians, one Costa Rican, one Australian, a 15-year missionary veteran from Montana (I think), and a couple of transplanted Okies from Chicago!  (Makes me want to add “and a partridge in a pear tree” but I won’t.) We met all morning, sharing the ups and downs of ministry. We prayed together and planned together how to best serve Nicaragua for God's Kingdom. Half the missionaries have been here for 10-15 years and the others much shorter time. Dock and I are the new kids on the block…we have much to take in and learn. 

We talk with Jorge and Monica via phones, when the signal works on the mountain. We can't email each other because their computer died a few weeks ago. They lost all their files, including Jorge's seminary studies and notes and ministry files. Help them and us pray about this huge loss. We saw them for Sunday school two Sunday’s ago. What an uplifting experience to see such a vital group of believers. A few days ago, Jorge came down the mountain to join us at the Nehemiah Center for the Monday 8 am staff devotional and prayer time. We drove him home afterward and stayed the rest of the day with him and Monica. We talked, prayed, laughed together and at times were close to tears together recounting the joys of the Lord as well as the challenges of ministry. We so enjoyed our time together, plus enjoying Monica’s great cooking--beans and rice and fried plantain. I love it up there on the mountaintop! What makes it most special is hearing and seeing how God’s work is progressing through Jorge, Monica and the faithful ones in the church community.

We had a phone conference with Maria this week. (She's in New York City right now on a missions trip.) We got caught up on the latest and most urgent matters and will really be glad when she gets back to Nicaragua June 26 so we can hear great stories of God’s moving in lives and dreams for the future ministries of New Jerusalem church and school.  We have visited the school twice, and have had in depth conversations with Fausto, one of the elders and caretakers at the school, Juan, a Pastor, and one of the teachers, and Josefina, the director of Fe y Esperanza.  We felt more than rewarded by the reception we received from the children at the school, by their hand made letters to us upon our arrival. 

Although we don't yet have a scheduled meeting date, we are emailing with ORPHANetwork and Hogar de Fe orphanage and will meet with them soon. 

Having just arrived in Nicaragua again only a couple of weeks ago, our perspective on the ministry partnerships right now is much like I Corinthians 13:12. We are seeing the future as if through an opaque glass or in a mirror by candlelight. We see vague images and vision, but can’t quite make out the reality. That’s fine with us, because it’s God’s plan anyway and we trust him to reveal what’s necessary in his own time.

Pray for us 1) as we speak sincerely and heart-to-heart with our beloved Nica ministry partners in the days to come…and 2) for our travel safety as we learn the "unspoken" rules of the Nicaraguan roads. !Que Dios os dirija en cada paso y que os cuide mucho!

Well, it’s me again--Dock speaking. Life is so much fun here, it is hard to believe. After the seriousness of God’s protection from the tremor we thought we would use the rest of the day to go grocery shopping.  We got in the car, took off and no more than 3 minutes on the highway, I was pulled over by the police in one of their random inspections.  They were very cordial and ask me for my license and documents which are supposed to be carried in the car at all times.  I had inadvertently left one of the papers they asked for at our apartment and when I told them I did not have it, he said, ”OK, go on”. It truly was God’s loving hand of protection that we were not ticketed.  We wondered if we should return to get the papers, but decided to keep going. After all, what’s the chance of getting stopped twice in one day? 

We got our groceries, packed the car, and had to work about 5 or 10 minutes to no avail trying to move our car from the parking spot we were in.  A taxi had pulled right in behind us and parked so close that it was impossible for us to maneuver out of the spot we were in.  After a few minutes of frustration, and several loud long honks to try to awaken the taxi driver to come and move his car, a man came along and helped by standing in front of the taxi (to keep me from hitting it) and motioning me inch by inch until I finally maneuvered out of the spot. There is nothing like pulling an army tank out of a tight parking lot designed for compact cars.  Norma calls this tank “Mater.”  I call him Tow-Mater, because he has a big tow hook on the back.

Now we are on our way home with a load of food.  No more than 6 or 8 minutes into the drive, the unthinkable happened again.  Yep, you guessed it.  Another cop around the curve was waiting for me. 

