Excerpts from Nicaragua 2010 Blog
FaithBridge Nicaragua Mission Team 2010/ Centro La Paz, July 24-31
Back row: L-R: Tom Giron, Taylor White, Amy Morris, Debbie Pappas, Tina Silva, Everett Garvin, Benjamin Tano
Middle row: Maria Pulliam, Michelle Hatvani, Moises Camacho, Shane Heisler, Paul White, Rachel White, Rick Reed
Front row: Nia Elliott, Ronnie Morris, Ashley Pulliam, Abbi White, Grant White, Jamey Edwards, Samantha Reed
Not pictured: Ray Stewart
Mission Team verse: "Now this same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God's wonderful grace." Colossians 1:6 Put your text or images or anything in here.
July 26, 2010
Day 1
Dear Church family,
Thank you for keeping up with our Nicaragua Team news! We are very excited to see what God will do in the lives of Nicaraguan people this year and we anticipate that many will hear the gospel and receive Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. Each day we will work in local villages with children and families along with local pastors; we will have the opportunity to proclaim the Gospel over the radio for four days, and in the evenings partner with local churches to host an evangelistic crusade where Pastor Paul will be preaching. I hope you will join us by praying as we take to the skies this Saturday; please pray for our travel, our ministry, and our health and that as we lift up Christ, He will draw people to saving knowledge of Himself.
We will update our travel log as soon as we have access to internet services so you can know what the Lord is doing there and can continue to pray for our team specifically.
May God richly bless you for your prayers and support,
Rachel White/Team Leader/ Nica Mission Team 2010
July 27, 2010
Day 2
What a productive day for the Lord! We were actually able to hold fiestas at three different locations around La Paz Centro! Ray and Tom led a discipleship conference in both the morning AND evening! We were able to assist a local church in a feeding at the local dump. And Mo was able to do radio evangelism to broadcast the Word and promote the crusades! A glorious day in the Lord that led to approximately 200 decisions for Christ!
Our team is a good mix of both veterans and first timers, as our second day closed I asked for some of the first timer's opinions now that they have experienced a Sunday worship service in Nicaragua and also spent all day out in the extreme heat walking the dirt roads and witnessing for Christ. Here's what a few of them had to say:
"I like being away from all the distractions. I also love how the people of Nicaragua are so ready to lose themselves to worship God."
"This has shown me how big our God really is. I get it now. He hears us in every language in heaven! The people here literally pour themselves into their worship of the Lord. These people have nothing and are still the most gracious people I have seen. God is truly their provider!"
"The major difference between here and the US—here they all run to participate in our fiestas and want to be a part. Back home no one ever seems to want to get involved anymore with things."
It is very different spending our week here pouring our lives into the people. There are no distractions: no cell phones ringing, no tvs, no internet surfing, no jobs. Only working for the Lord and spending our time fulfilling the Great Commission in the moments we have. It's an amazing experience that sometimes there really are no words to truly convey.
Please continue to pray for us. Tuesday morning we lead two more fiestas and Mo will be leading a Youth Conference with the teenagers that are along. Rachel and Michelle will be doing the radio broadcast to share the message and promote the crusades! Tomorrow evening is the first big evening crusade! Pastor Paul's picture is put on every telephone pole in La Paz Centro so we hope MANY will come and bring friends to hear the message! Thank you all so much for continuing to pray for our safety, good health and decisions for Christ!
Day 3
Exerpts from Tom's journal:
"Ray and I went back to Revelation 3:30 church this morning for a discipleship conference for church leaders from several local churches. Great event. Much smoother than last night. Started about 20 mins late and still the majority of the approximately 25 attendees strolled in during the opening of the first topic. Juan Carlos was our assigned interpreter for the day. After some worship led by the church, Ray led off with some prayer and then started the first topic: Quiet Time. I followed with How to Share Your Testimony. When I was done, Juan suggested we allow an attendee to give their testimony for practice/example and a 76 year old woman volunteered. Unfortunately, I forgot to mention the importance of brevity. She took a LONG time, but it was a great story that included a time before she accepted Christ when she was reading the bible to an illiterate pastor so he could prepare for sermons. Talk about God using our weakness to accomplish His work. After a juice break, Ray continued with One-Verse Evangelism based on Romans 6:23. Ray's presentation was awesome. He really got the crowd worked up and interacting. I finished the conference with Scripture Memorization, importance and techniques. Beth then drew tickets for door prizes. The woman who volunteered to share her testimony was drawn first and got first pick. Coincidence?"
