Day 10 - Saturday - Look at What God Did!

We returned home yesterday (Saturday), leaving Managua at 7:55 a.m. and arriving in Bozeman about 8:45 p.m. God was so good to give us a flawless day of travel - no 8 hour delays, missed flights or a split team like last year.

 

Please check next week for our post of individual reflections and a link to the video slide presentation we did in church this morning.

 

 

"Being in the trenches for Christ isn't a glamorous job, but there is no better place to be."

Sawdust falling off boards as they are nailed to the houses, dust flying from parachute games, sewer water running, sweating incessantly, dirt everywhere, seemingly endless hours on a bus ... Kids smiling, running and playing, houses completed, prayers answered, testimonies shared, the gospel proclaimed, lives transformed, inexplicable joy...

Temporary discomforts for seeing lives changed for eternity make every single minute oh, so very worth it. May we be able to say the same of our lives as Paul did of his: "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some." -1 Cor. 9:22

I saw the power of Christ displayed throughout the week by God specifically gifting each person on the team to serve together in unity...

Gerry's leadership, Pat's behind the scenes work, Craig's spiritual insight, Kristi's heart as we prayed together nightly and then watched expectantly throughout the week as God answered, Eli's incredible work ethic and attitude at the job sight, Vale's building skills, Konnor's growing desire to use soccer as a gift for His glory, Quinton and McKinlee instantly connecting with kids in each village, Tricia doing door to door evangelism and having conversations like she has known the people for years, Dore's constant smile and laughter, Grace's genuine desire to serve, Tim stepping out of his comfort zone in obedience, Joanna being so intentional in constantly looking out for the interests of others, Macy's love for the children, and Vikki's ability to clearly communicate the gospel ... The Lord knew who was needed to complete His work this week. Our prayer each day was that the Nicas wouldn't see us, but instead see Christ in us.

We will never forget the smiles of the children, the gratitude of the pastors, the testimonies we were privileged to hear and the opportunity to see lives transformed by the power of the gospel as many were invited to surrender their lives to Him. 

On this trip I was reminded of the importance of God's vision in ministry as Eduardo shared how God called Him to start a preschool in Mateare that would be a beacon of light for Christ and "he had no budget but trusted in faith that God would provide."

And He has provided in ways abundantly beyond what he could have imagined.

I saw hope being given at the dump, where three years ago police escorts were needed to even enter and now over 100 children are fed daily and, at least for a little while, they are given the opportunity to play and actually be kids.

 Their smiles and laughter as we shared in games with them will forever be imprinted on our hearts.

We saw the importance of pastoral training so the Word of God is handled accurately in the villages in which He has called each of them to serve.

We saw that “poverty isn’t the absence of material things, but the absence of hope.” No matter the amount of money in someone’s bank account, apart from Christ we are all spiritually bankrupt.

God's ways are higher than ours and His plans far bigger.

He put it on the hearts of us in Montana to travel thousands of miles to help be the answer to years of prayer of Nicaraguan pastors and their families for provision and encouragement and a home so they could continue on in doing His work.

This trip also brought many answered prayers personally  ... 

I had been praying since before I moved to Bozeman that New Beginnings Church (formerly Kirkwood) would become missions minded and send a team to take the gospel to the nations.

And for over three years for the May family to have the opportunity to serve together on the mission field.

Also, for discipleship opportunities in leading and encouraging and equipping others to go and serve.

Lastly, for seeing people realize there is a God who loves them enough to have sent Jesus to die on the cross for their sin so that they could be reconciled to Him and seeing them repent, place their faith in Christ and fully surrender everything to Him.

We serve a God who is good, who is faithful, who provides and who calls us to be on mission with Him.

It also made me think then ...What happens when we are not obedient to His calling? ... 

"God calls every Christian to live with a missionary heart... The Bible is perfectly clear: In the gospel is power for salvation. Without it, no one can be saved. The nations must hear. Jesus has commanded us to reach and teach the lost with the gospel so ...the question for us to answer is not, "Am I called to go?" but instead "can I show sufficient cause for not going?"... The one who says, "Yes, Lord but..." is the one who is fiercely ready but never goes." -David Sills

As we return home today, our lives are forever changed ... Our encouragement to you is to consider the plans God has for your own life. Where is He calling you to step out in obedience? Don't wait another minute!

Thank you for the prayers so many of you lifted up on behalf of our team - we know nothing can happen apart from His power and we are so thankful for each of you being a part of this trip with us! 

