Pequea Church Brethren In Christ » Missions

We’re Home & Final Summary

admin — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 19:43:34 +0000

The 2012 Nicaragua team has arrived home safely! We are thankful for good travel connections and flights as we returned home yesterday. We made it back to Pequea church by shortly after 7:00 p.m.. As you can imagine we were so glad to see our families. We have not heard yet from the Canadian team but our hope is that they arrived safely.

We praise God for the following and much more…

safety in our travels by plane, van, taxi, boat and bus. It was an amazing journey!
all the relationships we developed along the way
for Pastor Pedro’s leadership at the Lomas Frescas BIC church
for the Nicaraguan people that opened up their hearts and lives to us and welcomed us every step of the way
for Marshall Poe’s leadership- we could not have done this trip without him and he made the journey more fun.
for relatively good health. Many of us had bouts of uneasy bowels but over all we all fared well!
for all that we learned
for wonderful sharing with all brothers and sisters in Christ for Nicaragua.

We had an excellent team that cooperated in every way even though our schedule was packed, the traveling was exhausting and the working conditions were very challenging! We learned so much about ourselves and about the faithfulness of the God that we serve. I know that we return changed and with a new appreciation for all the things that we normally take for granted!

Thank you to the entire team back here at home- you donated money, you prayed for us constantly and give us encouragement. We could not have done it without you and in our discouraging exhausting times, your prayers kept us going.

Because of the money that the Sherkston and Pequea church raised and the work that we did and the Lomas Frescas people continue to do- the church should be completed by some time this summer! God is good! The people of the church have been praying for over 11 years that God would provide a bigger church building for their growing congregation. Many times they got discouraged and some left the church but the rest of the church kept praying and in God’s perfect timing- their prayers were answered! I have no doubt whatsoever that the money that was donated to help build this church building is going to have untold spiritual multiplication in the lives of people for many years to come.

Pray for the people of Bluefields and the Lomas Frescas church. Life is very difficult for them. Every simple chore that we do quickly like washing clothes or cooking- for them takes hours of work. Many families are without a father as men have gone to Costa Rica to find work and never come back. Mothers and grandmothers are raising children and trying to keep food on the table. Opportunities for employment and advancement are limited. Living conditions are rough and basic. Children, especially the young girls are often sexually abused. But the church is trying to make a difference and we sensed the Holy Spirit at work at this little church on the hill. We look forward to see what God will do in the years to come at this place.

Thanks to all for your love and support. Pray for the team as we return to normal life- rather exhausted and also as we process all that we have seen, experienced, felt and all that we are still trying to sort out in our minds. We will never be the same again.

Blessings-

On behalf of the entire team- Daleen Charles- Team leader

See Photos from the trip here (more photos will be posted in the coming days).

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March, 18th: The Last Day

goglobal — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 01:03:27 +0000

Our last full day in Nicaragua was spent mostly on a hot dusty bus travelling between Rama and Managua. The trip took about six and a half hours. The bus carried us through the heart of Nicaragua, over mountains and flat highlands. As we headed west the landscape became very dry and rugged. There were many large ranches and small villages along the way. We were on the express bus, which means it was only supposed to make one bathroom stop along the way. As usual, we picked a few people up and dropped a few off along the way. Some were traveling salesmen, peddling their wares for a few kilometers down the pike.

Many of us are travel weary and ready to be home, but none of us have regretted taking this trip. We leave having been taught a great deal. Many have said they would like to return and serve the Lord again in this place. God’s great work and power is on display here in a magnificent way. There is still much work to be done, but much has already been accomplished. Pray for safe travels and good health following our return home. ¡Que Dios los bendiga!

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Saturday March 17th, 2012 From Bluefields to Rama

goglobal — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 20:38:51 +0000

Today was a day anticipated with both great excitement and great trepidation. We left Bluefields this morning via a panga (high speed boat). Pastor Pedro was there to see us off. The trip took just under two hours. Hold on to your hat was the buzzword around the boat.

We have arrived in Rama, which is a much different place than Bluefields. You can tell walking around that there is a bit more money here. Most of this is due to it being a transportation hub from Managua to Bluefields. The sense among the team is one of tiredness. We are feeling as if our mission is at its conclusion, and are ready to come home. We will attend inglesia later on this evening with the Rama BIC. This will be our 5th church service this week!

Tomorrow we take the “express” bus to Managua. Pictures will be posted when we arrive in Managua. ¡Buenos Dias!

This blog is being written from a cyber cafe, so apologies for the condition of the spelling (The spell check is operating for Spanish, so every word is being squiggly underlined in red).

Friday, March 16th 2012: The Hardest Day Yet

goglobal — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 04:37:33 +0000

Today was the last work day, but also our last day to spend with our brothers and sisters at Lomas Frescas BIC. The day has been very hot, so the work was again slow. Some of us have had some issues with illness, but most have recovered. There was a heavy feeling today as we were working our way to the end of the day, and the eventual goodbyes that would come. Despite this, we had a great day on the site laughing, working, and just sweating in general. Some of us went to see the other two BIC churches in Bluefields. One is a very traditional looking church not far from downtown, the other is a building on stilts in a swampy area.

