Help a Child in Nicaragua

The reason I am writing you is because we need your help. As many of you may know every Christmas we try to bless as many kids as we can each year. As the Lord provides, the idea is to be able to put a smile on a child’s face by sharing Christ’s love with them in a practical way by being able to buy a toy for the child. These are the children in some of the villages that we work with through our feeding programs. 

Each year, we go into their village an entire day and we do activities, games where the children can win prizes, bring in piñatas, candies, clowns, Christian music, and a hot special meal. This is similar to festival or block party that runs for the entire day. Many of these children will not receive a toy this Christmas because their parents can't afford to buy one for them specially if there are two or more children in the house. Please help us put a smile on the face of a child. Last year with the help of some of you and IIM we were able to bless 3500 children by providing a special day and giving them a toy. This year we do not have any funds for the Christmas party yet, but we believe we serve a great God and together the body of Christ will do great things. We need $ 2.00 dollars per child to cover all that I mentioned above and we also will share the gospel with the parents as they come with their children to the activity. Please contact Pastor Charles Pinkerton at IIM so that they can get the funds to us. We do everything through IIM. May the good Lord keep you and bless you and your families and ministries.

With love from Nicaragua,

Oscar Corea and family

Israel Francois Has Immediate needs in Haiti

Hello Charles,

I have been waiting for information about a Haiti trip. I have the following projects waiting for teams in Haiti.

1. Deteriorated Orphanage home, I have sent pictures, I can send them again

2. Run down church structure waiting to be built
3. Pastor's home in need of serious repairs. Rev Francin Francois

I spoke to you about my father a Haitian pastor. He's 86 years old and he was walked every where he went. He has Pastored a couple of congregations. He spent all his ministerial time serving the churches without any kind of salaries or benefits. While He was still serving, five to six months ago, he got a stroke that left his left side paralyzed. Prior to the stroke, He broke his left legs due to a fall. His faith is still holding on but He is physically incapacitated. Since the stroke, I have been to Haiti to visit him. Some family members and I have covered quite a bit of expenses: From hospital expenses, after care and daily livelihood. In Haiti there is no such thing as a retirement plan, insurance, Medicare packages etc. Do you have any one of your partners that can assist this pastor/ veteran in the faith with refurbishing his home where he suppose to be living or help with his medical expenses. I am still praying for a miracle for him but I am all confident God may use anyone he wishes to use under the circumstances. I thank God for our friendship and future partnership. I thank God for your ministry. I will be sending some pictures that I took when I was there via other emails.

In His service,

Israel Francois

Prayer Request for Pakistani Christians, Churches & Institutions

St. Paul Church Complex Burned by Angry Muslim Mob

Warmest Greetings!  As many of you know, persecution is not strange to the Christian in Pakistan. The Lord Jesus has taught us much about suffering and persecution from His word.

^{Mt 10:22} All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

^{1Pe 4:14} If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

Angry Extremists Muslims mobs attacked the St.Paul Church complex in Mardan city in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province.

These same areas were affected by the devastating floods of 2010 and hundreds of  people were moved into this Church & its school where we at Gospel Light Ministries (Pakistan) ® helped to Muslims by providing Food and a free Medical camp in this Paul Lutheran Church building.

On September 21, 2012 St. Paul Lutheran Church in Mardan was burned by an angry mob protesting against the anti-Islam film. A  mob or more than 8,000 entered the Church compound many of them carrying gasoline used to burn the Church building, two Pastor’s  Houses, the adjacent Head-Teacher’s house of the St. Paul Church School, vehicles and motor bike of the Pastor.

The church and the Christian school had been looted and the newly-installed computers had been stolen by miscreants while the looters also stole other stuff from the church. The church’s Bibles & the books in church have also been burned. Several people staying inside the church complex were beaten. Since this incident Christian of that area, city & villages left their homes to save their lives. We are requesting that you remember our brothers & sisters in your prayers. In addition, please remember all Pakistani Christians & the properties of Churches in this area. It is our prayer that Pakistani Christians will be strong in faith and that God will use us for His glory & as witness so that Pakistan will come to know the Lord and many souls will be saved.