He waved me over and I reached into the car pocket and pulled out the few documents we did have and waited for his response.  When I reached out to hand him the papers, he in turn reached over to shake my hand instead of accepting the papers.  How rude of me, why didn’t I think of that and extend my hand to him first?  Oh, well, we are learning. What a surprise.  I had never had a cop stop me to shake hands with me.  So, I clumsily took his hand and gave it a big shake. He asked to see my license and ID. He looked them over and said, “Que tengan un buen dia.” (Have a good day.)

We head on home, safe and sound after one hard busy day, giving thanks to God for his watch and care over us.

Please continue to pray for us for His care and protection. If you would like to help in this continuing ministry you may do so by sending a check to:

Partners in Christ International

PO Box 237

Tempe, Arizona 85280-0237

(Attach a note to your check with the following text: "Nicaragua Account, for Caton expenses".)  

Our love and prayers are with you.

Dock and Norma Caton

  

JUST LIVING, NICARAGUAN STYLE

I so readily recall the days of life in Spain when I discovered God was trying to teach me patience.  Patience is not easy for me.  I remember struggling day after day, hurrying myself around, only to end up waiting on some person or thing until I would become distraught and then have to get on my knees and say, “God, help me learn patience.”  Gradually God answered that prayer, at least in part, after waiting for over six months for what had been promised as a two-week wait for paperwork.  Cédula de habitabilidad--those two long words tied together with a preposition (of) took a good month to learn to say in Spanish, much less to understand what it meant.  It was a word to mean a certificate of some sort needed to inhabit the property on which we were building a church. 

It was a great lesson in learning how to live in another country, especially in how to plan one’s time in order to not get tied up in the stressful moments we live in the U.S.  Now Norma and I are back in Nicaragua, this time for five months, and finding a place to stay has been quite different than the shorter stays we have made previously. 

I had my agenda all set. Day one, I would be off and running, getting moved into our apartment and settled in two or three hours.  Of course that could be done, because all we had was two huge suitcases, three small ones, and two briefcases.  That is all we carried with us. So, no problem, we could get that done quickly and then we would be off into ministry.   Sure enough, it took no time at all to get us settled in the tiny two-room apartment.   It was nice and clean, so things were looking up. 

Here, I must revert back to a few hours before landing, somewhere over the Gulf of Mexico, when Norma and I begin to strategize on how we would spend our first day or two after arrival.  OK, we will reach the apartment at about 9:00 pm, if things go well.  We will just go in, get to bed and rest until tomorrow.  In the morning, we will sign the contract for the apartment, pay the deposit, call a taxi, go to get our Nicaraguan telephones loaded with prepaid minutes and ready for use, buy some groceries, and hopefully get all this done before noon. Sounds easy enough in a U.S. mentality.  The agenda is set for Day 1 and all is well.  Day 2 would entail figuring out permanent transportation for the five months.

We had previously decided that we had only three viable options -- use taxis ($600+ per month), rent a car ($600++ per month) or purchase a good used vehicle, really cheap.  Norma had spent several hours researching used cars that appeared to be good enough to get us from point A to point B, and this option appeared to be more economical than the first two possibilities.  Not only would it be cheaper, but we would not be tied down to call and wait on a taxi every time we wanted to go somewhere.  A car rental would be off the charts financially.  So a purchase seemed the best option.  Ok, Lord, we will get an early start tomorrow and check off Days 1 and 2.

UNBELIEVABLE, UNFORESEEN BLESSINGS (isn’t God just like that?): 

June 3, we land in Managua at about 8:30 p.m. and are met by a Nicaraguan friend who helped us last year and offered to meet us again and take us to our apartment. After we pushed 350 pounds of baggage ¼ of a mile through the people, the airport parking lot and the thick 94% humidity, we packed (and repack) the small car with our bags and ourselves until finally they/we all fit in. On the 45-minute ride to the apartment, we tell our friend of the myriad of things we have to get done the next day, and that we are not sure we can get them all done unless we find a taxi or transportation for the day.  He immediately said, “No problem. I can stop on our way to the apartment, you can pick up food enough for a couple of days at a late-night grocery store, and as for a car, I have a friend who has one for sale.”  Before we could open our mouths, he was on his phone dialing the friend as he swerved in and out of the busy traffic.  When he got off the phone he said, “I can swing by tomorrow about noon, and will take you to look at the car.  Also, I have another friend who has a car he might be willing to sell or rent.  We can check on them both.”

