Daniel Nicewonger

It brought tears of Joy to my eyes

August 2, 2015 By dnicewonger@gmail.com 1 Comment

I like to consider myself a safe driver. Despite spending untold hours on the highways traveling up and down the eastern seaboard I have remained mostly unscathed. There has been an occasional conversation that begins, “Sorry officer…”, but for the most part I like to believe I have taken my responsibility to be a safe driver seriously.

Yet the other day while on my way back into Kennett Square I got so excited by something outside my window I almost had a car accident. I looked off into the distance and there was a crane…a huge crane lifting parts up to a cell tower! I did a double take. Took my eyes off the road. Had to wipe the tears of joy from my eyes. It was then that I realized I had started to “drift a little” into another lane. Thankfully I was not alone in my joy and distraction as all the other motorists were drawn to the crane like a moth to a flame. It must have been a beautiful thing to behold…synchronized swerving towards the crane doing work on the cell tower. We all quickly corrected course and quietly stole glances at what we hoped would be the answer to ongoing, never ending issues with a certain cell phone company. I don’t think it is necessary to name the company…I am hopeful that this tower work means better times are on the HORIZON.

If you know for a fact that this tower work has nothing to do with my carrier and that I am doomed to continue to struggle I ask you to do me a favor…please let me live in hopeful ignorance and bliss.

My Pace-setter

August 1, 2015 By dnicewonger@gmail.com Leave a Comment

Over the past few months I have been spending time at the Jesuit Center in Wernersville, PA. I have found it to be a quiet place for reflection, prayer and time away from the rush and chaos of life. Stepping away for even a few hours helps me “center myself” and focus on what is truly important. These times are truly sacred and allow me to hear just a little clearer that “still small voice of God.”

During one of my times at the Center someone shared this with me and I wanted to be sure I passed it along. It hangs outside my office door at church. I try to stop and read it at least once each day as I move about the work of the church…my prayer is that it helps me find quiet and peace in the midst of chaos, helps me hear the still small voice amidst the clamor of voices, ringing phones, emails and deadlines. Maybe you will find the same sense of strength and peace within the words that speak to me…

The Lord is my pace-setter. I shall not rush.

He makes me stop and rest for quiet intervals.

He provides me with images of stillness which restore my serenity.

He leads me in ways of efficiency through calmness of mind.

His guidance is peace even though I have a great many things to accomplish.

I will not fret, for his presence is here.

He prepares refreshment and renewal in the midst of my activities by anointing me with his oils of tranquility.

My cup of joyous energy overflows.

Surely, harmony and effectiveness shall be the fruit of my hours.

I shall walk in the peace of the Lord and dwell in his house forever.

– Annonymous

Senior Luncheon Island Style

July 31, 2015 By dnicewonger@gmail.com Leave a Comment

One of the things I love about First Baptist Church is our monthly Senior Luncheons. Just about every month (we miss a couple due to holidays or Vacation Bible School) fifty to sixty young at heart seniors gather for a great time of food and fellowship. I have a chance to speak for a few minutes (I have been told to keep it entertaining…which I try very hard to do) and then there is a special guest. Sometimes the guest brings some music, tells stories, or shares some history or helps us better understand something about our community. I especially like when I get to bring some of my friends from Jam Christian Daycare to the Senior Luncheon and the two groups have a chance to interact and share a little of life together.

This past month as I traveled to Roatan we worked with “Because We Care” to put on a senior luncheon Island style. There were three bands, food baskets to give away to the oldest resident in each community on the island, plenty of things to pass out and amazing amounts of food. The day of the event we served over 400 plates of food! One of the things that struck me was that some of the stoves used to cook the food came from the cooks homes. They pulled the stoves out of their homes…brought them to the event site and set them up there so we would have enough stoves to prepare all the food! The cooks worked around the clock (literally starting to cook on Tuesday afternoon and completing the serving and clean up late Wednesday afternoon). It was an amazing day.

