Nicaragua end of year review!

So I am home for the Holidays!

It's is wonderful to be here. I am also excited to go to Murray soon. I have a lot of work to do though. I have tax receipts to print off for my organization, I have a newsletter to make, and I have fund to raise for next year!

But for now I am enjoying golfing, tennis, and family time here in Savannah. But I find I am thinking about Nicaragua a lot.

It's the end of the year. So like all of the 2011 year end show's that summarize the best and worst of 2011, I decided I will follow suite!

So here is my top 10 best memories of Nica 2011 and My Least Favorite memories of 2011:

Top ten favorite Nica memories of 2011:

10. Worship service in Leon
9. Birthday Parties at Casa Havliah
8. Buying car
7. Buying shoes for Casa Robles and Havilah
6. Having my first mission group in nicaragua
5. Eidder's Quinceñera
4. Providing scholarships for the boys school
3. Buying Land in Los Brasiles
2. Passing out Rice and Beans in Los Brasiles
1. Going on nursing rounds with Elizabeth and Ruth Daughaday in the dump!


And you know every list also needs a "worst" list... So here are my top 10 worst things about Nicaragua so far!

Top 10 worst things:
10. Nicaraguan Cheese
9. Sunburns
8. Traffic in Nica
7. having my Camera/ipod stolen
6. Pre-paid phones
5. Cold showers
4. Police that pull you over for no reason!
3. Washing Clothes by hand.
2. Sweating!
1. rain washing away wall in Los Brasiles

Well... that's my list!

It's been a great 2011 so far..... I hope 2012 has a lot to offer too! Time to go play Tennis with Dad. So I'll catch you all soon. Merry Christmas all!!!

So I have had a packed last couple of days......
Yesterday I started off by going out to Los Brasiles. Mr. B called me and asked if I could host a group at the school. They wanted to hang out with children. So I said of course! It was also nice that it was the last day for the Pre-schoolers! I was going to by a pinata for the kids, but this group really came through. They brought 2 pinatas, tons of candy, a ton of coloring books, and 2 cakes.

So they gave the kids coloring books and crayons and they colored and had recess for a while! Then we destroyed the pinata. Well, actually the pre-schoolers were not strong enough. They hit it though. Some were more scared at the pinata. It was sooo cute. But finally we asked Anthony.... the nephew of Lisseth to hit it, he is in the afternoon classes but was there. He destroyed the sucker!

The kids dove on the ground to grab candy. A couple like Dyana are too shy and didn't get any. So I dove on the ground and got a handful and gave to them!

Then we had cake......

After the cake I gave my first tour of Los Brasiles. I think I did pretty good. I showed them the new barrio (community) and they handed out candy to all the children, some coloring books, and one of the ladies even bought like 40 ice cream bars and handed out to some kids. It was a blast. When we were walking back, one of the ladies mentioned "we were going to give out rice and beans to another community, but this one looks like they could use the help even more!"

They asked if they could hand out bags of food, I said of course! They left to go get food and I went back to the school.

What happened next was pretty cool for me. I paid the final deposit and signed papers with a lawyer to buy the land next to the school. Imagine ministries and Xalted Ministries are partnering up. More on this later, but I think Xalted Ministries is being assimilated by Imagine Ministries! I still need to raise all of my own money, it's just going to be easier to have an organization with my own accountant to take care of all of my money! So anyway.... We are now partners and I have new land in Los Brasiles thanks to a special Sponsor that will be named later and some faithful donors!


So the group came back to Los Brasiles..... They brought 75 gallon bags full of Rice and Beans!!!!!

It was amazing watching them hand out food to the community. The people were soooo grateful! I loved seeing their faces light up!

I am so in love with this community and the people there! I have been to a handful of communities around Managua.I have NEVER seen people as nice as the ones in Los Brasiles. They are truly amazing. I see myself there for a long time!

So after all of that.... I had to pick up the girls and take them to the Buzbees for the Christmas party. We had a party with the two houses. It was a blast. It started off with swimming. Brinson and I jumped in the pool with jeans and all of our clothes on. It was fun. They opened presents, we had an amazing Lasagna dinner, and the I took them home. I am REALLY going to miss those kids while I am home for Christmas break.

Then today....

Today was the 15th birthday party for Lisseth's daughter. She is an amazing young girl. Super nice and very caring. Lisseth worked really hard to make the day perfect. And it was. First, I had no idea how big a 15th birthday is down here for girls. I guess it's the day a girl becomes a women in nicaragua. It looked like a pink wedding! There were a lot of matching little flower girls, matching brides maids, and the families were dressed to impressed. They had a 5 layer cake!

It was amazing. I loved it. I helped a lot since luis and Coburn couldn't make it. So I even felt like a proud papa.



It was a great day. I had a blast. I love working here! Thank you Lord for using me. Now I get to go back home and convince people to let you use them too!

Praise Jesus!

Time for a little change...

I just moved....

