When I landed in Nicaragua a few weeks back, an interesting thing happened. I turned on my iPhone so that I could text my contact parent back in the states and let them know we were all set. That’s when I received this text:
Claro is the cell provider in Nicaragua and, surprisingly, has excellent coverage all across the country (at lest the 60 or so KM I traveled). This was the second foreign country I took my iPhone to, and the first that greeted me upon arrival. What a cool thing. It made me very happy to be in Nicaragua. Then a few moments later I received this text:
Thanks, AT&T, for proving you’re an evil conglomerate corporation that cares nothing more than making a dollar. I had turned all the data features on my phone off prior to traveling because I knew that the bill could rise in a hurry, but $19.97 a megabyte? Really? I was floored.
And in case you had any questions, AT&T did not welcome me back to the States with a friendly text message. I bet Claro wouldn’t have any problems with iPhone tethering…
I first discovered La Chureca in January at the National Youth Ministry Convention. There, Braddigan was talking about the work that his Love, Light & Melody organization does there. La Chureca is the city dump in Managua, Nicaragua. It’s just like the city dump in your town except for the 1,500 families that live there. Among the trash, the fires, and the sewage. People live there. Children go to school there. It’s hard to imagine.
When my youth group decided to go to Nicaragua and the organization we ended up working with told me they do work in La Chureca, I knew God was pointing us where we all needed to be. Right to the dump. Amongst the trash. With the people who live there.
We went in with World Missions Outreach and washed kids feet and then gave them new shoes, probably for the first time. Some four or five groups of sixteen kids at a time. Picture seeing a kid’s face getting brand new shoes that light up for the first time. It’s difficult to explain just what this meant and the experience there, but just know that it was amazing.
Next door to the school in La Chureca is a church that is completely run by the children who live there. They give the messages, lead the prayers, everything. In a dump. Children run a church. It’s amazing.
These measly words on this screen and the few pictures I’m going to attach throughout won’t do life in La Chureca or our experience any justice but just know it was incredible and, despite the circumstances, God is really working there.
(Pictures are very large.)
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La Chureca
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La Chureca
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La Chureca
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La Chureca
Considering this is my personal blog I rarely talk about my personal life. I refer to things happening here and there, but it’s a rare occasion to have an entire post dedicated to something I’m doing. The reason for this is simple: this isn’t that kind of blog. I don’t write about my day-to-day life. I write about things that interest me and we go from there. But today I’m giving you a rare treat, a look into my work life.
I am a youth minister and have been lucky enough to attend a number of conferences in exotic locations over the years. I’ve been to the National Youth Workers Convention in Nashville and Charlotte, drove in the snow at Shift in Chicago, met cool people at the Perkins School of Youth Ministry in Dallas and, as you read this, am checking out the National Youth Ministry Convention in Columbus.
This is the first time I’ve been to the National Youth Ministry Convention, so I don’t really know what I’m getting myself into. Though based on the other conventions and conferences, I know there will be interesting sessions, cool speakers, nice worship, free stuff and most likely good food.
I’ve been very blessed to be working at a church that can afford to send me to these various cool places and I always come back with a since of renewal and a boat load of ideas. Since I’m writing this prior to actually arriving in Columbus, it’s hard to give any first hand reports, but should the convention have wi-fi, maybe I’ll post a few pictures or thoughts.
I’m not usually one for meme’s but this one seemed like a good bit of fun. It’s an interview meme being conducted by fellow bloggers. I found the meme a Gretch-a-Sketch’s very cool site and decided to throw my name in the ring. Should you be interested, or want to participate, here are the rules:
The Rules of the Interview
1. Leave me a comment saying you want to be interviewed.
2. I’ll email you five questions, of my determination not yours!
3. You update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.
A few days back Gretchen sent me five questions. It’s taken me a little bit of thinking to properly answer them, but hopefully it’ll be worth it. Without further adieu, here’s what Gretchen wanted to know:
1. If you were limited to seeing one genre of movie for the rest of your life, which genre would you choose?
Can I say indie? It’s listed as a genre at Netflix so it can’t be cheating, right? I’ve always said the Independent Spirit Awards are the coolest thing Hollywood does and that independent films are the only true creativity left out west. The stories are more interesting, the characters are more real, and they’re just much more enjoyable movies to watch. If I were restricted to just watching indie filmes for the rest of time, I’d be alright with that.
2. Do you have any secret talents that none of us know about yet?
I don’t think I’ve talked much about it here or on Twitter, but I really enjoy cooking. Inspiration typically comes from the Food Network, usually through Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives or from something created by Alton Brown or Giada De Laurentiis. I’m not a great cook, but I know my way around a kitchen and do enjoy it and not many people know that, so there you go.
3. Which of the 48 continental states would you visit if you had a free month and unlimited funds?
I would love to tour California. Driving the PCH seems like a lot of fun and it’d be very cool to be able to go from the large cities in the south to the vast wilderness in the north. Not to mention seeing the redwoods and Hollywood. That’d be a very cool month. It’d have to be one of the months that has 31 days though; 30 or 28 just wouldn’t be enough.
4. What’s your favorite part about being a youth minister?
Good question. I really enjoy my job and there are many things that could potentially be my favorite: working with the kids (surprised?), planning and executing retreats and mission trips all over the country, and being able to give back to a system that helped me when I was younger. Though what I consider my favorite part would be our worship experience on Sunday nights. Over the last year it has greatly transformed into what it is now — a very energized youth praise band and messages built around month long themes. It’s been a very cool process to be a part of and it has presented some very cool worship experiences.
5. (I’m gonna steal one from my interview because I think it’s so good.) What do you hope to accomplish with your blog?
I don’t know if I’ve ever really thought about that. I write things mostly for myself — there are a few things I write that I know think other people would be interested in. It would be awesome to be the next John Gruber and live off my blog, but I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen. The site landed me a few featured spots in the local paper over the years, but that’s not really what I write for. When it comes down to it, I write as a personal outlet and if people find it interesting, than that’s pretty cool too.
File this under random.
I’m cleaning out files on my MacBook the other day. Basically I’m bored and going through old files to see what I find. I opened up the DropBox inside the Public folder and found a txt file titled DearJustinCoxFromAStranger. Imagine my surprise when I realized I didn’t actually create this file. So, I did what anyone would do, I opened it. This is what it said:
Dear Justin Cox
Hello stranger, how are you? I am connected to your computer right now– Don’t worry! I can’t see your personal files or write anything onto your hard disk. I just wanted to write a friendly note, and say I hope your flight out of Seattle goes well tonight. Maybe we’re taking the same flight? We could be friends! If you happen to read this before you board your plane tonight, you should stand up and whistle or something, that way I know who you are. If not, then I hope your travels are pleasant and there are no delays. Have a great night!
*m
If you’re not familiar with Mac security, the Public folder and the DropBox are left open to easily share files between computers. Apparently while I was waiting for my midnight flight out of Seattle, leaving the wonderful world of PAX behind, someone was snooping computers on the network and found Justin Cox’s MacBook — gotta love the simplicity of the default computer naming scheme in OS X. Trying to be friendly they left me a little note. They just didn’t count on me not finding the note for five months. Joke’s on them I guess.
Finding this file reminded me of browsing the dorm network in college. I used to find all kinds of interesting stuff on people’s computers who didn’t realize they were sharing their files with the world. Printing on random people’s printers is also fun but not really profitable. Public safety reminder: in the event you find yourself connected to a dorm network, lock down your computer.
Oh yeah, and if you’re a traveling fool and use your laptop in airports, be sure to check your DropBox before boarding the plane. You might make a friend… or meet a stalker. You never know.
