Nica News

This morning at the radio station, Ross P. and Ross W. gave their testimonies and Domingo and the Rippers sang “10,000 Reasons.” Brad preached about the calling of Levi the tax collector. Jesus doesn’t care about who you were before, he cares about who he intends for you to become. Brad told us about how when Jesus calls us, we have no choice but to follow. We will be changed because of our relationship with him.

We were excited because the foundation for the structure at La Barrera was finished yesterday! No more digging ditches or pouring concrete! Instead we drove way out to El Laredo. This is a town that is mostly concrete block housing that was built by the Red Cross after Hurricane Mitch. The difference between the housing in El Laredo and Cofradia (where we went on Tuesday) was shocking. In Cofradia, the most prominent thing is the trash everywhere from the nearby dump. In El Laredo, everything was in much better condition; good concrete sidewalks, well-constructed houses raised off of street level, and running water. It was still definitely an impoverished place, but the people there are richly blessed compared to their neighbors. We painted one of the houses yellow with bright pink and red accents. Because this didn’t take too long, we made a stop at the Mountain of Prayer. This peak right outside downtown Somotillo gave us a great birds-eye view of the villages we’ve been serving and even into Honduras.

We had lunch in the common room today. The electricity had been shut off to the whole compound. Don kept a few of the buildings running off the generator so the refrigerators and some of the air conditioning could still run. We were very thankful to get to come back to a cool room and a delicious lunch (Mama Maria’s Chicken Wings).

After lunch we drove back out past El Laredo to San Francisco (not CA) for some medical work, food, soccer and baseball. Don told us the town lacks much in the way of significant moral leadership. Pastor Ronaldo has been pouring into the people as often as possible, but the culture in the village is so terribly stained by sin. We are praying for God to send someone to be a full time pastor there and begin to push back against the forces of evil that are so prevalent there.

Tomorrow most of the team from Dawson will head back to Managua by way of Corinto for some sight seeing and good food. They’ll fly out at 7:45 Saturday morning. Be praying for their safe return to Birmingham. Jon and Ben will be staying behind from the Dawson crew for one more week. Morgan the Intern will also be staying around to help welcome and work with the next team that will be coming in from Virginia. Pray for the work that they will be doing in El Laredo and other villages around Somotillo.

GOOOOOD MORNING CENTRAL AMERICA palms 118: 64 says “This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.”

WE woke up early this morning as usual to an amazing meal prepared by Mama Maria. After breakfast we had devotion, then went to the radio station. Dave and Bob shared their testimonies, and John gave a sermon about how we are united in Christ, but divided by sin. After the radio, we traveled back to the Casa de Shelly. Soon after, we went to La Barrera to make concrete. We finished the job quickly and the ditch we dug was filled with the freshly mixed cement. Soon, after the job at La Barrera was finished, we came back to the compound. We rested and recouped to travel to Villa Esperanza. We took soccer, baseball, medical and food supplies. It was very hot. As we left the village kids lined the road as we threw candy at them. Got back to the compound ate dinner and had free time to ride the horse “lucero”. Great day here in Nicaragua, thankful for all the thoughts and prayers!

We woke up this morning and headed to the radio station for testimonies, song, and scripture. Molly and Bob shared their stories during that time. Ben shared a sermon based on 1 Corinthians 12, which is about using your gifts to serve God. After the radio station, we went to La Barrera and dug more of the shelter’s foundation. Half the team went to the river to gather sand for making concrete. After that, we came back to Casa de Shelly. Don put us to work pulling weeds in the field. Finally, it was time for lunch, which was a blessing because we were all exhausted and starving. After lunch, we traveled to the village named Cofradia. Here, Doctor Carolina with the help of David and Morgan treated a long line. The rest of the team cooked for the residents and played with the kids as they waited for their food. The people were very receptive to our help and attention, which was extremely gratifying. As we left this village, we were in awe of the massive amounts of trash present on the side of the road. We were told that people moved to this certain area because of the “resources” the pile of trash gave. It was hard for the team to wrap their minds around the fact that people could even use old trash as resources. It is shocking to see the extreme poverty present throughout this country. After refreshing ice-cream provided by Don, we stopped by a baseball field near the village we visited today. It was cool to see the locals in a recreational environment outside of their neighborhoods. The kids were drawn to gringos that wanted to watch the same sport they were. We are now getting ready for youth to come to the compound tonight. We will have a volleyball game going, hamburgers, fries, and fellowship. Ben will be teaching the kids about the Trinity. So far, the trip has been going great. We are slowly growing used to the heat, and thankfully nobody has gotten sick. Thank you so much for all your thoughts and prayers. We truly are seeing God move throughout this country.