After the 20 kilometers or so from the airport, he pulls into a grocery store and tells us he’ll wait with the car because it was loaded with baggage. (It’s not a good idea to leave baggage in an empty car.  That’s an open invitation for someone to grab it. )  Item number one checked off.  We bought enough food for two days and as we took off again, I saw a little store on the side of the road that I remembered from our last trip; and it was still open. It was a place we could get SIM cards and minutes for our Nica telephones.  I asked our friend to pull off and let us check.  Sure enough, item two completed.  Now we can communicate with our “amigos Nicaragüenses.” God has already worked wonders, unbelievable blessings…and so easy! Norma likes to say that he has gone before us.

JUST LIVING BEGINS: 

With two major accomplishments down, now begins the unforeseen blessing wrapped in testing--the adventure.  What about transportation?  We make two appointments on Day 2.  One is to see a car with the idea of purchasing.   The other possibility is to rent a car from a Nehemiah Center missionary agronomist for a few days while searching for one to buy. Our friend came by to pick us up on Day 2 (our first full day) and we are off to check on the first car.  In only a few moments, we find a new friend.  The owner of the car is a pastor who makes his living as a mechanic and has a car he is selling.  He tells us to take it out for a test drive. I had forgotten my driver’s license, so I asked our friend to drive it.  We wanted to take it up the Pochocuape mountain to see if this 4WD vehicle was capable of making it up the 30º incline, rutted-out dirt roads. Up we go, higher and higher and slower as we go.  We make it part way to the top and suddenly the engine dies.  Now what do we do?  Our friend tries to start the car, but to no avail.  We sit there in the middle of the dirt road for a while, with the foot brake on, thinking and silently praying.  Then he finally discovers that we are out of gas.  We are stuck.  Our friend calls the pastor owner of the car and he says he will come to get us, but it will probably be another 30 minutes or so for him to get gas and get up to where we are.  After a short wait, our partner in adventure came up with an idea.  He puts the car into neutral and we start backwards down the mountain, watching out for vehicles, people and oxen.  We go all the way to the bottom where we can find level ground.  Once the gas tank was level, he tried again and it started.  We managed to get back to the shop, having lost only about an hour.  That’s not too bad, but once again, a reminder of what life can be like JUST LIVING. 

We left the shop, thinking we would come back later when I had my license with me to try the car and the mountain again.  For now, we went on to our other appointment to see the car that we could possibly rent.  After meeting the missionary, the owner of the second car, and after some light conversation, we began to discuss the terms of renting his car and what his ministry as a 25-year missionary agronomist entails.  Ten dollars a day plus gasoline, he said. It’s a 4-wheel drive, automatic, air-conditioned (important more for safety than comfort when driving through the city) and fully insured, following all the laws of Nicaragua.  Of course, in Nicaragua insurance does not cover the person who is at fault, so that is something we have to take into consideration.  If we wreck it and it is our fault, the insurance will fix the other car, but not ours.  And on the side of relationship, we talked through great possibilities for him to visit our Pochocuape mountain rural community friends who are just getting into composting, cultivating, banana and other crops and admittedly say they need some advice on these new programs.

There's great potential in getting them together in the next few weeks to talk over how to best take care of God's creation. We hope this will catapult their fledgling recycling and agriculture endeavors to new heights after getting some great advice from this veteran missionary who has traveled many tropical countries and has picked up valuable information in each to share here in Nicaragua. Isn’t God amazing like that? Awesome, isn't it?!

At any rate, we think it through and decide we will rent the missionary farmer's car for a few days, at least until we can figure out what we are going to do for permanent transportation.  We drive the car and it seems to run well.  We give a payment for a few days rent and no strings attached.   We drove it home.  Day 2 and all is (fairly) well. 