Thank you very much His Servant,

Ps. Imran Sadiq  

Gospel Light Ministries (Pakistan)

 

 

 

Help Needed in Nicaragua - Oscar

Oscar desperately needs help now in Nicaragua!!!

Item #1:

We need help with the Christmas outreach celebration for the children in December. We are trying to get this request out early so that everyone will have enough time to help us raise the needed funds. The cost per child this year is $3.00. We want to share the love of Christ in a practical way by getting each child one toy and preparing a nice meal for them. We hope to make a big day of it in the villages by bringing in clowns and having piñatas and candy with music in the back ground. It will be an all day activity where we will share the gospel with the adults that come on that day. Last year we were able to bless and put smiles on the faces of 3500 children with the help and support of IIM. This year we are waiting to see what God will do and you could be a part of this event. Please keep in mind that many of these children will never get a toy on Christmas unless we step up and do something because their parents can't afford to buy them anything in most cases.

Item #2:

We need help to be able to make the monthly payments on the new land where we have the warehouse used to store the food for the feeding units. This food is used to feed over 9000 thousand children a day in the different villages and cities in remote areas in Nicaragua. The monthly payment is $1200 for 12 months. We have been doing ok with payments with teams funds but as the year ends we do not have any more teams. Our September trip canceled therefore we will not have the extra funds to make payments until teams pick up next year. Anything we can come up with the owner will take and subtract it from the total amount. We are blessed that he is not very demanding on the time or the money. We will not have to pay any extra taxes on the land.

Item #3:

We also desperately need to update our truck. The white Chevrolet we have has a gasoline engine and is constantly breaking down. We are spending a lot of our resources to keep it running plus it uses a lot of fuel. If we could replace it with a better 4-wheel drive diesel truck that would be a big help! We must have a truck to deliver the food to the churches and villages where we feed the children. Many pastors, churches and villages are in the mountains in places we can only reach with a 4-wheel drive truck. This truck is also our primary way to get around to do sports ministry and all the other ministries God has sent us to do.

There are other needs in the ministry but we consider that these three are the main ones for now.

Thank you all for taking the time to read our needs. Please pray about them. On behalf of my family, our ministry and all the children and lives that we are able to touch because of your obedience to come down or to give to help the kingdom grow in Nicaragua thank you and may the Lord bless you.  

With Love in Christ always,

Oscar Corea and family

Family Mission Trip Cancelled

We are sorry to announce that the Family Mission Trip to Costa Rica scheduled for Sept 20 - 27, 2012 has been cancelled due to logistics. IIM hopes to offer this trip again in the Spring of 2013. Please contact Bro Charles Pinkerton for all the details.

IMMEDIATE - Job Opening in Costa Rica!!!

IIM has an immediate opening for a Spanish - English speaking pastor in Costa Rica. This is a great opportunity and is a funded position in a good location.  Contact Bro Charles for  details - (334) 685-4128!!!

Update from Tommy Melvin

Just a quick update from last week:

My team arrived fine Monday night. They almost missed their flight, and only two had missing luggage. We had it taken care of and Delta delivered it to the house. Tuesday, the team relaxed after the long day before. In the afternoon, we visited the orphanage. The teenage boys were a little unsure of how to interact with the kids, but soon jumped right in. Tuesday night, we went to the service at Pastor Juan's church in Carmen Lyra. It was a great experience for everyone. Wednesday morning, we arranged to have a man cut boards for the desk project we would be working on at the pastor's church.  Wednesday, we also went to the school in Carmen Lyra and painted all afternoon. Wednesday night, we attended the service at Messenger of Hope. Thursday, we went back to the school at 9 to do a program with the kids. It was very different and the kids were scattered into groups, but it went pretty well. After the program the kids left for the day and we continued painting. After we finished painting there, around 1, we went to the pastor's church in Guyabo to work on repairing the desks. We worked up their for a couple hours before returning back to the house. It seemed like an impossible task to sand, paint and have the new boards put on the desks. Friday, we worked putting a varnish on the wood pieces. In the afternoon, we split the group in two. Half of us went to the church to finish sanding and painting all the metal desk frames and the other half stayed and finished varnishing and organizing the supplies. I went with the group to the church, and it was a miracle that we were able to sand and paint all of the desk and chairs in the one afternoon. Saturday, we had our free day. We ate breakfast in town and shopped. Then we went canyoning in the afternoon. Sunday, we attended church here, and after Indra and her family took us to a restaurant  where you catch your own fish to have cooked. It was a lot of fun and very reasonable. Less than $80 for 13 people. That trip took most of the afternoon. Sunday evening, the team packed up and went to sleep early. They left here at 3AM for the airport.

I was very happy that this trip made a huge impact on several of the members. The one man that was in the group is a young Christian. He was brought to tears when talking about how his time here had changed him. Several others had the same experience and would be glad to go on another trip.

Yesterday (Wednesday) I went with carpenter to Pastor Juan's church to install the wood pieces on the desks and chairs. We left here at 7AM. The neighbors to the church fed us snacks and lunch. They are members of the pastor's church. We had to return to Turrialba to exchange some bolts and the neighbor gave us a ride there and back. We finished for the day around 5:30. Today, the carpenter went back to the church to finished a few of the chairs that were left.

RCC - Nicaragua 2012

Check out all the photos from the RCC - Nicaragua 2012 Medical Missions Trip on the website. The photos are in the slideshow on the home page. www.internationalimpactministries.com

Photos for the May Nicaragua Sports Missions Trip

The Mission Teams often visit local hospitals and visit with children who are sick although many times they see children that are burned in accidents including many from the dump.

 This little boy had been burned in an accident. He had been badly burned in a cooking accident.

 IIM and Oscar have been working with roughly 200 families that live in and around the dump. They hunt in the garbage in the dump for food or items to sell to buy food. This dump is often burning under the surface and is the reason many children are burned each year as they try to feed themselves.

The Mission Sports team from Florida represented Florida well as they play well, earned some respect from local teams and shared the Gospel with lots of young people.

It was a great blessing to get to build into the lives of so many desperate children. IIM and Oscar feed almost 10,000 women and children a day in Nicaragua. It is a huge mission that they could use everyone help in reach out and feeding people physically and spiritually.

Nicaragua Sports Mission Team Summary

Update from Sports Ministry Mission Team Lead by Tallahassee attorney Scott Gwartney.

The dorms looked great… and we thanked you by name every time we walked into that AC! Tallahassee felt downright cool when we got home!

Had a great trip. We had 12 college soccer players + a girlfriend + Chris Albanese and his wife. Then we had 5 old folks in their 40s mixed in with all those 18 – 21 year olds (Chris is 27). They played lots of soccer against everything from a high school team, club teams and even the defending 6-on-6 national champs.  I think our American guys just being there and playing well opened a lot of doors for Oscar.  After a testimony from one of our guys and brief talk from Oscar, we saw 20+ hands go up to accept Christ at one mid-field post-game huddle!  We had one young man who preached Sunday at Oscar’s church, and 4 more came forward to accept Christ. We did the feeding & VBS thing about 5 times, and my team was very sobered by the dump and the hospital.

We worked ‘em hard, but I think they were richly rewarded. It was a first mission trip for most of them.

