And a decision has been made.... well, kind of.... (He hecho una decisión... pues, clase de....)

So, as you know from my last blog, I had the decision in front of me as to if I was going to renew for another with MCC/AMC or not. Well, without further adieu, I have decided to not renew with MCC for another year, but to stay in Nicaragua until I finish my master courses in May of 2012. Another possibility has come up too, which I was not aware of, is that instead of renewing for a full year, I could possibly extend for a few months and work on a new project that has more to do with applying what I am learning in my masters course work.

So, right now that is where I´m at. I might have the opportunity to extend for the months that I will be finishing my masters and still live in NIcaragua and work for MCC and AMC. I think it sounds like a good option, but MCC and AMC are looking at the possibilities. I will keep you all posted on that.

So, besides that, here is what I have been up to over the last few months since I last wrote in February:

My very good friend David, who lived in Nicaragua for 7 years moved back to the states, so we had a going away dinner for him.
Un buen amigo, David, lo cual vivía en Nicaragua por 7 años regresó a los EEUU, entonces tuvimos una fiesta de despedida para él.



I got a new apartment (the pink apartment), was there for just over a month. It had plumbing problems, so I´ve moved to a temporary place until I can find something more permanent.
Conseguí un apartamento nuevo (una apartamento rosado), estuve allí por un poco más que un mes. Tuvo problemas con la tubería, pues me mude a un lugar temporeramente hasta que puedo encontrar algo más permanente.




A medical team from Medical Teams International came and we went to Matagalpa.
Una brigada médica llegó de parte de Medical Teams International y fuimos a Matagalpa.



My friends Donnie and Eva got married in a beautiful place called “Pueblo Viejo”. Yes, I was a bridesmaid.
Mis amigos Eva y Donnie tuvieron su boda en un bonito lugar que se llama. Salí como dama en la boda.




Fabio received an opportunity to work in Uruguay for 3 months, so I threw him a going away party.
Fabio tuvo la oportunidad ir a trabajar en Uruguay por 3 meses, entonces le dio una fiesta de despedida.




I celebrated St. Partrick´s Day in Style with real Irish food... and yes, I made “Champs”.
Celebré el día de San patricio en moda con verdadera comida de Irlanda.... y sí yo cociné “champs”.



My Academic Advisor, and friend, from my masters program at Eastern University (Pennsylvania) visited Nicaragua. (Alicia-classmate, me, Arturo-advisor).
Mi Consejero Académico, y amigo, de la maestría de Eastern University (Pennsylvania) visitó a Nicaragua. (Alicia-compañera de clase, yo, Arturo-consejero).



A médica group from my home church, First United Methodist Church in Grand Rapids, MI, traveled to Waspam, la RAAN, Nicaragua to give medical attention to people in that region. The invited me to spend their “rest day” with them. It was such a blessing.
Una brigada médica de mi iglesia de apoyo, La iglesia Metodista Unida de Grand Rapids, Michigan, viajó a la ciudad Waspam, la RAAN, Nicaragua para brindar atención médica a gente en la región. Me invitaron a pasear su “día de descanso” con ellos. Era una gran bendición.



The MCC Nicaragua team had our quarterly meeting with a fun day included, where we went to Zapatera Island (which means shoemaker island).
EL equipo de CCM Nicaragua tuvo su reunión del semestre, lo cual incluso un “día de diversión”, donde fuimos a la Isla Zapatera.




AND..... as of this morning at 4:30 am I am in Uruguay for two weeks visiting Fabio for Holy week. So, I will have more on our adventures on my next blog.
Yyyyyy..... desde 4:30 de la mañana hoy, estoy en Uruguay por 2 semanas visitando a Fabio por la Semana Santa. Entonces, voy a compartir más sobres nuestras aventuras en el próximo blog.

Deep Thoughts By Beth Jerdon....
So, recently I have been wrestling with the issue of fear. Not the “fear of the Lord”, rather fear... as in being scared. In fact, I had a break-down one night when talking to my mom and I was so fearful that something was going to happen, that I felt almost paralyzed. The fact is that the fear was based on my over-analyzing and letting my imagination just take off with some of my over-analyzed ideas that lead me to fear something that had absolutely no “real world” justification. Is that a way to live? Of course not.