-Amber :)

Day 9 - Friday - Visiting Ministries and Shopping

As I look back on this past week, one thing that stands out to me is how happy the children are when we play with them.  I remember playing balloons with the kids and playing pato, pato, ganso, (duck, duck, goose) with the kids.  They always enjoyed running around the circle and chasing us.

One of the things I remember about working on the house construction is always having dust.  Dust was everywhere; in my eyes, in my hair, in my socks and shoes and always in my nose.  When I worked on construction, I filled the cinder blocks with dirt, and filled the spaces between the blocks with cement or “mezcala”.  When my hands would get messy with cement I would sometimes leave my messy cement handprint on Macy’s shirt.  But then Macy would put her cement on my shirt.  It was having fun while working hard on the houses.

It seems like Nica children always like to play with us “gringos”.  They would sometimes call out to us with big smiles and want to play with us.  Often the young children would come up to me and want to be held.  There was one girl at Taellor’s house who didn’t want to be held by anyone, but once I held her she wanted me to hold her the rest of the morning.  Even though we are different than the Nica children we do have fun together and they have big smiles as they play.

Mckinlee (11)

This is our last day in Nicaragua, and with it comes a day that does not have any building construction or VBS at the churches.

A very encouraging start to our day occurred when one of the translators, Meykel, came and talked with Craig and Tim and wanted to become a Christian.  They talked and prayed with him and the angels in heaven are rejoicing!  Many on our team have been sharing with Meykel during this week, and he had many questions about God’s Word as he was reading John 10 and other passages to prepare for interpreting a message.  There were tears of joy from Meykel and on our team.

The team with three of our translators:

Meykel in the orange, Tanya in the purple, Umberto in the red.

This morning we went to visit the dump feeding ministry.  This is a ministry to some of the poorest children in Nicaragua.  The families often make their “living” by going through the garbage from the dump trucks to see what they can eat or sell.  It is emotionally hard for me to see the boys, about 9-12 years old, playing games with us at the feeding center and then suddenly running out and jumping

onto a passing garbage truck to see what they can find. 

 

The center feeds over 100 children each day. They each bring their own bowl and get a generous ladleful of rice and beans. Some eat right there, but most left with their food, probably to take home to share with family.

Their bowls lined up on the wall waiting to be filled.

Waiting in line for their meal

Dore, Grace and Tricia helped serve while

Kristi poured water for them to wash their hands.

This elderly lady brought a bowl and got food.

This ministry also has an abstinence program for young girls, and teaches these girls how to plan and work so that they will not always live off of the dump or sell themselves to eat.  They are teaching the girls how to make quality jewelry to sell so that they can start to understand how to do a small business.  This takes a lot of teaching because the truly poor people don’t ever think of saving money; they just spend what they have to buy food for the next day.

It causes us to rejoice when we see the joy and laughter on the faces of the young children as they play games with us at the feeding center.

How we are reminded that our God has a special place in His heart for the poor and how Tammy from Project H.O.P.E., and other people, work to provide for the welfare of these children.

We followed this ministry visit by having a Nicaragua lunch in Managua and then went to the Managua Market where we were able to see many local crafts and many items that are uniquely Nicaraguan.

 

In the afternoon, we visited the Furia Santa Ministry for troubled men.  Furia Santa means Holy Fury.  Most of the men that come to Furia Santa have had problems with drugs and/or alcohol and the leaders love them with what they call “tough love” and share that the power of Christ is what can release them from their sins and addictions.  Two gentlemen shared their testimony of how they have been “clean” for several months since they came to Furia Santa and that they are now starting to rebuild their relationships with their families. 

These men also work at Furia Santa: tending the Dragonfruit plants (470 plants have to be watered twice a day.), raising tilapia and making cinder blocks (This is where Project H.O.P.E. buys all the blocks for the houses we help build). They are also learning some crafts to make money to save for when they are ready to start out on their new life away from Furia Santa.

Dragonfruit plants

Tilapia pond

The cinderblock machine and hammock making

Leather craft, knotted bracelets, paintings

Working on knotted bracelets

 

We left Furia Santa to go just down the road in the village of Mateare where Eduardo was building a storage room and office for the newly finished preschool.  Eduardo is on staff at Project H.O.P.E. and works each week with the children’s ministry.  He often joins our team and does a great job of sharing Jesus with the children and using music and puppets and many other things to talk with the children about Jesus.  Eduardo is also a very, very good soccer player and I think Konnor said he learned some things about soccer from Eduardo.