Nicaragua Sports Ministry - May 19, 2012

Prayer team:
I'm sure you are all aware that our team is now back safe and sound in the USA . We had no serious injuries, no illnesses, no infection in the scrapes our soccer players got on the gravel and concrete fields, no infection in a nasty cut sustained the dump, and no harm sustained (other than, perhaps, a few broken hearts). God kept His children safe in Nicaragua and we are grateful for your prayers

.
I believe God also blessed our time and efforts. We had 20 + hands go up to accept Christ after one soccer game, and 4 more came forward and accepted Christ as their savior Sunday morning. Ours was the first American soccer team that Oscar has hosted in his ministry, and doors were opened by our presence and servant's heart.

Among the Americans, we had 20 who were obedient to go to Nicaragua, we saw amazing ministry in action, and while I will let each of them tell you, their prayer partners, in person how they were impacted, I am confident that each of our 20 has grown closer to the Savior, and adjusted our American compasses a bit to better align with God's compass. Thank you so much for your prayers for team unity and harmony. This was a wonderful group of guys and gals that worked very hard and got along great - as well as any short term mission team I have ever led or been with. A remarkable feat for such a large team.

As our final prayer requests, please pray for the team as they process what they've seen and done. Re-entry into the states can be a bit difficult or disconcerting after a trip like this. For at least half the team, it was their first time in a developing or 3rd world country, and reentry tend to be more complicated after that first trip.  Please pray also that each of the 20 will embrace the many opportunities they will have to share what they did, and saw God do, in manner that is pleasing to the Savior and glorifies Him.

Thank you again for your prayers. We are most grateful and humbled for your willingness to lift us up these past 10 days.

Nicaragua Sports Ministry - May 18, 2012

Thank you to all of you who have prayed for our team during this incredible mission! This has been a life changing experience for each and every one of us, so be prepared for stories and many, many details of how the Lord is working in Leon , Nicaragua . Most of us wouldn´t be the people we are today without you and the love you´ve shown us, so on behalf of the entire team, we sincerely thank you for the role you´ve played in our lives. God absolutely ordained and blessed this team of people to come together on this trip. I´ve been continuously amazed at the degree of patience, love, service, and selflessness that I´ve witnessed. (Which means a lot regarding a team composed of mostly college-ages boys...)

This morning we were able to sleep in later than 7 or 7:30am for the first time all week! (Which is actually like 9 or 9:30 EST, so we can´t really complain...) It was refreshing for everyone to wake up on their own accord and get as much sleep as they needed on our last day, which turned out to be less strenuous than most of the days we´ve been here. We started out by watching a rare women´s game, Leon vs. Managua . It was really interesting to go from watching men´s soccer (futbol) to watching women on the field. After the game we enjoyed yet another ridiculously good meal prepared by the lovely ladies cooking for us all week, then relaxed for a bit until we headed back to the market for the team to find some gifts for family and friends at home, and to just enjoy the architecture and sights of the city. The lifestyle and culture is so vastly different from what we´re all used to, and it´s been really good for us to experience life outside of the daily routine. No one really seems to be on a time crunch or working from a strict schedule, which is something most of the team is dreading going back to. (Including myself.) We drove to a soccer field where the boys set up different soccer training sessions for the local boys depending on their ages. To our understanding, they don´t receive weekly skills training like boys in the United States do when they´re on an organized team, so the boys were extremely appreciative and receptive to what our team was offering. Those of us on this trip not skilled in the ways of soccer broke out some balloon animals, bubbles, and passed out Silly Band bracelets for all the younger kids to enjoy. Seeing a child who has close to nothing hold their own balloon animal or put on their own bracelet is the most humbling and special thing. I was overwhelmed when a young boy insisted I have a bracelet he already owned as a gift. As best as I could tell, he said it was a joy to have us and he needed me to take it as a token of his appreciation. I also saw a family I met the first or second day we arrived (all the days run together...) that I didn´t think I would run into again. I just heard some children yelling my name as they came up to our group and I realized instantly who they were. The fact that they remembered my name was such a blessing for me, and I could tell they loved that I remembered all of their names, too. We headed back to the house after a wonderful afternoon and had dinner before the boys headed out to play their last game of soccer against Oscar (our host) and his team. The score was really close and it was a great game to watch. Seeing our boys smile and shake hands after losing was awesome to see. It was too hard for them to call it a night that they ended up playing another game in the rain with a team that was practicing on the field. They have been playing for the glory of God this entire week and are going to continue to show that when they return home. We can´t wait for you to see all the changes in our lives!