The Goodbye Service:

This service is both the best and saddest service that we have attended this week. There were many of the same songs sung, except for a less than perfect rendition of “Abre Mis Ojos” (Open the Eyes of My Heart) by our group! (Our attempt at singing in Spanish!). There were many moving testimonials given. The people in this church have been praying for the ability to expand the church for over a decade, and they were so thankful for our assistance. We felt as though we were the ones that should be thanking them for showing us such great hospitality and love despite their meager circumstances. Their sacrifice is like the two copper pennies given by the widow. Small in size, but from nothing they have given their best to us. The Holy Spirit was showing His presence in a big way tonight and throughout the week. We have all learned a great deal of humility, and have been taught to be better stewards of the blessings we enjoy. It was especially painful to leave the children, many of whom are fatherless. We can only pray for them, and let the Lord work.

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Thursday, March 15, 2012 Less Rain!!

goglobal — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 03:13:45 +0000

Well, it did rain a little (okay… a lot) this morning. However, the sun did start shining after lunch. The work site was a little more bearable, and it only took us three days to figure out that we could buy muck boots for US $8.50 less than a block away from the hotel. The boys on the worksite are hanging around us constantly, trying to impress the men. We have discovered that many of these boys are either fatherless or their father is away trying to earn money. You can tell they are just starving for some male role models, and we are hoping that we are being a good example. The work is continuing, but our focus is not on productivity, but on relationships. The foreman, Abraham (Ah-bram), is great to work with, and is very capable. His children join us frequently on the site. Tomorrow holds the promise of a drier day for our last day of work,

The ladies of the group spent the day doing ministry instead of construction. It was a long and exhausting day but very fulfilling. We started the day at the Pastor’s home sharing, encouraging and praying with the Pastor’s wife. The women here in Nicaragua have many burdens and fears. Life is hard and the daily tasks of life that we breeze through quickly through the day like cooking, cleaning and washing dishes- here these tasks take sooo much time and are done in the most primitive of conditions.

After leaving the Pastor’s house, we walked through a maze of sidewalks, dirt pathways and around many small houses to visit the Pastor’s mother- Rafella is 85 years old and completely bed ridden after breaking her hip 3 years ago. Her legs are twisted and she is in constant pain. She leaves in a small shack with 5 other people. We have no idea how they sleep. The house is up on stilts because of all the rain and the floor boards are rotting through so we had to take great care as we entered the home. We had a wonderful time of prayer and encouragement with Rafella.

The ladies joined the guys are the job site for lunch and also practicing our singing. We have discovered that we have some good voices in the group so for church we sang a number of songs.

Missy has done a great job with the children’s ministry. Today was no exception as we have 40 kids crowd into the church for a lesson. The children have such joy and are very well behaved. They are so affectionate and love to give us all hugs. I think by now each of us would like to take at least one home with us.

We have church from 5-7. It seemed a bit long tonight as we were so tired. The Nicaraguans enthusiasm is really amazing. They are so sincere and passionate about their worship. It is going to be hard to say good bye to all of them tomorrow evening.

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Wednesday, March 14th. More Mud!

goglobal — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 02:21:05 +0000

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Buenos Noches! It has been another very muddy day on the jobsite. Despite the conditions were able to get a great deal done today. We are developing better communication with our new friends here. Fortunately, most of the jobs are simple and repetitive. The kids on the site continue to outwork us, and we are discovering that not much changes when it comes to the antics that go on with them. The people here are so welcoming and hospitable. Life here is not as technically efficient, but it is more relational. The pastor’s family is well represented on the site, and you can tell how close they all are. There may not be as much work getting done as we would like, but we are building more than just a building. We are connecting with the larger church. We are experiencing the love of Christ in a magnificent way. Hopefully we are extending the same love in some measure back in the way we are receiving it.

The ladies of the team have been balancing their time between helping with the building, doing women’s ministry and also running children’s ministry at the church. Today the ladies gather with some of the women in leadership at the Lomas Frescas church to encourage them and pray with them. We met at Cadida’s home and had a wonderful time of prayer, sharing together and encouraging one another. The women of Nicaragua have hard lives, caring for children and running their households in very primitive conditions. They seemed to enjoy the encouragement that we were able to give and they also prayed for us in our ministries at home.