Eduardo’s heart for children led him to begin a preschool in Mateare, which is where Project H.O.P.E. has built hundreds of homes for very poor people.  These people would not be able to send their children to preschool, but this school allows children to learn about the love of Christ, have food each day and be prepared for school.  His dream is that God will work in these children to bring them to salvation and then to work in the families so that many of their parents would also come to salvation.  The preschool has 91 children this year and Eduardo said that the school has no budget, as of yet, but the teachers all volunteer their time and God provides the school materials through many different ways. 

 Eduardo

As we head home tomorrow, we will look forward to seeing people at home, but we will also miss many people that have become our friends here in Nicaragua.

Gerry

Day 8 - Thursday - Serving at Taellor's House, Dedication and Church

What a blessing it has been for me to experience Nicaragua with my family and friends.  As the week has progressed and we have poured our energy into the construction projects, VBS, drama performances, Bible studies and more….those friends have now become FAMILY.  The gifts that each of them bring to the team vary in so many ways.  And seeing how God has made each of us so perfectly different is an amazing blessing.  I have found so much joy in the little things and my continual gratitude for all the men and women who serve us gringos behind the scenes.  Not having to cook for the last seven days J has made doing dishes for them at the end of the night a blessing to be able to give back.  I don’t know about you, but dishes usually are the last thing I get joy from.  Eddy, our bus driver, has been fantastic.  I’m not sure why anybody would want to drive here, especially a bus.  He has a continual smile, never seems frustrated, and is probably the only one who does NOT honk his horn at all the crazy drivers.

As Amber and I have prayed each night for the team and different employees at Project Hope, God has been faithful to answer the prayer in so many ways.

Today was the first day that our team did not split into two teams.  Having everyone together made the day seem like a blessing in itself. 

 

We started our day walking up to Taellor’s House which is a school in memory of Taellor, Travis and Tami’s daughter.  Women are able to drop of their children while they work or learn a trade in exchange for child care and donated hours to the project.  What a blessing!

 When you're too little to run fast during "Duck, Duck, Goose",

you get carried!

Silly songs are fun for everyone

 

We had the opportunity to sing songs, play games, make bracelets and share a Bible story.   Watching my own kiddos interact with these children touched my heart (and my eyes). You can read more about Taellor's House on the Project H.O.P.E. website at http://www.pjhope.org/home

 Later we loaded up on the bus and were off to our next adventure. 

We dedicated Pastor Patricia’s home, left household gifts and headed to VBS, which is always an adventure with all the children.  They love to run….so “Q” spent a lot of time running to the bus and back with a pack of kiddos following him.  McKinlee fit right in, loving on all the children and making a connection with all the girls her age.   The girls and older ladies loved to touch her long blonde hair and requested for her to wear it down, they poured out love to her by giving her jewelry. 

 

We had prepared 100 crafts for VBS but even that wasn’t enough,

so we had to hurriedly cut about 20 more pieces of yarn.

 

Everyone was invited back for the church service to hear the World of God by both Pastor Patricia and Mr. Goede. We again performed our Chains drama that brings all eyes and mouths wide open.   

What I have noticed here in Nicaragua is the vast differences between the three services we have been a part of.  God is so good for us to be able to witness the energy that the Nica people pour into worship.  We may feel uncomfortable with different ways of worship; however we are serving the same God.  My continual prayer will be for the word of God to be accurately taught to all nations, churches, pastors, and congregations.  May we learn to find joy in our differences and seek to love Him more?

-Kristi

 

 

 

Thurday's Post coming Friday morning

Because we got back to base so late tonight, today's activities and pictures will be posted tomorrow (Friday) morning. Please check back then!

Day 7 - Wednesday - House #2 Finished

“You mess with the bull, you get the horns.”

It was nice to see Pastor Patricia’s house completed today. After the many setbacks we had on the first day I was not sure that we were going to be able to complete the house in three days like we had planned. But Team Two worked hard yesterday and was able to finish the roof and all of the blocks, so all that left us was the siding. We were able to make short work of that and finished the house before lunch.

Quinton making concrete the Nica way

Amber and Joanna

The "Sun Team" finished the house today

The ride back to the church

We could have probably finished the house a lot sooner but we had about ten four-legged distractions out in the field. At first our interactions with them were innocent enough. But then it became obvious that our buddies did not have harmless intentions. It started out with Quinton and Joanna trying to put their hats on a bull calf, but he was too shy for them to get close enough. Then Quinton tried it on another more curious yearling, causing both cows run to the other pasture. A few minutes later after the cows became comfortable with us again they wandered back over to where we were working. Quinton again went after the yearling bull, managing to throw his hat around one of the bull’s horns. I however had my sights set on another bull. This one was the largest  (besides the one chained to the largest tree on the property) and was probably three times the size of the yearling. As I began approaching him it was clear that he was avoiding me, but that did not deter me. Eventually he and I were face to face. I began to walk towards him with my arm extended and as I reached to place that hat on his head, he decided that he had had enough and that it was time for me to get out of his way. I was quick enough to grab his sharp horns and push his head off its course and scramble to safety.