It took my mom, a very amazing friend (thanks Lynniepoo) and my baby brother to bring me into the realization (or the reminder) that “Perfect love casts out all fear”. Then the funny thing is that I listened to two random Mars Hill podcasts.... both had to do with fear.

The Lord is speaking to me. Perfect love casts out all fear. If I am to truly love the people in my life, I can´t allow fear into my mind. Fabio and I were talking about how, the first place the enemy attacks is trying to take capture of our minds. We need to control what goes on in our minds if we are to truly live how God calls us to live.

So, I have decided to daily choose peace over fear. I will not be entrapped by the lies of the enemy that put ridiculous ideas in my head. I will choose the peace of God which passes all understanding. I pray that is what you choose too.


Important Updates, Praises and Prayer Requests:

• Just this last week I finished my first year on my masters program!!!
• Safety for while I travel in Uruguay.
• Healing for a volunteer/friend who had her gallbladder taken out.
• Healing for some families I know that are going through divorce, loss of children, struggling with their purpose in life, looking for God´s will in their lives
• I am so blessed!

Blessings to you all.
Beth


-----------------------------------------
(VERSION EN ESPAÑOL)

Entonces, como ya saben de mi ultimo blog, tenía la decisión afrente de mi sobre si iba a renovar o no con CCM/AMC. Pues, sin demora, he decidido no renovar con CCM por otro año, pero voy a quedarme en Nicaragua mientras que termino la maestría, la cual terminaré en mayo de 2012. Otra posibilidad me ha planteado, que no sabía era una posibilidad. En vez de renovar un año, parece que tengo la posibilidad de extender por algunos meses y trabajar con AMC en un proyecto nuevo que tiene que ver con aplicar los aprendizajes de la maestría.

Entonces, ahorita, eso es donde estoy. Tal vez tendré la oportunidad extender algunos meses para terminar la maestría en Nicaragua y trabajar por CCM y AMC. Me parece como una buena opción, pero CCM y AMC están revisando las posibilidades. Yo les avisaría.

Entonces, aparte de eso, aquí es lo que he estado haciendo dentro de los últimos meses hasta la ultima vez que escribí en febrero:


(Fotos están arribas con descripciones en español).


Pensamientos Profundos de Beth Jerdon......
Entonces, recién, he estado luchando con el asunto del “temor”. No “el temor del Señor”, sino el temor... de una manera profunda. De hecho, tuve un tiempo llorador una noche cuando estaba hablando con mi mamá y yo estaba con tanto temor que algo iba a pasar, que sentí casi paralizada. El hecho es, que el temor estaba basado en mi tendencia de sobre-analizar y como le deje a mi imaginación a tomar algunas mentiras del enemigo que me da temor que tienen absolutamente ninguna justificación en el “mundo real”. ¿Eso es una manera para vivir? ¡Por supuesto que no!

Tomó mi mamá, una súper amiga (gracias Lynniepoo) y mi hermanito para llevarme a la realización (o me recordó) que “el amor perfecto echa hacia fuera todo el temor.” Pues, la cosa es, después de estas conversaciones, escuché a dos podcast de Mars Hill... y ambos tenia que ver con el temor/el miedo.

El Señor me está hablando a mi. “El amor perfecto echa hacia fuera todo el temor.” Si debo amar verdaderamente la gente en mi vida, no puedo dejar al temor a captar mi mente. Fabio y yo acabamos de hablar sobre como el primer lugar que ataque el enemigo es nuestras mentes. Necesitamos controlar lo que pasa en nuestras mentes si verdaderamente queremos vivir como Dios nos llama a vivir.

Entonces, decidí a escoger la paz sobre el temor diario. Yo no estará entrapada de las mentiras del enemigo que ponen ideas ridículos en mi cabeza. Yo escogeré la paz de Dios, lo cual pasa todo entendimiento. Oro que escoges eso también.