Please continue to pray for our focus to be on the opportunities God is trying to give us and not on our flesh. And pray for continued safety and protection as we fly back to reality tomorrow! We are leaving our host home at an extremely early hour (4am-ish) so it will be an interesting day tomorrow to say the least. It´s going to be difficult to leave, and I wouldn´t be surprised if some of your loved ones come home with plans to return next year at the very latest. The work God is doing here through Oscar and his family is astounding, so please pray for continued mission teams and the financial support they will provide to feed and clothe so many people. We love and thank you, and we´ll see you very soon.

Nicaragua Sports Ministry - May 16, 2012

Hola Amigos,

Greetings from our next-to-last day in Nicaragua , which still seems a
bit surreal. It´s going fast, but on Nicaraguan time, in which, we´ve
learned from Oscar, *everything* takes place ïn thirty minutes.

After a 6-6 tie in a pickup game last night -- these guys don´t turn
down games -- we went ot bed (but not to sleep) a bit earlier after a
devotional by Shawn.

Bright and too early, we woke up and dined on a more familiar
breakfast than yesterday´s beans, rice, fried cheese and plantations
cooked some way none of us were familiar with.This time, we
appreciated the simplicity of cereal, papaya, melon and bananas before
heading off to our day´s feeding of kids.

Wednesday´s site was at a church whose name translates to ¨Thanks
God,¨and it was its first anniversary. We anticipated a coupl of
hundred people at the celebration, which featured six pinatas among
other destivities.

So there were a plethora of kids as well as adults who took part in
the soccer ¨clinics¨(these turned out to be, I´m told, more of a
´tackle-the-American´ than anything). The girls stayed inside and put
together another round of puppets, which turned out to be a little
more orderly this time. A good number of mothers took part, too, which
was fun for us and them. Nicaragua , like a lot of developing
countries, it seems, doesn´t have a lot of creative outlets to
encourage kids and it was nice to give them a clean slate of something
to do with as they wished. ¨

The food cooked a bit slow at the feeding and we left before delving
out the rice stew, but not before we saw a lot of smiles on the
kids´faces. And again, our dependable Hyundai, even though it bottomed
out and must have left bumper parts based on the horrible scraing
noises we heard, did just fine.

On the bus, Skylar has kept us entertained from time to time with his
video of Bubba, the opera-singing parrot. It´s the funniest thing and
all it takes is a couple of notes and half the bus is howling.

By 1 p.m. or so, we had arrived at the beach: a rare afternoon off and
a lunch in a restaurant right on the Pacific. Most of the guys had
huge hepings of fresh fish or shrimp, then a handful -- Chris, Shawn,
Matt, Stephen and Phil -- headed out to surf as the rest of us just
meanered on the beach, played in the waves and searched for seashells.

Next up, we headed to the town square area, where there´s an outdoor
market for some to pick up souvenirs. Even though we plan another trip
tomorrow morning, it was nice to check out the old cathedral and the
little tourist stalls to shop for yáll back home.

Tonight´s game didn´t have the hoped-for outcome -- we lost, 7-4 --
but the guys did great on the indoor court (it´s really outside but
enclosed in netting). The team they challenged had just won some kind
of international championship against other Central American teams, so
those of us watching felt it was a pretty impressive performance.

As usual, the food´´s been amazing. Tomorrow we´re planning on a
little late of a breakfast, though, and a slow morning. There´s
another trip to the market in store, then we´re planning on taking in
a women´s game before running clinics (for the guys) and bubbles and
balloons (for the girls).

Adios!