After an early wake up call from Donald, Ben shared a devotion with us from Exodus 19:5-6. He spoke about how the priests in ancient Israel were tasked with teaching the people the about God through what they said and what they did. In the same way the people of Israel were to be a “kingdom of priests”, they were to teach the nations to serve the one true God through their actions. In the same way, Christians today are to be a kingdom of priests, to teach the good news of Jesus Christ to all the nations, through word and deed.

After breakfast, a group went to the radio station to where Virginia and Jon shared testimonies, while a small group sang , prior to a short sermon from Brad about John 4, that is the story of the Samaritan woman at the well.

After returning from the radio station, the entire group loaded up for the trip to La Barrera, where we began work on the shelter, digging trenches two feet deep. In addition, while part of the group was digging the ditches, the other half of the group went to the riverbed, loading the truck with sand in order to make the concrete.

After a delicious lunch courtesy of Mama Maria, we went out for the afternoon to do ministry in Cayanlipe. There we gave out tshirts to all the kids and stew to everyone, in addition to hosting a medical clinic for all the children in the community. Dr Carolina saw 73 children in about 2 hours….God has sent BWCM and angel.

Today some of our team went to the Radio Station after breakfast and shared testimonies on the air. Domingo and I sang two worship songs and Jonge gave a short message. We went back to Villa Esperanza to check once more on the house that is being fixed, and also to clear weeds for a garden. We played with the children, and it was nice to see them again! We shared the story of Noah’s arc between all of our games. Afterward, we went to a village called Las Mesas to interact with the people, give out medical supplies, and serve them a meal. This village, surprisingly, had a basketball court! However, we didn’t have a basketball. The court was a great play area for the kids though and we had a lot of fun jumping rope, doing relay races, and playing a very large game of hot potato (papa caliente). We shared a bible story, explaining to them how much Jesus loves each one of us. One lady was talking to me after I served the food, and she asked us to bring her an English Dictionary the next time we come back and said that she was a teacher there. She had greeted me in English, and I could tell that she was trying to learn! On our way back to the Casa, we tossed candy, clothes, and toys out to the people who were anxiously awaiting us on the sides of the road! I am sad that today was our last day going out into the villages before our team returns to the U.S. We really had a great time serving and sharing the gospel with the people of Nicaragua, and I cannot wait to come back!

David is an average teenage boy in Nicaragua. Life is hard and usually deals many unfortunate blows his way. Not much changes from day to day. However, on Tuesday of this week, life for him and his village was anything but “normal”. Why? Gringo’s came over the mountain and setup camp in their village. The first Americans he’s ever seen in person! That’s right…never seen Americans. I didn’t believe it myself. Therefore, I asked many people within La Palma if any Americans had ever been to visit. Nope! Much less, Christian Missionaries. The blank stares and big eyes backed it up. In fact as we crested a hill and walked the long dusty road to their village there was crowd waiting in the street. Word had spread…”gringos were coming!” As we traveled to a local water source, David followed. As we pumped water we began to ask questions and ultimately to share the good news of Jesus. David had never heard about sin. No concept. He did however; understand that he had done bad things. But just like the word “sin”, he had no idea who Jesus was and what He had done for him. That night, there was a worship service held in honor of Jesus Christ. The place was packed, inside and out. Missionaries shared testimonies. The word of God was preached and demonstrated. As the sun went down it grew dark inside the building with no electricity. Thus, illuminating our hearts to the darkness within their lives without the Gospel of Jesus! Pray for the people of La Palma. The Word of God never returns void. Seeds have been sown. Many will be needed (and required) to come back, sow, water, remove weeds and pull in the harvest. Would you come?
“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” Matthew 9:37

This morning after breakfast, we went to the radio station. Two of us shared our testimony, but after the first chorus of “Come Now is the Time to Worship,” the power shut off! I guess the rest of the song will have to wait until tomorrow! Afterward, we went to two schools, Dulce Nombre de Jesus and Casablanca. We sang songs, told a Bible story, and let the children color. Then we played games like soccer, kickball, and hot potato. The children really enjoyed it, and it was interesting to be at a school because all of the kids were all together and they all wanted to play! Later on, we went to a village called Las Torres where people from our team saw people one by one and gave them medicine. We also had fun playing with the kids there. We cooked chicken stew and I scooped it into bowls one by one as the people moved through the long line. It was nice to have extra at the end to top off some bowls! We left the pastor with a bag off candy and a bag of children’s clothes to hand out to people in the village.