Actualizaciones Importantes, Alabanzas y Pedidos de Oración:

• La ultima semana, terminé el primer año de la maestría!!!
• Un viaje salvo y sano en Uruguay y de regreso a Nicaragua.
• Que se mejore una amiga que tuvo cirugía para sacar la vesícula esta semana.
• Saneamiento por algunas familias que conozco que están pasando por un divorcio, que han perdido niños, luchando con su propósito para su vida, buscando la voluntad de Dios en sus vidas
• Soy tan bendecida!


Muchas bendiciones a todos y todas.
Beth

Cultural Intelligence (Intelligencia Cultural)

(La Versión en Español está más abajo.)

So it´s been 5 months since my last post. I know that I have received many e-mails asking what I have been up to. Well, a lot has happened over the last 5 months. I will give you a quick rundown for those of you who just want me to cut to the chase.

• I traveled on a remote river.
• I started my masters program from Eastern University, PA.
• I went to the Dominican Republic for my intensive course work.
• I loved and lost.
• I turned 32! (I´m in my prime).
• I have some new friends that are awesome.
• I celebrated the Festival of Saint Domingo
  
• I welcomed two new volunteers to Nicaragua.
• Went to a workshop on Planning, Monitoring and evaluating from MCC.
  
• I traveled to Portland, OR for the first time for a friends wedding. (Congratulations Kathy & Nate).
• I have had LOTS of deep thoughts over the last 5 months. :)

Now, for those of you who are more interested in the details, here we go......

Back in May, I traveled on the River Prinzapolka in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (La RAAN) with a medical team from Medical Teams International (MTI) for 10 days. It was such a good group. They adapted well and we were able to treat well of 700 people in the region. I ate turtle meat for the first time... did not taste like chicken. :)

Traveling on the Prinzapolka River. Viajando por el Rio Prinzapolka.

The turtle. La tortuga.

I also went to the Dominican Republic for two and a half weeks for the intensive course work for my Master´s in Organizational Development concentrated in International Development from Eastern University (PA). It was a beautiful location. We stayed at a Hotel Barceló, which is an all-inclusive resort. Although I was there to study, it ended up being the perfect place for a retreat, as my relationship with my then boyfriend ended unexpectedly. I was able to spend time on the beach in the mornings and at lunch praying, listening to worship music on my ipod and while enjoying the clear Caribbean waters to sooth my spirit and heal my soul.

Me... soothing my spirit. :) Relajandome.

My classmates from 9 different countries. Mis compañeros de clase de 9 diferente países.

I love this photo. Me encanta esa foto.

Ladies Street.... that´s right! :) Si, es verdad... la calle de las damas. :) jejeje

My new friends Jed and Liz. Mis nuevos amigos Jed y Liz.

Mi hermana y mamá nicaragüense.

Saint Domingo Festival. El festival de Santo Domingo.

Me at Laguna de Apoyo. Estuve en Laguna de Apoyo.

At the MCC training with my AMC team from Bluefields and the Central Office. El taller de CCM con el equipo de AMC de Bluefields (La RAAS) y la oficina central.

Praise God, I was able to successfully focus on my studies during my time in the DR and completed 100 hours of class...20 hours for each of the classes that I will be taking in 8 week session over the next year. As a reminder to you all, the classes are all in Spanish and I was actually quite impressed with myself because I understood almost everything. Initially I was really nervous about that aspect. I feel like the Lord has truly blessed my language ability through this master´s program.

So, as of September 3, I officially finished my first Master´s course in “Leadership and Empowerment”. This class challenged my definition of a leader and made me analyze the difference between a manager and a leader and how someone could be good at one, the other, or both. I did a research paper on Cultural Intelligence (CQ), which is “the ability to successfully adapt to a new cultural environment, that is, an unknown environment attributed to the cultural context” (Earley and And, 2010: 9). (By the way, I got a 99.3% in the class. Yeah, me!)

