Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Rookie Missionary Tip 037: Cell Phones & Move Update

So far, so good in terms of switching cell phones. We have an update on how T-Mobile responded to us regarding canceling our account. More on that in the future!



Move Update

We are just a day away from moving now. We planned on moving to Cabarete, DR on Saturday. However, we found that someone was headed to Santo Domingo (where we are picking up our Caribe Tours bus to the north) on Friday. So, we scrambled, shifted our arrival dates, requested Chantz from GoMAD ministries to pick us up from the bus stop then, and are all ready.

Now we just need Marissa to shake her sickness. Give her a Google+ (or Facebook) encouragement to shake her blech-ness.

Once we get to the north we will dig in and really launch ministry and servanthood! More to come!

--

Grant R. Nieddu


Tuesday, November 27, 2012

5 Things That Make Missions Gritty and Real

or, 5 Things I Worry About Constantly, Transitioning to the North, & Our Map to Cabarete, DR


On my birthday in Bayahibe, pondering our future.

Popular perception is a powerful thing.

Likewise, social proof of our story is just as strong. What people think when they see our blog posts or status updates carries a lot of weight in their minds.


  • We could look like we are doing the adventurous thing. 
  • We could seem like we are living exciting, Indian-Jones-like lives. 
  • Or, our journey could seem extraordinary, Pinterest-y, or desirable.


We love our journey so far. We love our path. But, we go to great lengths to make sure that we deliver the reality of the journey.

That is the purpose of our constant contact with people like our supporters; to give them the reality about what we are doing. Efforts like The Rookie Missionary are to dispel the popular perception (while making missions approachable, of course!) The reason I write all the time is to connect you to the mission; the real, challenging, and ugly sides of the mission work.

You see, I want it to be gritty. I want you to think "wow, that seems more challenging than I thought." (I also want you to think "that seems far more fulfilling than I thought", too, but that is for another post.)

So, to that end, to make the reality of the mission field more real, to ground you in the nitty-gritty of what it is like to be on the journey toward a life of mission, here is a transparent look at 5 things I worry about the most right now.

1. Money

USD & RD. BAM!
This is ever on the fore-front of my thinking. Our goal is to set an example of sustainable mission. But with every step we take, ever meal we buy, or every tool we purchase I see the money-ticker counting down.

I say it all the time, "This is a time counter, not a money counter. This time counter is counting down to when we have to return to the States."

2. Returning to the States Too Soon

You see, we love where we are. We love the idea of what we are building. But I worry all the time that we are not taking the right actions to ensure our ability to stay here.

It would be one thing to do the typical ministry thing here: "Hey, we are doing some general missionary thing, so support us, yeah!" [Enter Sally Struthers with more 'poverty porn.'] I think we could raise a lot of money to do that without a problem.

Instead, we set the bar kinda' high for ourselves. 'We will only raise money for project stuff that is legitimate. We will never raise money or create projects to simply fund ourselves.' That value makes it very difficult to simply raise money.

And, with me watching number 1: Money, above, my fear is that the bar has been set too high and we will have to Return to the States Too Soon.

Marissa already missing her girls, L.A. & Mandy.
Key in on the "too soon" part. We are not concerned about returning to the States. Getting jobs should not be too difficult for us. And we miss our community very much. But if we return too soon we may not have grown like we should have, accomplished what we should have. I worry about that.

3. Will We Get Sick Suddenly

In the middle of the night, Marissa rose suddenly and went to the bathroom. She returned to bed and was shivering. I asked her what was wrong and she could barely chatter out that she had the chills.

I got pale and frightened. I was burning up. The windows were closed. The door was closed. The fan was not on. I was melting in the tropical humidity. That meant that she was legitimately experiencing an unexpected illness.

Thoughts of no insurance, no emergency fund, and the nearest hospital being at least an hour or more away made my stomach turn over.

One could say that this is highly unwise. I would not disagree. I would simply respond that this is one area that we have left up to our general healthy dispositions and reliance on God.

We never worry about our health, until something happens. Needless to say, I am anxiously waiting to see Marissa return from class to gauge her health this afternoon. This fear runs through me now and again. I just push it out of my mind.

4. Our Marriage Will Be Tested Beyond What We Can Bear

I worry about this all the time. One of the initial benefits of going to the mission field so early in our relationship was to help us bond together quickly. This is true, but in an unexpectedly gritty way.

When Marissa and I were at Earthship school in Taos, New Mexico, we had to work closely. We discovered that we had never really had to work closely before. That meant we were newly discovering the nuances of each other, like it or not!

  • Marissa found out that I can't stand language which I perceive to be negative. 
  • I found out that Marissa doesn't like to be critiqued. 
  • I found out that I am not as proficient of a communicator as I would have liked to believe. 
  • Marissa found out that she isn't either.

Moving to the island, I thought that it would ease up quite a bit. After all, so my thinking went, we were now working on our missionary work together. Marissa went off to the SCUBA Instructor classes, and I started writing.

This was all part of the plan: we lean into our gifts and passions to continue to build a self-sustainable ministry here on the island. However, with all of my time writing, I watch things like our time-counter (our bank account) tick away and I start to panic. Marissa goes to class, walking out the plan, and does not feel any need to increase the pace of our work.
Marissa & I stretching our marriage, in a good way.