One of the women on the island has done a great job telling the story of the Senior Event and has shared some pictures that tell the story very well. It is worth the read and will help you gain an appreciation for what a Senior Luncheon Island Style really is all about.

(Make sure you “find” the couple of videos on the blog. The one of Auntie Jane, who is almost 99 years young dancing like she was 16 will keep you young at heart forever.)

From Roatan to Verizon

July 27, 2015 By dnicewonger@gmail.com Leave a Comment

So the lessons keep coming. As I got ready to leave Roatan on Saturday morning I had it all planned out. Fly into Miami, get through customs, board the plane to Philly and be in church for Sunday morning. Pretty simple, pretty easy, and looking at the tickets in my hand it was all going to work out perfectly.

Ronny’s phone went off about 10 minutes before we left the condo. “Hey Dan, your flight has been delayed by an hour.” Not the best news…but we still had time to make everything work according to the master plan. Sitting in the airport at Roatan it was pretty clear the hour delay was a guestimate…not anything firm.

We finally boarded to head off to Miami…this was going to be close…but I was confident we could do this. Our plane had this really neat, anxiety inducing, feature on it. There was a 3-D map of your flight which would scroll the current time at your destination, the time till you reached your destination, and the expected time you would reach the destination. You could literally sit there and watch the minutes fade away as the pilot forgot how to push the throttle and let us get lapped by a bunch of penguins (yes, I am aware penguins do not fly…my point exactly). As we approached Miami we were going to be landing within minutes of the time our next flight would start boarding…this was going to be tight…but we could do it…I was optimistic.

“Hello, this is your captain speaking. There appears to be a slight backup here in Miami, so we are going to hang out here for a little while as the traffic clears out, then we will land.” I sat and watched the 3-D screen as the plane did circles out over the ocean. We finally landed. Rushed like crazy through the airport. Were directed to multiple customs lines. I was beginning to have compassion for cows, if this is what it feels like to be herded everywhere you go I am not a fan and stand united with our bovine friends. Ultimately we missed our flight. Could not get another till Sunday morning. Spent a night in a great hotel. Paid $15 for a bowl of mac and cheese…who knew. Sunday morning we were up and at the airport early and made our way home. Things were back the way they should be.

This morning I allowed myself to sleep in a little. I got up and went to the office, all set and ready to go. I had a list of things to do. The Administrative Assistant said, “Would you like a list of all the things I need from you today?” Monica is awesome…she is on top of things the way I need her to be…my day just got busier. I sat down in my chair, turned on my computer…NO INTERNET! My calendar, planning, everything is out in the cloud somewhere…useless to me at this point. After fighting for 30 minutes to get logged on it was time to talk to Verizon. Call the manager…the two of us frustrated (he with me for not being happy with his service and product) (me because I would be better off with a pen and paper despite all their adds to the contrary). Half and hour later I say goodbye to the manager and am calling another number. It is at this point I remember that just 48 hours ago I was on Roatan…can I go back? Finally a voice on the other end of the phone…we do a couple useless, meaningless things to prove we have issues. (It took me 45 minutes to log onto facebook today!) In the middle of one of the tests the internet drops out as it is accustomed to do these days…”Huh, well I guess we better get a tech out there.” Using all my power I resist the urges that are welling up inside me at this point. All the sarcastic, less than uplifting comments are censored (or at least not uttered) and we set up the appointment.

Sitting in my office which is devoid of internet…which means I cannot print to the copy machine…I wonder why I am there…maybe I should go back to Roatan. Then I remember the lesson…peace, quiet, rest in the midst of chaos…“Oh well, it will happen when it happens.” I get up from my chair…walk into the daycare and there is a table of young kids having snack. I pull up a chair and we “talk” for a few minutes over graham crackers and juice. One boy lets out a laugh that makes you smile no matter what is going on. After a few minutes it is time to return to the office.

