2011- New Friends at Ministerio Manantial de Vida and a New Hobby
I celebrated New Year’s Eve and early New Year’s Day last year with a Hispanic Church Ministerio Manatial de Vida. I had never been there before, but was invited through facebook, so I joined them in their celebration. That night led to meeting many new friends at la Iglésia Ministerio Manatial de Vida. I also bought a new camera last year that allowed to me to explore my new hobby of photography. My new friends and my new hobby combined for some memorable moments in 2011.
my friend Fidel at Father's Day celebration with his family
My camera and I were able to join in on some holiday celebrations such as a Father’s Day lunch, Labor Day Buñuelos party, and Christmas Day services. Perhaps to the relief of my friends at my weekend group I had a new outlet for my fun with photography. It has been a joy to be able to snap some photos for my friends at Ministerio.
1st worship service at their new location
It was a meaningful moment when my friends at Ministerio were able to celebrate having their own building to worship in and no longer need to rent a facility.
Pastor Rogelio teaching before baptisms at the lake
My camera and I were able to join in on some events that were celebrations for the church such as a baptism celebration at a Wagon Train Lake. We were also able to join in on some salient moments such as a Quinceañera, 15th birthday party, for a young lady at the church.
My new hobby led to me being asked to take pictures of a wedding at Ministerio Manatial de Vida. That has led me to another new hobby which is using my iPhoto to produce slide shows etc.
It is my belief that we are never too old to try new experiences and to meet new people. In 2010 it was studying Español. In 2011 it was meeting my new friends and my new hobby. I look forward t seeing what 2012 brings. In 2011 my camera and I had many fun moments with my new friends at Ministerio Manatial de Vida. This next picture that I end with shows how much fun we had. I helped to make buñuelos and my assistant stood in awe of my ability lol.
me with my assistant buñuelos maker Ely
Christmas Present- Christmas this year with 2 cultures :)
This year was a wonderful Christmas time for me with my friends from Vietnam and my Hispanic friends. Celebrating Christmas with people from other countries makes me think about the beauty in what Jesus said in John3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son…” God loves each person in each culture equally and being able to spend time with my international friends is a blessing at Christmas.
My Christmas Eve started with going to Christmas Eve service at my home church First Evangelical Free Church Lincoln. I was supposed to meet some of my young friends from Vietnam, but they had a flat tire and ran late, so I began by sitting with a family from Honduras for the beginning of the service. It has been great to watch as their lives have improved over the years. Then my friends from Vietnam came and I moved over to join them. One of them was a 5 year old girl who I had the privilege of taking to the front to children’s story time. I gave each of my young friends a candy cane before they went home.
Next I went to a Christmas play at a Vietnamese Catholic Church to see some of my current and former students in their play. One of my students played the role of Mary. Another one played an angel. Three of them sang in the choir. I also saw some of my other former students there too. I did not understand the language, but I understood the meaning of the stories in the play. It was great to be able to wish them Chuc Mung Giang Sinh- Merry Christmas in Vietnamese.
On Christmas Day I went to worship with my friends at Ministerio Manatial de Vida. It was awesome to sing Silent Night in español 
One thing I especially appreciate about Ministerio is how they provide children opportunities to grow and develop in their skills. The children came up front to sing a song. I was able to give out some more candy canes to the children.
It was a meaningful way to celebrate Christmas and cap off a year of fun adventures with my international friends. I look forward to seeing what next year brings
Ministerio Manantial de Vida and Spring of Life Deaf Churches Have a New Home
Last Sunday my friends at Ministerio Manatial de Vida Church and Spring of Life Deaf Church had their first worship service in their new place which is at 3336 N. 14th in Lincoln. It is across from Belmont Elementary School just a few blocks north of Adams Street. It happened so quickly for them that I barely had time to keep up with how things were going. I have previously written about both of these congregations and the unique ministry they have in Lincoln.
Pastor Rogelio with one of the children
I have been impressed with how Pastor Rogelio and his wife Chayo invest themselves in the children of the church to foster confidence and skill building in the church. They encourage the children to participate in the worship service. It is common on a Sunday morning to see a child or teenager get up in front of the congregation to recite bible verses they have memorized or to sing a song. Each time it is an illustration of their passion to encourage growth in all people in their church.
Their heart for seeing others grow is a big reason why there are two churches meeting at the same location. Pastor Rogelio and his family immigrated to the United States so that their three hearing impaired sons could go to school here. Two of their sons Jonathan and David are the pastors of Spring of Life Deaf Church. They minister to a congregation of hearing impaired people who are mostly American. Pastor Rogelio and Chayo’s daughter Jezharela leads worship in the Hispanic congregation Ministerio Manantial de Vida. Their other son Moises is also actively involved in ministry.