Nicaragua Sports Ministry - May 15, 2012

Hola!

It´s now Tuesday and we´re closing out another day here in Nicarauga.
Between yesterday afternoon and now, it feels like we´ve touchd a few
million souls, but really it´s only been hundreds.

At the devotion last night, it hit that we´re halfway through our
mission trip, and it was a shock. We *just* got here, didn´t we? But
when we thought about it, it seems kind of like we´ve been here
forever, too.

Our devotion ran late last night because we got started late.
Yesterday was go-go-go up until another wonderful Nicaraguan meal (oh!
the fabulous juices!) and then we went again.

Our last stop before devotion was a night out at Rose of Sharon, where
they have their weekly youth group meeting on Mondays. We´d seen
Reggie and Oscar wearing shirts with ¨Zumba!¨on them, but honestly, it
hadn´t occurred to us why.

We learned Monday night.

The kids at the Rose of Sharon church rocked, Central America style.
Although most of the group has no idea of what a ¨mosh pit¨is, that´s
pretty much what happened at the front of the church. All our players
joined the local kids who were dancing Zumba-style at the front of the
church, feeling the Holy Spirit in the moves. June in particular held
her own, living every minute of it.

Drenched in sweat after about an hour, both Justin and Chase gave
their testimonies before Shawn again delivered a powerful message,
this time with a ¨futbol theme.

Today, the team had ä long day out, heading from one feeding/VBS to
another, and at both the skies opened, monsoon-style, as soon as the
cauldron of food was ready to serve.

No matter. Even with impending rain the hundreds of kids enjoyed
another rendition of ¨David and Goliath¨ (with Alec in his theatrical
debut role as the protagonist), creating puppets afterward. A fairly
overwhelming number of kids came out, which was both inspiring and
depressing, since we were seeing the joy we brought to each child at
the same time as his or her only meal of the day.

Songs, bubbles and candy makes for a good pre-meal routine, and the
kids enjoyed every minute of it. Some of the team chipped in to cut up
the vegetables to be added to the usual rice, of which -- for the
first feeding, anyway -- we used 30 pounds of rice.

Just as the food was ready to serve, the skies opened, forcing us to
move ¨indoors,¨which is simply a roofed structure with a hard dirt
floor (as to how hard, ask Allen, who, in his role as Goliath, gets to
fall to the ground in the skit´s finale).

After the kids and their parents were served, our team had a more
modest meal of ham and cheese sandwiches before heading out in our
Hyundai bus through flood-soaked roads for another hour or so of
driving. The feeding stations aren´t in the suburbs. They´re in the
sticks.

And the dumps. Our second stop was to feed families at the local dump,
where 200-250 families make their homes. They earn a living picking
through discarded items, scavaging plastics, metals and such for sale
to recyclers.

To the kids, the life seems normal, and they came en masse out to see
Team Gringo and their bubbles, balloons puppets and futbol players.
But this time, we had another project -- to provide them with a
toilet/shower combination. One for the whole community, as there
hadn´t been one before.

So a handful of the guys mixed cement, Nicaragua-style, which involves
mix, water, shovels and a lot of elbow grease.

And again, as they were working, the skies opened again, letting loose
a second monsoon of the day. No matter. A roof on the stall was the
first thing to go up, so the guys kept working through it.

After the feeding, we did have a few trepitatious moments, as the
flooded roads hit new highs (in our eyes, anyway) and the van slogged
through brown running water that looked knee-high in some places.

Tonight, the guys picked up another game and tomorrow we plan on
setting out again for another feeding, this time of about 200 more
kids. Then, we´re planning a well-deserved break, taking the afternoon
off to check out the waves and do some shopping for our friends back
home.

Gracias for your continued prayers!

Nicaragua Sports Ministry - May 14, 2012

All is well here in Leon , Nicaragua .

After last night´s big victory, everyone returned home for some well earned rest and relaxation.  Our host, Oscar, gave an incredibly moving testimony after the devotional. 