Day 3.  About 6:30 in the morning, we hear this unbelievably loud noise.  It sounds like a screeching 747 jet liner with hiccups.  At first, I cannot tell where the noise is coming from.  It is so loud I cannot tell if it is outside the window, in our apartment, or in the apartment next door.  I walk toward the refrigerator, and for sure, that is where the noise is coming from.  I unplug the refrigerator to end the deafening noise, and run down to the apartment complex gate to look for the attendant.  He said no one would show up until 8 am.  I went back to the apartment, patiently waiting as we begin a new day of JUST LIVING.

At 8 am, the grounds manager came to listen to the refrigerator and said it was cooling fine, but just noisy. Of course, the screeching had momentarily stopped after unplugging and plugging it in again. Now that our our fridge had settled down, we headed to the store to get some needed supplies, a mop, bug spray and a few more groceries.  (This was to become another story.) Norma wants to drive the short distance to the grocery store.  We get our shopping done. The day is young.  I take the wheel and we head back toward our apartment. All of a sudden, the engine dies…right in the middle of the busy highway.  Fortunately and by God’s grace, I am rolling fast enough to get off on the dirt shoulder.  There is smoke coming from under the hood, but I don’t immediately see the problem.  I call our friend, who had helped us the day before. He can be there in 20 minutes.  We sat there on the side of the road for a few minutes. I tried again to start the car and it kicked right off. I didn’t realize that we were only about a quarter of a mile from the gate to our apartment complex, so I drove it on in.  When we got there and examined it, water was pouring out of the radiator through a nice-sized hole.  Now what do we do?

We leave the car parked and wait for our friend to arrive on his motorcycle. We put away the groceries and supplies and Norma says, “Boy! That refrigerator sure is making a noise and it’s getting louder.” We tell the apartment manager and she said she would have someone come out to check on it.  That was another two-hour wait.   In the meantime, I call the owner of the car and asked him what we should do.  He said well, if we could figure a way to get it fixed, he would pay for the work.  We called our new pastor/mechanic friend but couldn’t find him. We waited for about three hours, when he called back and said he would be with us in half an hour.  Sure enough, there he was on our doorstep.  Now, I’m wrangling the busted radiator while Norma’s wrangling the screeching fridge. The pastor/mechanic had two men with him and right there in front of our apartment door, in only a few short minutes, they had the radiator off the car and agreed to take it back to the shop, fix it and return early in the morning.  While two of the men were working on the car, we invited the pastor/mechanic into our apartment for water and a chair. We got into a very good discussion on strategies in mission, discipleship, and integral faith in God that must touch on every aspect of an individual’s life no matter which country they live in, because we’re all God’s family.  This was an unbelievable contact that God had put in our path.  The pastor said over and over how much he appreciated the fact that God speaks to people like us and sends us all the way to Nicaragua to help advance Kingdom thinking and biblical worldview.  What a good conversation we had with him. What an unforeseen blessing to us! We hope it was to him too. They took off with our radiator in the truck and said they would be back tomorrow with the radiator fixed and ready to install. I could not help but think…only two full days in Nicaragua and stalled twice beside the road.  What are the chances of that happening again?

About an hour into this car repair, which was happening five feet from our front door, the man came to check on the screeching refrigerator.  His diagnosis was, “Don’t worry about the refrigerator, it is just very loud.”  We did not agree, but oh well, it is not our refrigerator, and therefore not our problem when it goes out.  Another day of JUST LIVING.  The fridge got worse by the minute, so we called the manager back a while later. We unloaded all our groceries we had just put into the fridge and they removed the screeching machine. An hour later, they brought another fridge. We loaded food back into it and within the hour, it became as hot on the outside as any heater. We called the manager again, waited an hour and the diagnosis was the same…it’s functional, but normal to get hot to the touch. Another hour and it was actually heating up our tiny kitchen/living room area, so we call the manager AGAIN. They brought a third fridge…we unload the food AGAIN and reload into the (hopefully) last fridge. It’s worked for almost a week and we are grateful to even have one! Two days...two vehicles...three fridges!

We just try to stay focused and remember why we are here.  In one way, very little was accomplished that day, but, in God’s economy, in only two days, we made three new friends to minister with in this country that has much need and much to offer.  God is so good in his infinite grace and we are thankful for his blessing upon us.  Relationships are what Kingdom living is all about – our relationship with God and each other.  Stay tuned, more to come…