Their new site was owned a Slavic Baptist Church which is a congregation of immigrants from Ukraine and Belrus. First Slavic Baptist bought another church building and put their old location up for sale. It was wonderful to hear about how the pastor of First Slavic Baptist worked with Pastor Rogelio and the sale went through quickly. Members of the congregation worked hard, especially Pastor Rogelio and his family, to get the church ready. They painted, remodeled a garage, cleaned etc to get the building ready. A God thing was when a man came to the church a few months ago and began coming with his family. He came to know God through coming to the Ministerial Manatial de Vida. He works construction and gave a lot of his time to work on the building.
Erik on the left helps with the Power Point and our "WORKER" on the right
I am excited for my friends in both congregations. It is an excellent location because it is close to 3 neighborhoods with large Hispanic populations. It is also close the Superior Street and Cornhusker Highway, so it is very accessible for everyone. It is also not too far from UNL, so if a University Student wants to practice their Spanish,it is a great place to do so.
I am also excited about their vision for future ministry in both congregations. It is awesome to see how God is helping them in their work. I still marvel at how a family came here form Mexico several years ago and is now ministering to not only Hispanic people, but also to Americans who most churches neglect, which are the Hearing Impaired.
left to right David, Jonathan and Moises sons of Pastor Rogelio and Chayo
Spring of Life Deaf Church will be meeting at 9:00am on Sundays and Ministerio Manatial de Vida will be meeting at 11:30am. Ministerio does have equipment to listen to English translation if you want to come but do not speak Spanish. They will welcome all.
1 Weekend + 4 Celebrations + 3 Different Cultures = A Lot of Fun
What a great weekend!! Had the opportunity to celebrate 3 birthdays and join in on a 1st worship service in a new building. It began on Saturday morning when my young friends from Vietnam and I shared some birthday cake with Nancy who helps with my Saturday morning group.
On Saturday evening I went to a birthday party for a 3 year old boy Chris. His family is from Syria. I had fun taking pictures and making people laugh in the process. Chris’s grandmother was there and three of her friends. I got them to wear the party hats and took pictures for them. There was plenty of good food and laughter. The best for me was seeing some old friends I have not seen for a while.
Sunday morning we said Happy birthday to our friend Lien in my Sunday morning class. We had lunch at Mongolian Grill after class. Lien has come a long way from new to America to now waiting for her Nursing Program to begin.
After lunch I joined my friends at Ministerial Manatial de Vida for their 1st worship service in their new building. It was awesome to join with them and see the excitement they feel about having a place of their own. I will write more about that tomorrow. It was a great way to cap off a weekend of celebration with my international friends.
The diversity of cultures here in Lincoln is rich. Sharing celebrations such as a birthday or a milestone such as a church getting a building of their own makes me realize how we have many things in common. If we take the time to actually get to know those who are different than we are, we can have a pleasant surprise and have some meaningful friendships. Fortunately after a weekend of celebrations I have a morning off to relax a little before getting back to my busy schedule
Buñuelos Party with my friends from Ministerio Manatial de Vida and Spring of Life Deaf Church
On Sunday and Labor Day I spent time with my friends from Ministerio Manatial de Vida and Spring of Life Deaf Church. On Sunday we had corn Mexican style and rolled the dough to make a Mexican treat called Buñuelos. On Labor Day we had a potluck lunch which included chicken tacos, ices and the Buñuelos.
Buñuelos is a sweet deep-fried treat similar to a sweetened tortilla shell. The dough is rolled into thin somewhat round shapes and then set aside to dry over night. They are fried in oil and the allowed to cool. They are a tasty crunchy treat. It seemed to me the fun was in the rolling the dough. Several people joined in on rolling the dough ad there was a lot of laughter. Rolling Buñuelos seemed like a community event.
me rolling the Buñuelos dough with my "assistant" Elizabeth watching
For some reason my rolling efforts were not fully appreciated by my “assistant” Elizabeth. I guess some people do not like it when someone claps their hands with flour in them After rolling out the dough, the pieces are placed on paper to dry overnight.
Pastor Rogelio with the Buñuelos
After drying overnight, the much anticipated treat was ready for frying. I noted that it was the men who were doing the frying. I think it is because then they can sample the treats
me demonstrating the "correct" frying technique
When they are done being fried and allowed to cool, they are ready to be enjoyed by young and old.
