The first day of the pastor’s conference was a tremendous blessing from our great God. 400+ pastors, leaders, & wives came in from all over the country today in order to simply sit under the teaching of the word of God. We had a sweet worship time in the morning and then Ron and I both taught on the “calling of God”. After the morning session we broke for lunch and fed all of the people rice and bread. There was plenty for everyone to have seconds and even take some home in bags! After lunch all 3 of us sat on the stage and entertained questions for the Q&A time with the pastors. I was overwhelmed as I sat and spoke with pastors and heard their stories and their desire to attend this conference. A man named Dolphin (yes like the fish) who lives and plants churches among indian tribes in northern Nicaragua, had to take a small boat, with an oar and a small outboard motor for six days in order to get to a town where he then rode a series of different buses for about 6 hours in order to be in Managua for this 2-day conference. Another group of men left their village which is approximately 6 miles just north of Costa Rica riding in the back of a half pickup-half dump truck vehicle with no idea of where they would stay or sleep once they got here. People have literally come from all over the country hoping to hear from God and to glean anything they can that will help them in their ministry. It is extremely challenging to see and hear about their hunger and thirst for the word of God. It only validates the need for more pastor training events like this in the future. Pastor Eddie (who coordinated this conference) had to turn away 300 people who registered simply because we did not have enough room. We could literally host one of these a month and I believe that it would be full. It is also extremely humbling to be one of the voices on that platform. Am I that hungry to hear from God? Are you? What “inconveniences” have kept you from going to church in the past? What “busy schedules” have kept you from a daily time in God’s word? I have stayed on my knees and in his word this week to make sure that they hear a word from God and not from me. These people have not traveled hundreds of miles because they saw my name on a flyer or heard my name on a radio promotion. They have no idea who I am. It literally has NOTHING to do with me. These people have come to hear from God. What an unbelievable responsibility! Pray for us as we continue teaching and leading these faithful men and women this week.
Chris Dowd Executive PastorBedrock Community Church www.bedrockchurch.comMay 25th Update
About Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America. To the north it is bordered by Honduras, and to the south by Costa Rica. Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the western hemisphere, partly because of the long civil war of the 1980’s and the devastation caused by hurricane Mitch in 1998. The vast majority of the five million inhabitants live in abject poverty with many suffering from severe malnutrition and starvation.
Our Ministry
This ministry helps people meet their chief need for a Savior, while also helping to meet the critical physical needs of hunger, poor substandard housing, shortage of water, lack of schools and education, lack of churches and pastor sponsorship. We offer general economic, healthcare, and emergency relief. To date we have helped feed tens of thousands of hungry people with hundreds of tons of food.
Who Can Volunteer?
Anyone with the desire to minister to hurting people in another culture can volunteer! Experience is helpful but not required. The ability to speak Spanish would be a plus, but we always have interpreters who assist in our work. Each team spends about a week in country ministering to the Nicaraguan people in some of the more remote villages.If you are interested in learning more, please contact us to discover if you can become part of this wonderful work.