Walking down the hallway I can’t help but ask myself, “Where would Jesus have been all day?” My sense is that he would have forgotten about Verizon and their intermittent internet service and sat with those young kids, teaching them about his Father and how to love God with all their heart mind, soul and strength and to love their graham cracker stealing neighbor as themselves.

Abba Father, help me see you in the midst of every day, every moment, every interaction…even those with the Verizon representatives.

“Every Preachers Bucket List”

July 24, 2015 By dnicewonger@gmail.com Leave a Comment

A few years ago there was a movie, The Bucket List, which made this idea of coming up with a list of things you wish to accomplish before you die rather popular. It was an interesting movie. Honestly, if I see Jack Nicholson or Morgan Freeman in anything I am going to stop on the channel and at least give them a few minutes of my attention. This idea of having a “bucket list” kind of caught on and has made for some interesting table conversation and may have actually spurred some people on to do some things they would have otherwise just dreamed about.

Today in Roatan our group traveled to the dump. There is a community of people living there. Some actually live on the dump, others live around it. They gather what they can to survive from what the rest of the Island casts aside. Keep in mind that everything is used multiple times and ways here on Roatan. It is not like going up and down the streets of our comfortable neighborhoods on trash day looking for a lawn mower to fix or finding an old set of drawers that can be dump 02 repaired, or finding a couch that has enough life in it to get you through college and the first two to three years of marriage. If something makes it to the dump on the Island it has been well used and is pretty worn out. The people of this community gather plastic bottles and sell it for approximately 3 cents a pound, it is how many of them support their families. Life at the dump is all about survival.

We went there today with a car full of rice and beans to give to the families. We also had flip flops, some clothes and even some pretty dresses for the young girls. We went with a team from R Church Roatan, they helped organize the distribution of the food and clothing. Going to the dump is a normal part of their ministry efforts and I am thankful to have people like them reaching out to the least and the lost among us.

Before we handed out the food Pastor Ronny Russell from Live Again Ministries had a moment to share with the people gathered there. Through an interpreter he brought words of hope and promise from the book of Psalms. When he came down from his “pulpit” I said, “cross that off your bucket list…preaching to a group at the dump from atop a front end loader.” It may have sounded crass or even disrespectful but I was having a hard time finding the words to express my thoughts. As the dump 05 day went on, and I have had time to think about our experience there I believe preaching atop a front end loader at the dump has less to do with a bucket list and should have more to do with ministry preparation. All too often preachers dream about and long for the opportunity to speak and preach in front of hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands (via television and radio). They dream, plan and strategize on how to grow “their” ministry…when there are millions of people in this world living atop “dumps” in every community in this world who need nothing more than a “bag of rice and beans” and a few kind words to get them through till tomorrow. I believe it was Jesus who said, “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of the least of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.” Actually, I know it was Jesus who said that in Matthew 25:40. He was talking about the way we respond to the needs of the orphans, the poor, the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger (homeless), the naked, the sick, and imprisoned. He was sharing that as we cared for them we are caring for Him (Jesus). He was telling us that it is at the dump where we will encounter Him. You can go to “church” for the next 52 Sundays and chances are rather high you will not encounter God the way you do at the “dump” where the poor and impoverished live each day.

The longer we stayed at the dump, and the more I thought a dump 03 bout it during the day and into the night…preaching at the dump should not be on a pastors “bucket list”…it ought to be the test to see if they are qualified to handle the word of God and serve people. What do you bring from the word of God to a people who live atop a dump? What does God’s word have to say to a people who literally sift through trash all day long hoping to find plastic bottles or some other “treasure” they can use to support their family. How do you walk, work, speak among them? Are you even willing to go and hang out with the people there? If you are too focused on growing your church that you do not have time for the “dump” in your community (whatever form “the dump” in your community takes) you have a problem…a big problem…one that cannot, will not be fixed in any strategy meeting.

Abba Father…May you help me to always be ready to go meet you at “the dump”…may you give me your words of comfort and strength as I engage your people in conversation and relationship. May you grant me grace to love as Jesus loved me.