We also had ices with several flavor choices. The children enjoyed not only eating the ices, but also seeing how their tongues changed color. Candice was our ices chef with some willing assistants.
It was a fun weekend. It was great to be able to sample some special Mexican treats such as Buñuelos, chicked tacos, and corn on the cob with a twist. Tomorrow I will write about corn on the cob Mexican style.
Congratulations Pablo on Passing the TOEFL- A Test I Enjoy Helping Friend Prepare for
Pablo was in Lincoln for a few weeks to visit his aunt and to practice English. He needed to take the TOEFL test, so he could transfer to New Mexico State University. TOEFL is Test of English Foreign Language which is test for English proficiency used to determine if an international student’s English level is sufficient to have success as a student. Pablo passed the TOEFL shortly after he returned to Mexico. I wish I could take credit, but we only practiced conversational English a few times. He did all of the work over the years to learn and improve his English. Nevertheless I am happy for my friend.
I have had the privilege of helping other friends prepare for the TOEFL more in depth. Normally I focus on the Grammar and Vocabulary/Reading sections with them and tell them to watch TV to practice for the listening section. Imagine that- a teacher giving watching TV as homework. For anyone preparing for the TOEFL a good Grammar Book is essential as are Vocabulary/Reading Books. I prefer to use Barrons TOEFL Prep books. Then of course comes the issue of whether a student will take the Paper Based, Computer Based or Internet Based TOEFL which is why I prefer Barrons since it has sample tests and practices for the different kinds of tests.
Each time a friend passes the TOEFL it represents their dedication to achieving their goals and each time a friend passes I rejoice with them. For my American friends who have never heard of TOEFL think of it as being like doing well on the ACT or SAT so a student can get into a University they have applied to.
Again congratulations Pablo. Felicidades mi amigo y Dios te benidga or Congratulations my friend and God Bless you.
Pablo’s Visit to Lincoln
The past few weeks I have had the privilege of spending time with Pablo who is visiting his aunt during his break from his University in México. I never have thought of Lincoln as a vacation destination, but visiting family makes it worthwhile. It has been fun for me to have Pablo join my classes at my church the past two weekends. He has had fun as well. We have some fun young women who can be entertaining to say the least and Pablo found them to be amusing and nice.
our Group on Sunday
It is interesting to watch as visitors enjoy things I take for granted. I have been to our State Capitol Building so many times in my life that I don’t always appreciate how much of an architectural wonder it is. I did suggest he go to the SAC Air Space Museum because he is an Aero-Space Engineer Major.
Pablo with our Saturday Group
Mostly it was great to have some time to talk whether in my van driving somewhere, having coffee at a coffee shop, or waiting for a movie. I learned a little more about México and the culture there. I did make one suggestion to Pablo. I suggested he come back and visit in January, so he can experience winter here too lol.
at church
His University in México has a partnership with New Mexico State, so Pablo will move to Las Cruces New Mexico in January to transfer to New Mexico State to complete his degree. Perhaps he will come back in the winter, so he can see snow haha. It has been fun to see Lincoln through the eyes of a visitor.
Beautiful Silence- A Wedding in Sign Language
Yesterday evening I went to the wedding of two friends of mine Amanda and David. David is one of the Pastors for Spring of Life Deaf Church and is the son of the Pastor for Ministerio Manatial de Vida. The ceremony was in sign language with translation in English. The Pastor performing the ceremony did the whole ceremony in sign language. Amanda and David exchanged their vows in sign language. It was a beautiful ceremony which I call Beautiful Silence. It was silent only in sound though because feelings and thought were expressed beautifully throughout the ceremony. As I watched I realized how expressive Sign Language is. This was especially evident when David sang to Amanda in Sign Language. It was a very poignant moment.
It was interesting to watch as they wove cords together. Normally I see people light the unity candle together. Amanda and David wove cords together to symbolize that they are joining together with God in the center of their marriage.
The reception was fun and there was some delicious food. During the reception I thought how awesome it was that three cultures came together to celebrate the marriage Amanda and David. There were Sign, Hispanic and American cultures joined together to celebrate the joining of Bride and Groom in marriage. It was a wonderful picture of the perfect unity of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We also had fun during the reception. At my table I practiced my español with my friends from Ministerial Manantial de Vida and we had a lot of laughs. The line for cake was long, but I found a way to get a piece quickly when I asked a friend at the front of the line to get my piece.