Small differences like this, right or wrong, lead to tension in the marriage. I am still glad we are doing this so early in our relationship. Since I sincerely do not want to fail here, I do not let up in my drive. Since Marissa does not want to fail here either, she does not let up in pacing out the plan.

I guess these things are good, but they strain us both.

5. General Failure

I have often been told that fear of failure is actually the fear of success. I think that is usually true. I think it is true that people sabotage their own success because they do not know what they would do if they were phenomenally successful.

And, I think that Marissa and I have, along this journey, experienced the fears of success and the unknown obstacles it brings.

However, more than that, I think we fear failing most.

  • That could look like coming back too early. 
  • Or it could look like finding ourselves penniless like so many other Americans...but with a language barrier, no community here, and no way home. 
  • Or it could look like sudden, unexpected illness that causes a massive stop in all of our efforts with very little to show for the time, energy, money and calories spent shaping our lives for the mission.

It could also look like us slipping into passivity, falling away into lives of just getting by, not seeking to spark others, not feeling ignited successes, unable to feel explosive significance in our own lives.

PHEW! That was medicinal to say! That was cathartic.


These are the things that I pace the apartment pondering. I obviously think of all the good things that could occur. But, in an effort to share with you the gritty reality of our time here, these are the things I deal with.

Transitioning to The North


While being robbed on the road is a possibility I do not fear it too much. Regardless, I must be off to ensure that we are not by planning our move to Cabarete in the north of the Dominican Republic.

We are quite sure that this is where we will land as a home base for our time here. We feel it spiritually, but, more than that, we cannot afford to move again for a while!

We will give you the update once we do!


Monday, November 26, 2012

Rookie Missionary Tip 036: Car Storage

We are back on line and back in action!
To catch you up, here is the latest Rookie Missionary Tip of the Day 036!

Spark interviews will continue again...as soon as we finish our move to Cabarete, Dominican Republic. BAM!

Sunday, November 18, 2012

A Happy Birthday & Rookie Missionary Tip 035: Be Supra-Political

I had a truly happy birthday yesterday. Even though I feel too far from everyone, the digital world really enabled people to wish me well and contribute to an awesome birthday. Likewise, Marissa was able to put together a truly moving gift; letters from friends and family appreciating their best memories of me. I was deeply touched, and I am placing it in my Dream Machine for close memories.

Thank you, wonderful people, for making it happen.
Thank you, technology, for being the bridge that allowed that to happen!

Now, the Rookie Missionary Tip of the Day!




Tip 035: Be Supra-Political. 

Politics, especially during campaign season, can be get quite obsessive. Instead of being drawn in, remember that your faith is a-political, or, more accurately, supra-political.

Grant and Marissa Nieddu, live from the mission field on the Island of Hispaniola, offer their daily Rookie Missionary Tips and Mistakes.

www.RookieMissionary.com.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Rookie Missionary Tip 034: Keep Your Commitments




Tip 034: Keep Your Commitments. When establishing relationships on the field, do whatever it takes to keep your commitments to locals. Building trust is already difficult crossing cultures. Even if you have good reason to change your plans, do whatever you need to fulfill your promises.

Grant and Marissa Nieddu, live from the mission field on the Island of Hispaniola, offer their daily Rookie Missionary Tips and Mistakes.

www.RookieMissionary.com

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Rookie Missionary Tip 033: Know HCD - Human Centered Design




Tip 033: Know HCD - Human Centered Design. How do you work with a local culture to accomplish what they want, respect their values, and offer your skills in an uplifting way? The Gates Foundation teamed up with IDEO to uncover this amazing tool.

Grant and Marissa Nieddu, live from the mission field on the Island of Hispaniola, offer their daily Rookie Missionary Tips and Mistakes.

www.RookieMissionary.com

Monday, November 5, 2012

Sparked Interview: Gala Calisto


Spark Interviews – Gala Calisto, Kay Angel.


Gala Calisto is with Kay Angel in Jacmel, Haiti. She is working hard at this amazing orphanage to help these children, some of whom have AIDS. Learn more about her Sparked journey to a life of humanitarianism and philanthropia here.


Sparked Interviews are part of the StateoftheSpark.com, to activate and equip missionaries and philanthropians to make a global impact.


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Rookie Missionary Tip 029: Have a Set Date Day


Tip 029: Have a Set Date Day. The busy-ness of the field can easily make it so that weeks go by before you have intimacy time with your spouse or loved one. Make sure you are connecting on vision, spirituality, and your relationship.


Grant and Marissa Nieddu, live from the mission field on the Island of Hispaniola, offer their daily Rookie Missionary Tips and Mistakes.




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Friday, November 2, 2012

Rookie Missionary Tip 028: Know The Local History




Tip 028: Know the local history. Many people have a context that is not merely cultural. It is based on an actual, local history that they connect with. With online tools, you should be able to check out any place you are headed to.


Grant and Marissa Nieddu, live from the mission field on the Island of Hispaniola, offer their daily Rookie Missionary Tips and Mistakes.


P.S. We had some technical difficulties yesterday with many uploads. We are back on track today! Thanks for your patience!–GN




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