Nothing big. But I moved a couple blocks down the road into a house with another Missionary friend of mine. His name is Michael, and he's pretty cool. He does some amazing things with his Ministry "Project Isaiah". We have fun debating about stuff and he is definitely passionate. (Don't talk to him about Tebow) But I respect the guy a lot.

I moved in for many reasons. First and foremost, Michael's roommate and my good friend left and Michael was stuck paying rent. So he needed another roommate. It's the same cost of what I pay at the boys home, so of course I would help him out. Also, I am looking forward to having him around to be an accountability partner. We will keep each other in check and challenge each other spiritually. I can have deep conversations again in English, when all i said at the boys home was in Spanish. And last but not least, it will be nice to have privacy when I want it. To have friends come over. I am 30 yrs old and it is nice to have a place to myself again.

I will miss being in the boys home. I already do. There is an energy there that I won't have anymore here. It's fun to walk out of your room and hug a ton of precious kids. But my relationship with them won't change. I still plan on going over there almost every day and seeing them. I will stop by for Angelica's cooking :) It will almost be the same, but I will be sleeping somewhere else. That's all.

I also think this next year is going to be very big for me. I am working more and more with Imagine Ministries and the school in Los Brasiles. It's wonderful. I will soon have groups here from Coburn's church in February. I can't wait. We will also be hosting people here over the next year. Since this house is so big, we have 10 extra beds right now to hole people. It's a little bit like a missionary complex.

Other news.... Today is the promotion day for Luisa and Angel. They go from Kindergarten to 1st grade I believe. They have their little caps and gowns. It will be cute. I am looking forward to it. I have had a lot of parties and graduations this last week. and I have more next week. It's crazy in December.

I am also busy trying to get things ready to leave. I leave on the 19th for Savannah to see my parents. I'm looking forward to hanging with them and playing really bad Golf. I've played like 3 times in the last 2+ years.

Then I go to Murray at the end of December and hang out for 3 weeks. I get to cheer on Big Country and the Arnett girls in Basketball and get fattened up by Diana and her cooking. I can't wait.

A big part of all of this is also fund raising. I am about to send out letters and tax receipts. But now is the time to collect all of the money for next year. So I need to ask people to pledge again. I hope God can bless me with as much as I had this year, if not more! Now that I have a year under my belt, I have so many projects to finish. I have playgrounds to build, Ranchos to build, children to sponsor, and so much more. I am soooo excited about what's going on down here. I couldn't do it without any of you though! If you are interested in donating to my area's of ministry.....The Boys Home, The Girls Home, or to the school I run in Los Brasiles.... You can email me at tom@fccmurray.com to get more info or you can donate with a credit card through paypal on my website at www.xalted.org.

I can't wait to see what God is up to. I hope you can enjoy this trip with me!

God Bless, and see you soon!

Christmas is coming....

And the geese and Tom are going to be getting fat. I have lost about 35 lbs since coming to Nica. But I have a feeling being at home for Christmas and then living with the Arnetts and eating Diana's and Jean Carol Ridley's food is going to put it all right back on!

Well it's been a crazy last couple of weeks. I have been putting a lot of stuff on Facebook including pictures. The kids are graduation and moving to the next grade. I have gone to 2 different dance programs in the last week. Took the girls swimming, the boys to the volcano, and have been keeping busy in Los Brasiles. I am excited about the end of this year and how much I've done. But it really feels like it's just starting. It really is. We have to start building on the land I bought. That's going to be crazy. I need to raise funds for next year when I'm home in January.

I will be leading maybe 9 groups this year. I am going to be in charge of Coburns groups from his church, and I hope to have 1 maybe 2 of my own.

That is going to be very busy! But I am excited. I also can't wait for Luis to get back from the US. He has had a blast there. But I miss my little buddy. I can't wait to see how his English has improved!

So FYI..... I am not buying Christmas presents for anyone this year. All the money is going to Children in Nicaragua. For Instance I am going to buy a Christmas tree for the girls house this week. If anyone wants to join me on this endeavor, let me know and I can tell you EXACTLY what your Christmas Money is going for!

Anyway, time for dinner with the boys. Love you all. God Bless!

I am a bad person!!!

Cause it's been forever since I blogged!

I've been busy, but at the same time I've been doing a lot of the "same stuff different day" stuff.

So there hasnt been much to talk about. I've been sick. I have my typical cough that I normally get for a couple of months every year. Gotta love it. It has to be some kind of allergy. Oh well!

I had a big first for me. I raised the money thanks to some of you wonderful people and I bought the land next to the preschool. I am officially a Nicaraguan land owner! It ended up costing $5,500. Unfortunately that included a little house on it that we are going to tear down. It woulda been a lot cheaper if it was just land! Now Coburn's job is to raise the money to build the walls around it and start building the land up. It is going to be pretty amazing! I think it is going to be a great place to host community things in the future!

The boys and girls are great. 7 of the 8 kids in Robles made the Honor Roll. That's the most they ever had at the same time! Praise God for that!