 

I guess I had just not had enough, because the next time he came near the house, I was at it again. This time, however, I decided to try a different strategy. I approached him at a slight angle this time, so if the opportunity presented itself and I had mustered up enough stupidity, I could try to throw a leg over him. But before I could do that, the bull flipped his head around and gored me right below the shoulder. Thankfully, they were able to get me to the best hospital in Nicaragua, where they gave some antibiotics for the wound and set my broken arm. No, no, no, I’m just kidding! I’m fine. (This paragraph is not true – just a joke!)

VBS was insane today. We had about 70-80 kids, over twice the number of kids we had yesterday, I wouldn’t be surprised if the number were to double tomorrow.

A full house for VBS

Craig and Kristi were Eduardo's "puppets"

It is encouraging to see the kids telling their friends about the gringos and inviting them to VBS. Also, I saw a lot more teenagers than usual attend today. Other than that today was pretty uneventful.

Vale

  


Today was a nice hot day of walking up and down the street talking and telling people about the VBS that was going to be happening that afternoon.  Clearly, it was successful because there was almost double the amount of kids today than yesterday.  Some of our group had the opportunity to go and talk to the kids in the school which was amazing.  Normally the school would not be allowed to let people in to talk about Christ since it is a public school, but because the principle is a believer she let us talk to all the classes.  We went to every classroom, which was only four rooms and told them why we were here and what we were doing.   When we walked in the room, the kids’ faces lit up.  Not every Nicaraguan kid gets to see a group of Montanan gringos every day.  We continued walking through the streets, talking and inviting people, as well as helping the translators with their pronunciation and trying to get Tim to roll his “r’s”

At the VBS, there were tons of kids and they were so excited to play the games and they absolutely loved the balloon animals and shapes we made.  It was so hot that the balloons kept popping throughout the afternoon. We finally had to just say “no mas” (no more) or we could’ve been blowing up balloons for another hour.

Such beautiful little faces



All went smoothly until the table with our water and Gatorade collapsed, but other than that it was amazing to see how happy the children were.  

On the way home, we were following a large truck carrying a backhoe. It stuck up so high that it snagged a power line that crossed the road. Thankfully, we weren’t going very fast because Eddy (our bus driver) had to stop very quickly when the power line dropped way down low in our lane. Those who were riding in the front of the bus saw it and heard the two big pops of electricity. After several minutes of waiting for the traffic policeman to decide what he wanted to do, we were able to back up and get into the other lane and pass under the line and continue home.

-Macy

 This morning Konnor and I went out to houses near the church to invite people to VBS and the service on Thursday evening.  The last house that we shared at had about 6 women and many children in the family.  Konnor shared about the upcoming events and then Patricia asked me to pray for the family.  We prayed for God to provide and guide for their family, that God would give them a desire to know Him and that they would come to know Jesus Christ.  

After we left, our translator, Eduardo, talked with Patricia, the pastor of the church, and she told him that two of the ladies in that house were witches.  Patricia has been teaching one of the daughters in the house about Jesus.  She said that when we started to pray, one of the witches tried to rebuke us to keep us from praying, but that she literally could not speak up.  This sure reminds us how the power of Jesus Christ, Who is in us, is greater than he who is in the world.

Thank you for your prayers for our team as we see daily how God is protecting us and guiding us and leading us on this trip.

Gerry

Day 6 - Tuesday - Heart Challenges

Today goes down in the top 10 of dirtiest days of my life. Our team (team B) spent the day working on our second house of the trip.

The street to the new building site.

You can see why we're so dirty when the wind blows.

Covered in several millimeters of dust that could have doubled for sunscreen, and a perpetual flow of sweat from every nook and cranny, our team along with several Nicas were able to make quite a bit of progress in one day and team A will likely be able to finish everything up tomorrow.

 Finishing up the roof

 

 Mckinlee

By our American standards, these “houses” would be best described as a small barn, maybe big enough to board two horses, yet to the pastors here they are the culmination and answer to years of prayer.