Congratulations Amanda and David and may you always remember the message on your cake
Fun in Cooper Park with Iglesía Berea
Last Saturday I joined my friends from iglesía berea for a fun afternoon in Cooper Park here in Lincoln. When I am with my friends from iglesía berea, I am always blessed to see many former students. There was fun for all ages, but especially for the children. There was face painting, an inflatable jumping gym, a fire truck for the children to get into and learn about fire safety, and Piñatas.
from left- pastor of iglesía berea, a firefighter and my friend Hugo the worship leader for iglesía berea
It was great to see the children having fun. It was even more meaningful to see many of my former students and hear about how they are doing and about their lives. While the worship group was singing, I noticed that 2 of the 4 women singing were former students of mine, and 2 of the four men playing instruments and singing were former students of mine, so half of the worship group were my former students.
The one surprise for me was the food. I expected to have some food from their culture such as papusas or tortas, but due to the event being more for children they had hot dogs and chips. There some salad topping we could have that was spicy I got a kick out of The decoration on top of the food tent which announced what the food would be.
It was a fun afternoon and I was blessed to see how my former students are giving back to the community. There were children from diverse groups enjoying the festival. I saw not only Hispanic children having fun at the festival. I also saw White, Black and Asian children having fun at the festival. Maybe if we adults have more fun together, we might get along better.
Piñata in the Park- Could it be an Olympic Sport?
This afternoon I joined my friends from iglesía berea for a festival in the park at Cooper Park in Lincoln. There was live music, hot dogs, face painting, an inflatable jumping gym, a info table for free medical help, and an ice cream truck. At the end it was Piñata time and it was fun to watch.
The intensity and focus the children displayed reminded me of athletes who compete in a sport. They were all determined to obliterate the Piñata because of their mutual goal. I saw swings of the stick that would have made any Major League Baseball player proud and thought- “It could be dangerous to get between the Piñata and the child with the stick” lol
The look in the eyes of the children brought to mind the look in eyes of Michael Jordan in the NBA Finals, or Tommie Frazier when he played Florida for the 1995 Championship. It was the look of sheer determination. The Piñata was colorful and beautiful and was also made well out of paper machete, but no matter how well a Piñata is made, it is no match for determined children with an eye on the prize much like a star athlete focused on winning a championship.
The prize is the candy that is inside the Piñata and when it finally breaks it is a mad scramble for the candy which conjured up memories of football players scrambling after a fumbled football or perhaps of a Rugby Scrum. You definitely do not want to get caught in the middle of the mad dash for the candy.
There is some compassion for those who cannot get to the candy. There were women standing close by with candy for unfortunate kids who did not get candy. It was a blast to watch the joy of the children as they battled the Piñata and especially as they gathered their bounty after it broke open. I wonder if Piñata time should be an Olympic Event lol
About
I teach English Second Language and have a ministry for internationals at my home church First Evangelical Free church in Lincoln Nebraska. I have had the pleasure of traveling in Austria, Canada, England, France, Germany, Mexico, Romania and Switzerland. My hobby is to learn words and phrases from other languages. I have learned how to greet people in 30 languages.
My blog is about my experiences with international friends, my travels, and people I meet along the way. My international friends’ stories are fascinating to me. Experiencing other cultures makes life rich for me.
-
Archives
- January 2012 (3)
- December 2011 (6)
- November 2011 (4)
- October 2011 (7)
- September 2011 (10)
- August 2011 (12)
- July 2011 (18)
- June 2011 (16)
- May 2011 (12)
- April 2011 (9)
- March 2011 (8)
- February 2011 (3)
-
Categories
- Afghanistan
- African friends
- America to other cultures
- animals
- Belgium
- Brazilian friends
- children
- Chinese friends
- Christmas
- Congo friends
- Cross Cultural
- Cultural Ambassdors
- Cutural Celebrations
- Discrimination
- Education
- El Salvador
- Europe
- Experiences of international friends
- Fall
- food
- France
- German friends
- Globalization
- Hispanic friends
- Holidays
- Human Resources
- Hungarian friends
- immigration
- India
- international fashion and crafts
- International Friendships
- international students
- Internationals
- Iran
- Japanese friends
- Korean friends
- Mexico
- Middle East friends
- Muslims
- Mutlicultural
- orphans
- Peruvian Friends
- Refugees
- Romania
- Sign Culture
- sports
- Spring
- Stereotypes
- Sudanese friends
- summer
- The Karen people
- Travel experiences
- Turkish friend
- Ukrainian friends
- Uncategorized
- vacation spots
- victims of crime and violence
- Vietnamese friends
- winter
- women's issues
- world issues
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