Deep Thoughts by Beth Jerdon......
So, I was drawn into the subject of CQ and how it not only applies to intercultural contexts such as between two different nations or countries, but it also applies to different dynamics. For example, marriage: two people merge their two separate familiar cultures into one new one. The honeymoon stage of marriage is much like the honeymoon stage of cultural adjustment. When everything is new it is exciting, but once the newness wares off, then the true cultural adaptability shines through.

Just as in marriage we need to seek first to understand what the other is thinking and feeling, it is the same with new cultural situations. So, whether it be a new Director that is hired on in the office where you work or you are traveling to a new country, it is important to have awareness of the need for cultural intelligence.

This also made me think of situational conflicts. How often when there are conflicts at work or in families, we are quick to judge and decide that WE are right and the other person is wrong. But, have we truly sought first to understand where they are coming from before trying to explain what we think? (Stephen Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, 2003). I don´t think we have.

Even after being in Nicaragua for over a year and a half, I often think to myself how strange things are or how odd something is that someone does... sometimes I even judge them. I find new prejudices within me that I am not proud of, that are brought into the light and exposed in my own heart. I praise God for those moments when He reminds me that I need to seek first to understand.

Really, how can we judge someone if we don´t know the context in which they grew up? Their family culture? Maybe they were abused as a child and that´s why they react harshly and put their guard up. Maybe it´s not that they are just being stubborn, but it´s that they are protecting themselves based on their own life experience. Why should we judge before understanding? Human nature??? .... that´s not a good excuse.

I know it seems like I am getting way into the psychology of this whole cultural intelligence, but I truly feel that is what we need to do to love and encourage people. In fitness, when a client comes to the YMCA and wants to lose weight, as a Personal Trainer doesn´t just tell them “LOSE WEIGHT!” The trainer knows that it took time to put on that weight and there were emotional circumstances that surround the weight gain. It takes more than that, it takes encouraging the self-motivation and increasing the knowledge to help them develop a strategy to put into action to overcome the weight.

No I am not a psychologist and No, I am not suggesting that a Personal Trainer should cross that professional boundary to counsel their clients. What I am suggesting is that we need to seek first to understand people and cultures before judging and saying that THEY are wrong and WE are right.

People from any culture, all around the world, automatically think that “MY” culture is correct because it is the context in which they were raised. If we at least take the first step in increasing our consciousness of culture, then we are moving in the right direction.

All of this is to say that I have hope! I have hope that we can understand each other and that we can step outside of our own cultural rules and norms in order to understand others. I have hope that if we do this that the we have the potential to work more in harmony and to be able to meet each other on common ground. I have hope.

Thanks for letting me share with those of you who continued to read this far. I pray that you were challenged to look into your life and see where you have judged others and how we need to seek first to understand in order to show the Love of Christ to this world.

Blessings to you.
Beth Ann

A special thanks this month to: my mom, my dad, my brothers and sister-in-laws, Lynn, Becky, Shannon, Kelly, Jen, Jennifer Jane, Alicia, Katie, Deya, Kathy and many others. You are blessings and I love you all.

Portland Photos (Fotos de Portland de Oregon en los EEUU)
The bride and groom. Los novios.
The bride and the bridesmaids praying. La novia y las damas orando.
The Columbia River Gorge hiking with Katie.
Mutlnomah Falls.
Sailing in Hood River. Navegando en el Rio Hood.

Meeting Brenda Porter, MTI Team Coordinator.
Dinner with an MCC friend, Jojo. Cenando con una amiga de CCM, Jojo.
Amazing lunch and desserts from Papa Haydn´s wtih Karen and Wendy. Almuerzo y postres súper ricos en el restaurante Papá Haydn´s con Karen y Wendy.


¡I HAVE HOPE!

------------------------------------
(VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL)

Pues.... ha estado más que 5 meses desde la ultima vez que yo escribí un blog. sé que he recibido muchos correos electrónicos de muchos de ustedes preguntando donde he estado. Entonces, para ellos que quisieran saber rápidamente, abajo esta una lista puntada.