"During lunch, another discipleship conference opportunity came up for the evening. It was 'suggested' that Ray and I cover that one as well. No problem, as we both loved it. Paul and Rick decided to come along 'for moral support'. We covered the same material, less the scripture memorization due to time. However, the venue was completely different. Format was more of a standard worship service, except with Ray and I teaching instead of preaching. The church was much larger as was the crowd. I'm guessing around 100. The church was in the cleanest city in Nicaragua. They had an award and everything. The mayor had actually gone door-to-door to every resident to organize the cleanliness efforts. And it showed. Worship group was spectacular. Best show I've ever seen that I didn't require a paid ticket. And better than a few that did. They actually had an easle for the whiteboard and a cordless microphone running on a 9 VDC battery, which are VERY expensive here. Our interpeters for this event were Edes, Chris, and Chico. Ray repeated his great performance on One-Verse and we headed back. Due to the late hour, we stopped at Tip-Top on the way back. Ray bought dinner for a security guard, at Chico's suggestion, that had been forced into a double shift and wasn't allowed to buy dinner. After that, it was too late for ice cream. Too bad. It's the real reason Paul and Rick had come along. :-) "
Youth Conference Excerpt by Rick Reed:
"What a blessing it was to watch youth from different churches worship together. Some of the youth from Faithbridge were joined on stage by two youth from Nicaragua. It was amazing to watch the Lord work through our youth! To see the Nicaraguan youth write notes in their journals as Mo preaches the word and watch them hang on every word. It was my first youth conference and I can only tell you how proud the parents of our youth should be! To see them step up and talk boldly in front of that many people was truly amazing! There was so much clapping, singing, dancing, learning and most of all there was fellowship between the Nicaraguan teens and ours!"
Please continue to lift our team up! Wednesday we will be doing two fiestas again in the morning. Rachel will be speaking at a women's conference where two women will be sharing their testimonies. Ray will also be on the radio broadcasting God's word again as well as promoting the crusade and in the afternoon we will split into two teams and one will visit a local hospital while the other goes to a local Indian Reservation where a new well is supposed to be drilled soon. Please continue to pray for Paul as he leads Wednesday nights crusade! That many souls would be won for Jesus! Pray for our teams good health as the days are pressing on and the heat is exhausting. Thank you all so much! God bless.........
Day 4
Today has been another amazing day in the Lord here in Nicaragua. We held two fiestas this morning while Ray and Tom broadcasted from the radio station. Proclaiming the Good News and promoting the Crusades from over the radio! What an amazing opportunity God has blessed us with each day we are down here! Rachel led a Women's Conference this morning and over 100 women attended and were inspired and encouraged by her powerful message and the testimonies given by Michelle, Nia and Sam. A group of us then chose to tour a hospital and Ray was able to share the gospel with the patients waiting for care! It was awesome and the director of the hospital accepted Christ! We handed out stuffed animals to the children, hygiene kits to patients,and Bibles to those that prayed to receive Christ! We were given the privilege of seeing a SIX hour old baby girl and her mother! She was absolutely perfect! A true blessing from the Lord!
Right now the team is resting as much as possible in front offans, spending quiet time in restoration. Trying to allow their bodies time to recuperate from the heat before we head out to the Indian Reservation where we will go to an area of people that live by the sewer ponds to distribute clothing and food as well as share the Gospel. Then we will load back up in the vans and head to the Crusade again this evening. Please lift the crusade this evening up in prayer...for the rains to stay away and for many to come to know Jesus. For Pastor Paul as he delivers God's message to the people that will come by bus full's to hear the message. We appreciate your prayers!