This morning started early at the hotel. As this is my first trip to Nicaragua, the first thing I noticed early this morning was how bright it was outside our room! We left for the 3 hour trip to Somotillo at about 7:30am. There were many interesting things to see on the way. One minute motorcycles are buzzing by, the next Oxen pulling a wooden trailer of sorts. It’s so beautiful here, lakes, volcanoes, and sugar cane along the way.

When we got to Casa de Shelly we got settled in and had lunch. Then got ready to hit the mission field. Our team got into a big truck and started to our first village “Villa Esperanza”. We threw goodies off the truck for people along the way, and then arrived at the village.

Our team cooked the “chicken stew” for 250 people. Everybody jumped in line with their bowls in hand. We played soccer with the kids, painted nails, and had conversations with the help of our interpreters. It is easy to see how quickly you can pick up a language by living with the people. I am already better with the few phrases that I know. While we were handing out packages of rice to the Mothers, a girl in a wheel chair came up to us crying. She loves to come out when people come to the village, but they were not letting her come. She wanted to come so badly, that she tipped over her wheel chair and hurt her back. We tried to comfort her by handing her some rice. I brushed my hands through her hair as she laid her head on my side. Her face lit up when I handed her a bracelet.

Coming home, all of the children were on the side of the road ready for our return. And we were ready too! A truck full of baseball players came up behind us and they wanted candy as well! We through some candy piece by piece at the truck as they all laughed and tried their best to catch it. As Jonge took pictures and laughed they yelled to throw the camera! Needless to say, he did not.

Tonight we are going to church to worship and look forward to what God has for us this week.

We had another great day on the mission. Our day started with no power supplying the radio station. Those of you who have been here understand. So we did what you do when you are on the mission field we adapt. Kim and Barbara shared their testimonies and Deb lead us in a few worship songs here at Casa de Shelly. We went and finished painting the house at Las Liras. It came out a beautiful green as bright colors are the norm. Then we came back to Casa de Shelly and cleaned up around the house for awhile.

The mission team spent the afternoon in the village of San Francisco. Upon arrival, the crowd was excited to see us. While the doctor saw patients, Debbie shared Chimp, a puppet, with the kids while Barbara, Kim, April, and Laurel painted the fingernails of the little girls. Donnie, Nathan, and Roger played soccer with the boys. We gave out bracelets for the children to make and Paula helped several children to make theirs. Later, Donnie shared the gospel message with the young men of the village and Nathan prayed for them. Then

, David, Ron, Donnie, and Nathan catapulted water balloons at the boys and girls. This was a fun time on such a hot day. Hanna finished the playtime with a few rounds of Duck Duck Goose with the boys and girls. It was a successful day on the mission field being the hands and feet of Jesus!

This morning we went to the village of Las Liras to continue work on a building project. A young family had been living in a self constructed hut made of sticks and plastic barely big enough to sleep in when they met Don and Pam. The couple are not believers, but God led Don to construct a house for them and so the project began. The house has been fully constructed but today we had the honor of beginning the finishing touches by putting on the trim and primer. While we were working, a group of children came to join us and play with our missionary Chimp, a monkey puppet. The morning was made complete when we were able to see the joy on the face of the young mother as she returned from town and saw her house one step closer to completion. Only three days ago there was a very heavy rain which lasted for hours and the young woman told us how grateful she was to be safe and dry in her new home instead of soaking wet beneath a make shift shanty.

This afternoon we went to the village of La Carreta on missions to connect with the village residents and share the gospel to them. We drove in throwing candy out to the children on the way. Once we got there we set up multiple different areas. We had a doctor with us to help treat the sick and injured children, we were playing soccer with them, playing with a puppet, painting nails, making bracelets and playing with water balloons. We then fed the village residents a type of stew and connected with them a little longer. A thing that stuck out to me was when a couple children took another missionary and I to their school it was an amazing experience to get to see where they study at and the smiles on the girls faces when they got to show it to us, it is something I will truly never forget.

After a full day on Saturday and half a day today, we made our way to Casa de Shelly! YEAH! All a little tired. Some not sure what to expect but all full of excitement and ready to serve. We are group representing 3 Virginia churches of 3 different denominations working and loving as the Body of Christ. It doesn’t get any better.

As I was driving to the airport, I felt the Lord reminded me that His heart is for the individual. Although I knew the bulk of the mission outreach would be to villages, I set myself to be sensitive to EACH of the individuals He would bring to me. This afternoon I was touched by the children who gathered around me and my puppet, Chimp. My heart was praying for each individual child while I tried to interchange with each one with a smile on my face. I am again awed by my Father who has such personal care for EACH ONE of His creations.

Worship tonight at Prince of Peace church is always amazing glorifying God with our Nicaragua family. Seeing familiar faces are great. Prayers much appreciated for the week. Kingdom growth All Because of Jesus!