• Viaje por un río muy rústico.
• Empecé la maestría de la Universidad de Eastern de Pennsylvania.
• Fui a la República Dominicana para la residencia de la maestría.
• Amé y perdí.
• ¡Cumplí 32 años! (Estoy lo mejor de mi vida. jejeje).
• Tengo algunos amigos nuevos que son súper tuani.
• Celebré el festival de Santo Domingo.
• Fui a un taller de Planifacación, Monitoreo y Evaluación de CCM.
  
• Viajé a Portland de Oregon para la boda de una amiga chelita. (Felicidades Kathy y Nate).
• Había tenido MUCHOS pensamientos profundos durante los últimos cinco años.

Pues, ahora para ellos que quisieran saber más detalles, aquí vamos......

En el mayo pasado yo viaje por el Río Prinzapolka en la Región Autónoma Atlántica Norte (La RAAN) con un brigada de Medical Teams International (MTI) por 10 días. Era una brigada súper chevre. Todos el la brigada se adaptaron muy bien a las condiciones de la región. Comí carne de tortuga... no sabía como pollo. :) jejeje

También fui a la República Dominicana por dos semanas y medía para la residencia (Cursos intensivos) para la maestría en Liderazgo Organizacional concentrado en Desarrollo Internacional de la Universidad de Eastern (Pennsylvania). Estuvo muy bonito. Todos los estudiantes y yo quedamos en un hotel Barceló. Aunque yo estaba allí para estudiar, estuviera un tiempo de retiro, porque mi relación con mi novio se acabó de repente. Logré pasar mucho tiempo en las mañanas y en la hora de almuerzo orando, escuchando música de alabanza en mi ipod todo mientras disfrutar la belleza de las aguas del Caribe para tranquilizar mi espíritu y sanar mi alma.

Gracias a Dios, logré enfocarme en los estudios y cumplí cien horas de clases.... 20 horas por cada clase que yo tomará en sesiones de 8 semanas durante el año que viene. Para recordarles a ustedes, todas las clases están en español y me impresioné porque yo entendí casé todo. Inicialmente estaba nerviosa en ese aspecto. Me siento que el Señor me ha bendecido muchísimo en la habilidad del idioma para la maestría.

Entonces, del 3 de septiembre, oficialmente cumplí la primera clase de la maestría en “Liderazgo y Empoderamiento”. Esa clase me desafiaba en como defino el liderazgo y me hizo analizar la diferencia entre un gerente y un líder y como alguien puede ser uno, el otro o los dos. Investigué una monografía en la Inteligencia Cultural, lo cual es “la capacidad por adaptación exitosa a un nuevo ambiente cultural, que es, un ambiente desconocido atribuible al contexto cultural” (Earley y Ang, 2010: 9, mi traducción). (Hay que decir que yo recibí la notación de 99.3% en esa clase. ¡Bien hecho a mi!)

Pensamientos Profundos de Beth Jerdon......

Me llamó la atención esta investigación en como puede aplicar no sólo en el contexto de las diferencia entre diferente países, pero también a dinámicas diferentes. Por ejemplo, el matrimonio: dos personas con dos diferentes culturas familiares a juntar a una sola nueva. La etapa de la luna miel del matrimonio es muy parecida a esa etapa de acostumbrarse a una cultura nueva. Cuando todo esta nuevo es maravillosa, pero cuando se va el sentido de “algo nuevo”, pues se muestra la habilidad adaptarse a la cultura.

Como en el matrimonio, necesitamos “Buscar Primero Entender a otras, para luego Ser Entendido” (Covey, 2004: 237, mi traducción). Necesitamos entender a otros y pensar en lo que piensan y se sienten, es lo mismo en una situación cultural nueva. Pues, si sería un Director nueva en la oficina o este viajando a un país nuevo, es importante tener la consciencia de la necesidad de la inteligencia cultural.

Me puso pensar en situaciones de conflictos. ¿Cuán frecuente hay conflictos en el trabajo o en la familia, y le juzgamos a la otra persona y decidimos que NOSOTROS tenemos la razón y la otra persona esta equivocada. Pero, ¿hemos buscado entender primero de donde viene la otra persona antes de explicar lo que pensamos? Yo no lo creo.