The girls are doing well. I worry about the older girls personally. Please prey for them. I see them becoming more and more focused on the worldy things and less on God. That causes a couple of problems. 1) its bad for them and their spiritual growth. but 2) I can see some of the younger girls looking up to them and trying to follow in their footsteps. Other than the house mom Kenia, they don't have many options as female role models that are around all the time.

As for the boys.... I have built some pretty amazing relationships. I have been focusing on Marcos (the oldest) a lot. He is the one struggling the most in school. He says he is going to be a professional soccer player. I wish he could follow that dream, but with his life, he doesnt really have the opportunities to chase that dream.

We have been hanging out a little bit here and there. I try to take him out alone when I can. He is 4 years older than the next boy. So he is kind of growing out of that "kid" age and becoming a teen. I think I am the only person in the house that can relate to him right now. He really is a great boy!

I will be moving out of the boys home soon though. Ever since Coburn left, his old roommate and my good friend Michael Folsom is now living by himself in a house with like 6 bedrooms and 4 baths. Not only is he lonely, but it is not very safe to live by yourself down here. It's always good to have someone to hang with. So I will be moving in with him in Dec.

I will still be just as active with the boys. Going over in the afternoon a lot and hanging out with them. Going on activities with them. All of that wonderful stuff. The only difference is I will be sleeping and waking up in a different place. My new house is really close to the boys home too. So it won't be that much of a difference.

I have realized God's will for me down her. I can now say I know it's a relational ministry. I am going to focus on the two houses and the relationships i have there and the big brother/father figure they see me as. I hope I am a good example of what a man should be like. Not like a lot of their fathers who aren't around anymore.

And second, I am focusing on Los Brasiles and the preschool. I have been spending most of my time with the morning preschool children. I love hanging out with them. These are 3-5 yr olds that are just so precious.

I see Los Brasiles as my focus in Nicaragua for a while. Now with Coburn gone, I am going to be taking charge of his mission trips that come down, and a lot of other stuff. I am going to be pretty busy here soon. His first group comes in February!

I am finishing up my "Holiday" newsletter. I figured I'd do one at the end of Nov for Thanksgiving AND Christmas.

For those of you that know me really well, you would know I hate this time of year and the holiday season. It really all revolves around Christmas. And mostly around the music. I can't stand Christmas music for the most part. And here's why:

They will play the same songs EVERY hour! Actually sometimes more. You will hear "White Christmas" 3 times in one hour. But oh wait... it's ok because one was Bing Crosby, one was Amy Grant, and one was Harry Connick Jr! I'm sorry for your Christmas lovers, but I don't care who sings the song, it's still the same freakin song!!!!!

So the music annoys me. It always has back when I was little and the music would start in the beginning of Dec. But wait..... I have seen it start before Thanksgiving through my teen years, and now it starts in Oct!!!!!

Seriously!!!! enough already. But like I said. I love Nicaragua Holiday season so far. Maybe it's because it always feels like Nica is 20 yrs behind the state, but I haven't heard any Christmas music yet!

I won't go on and on, but music is just one reason. I hate how everyone wakes up and thinks "PRESENTS!!!" instead of thinking "Praise God for the gift of Jesus on this day". Christmas isn't about trees, presents, music, lights, and Santa. It's about Jesus Christ. So i struggle on a holiday where we take the focus off of God and bring it to our worldy possessions.

Don't get me wrong. I love the beauty of the trees and lights and such. But we need to remember CHRISTmas is about CHRIST!

Ok.... more about me.

I'm struggling with my faith. I am tempted everywhere I look. Just like all Christians are. But recently I have been giving more attention to possible temptations. Does that make sense? I'll see something at the store and I will want it and crave it, and it is hard for me to have the self control to not buy it. Or when a kid is driving me crazy, it is getting harder to have more patience. Or when I dont want to get up in the morning and do my quiet time, It's harder and harder to get up. Don't get me wrong..... I am keeping the faith and fighting the good fight. It's just harder sometimes than others. I think that once I live with Michael, that will help. Because we will both be able to keep each other accountable. We always have a great time together discussing great Godly things. We've had some great talks. I'm looking forward to it.

Well.... these last couple of days I've been driving kids from the school in the dump to a free health clinic. It's a wonderful opportunity for these children. I had 30 people in my 15 passenger Microbus today!!!! Crazy stuff! That's Nicaragua for you.

Well, right now I am reading "Don't waste your life" by John Piper. Good book! I am off to go read some more. Time to draw closer to God, spend some time in prayer, and praise God!

Love you all and talk to you soon..... no, really!!! :)

Long time no bloggy

I know it's been a while.... I have a lot to share. I'll make a huge blog this weekend to cover the last few weeks. Love you all. God bless!

Rain Rain GO AWAY!!!

So today I am not very busy. The kids are not in school because it's raining. Lol. I wish we got out of school when I was younger because of rain!

I got a call this morning from one of my workers at the school in Los Brasiles. The rain has torn down a wall of the building and is starting to tear down the actual school itself. We could use some prayers. Please pray for the teachers, the children, and myself. It's going to be a long process of repairing. Here are some pictures! :/ This is not good. Will keep you informed. But Please pray....