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Tuesday March 13th (on Wednesday)

goglobal — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 23:18:40 +0000

Sorry about the day late. We will post today’s tonight as well. The internet infrastructure is somewhat dicey.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012: Rain! (Sort of)

Yes, overnight and this morning it rained buckets, which of course, turned the jobsite into a giant mud pit. It was raining when we got to the jobsite, but work was continuing. It has been very much the same kind of work: rebar fabrication, concrete mixing and pouring, unsticking each other from the muck, and so-forth. Occasionally, it would rain hard enough that we could take a break. Spirits are high among the team, and our Nicaraguan counterparts. The teenagers on the jobsite were having a grand time at our and each other’s expense. The ladies left to do some more ministry in the community after lunch again. It proved to be a very emotional day for the ladies ministry team. They visited some more church families and learned that many of the moms and dads work during the days and the children are left to fend for themselves. It was particularly disturbing to find that many of the young women have no hope. Many are taken advantage of by older men and end up pregnant. Very rarely do they leave the community and the cycle of fatherless children continues. Many grandmothers raise the children while the moms go to work. Please pray for two young ladies that broke our hearts. Pray that they would be encouraged and find mature role models who know the Lord. The afternoon culminated in a wonderful children’s ministry that had about 50 kids in attendance! The theme was David and Goliath. There were crafts and games as well as the teaching. We ended our evening at a worship service at Lomas Frescas. We were given an opportunity to sing the special music for the evening. Though we were unprepared, we gave them an adequate rendition of How Great Thou Art and Amazing Grace.

Sorry this is a day late, the internet was not working last night.

Please note that photo uploads are very slow (or nearly impossible) in this area. We will keep trying!

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Day 4: What a work day!

goglobal — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 03:00:44 +0000

It is very clear to us that we are not in the Best Western Las Mercedes anymore. The rooms are very basic, and mostly clean. The showers are a little challenging as you cannot touch the faucet handle without getting a little stray voltage. Bluefields is a very interesting place. There is a mix of cultures including Nicaraguans, several ingenious tribes, and Caribbean blacks (called Zambos locally). We ate a modest, but adequate “Americanesque” breakfast before heading to the work site. Things were in full swing when we got there. The foreman on the job is Abraham (pronounced “Ab-rahm”). He and Steve Groff were busy making sure we all had enough to do. Abraham was also making sure we weren’t in the way too badly. Our jobs included a lot of manual labor like carrying blocks and boards down the hill, breaking up old footers, and tying rebar. We were humbled by the preferential treatment we received at meal time. The lunch was painstakingly prepared by the women of the church. They served us on the best plates available. We were not disappointed. The women on the team left us after lunch to visit and minister to some of the local women of the church and surrounding community.

The pastor’s wife led the ladies group to five homes of families from the Lomas Frescus Church. During our visit we learned of the difficulties they face on a daily basis. We spent time praying for each of them, specifically for healing and for salvation of family members. We sang, “How Great Thou Art” and “Amazing Grace” and shared simple gifts with them. Our hearts were blessed to see their acceptance of us and appreciation for the time that we shared with them. Suhay, our translator, did a marvelous job helping to communicate and translate our prayers. It was a sweet time of sharing Christ’s love.

Many of the children and teenagers were trying hard to help us and prove themselves to us and their older brothers. The language barrier is starting to erode a bit, but we still mostly communicate in broken Spanish and many, many hand signals. We are ending the day very tired, but much was accomplished today and the spirit of unity is strong between us and our brothers and sisters here.

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We made it to Bluefields!

goglobal — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 13:45:09 +0000

Greetings from Bluefields!

We arrived safely yesterday afternoon.

On Saturday evening we had a wonderful ministry supper with Edgar- the leader of the BIC Nicaragua Churches (kind of like our Bishop). It was great to hear what is happening here in Nicaragua with the 103 Nicaraguan BIC churches. He asked that we pray for wisdom for him and his team of leaders as they are making some structural changes and doing training for Pastors. He expressed his appreciation for all the financial and prayer support for the BIC brothers and sisters in North Amercia.

Saturday was a full day as you read in the last posting and we were exhausted by evening. It was good to retire to bed.

Sunday morning- we awoke excited and anticipating (at least most of us) the flight to Bluefields. Our flight was relatively smooth, but they had an interesting method of luggage handling, but all of our bags met us here! Getting off of the plane was breathtaking. The natural beauty of this place is something to see. It is very different from Managua, it is much more humid.

Gotta go to work now! Updates to follow with pictures!

Day 1 Sabado

goglobal — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 01:18:03 +0000

! Buenos Noches! Good Evening! Praise God for yesterday’s safe travels and the safe travels for the team from Canada. He was with us all of the way. We also learned that Glenn is in better shape than many of the younger members of the team. We have been making meaningful friendships with our brothers and sisters from Canada as we toured some of the areas surrounding Managua. Many of us were amazed at the sights, sounds, and smells of the country. This morning’s itinerary began with a fantastic buffet breakfast with some familiar and traditional Nicaraguan foods. After breakfast we hopped in the sixteen passenger van with Marshall at the helm. We began by taking a relaxed boat ride around some islands on Lake Nicaragua. There are many homes of the Nicaraguan wealthy class on these islands, which are in great contrast to some of the areas we drove through to get there. After the boat we drove to Masaya to the open air market for lunch and some souvenirs. Many of us were able to hone our haggling skills while rubbing shoulders with the people there. At lunch, we met one of our brothers from The BIC Church in Masaya named Charlie. The day of sightseeing ended with a visit to an active volcano at Masaya. Many of us were amazed at the majesty of God’s creative ability on display there. Tomorrow we will fly to Bluefields to begin our ministry there. ! Que Dios los bendiga!

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