Roatan 2015

July 23, 2015 By dnicewonger@gmail.com 1 Comment

DSCN0040 I first stepped foot on this Island close to 30 years ago. A lot has changed, here on the island and in my life. Each time I return God teaches me something new and different about myself. It was the first time I was here that I first heard God calling me into full-time ministry. Sitting on a bench in Coxen Hole, across from the Baptist Church, God spoke so clearly there was no room for doubt…a call had been placed upon my life. Since then the call has evolved, changed and grown to be more than I originally imagined but walking with God has remained central to the mission and vision of my life.

Over the past five years I have been blessed to return to this place many times. Each time I have come there has been a focus, a goal, a project if you will that has been the focus of my time. Maybe a sports camp, building a water purification system, rehabbing a house, putting a roof on a youth center, working to provide a party for a group of 400 seniors from all over the island who rarely are the center of attention, spending time with the I WAS, I AM feeding program, and so much more. Whatever the project it does not matter because that is secondary to the relationships that are built, the friendships forged as we simply slow down and “do life together”.

As I was waiting in the customs line last Saturday (on my 47th birthday) I looked into the airport and there was a familiar face, smiling, waving, welcoming me back to his island. As soon as Rayann, Julia, Emily and I made it through the line and out into the lobby Pablo was there to greet us. “Hello Rayann, Hello Mr. Dan” and even though we had not seen each other for over a year it was like friends who see each other every day.

Over the past few days I learned, yet again, what it means to slow down…to have a plan and allow it to change 5 or 6 times in 10 minutes and watch everything fall into place. There is no doubt that experiences like these stretch me, they cause me to be at peace with chaos and to be able to sit back and say, “oh well, it will happen when it happens.” There is no doubt it causes me anxiety…I mean, let’s be clear here, I have my sermon series outlined and planned for the next twelve months. I believe excel is a gift from God and ought to be used wisely a whole lot more than it is (if you are asking, “what is excel?” I can / will provide counseling) Having a plan and working that plan through to completion is powerful…it is the way God has wired me to think and I try to leverage that to build the Kingdom of God. Yet these times where plans almost seem non-existent, or when you have a detailed plan that has to be “abandoned” ten minutes into the day because of unforseen circumstances are stretching times, times that cause me to trust in the God of all plans. I have learned that if I can simply relax and “go with the flow” there will be some amazing times of meeting men and women of God, people who are the hands and feet of Jesus.

Abba Father, help me to relax and walk with you through the different experiences you have for me here in Roatan or back at home.

Bags are Packed…Almost

July 17, 2015 By dnicewonger@gmail.com Leave a Comment

So I was sitting in my office yesterday and all of a sudden my computer started “ringing” at the same time my phone started making strange noises. When I finally realized what was going on and answered the phone I was greeted with, “Hello Mr. Dan”. Immediately I knew who it was. I think I would recognize his voice anywhere. Pablo is a great young man who I have been blessed to call “friend” for the past few years.

Pablo seems to know just about everybody on the island, or everyone knows him…not totally sure which it is. A few years ago he helped me search out a “long lost” friend from over 30 years ago on the island. I had lost contact with this person when I was 18 or 19 years old. The last time I had seen them I was 16 and on a mission trip on Roatan. Pablo’s words were, “No problem Mr. Dan…I will bird dog him for you.” (If you have to ask you probably don’t need to know) We started out one afternoon looking for my friend and before the day was over Pablo had helped me reconnect with someone I never thought I would see again this side of heaven.

Sitting in my office, surrounded by paperwork, books and piles…each one representing a different deadline or need…everything seemed to fade slowly away as we talked about life and how each other was doing. We talked about the reality that in a few days our conversation would be taking place face to face and not via some strange computer, facebook, phone, thing (who knew you could make calls via facebook? ….Pablo knew).

It is time to shut this machine down…finish some last minute packing and get some sleep…tomorrow is going to be a long day…but by noon their time we will be in Roatan!