Life in the day of a first timers mission trip to Nicaragua
By: Ben Tano
Our day typically starts around 5:30am where we wake up and start out with our quiet time and breakfast around 6. It's so nice to be in a place where there is so much beauty that you thank God every morning you wake up. the house is great that we are staying at but by 7:10 we are out the door to start our first fiesta, we put two on in the morning then head back in for lunch around 12. The fiestas are so much fun. Fiestas are one of the chances we get to talk and witness to the locals. They are so welcoming. Our translators are awesome. They are lots of fun and are great Christians. I have learned so much from being here so and am feeling God's presence everywhere we are going. On Tuesday I ended up getting sick with a stomach bug on the way home from our second fiesta. It was so painful. When we got back to the mission house I was able to take a cipro and take an hour nap. As I laid down for my nap i prayed, Lord please heal me so that I can go to the crusade and praise your holy name and show how glorious you are.
Boy was I excited when I woke up later that afternoon after missing lunch to find myself completely feeling 100% better like I was a different man, what can I say God is good. When we were at the crusade I was dancing and having the time of my life praising the Lord. I would feel the presence of the Lord at the baseball field doing what he does best. As I was praying over two guys on the baseball field who were standing in front of me because our interpreters were all taken I felt the Holy Spirit just come over me.., by the time I was done (praying) I felt a peace like the two guys prayers were answered and I knew I needed to push through being sick for a reason and at that time I knew why. We finally got back to the mission house for dinner around 10:30 pm. I didn't end up going to sleep till midnight along with Amy because we here uploading new blogs and pictures onto the web site. The Lord has been doing miraculous things though the people of Nicaragua and in our own team. I know my life has been changed for the better on this trip. I am so much more thankful for what God has placed in my possession and the life I have back home. I was shocked by how little the people around here have and how bad their living conditions are, but how much they throw themselves into their worship. When they are at church they give the Lord everything they have........
Day 5
What an incredible journey this has been. I can't believe our week here is almost over! And that seems to be the mantra...its Thursday and our final crusade! Today we led two more fiestas with one being in a school again--that is so awesome. To come into a school and proclaim the Gospel! We witnessed on the streets as well as to the parents of the children attending the fiestas. Such an amazing way to share God's love with them! Ray and Tom led another discipleship conference with church leaders and had over 100 in attendance. They are able to help encourage and equip the pastors of Nicaragua on quiet times, sharing your testimony, evangelism and scripture memorization. Rick and Pastor Paul had the privilege once again of being on the radio this morning to share the gospel and promote the crusades! And we know that people are listening because one of the team members heard Rachel on the radio of a villager the other day as we were street witnessing! AMAZING! Pastor Paul also told the crowd at the crusade last night that the crusade was being broadcast over the radio live as he spoke! God is so good!
This afternoon our down time is even shorter as we are leaving earlier to do the feeding for a village today (I thought it was yesterday). Yesterday we went out to the same Indian reservation but saw the actual well being drilled by Voice of Hope and heard of the plans for a school and church to be built there for the people of that area. This will be the first time this area has ever had running water to it!
Last night's crusade was fabulous! I want to thank you for your prayers and ask for them as this is our final night! Many people are coming to Christ and it is such a blessing to be a part of God's work!
Tomorrow is our final day here and for the team our day of being able to experience Nicaragua. We are able to go zip lining down the side of a volcano....which from last years experience is exhilarating! Just in case we aren't able to upload anymore--please remember us in prayer as we are at the Crusade tonight, as we are enjoying our day off tomorrow and especially as we travel home on Saturday. Your prayers mean so much to our team and are most certainly felt! God has been at work this week providing good health, good weather (in that I mean not raining on us! its still very hot!!) safety, travel mercies and allowing us to be His workers to win many souls for Him! Much thanks to you all!