Today we went started off going to the children’s ward of the primary hospital in Leon .  Needless to say, it was a very touching and sobering experience for us all.  The parents were very gracious and appreciated the clothing and toys given to their sick or injured children.  One young child had severe burns over her chest and neck from spilling soup.  Although the medical treatment in Nicaragua  is free, the medicine and follow up care is not.  Members of the group purchased wound medication for the child and prayed with the parents.  Please pray for all of these children and specifically pray that this child does not end up with infections from her burns. 

After the hospital we traveled for about an hour to the rural areas outside Leon to provide food and entertainment to children.  It was mostly agricultural and the kids were amused by seeing huge pigs and reptiles that looked like smaller versions of Komoto dragons.  We arrived at one school and played games, made puppets, and put on an Oscar worthy performance of David and Goliath.  Goliath was played by none other than 6 foot 4  Allen against the 5 foot 7  David played by Alec.  The story was narrated by the mission translators while the actors played out the story.  Many cheers and smiles were had by the kids when the triumphant David slew the monstrous Goliath with his slingshot.  Afterwards, the group helped prepare the food which included fresh vegetables, chicken and fruit drinks.  Most of the year the childen eat only rice so the vegetables were a very welcome sight. 

We then went to another church after lunch and fed another large group of children followed by soccer clinics which were put on by the boys for the aspiring local soccer stars.  Finally, candy was dispensed via a parachute that spra

yed the candy into the air creating a wild frenzy.  A truly blessed day indeed!

Tomorrow we will be feeding in the morning and building in the afternoon.  Oscar keeps us busy, safe and well fed.

Nicaragua Sports Ministry - May 13, 2012

On Sunday morning, the mission team attended the worship service at
"Rosa de Saron" (Rose of Sharon) Church, Mr. Oscar Corea´s home
church. The worship service was well attended with standing room
only. The worship music was contemporary and was accompanied by
dancers with colorful flags and streamers during some of the songs.

Mr. Matt Foster (of the mission team) shared a testimonial during the
service entitled "I can handle this" describing his addiction to
chewing tobacco which started in his college days and extended for
years. Matt shared that he was able to overcome this addiction after
he humbled himself and prayed to God for strength.

Mr. Shawn Meek (of the mission team) presented a message from John
1:1-5 emphasizing the truth of Jesus Christ. The message was very
powerful and was heartily received by the congregation with several
responding "Amen"s.

The Pastor spoke after Shawn and several Nicaraguan people came
forward to the altar. The Holy Spirit was at work through the worship
service even though the electrical power in the building went off in
the middle.

During the afternoon, the Real Florida soccer team headed back out to
the soccer field to compete against a local team in a full field (11
versus 11) match. Mr. Oscar Corea and two other Nicaragua players
joined the Real Florida soccer team. The Real Florida soccer team won
the tightly contested match 2 to 1. A good number of spectators came
out to watch the match.

As the day is coming to a close, a portion of the mission team is separating VBS crafts in preparation for the mission work scheduled for tomorrow with the children at the feeding programs. God is good and we see his hand at work in the Nicaragua people.

Nicaragua Sports Ministry - May 12, 2012

Hola!!

Last night was a melee of soccer starting with a rematch against the local high school kids playing an indoor version of 6 on 6  that was reminiscent of a human pin ball game. The boys played well and earned the respect of the local players and evened the score.  Our team showed good sportsman ship and represented our mission and County well.  Prayer followed with testimonies and heart felt kinship in His name. 

Oscar, has done a wonderful job of motivating the local teens and young adults to participate in his sports ministry.  In fact, they spent Friday on the field playing and worshipping rather than hanging out on the streets.  Many are from broken homes and have no one to mentor them or steer them away from local gangs. Oscar has proven to be an amazing role model showing how kids from broken homes can find a safe place and experience God´s love.  It´s great to watch!!  It´s even better to be a part of the experience.