When we were building the first house I viewed it simply as an activity that was scheduled for us to do while were on this mission trip. Upon completion of the first house yesterday, we all met with the pastor and his family to pray with him and welcome them into their new house.  The pastor’s wife, who had yet to have spoken to us during the three days that we were working alongside her and her family, expressed her gratitude for us in tears and told us how she had prayed for this “dream house” for over thirty years. Hearing her say those words and seeing the impact that it is on her life is something that I cannot describe. Seeing how these past several days of work can change the lives of an entire family for years to come and provide an answer to prayer is incredibly impactful and makes every second of discomfort more than worth it.  

Many of you know that I was very anxious about coming on this trip. In all honesty, not much of me wanted to come at all. My main motivation was obedience and my attitude was one of endurance rather than that of giving or excitement. I cannot say that my attitude has completely turned around and that I am ready to move my small family to Nicaragua, but I can say with absolute confidence that God is softening my heart through these people and children. Please pray alongside me that I would continue to want to be molded by God. In the past two years I have been built up in my own pride by my accomplishments and surrounded myself with comforts and pleasures and have feared if I say , “God, you can do whatever you want with my life”, they may be taken away. Again, this fear is not gone but God is working on my heart, and I want to want to be molded by God in whatever ways He has.
 

Tim, after a day in the sun and wind

 

Love and miss all the family – from those at New Beginnings to those in California.

-Tim

 

There are a few things in life that tend to “get on my nerves.” One of them is people on their cellphones in checkout lines and another is “door to door” salesmen. Both can seem to be an invasion of space and a little too forward for the majority of people.

Tricia's team

Amber's team

However, I have come to see much blessing in being faithful to seek out those who are lost in what we would sometimes see as a very “forward and uncomfortable” fashion.

Today was my third round on the evangelism team and I am falling more and more in love with trusting God’s hand and leading as I interact with the people of Nicaragua in their homes. In my journal I have tried to capture in words the “look” of Nicaraguan homes, but I confess I fall terribly short. While walking into a Nica home I guess you could say they are a Technicolor hodge-podge held together with barbed wire, black tarp and a lot of love. I have been humbled to enter these broken down homes where I have been offered their best chair and glass of Coca-Cola. It has been special to be given a tour of their family via worn and faded pictures on their walls that they display with such pride.

Even though the main objective of our evangelism walk is simply to invite kids to Bible club in the afternoon, you would be surprised at how many families are thirsty for an encouraging word and a time of prayer…Even from a stranger from Montana like me!

I was especially touched today by a young woman named Gabriella who lived at the end of the street I was evangelizing on today. Not long into our conversation her eyes began to well up with tears as she said to me that she feels so far from Jesus. She cried that she has not been to church in a long time and she is afraid that it is too late to get close to Him again.

I shared with her that God Himself has the very hairs on her head numbered and that God doesn’t have a calendar with a due date or a wrist watch that runs out of time for those that are still seeking Him. She cried again and we prayed together. We prayed that her heart would be at peace as she finds rest in the one true God who made her and then sent His one and only Son to die for her. She held my hands and said that she had been praying that God would send someone into her life to help her with her loneliness and to remind her that He cares for her.

I was in awe that God brought me from nearly 4,000 miles away knowing that I would be in this very time and place to speak to Gabriella. Please pray for her! She is so lonely and needy for the love of God to be known in a real way. Pray that she will get plugged into one of the nearby Bible churches where she can make friends with women who know and love the Lord. I could not help but think of Mordecai’s words to Esther when he simply stated, “For such a time as this.” All too often we miss a blessing and an intentional opportunity to impact someone because we look over the hand of God that has brought us somewhere for a specific time and a perfect purpose. I am reminded once again not to take lightly the timing of people and circumstances that fill our lives. All are far too perfectly crafted by the Potter to take for granted.

Bible club today was a HUGE blessing (as always)! After every Bible club I want to grab the whole bunch of kiddos and take them home with me! They are the most grateful, enthusiastic and friendly group I have ever known. They love to share hugs, high-fives and foot races with you every chance they get. In a place where there is very little, every expression of kindness and compassion is so well received. There are countless moments that I will simply ponder in my heart because words just can’t do the experience justice!

 

Though I have been covered with dust, sweat and bug bites from head to toe, I would do it again in a heartbeat just to invest with these kids and their families just a little bit longer! God has been so good and I feel ever changed for having had this chance to play a small role in “kingdom building” in Nicaragua. Thank you for all your prayers! They have held us in big and small ways!

-Tricia

Cutting up firewood

 

Our newest "facilities"