Nicaragua Trip

It is good to be home with my family, even if it is in snowy Wisconsin. It’s a far cry from the 90 degree weather that the Catalyst team enjoyed in Nicaragua all last week. I’ll just share a brief overview of the exciting things that we were part of. I truly appreciate your interest in our ministry and your prayers for our family and the team. God’s work was very evident in the lives of the team as well as in the children and families that we ministered to in central Nicaragua.

The trip was a cooperative effort between the organization that our family serves with (Catalyst Missions) and Chosen Children Ministries. CCM began their ministry in Nicaragua as primarily an orphanage ministry; however their activities now encompass much more. A major part of their activity is working with pastors to plant churches. Often these pastors have the vision and just need some assistance to get things rolling. Our team visited a number of these churches to share bible lessons, songs, bible verses, food and love with the needy children and families in these areas. Early in the week our visits were to churches that were just getting started. These locations were very difficult and impoverished physically. A pastor at a village (barrio) called Emmanuel had three sick children and couldn’t even afford the medicine to help them recover. Thankfully, our team was able to help by going to the pharmacy and purchasing the needed medicine for them. The antibiotics and medicine for three children only cost $7, not much more than what we’d pay for a bottle of cough syrup.

Throughout the course of the week we shared both physical and spiritual bread with many children and families. We spent time at the orphanage location where we did the bible lesson, songs and bible verses. As well we got to spend several hours just playing with the children and loving them. Quite ironically these children were probably better off than most of the children that we spent time with during the week. CCM’s orphanage, called Casa Mephibosheth, was doing an amazing job at providing for and caring for the children there. In the area of the orphanage our team also did some outreach and went out visiting people to talk with them about Jesus. It was quite a stretch on the team members, but was also very exciting to hear the stories of what happened. One young man of 17 years old made a profession of faith in Jesus.
The strategy to focus on outreach rather than just the orphanage came from the realization that just caring for the neglected children doesn't effect the source. This is the reason that CCM has focused on supporting church plants in rural areas. It was very evident that God’s Word changes not only lives but the entire culture of a community. The teams, like ours, that come to serve with CCM do many types of things. Ours did Bible lessons where others might do medical outreach, building projects, or seminars for pastors and their families.

The team was tremendous. Their heart for the children and families that they worked with was amazing. The CCM staff in Nicaragua was fantastic. Their love for the Lord was evident in the way that they served our team and the people. Thank you for your prayers and partnership in this trip. God truly worked in hearts and for that we praise Him.