Aunque he vivido en Nicaragua por más que un año y medio, a menudo pienso dentro de mi proprio mente que raro algunas cosas están o que extraño algo que alguien hizo... y a veces aún prejuzgo. Encuentro prejuicios nuevos dentro de mi misma que me da pena, que Dios me lleva a mi mente su luz para darme cuenta del estado mi propio espíritu. Alabo a Dios por estos momentos cuando Él me recuerda que necesito buscar primero entender.

Verdaderamente, ¿como podemos juzgar a alguien si no sabemos el contexto de donde vienen ellos? Posible de la niñez ellos estuvieron en un a casa donde sus padres se le abusaron y por eso se reacciona muy guardado. Tal vez no es sólo un fuerte voluntad, sino es que ellos están protegiendose basado en su propia experiencia. ¿Por que juzgamos antes de entenderles? La naturaleza humana?????...... no es una buena excusa.

Sé que parece que estoy hablando mucho de la psicología de la Inteligencia Cultural (CQ), pero yo siento que es lo que necesitamos hacer para amar y animar a los demás. En salud y bienestar, cuando un cliente llega a la YMCA y quiere perder peso, como una Entrenadora, no se le dice “PIERDA EL PESO!” La Entrenadora sabe que tomaba tiempo para aumentar el peso y había muchos asuntos emocionales que iniciaban el aumento del peso. Toma más que las palabras... toma animo, auto-motivación y más conocimiento para ayudarles a desarrollar una estrategia a poner en acción para superar el peso.

No soy una psicóloga, ni no estoy diciendo que un(a) entrenador(a) debe cruzar esa liña profesional con sus clientes. Lo que estoy sugiriendo es que debemos Buscar Primero Entender a otra gente y otras culturas antes de juzgar y decir que ELLOS están equivocados y NOSOTROS tenemos razón.

Gente de otra culturas, en todos los lados del mundo, automaticamente piense que “MI” cultura tiene razón porque es el contexto de donde viene de sus priopias raices. Si por lo menos tomamos el primer paso en aumentar la consciencia de la cultura, pues estamos moviendo en una buena dirección.

Todo de eso para decir yo tengo esperanza! Tengo esperanza que podemos entendernos y que podemos tomar un paso afuera de nuestro propio contexto, las reglas culturas y las normas de la cultura para entenderles a los demás. Tengo esperanza que si la haremos que tenemos la potencial trabajar en harmonía y poder encontrarnos en terreno común. ¡Yo tengo esperanza!

Gracias por dejarme compartir para ellos que han leído hasta aquí. Oro que hubiera desafiado a mirar a su propia vida y ver donde juzga a otros y como necesitamos buscar primero entender para demostrar el amor de Jesucristo a este mundo.

Bendiciones a todos y todas,
Beth

Una agradecimiento especifica este mes a: mi madre, mi padre, mis hermanos, mis cuñadas, Lynn, Becky, Shannon, Kelly, Jen, Jennifer Jane, Alicia, Katie, Deya, Kathy y muchos más. Ustedes son bendiciones a mi y les quiero mucho.

¡YO TENGO ESPERANZA!

Less Than 24 Hours To Go Until Take Off!

That´s right, less than 24 hours to go before my plane takes off tomorrow! So much has happened over this past week since I last wrote.

There were a total of 32 people in the first week of training, then 20 of us stayed on for the second week of international training. The group of us really bonded quite well... as you can see from the picture of us skipping along on our way from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial during our trip to Washington D.C. on Saturday, January 31.

I made a statement on the Sunday after we went to D.C. on my facebook that said "I went to D.C. yesterday... I had tea with the President and discussed the problems of the world." I said this assuming that those who would read it would know my sarcasm. But, it apparently stirred up some issues amongst people that believed I had actually done that and did not sense my of humor. I thought it was great! :) I mean, I know people, but I don`t have that kind of connections!


So.... some things that I did this week:

Went sledding with the other MCCers.
(Jessica & Me)

Went to the museum of Natural History and almost got eaten.

And... I gave Michigan one last great big hug!

This week we talked about A LOT of interesting things. From "Sex, Lies and the Global Economy" to making sure you have fun while on assignment, then sexual harassment to overall policies of MCC. We also talked about self-care on assignment; that we need to be sure to make sure we are healthy otherwise, we won`t be worth a whole lot to those with whom we are trying to work.

Oh, I forgot, we also did the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and I was reaffirmed that I am an ENFJ (Dena, I know you will love this). For those of you who are not familiar with this test, it basically means that I am relationship focused, interested in what can be imagined, focused on things that are important & valued and I am an organizing and planning person... does that sound like me or what???


And now....off to Nicaragua.

I am remembering a quote that my brother Todd had at the bottom of his e-mails for the longest time. This quote encourages me and reminds me of why I have sold or gave away everything and am taking up my cross and following Jesus as he leads me down this uncertain path.

"The place where God calls you is the place where your deep gladness and the world`s deep hunger meets." - Fredrick Buechner


"And now compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem (Nicaragua), not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. HOWEVER, I consider my life worth nothing to me if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the gospel of God`s grace." - Acts 20:22-24

Besos y absasos. (Kisses and hugs)

Beth Ann

Week One of Training in Akron, PA Completed!

Wow!

So, I bought a computer, sold my car, moved from Grand Rapids to Niles, packed my parents house full of my things and stayed with them for week before leaving for two weeks of training in Akron, PA with the Mennonite Central Committee.

I feel as though I cannot begin to tell you all that I am feeling. From leaving my girlfriends in Grand Rapids at our weekly ¨Ladies Sunday Brunch¨, to realizing on the airplane from South Bend to Detroit that I really wanted to have hugged my parents for a lot longer, the journey from Niles to Akron was one of emotions both of sadness and excitement. It still at times does not seem real that I am moving to Nicaragua for three years. Who does that? ... well, apparently I do! :)

Many of you know how much I loved working for the YMCA; how I appreciate what it stands for and how I see the great impact that it makes on the community. But, you also know that God has very much been preparing me for more than the YMCA. All of the skills and abilities that I developed from my time at the YMCA were all preparations for this new and exciting season of life.

Sitting in the room this week as more than 30 ¨Service Workers¨from around the United States, Canada, Germany and the Ukraine, I became encouraged at how many people see the world. Many times in the trainings over the last week my eyes welled up with tears as I felt more and more secure in the decision that I made to follow God´s call to Nicaragua. I was especially encouraged to hear of the advocacy work that the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) does in our nations capital to help the people of the countries in which we serve.

It is not just about going to a country to ¨do service¨, it is about developing a relationship with a people who are equally like me! No matter what our backgrounds, our goal is to work toward equality of power by each willingly giving up our ¨roles¨and make the choice to have a relationship based on peace.

This has been wonderfully challenging to evaluate many aspects of my ideology. From the issues of racism and white privilege, to what our call to peace should be and how the dimensions of our own wellness can drastically effect the outcome of our relationships to bringing about peace.

...uh, yeah, my brain is loving this, my emotions are at both ends and I am dead tired at the end of each day, but what I know for sure is that this is where I am supposed to be!

Tomorrow I travel to D.C. for a tour of our nations capital. I will be traveling with 20 plus other MCCers (Service Workers from MCC). There are three of us in the training that will be in the Latin American region: Enrique from Mexico, Johan from Columbia and me, now from Nicaragua. (That is SO weird to say).

I plan to put weekly updates on this lovely blog. So, if you would like to get updates about ¨The Eclectic Adventures of the Most Amazing Beth¨, you can sign up for automatic alerts to your email under the ¨subscribe to¨section to the left of my blog page.

Please keep me posted on your lives. I will try and make these a bit shorter that this one. :)

Te quiero mucho. (I love you lots).

Beth Ann

Praise God!