Fortunately, no injuries to report in today's game but the heat index was over 100.  Lots of water kept them hydrated on fields of mostly dirt.  The heat drained the players who will get some well deserved R and R this evening.  During the big game today the non soccer players entertained the children with ring around the rosey, the limbo, and bubble busting, The kids had a great time but the adults had even more fun.  Big smiles!

Tonight we are off to the city after supper for ice cream and a bit of sight seeing. 

Nicaragua Sports Ministry - May 11, 2012

Greetings, all! Thank you for all of your continued prayers and support. We feel so blessed to be a part of this mission and are having an incredible experience! God placed each of us here at this time for a purpose, and has also placed each of you in our lives for a purpose. The family we are staying with are such gracious people. We visited a local market today and passed out flyers to dozens of people around town and at local schools to announce the upcoming soccer games that our team will be playing. We´re expecting a huge turn out of children and their families, and cannot wait to minister to those we come in contact with. Please pray for the soccer team´s primary focus to be serving our Lord and witnessing to others, not just playing a game. And we also ask for prayers that we focus on those around us, and not on our comfort and what´s convenient for us. We cannot wait to see what else the Lord has in store for our team.

Last Day's Agenda

Here is an update from Kevin regarding the Spring Break mission's teams agenda for the last day. As he says and everyone knows - things can change because God's plans are bigger than our plans.

Getting ready for our last full day in Nicaragua. On the agenda (which could change):

Early Breakfast
Drive to the city dump and feed the children that live there.
Do a Bible school and activity.
Work to paint 2 houses that were just built at the dump site.
Eat a packed lunch.
Go and help with another feeding station.
Do a Bible school and activity.
Participate in a church service where I get to preach (5th day of preaching in a row)
Return to Oscar's house for supper and team debriefing time.

I'm praying that God makes the sun stand still so we can get it all in. God has incredible things in store for today.

New Dorms being used by God

Earlier this year a mission team lead by Melvin Construction built some dorms in Nicaragua. God has began using these dorms to help transform lives in both Nicaragua and the Florida Panhandle. Here is an email by Mr. Melvin talking about how God is working in the lives of a mission team that is currently staying in those dorms.

         Just wanted to say thank you for your work in February.  Your work made possible the student spring break team that is in Nicaragua now.   They are a group of 19 and the guys are staying in the new upstairs dorm rooms!

          I didn’t think about your work in the context of “building a foundation for future generations” until I began writing this email.  The team is being led by Dan Yoder’s son, Kevin, and my son, Tommy. Dan gets the double blessing of not only having a son on the team, but two grandchildren!  I do have a wife and two daughters on the trip as well.

          Let me ask you to pray for this team.  Tonight is their last night. The team has had a great trip, life transforming, fulfilling and exhausting week.  I think Oscar has worked them hard.  My wife told me last night she has seen the same transformation in the team during the week as our group had experienced.  Tonight they will have a final meeting together to reflect on their week.

          Again, thank you guys for your investment in Nicaragua and your investment in hundreds of others from the US that will sleep in those dorms and their lives will be transformed.  

Look Mom - I am on TV in Nicaragua

Watching Tommy Melvin on local tv in Nicaragua. 

He is doing the muddy glove story from church on Sunday.

Great Fellowship and Ministry

The group did enjoy some great food that was easier to catch and eat including this great meal at the beach in Nicaragua. Oscar wanted to make sure that he fed them so when he beat them playing soccer they would not feel so bad.

Oscar's team won the game!!!

Can You Say Iguana

I do not believe the group had to catch and kill their own Iguana, but I am glad this young lady knew how to cook it for them. Iguana made it to the lunch menu. The group sent a photo of a very scared chicken that looked as if it had lost all hope of a long life.

Unexpected adventure

This one was different, because the guys on the team were asked to chase down a goat, catch it, butcher it, to go with the meal. Some of our experienced deer-slayers enjoyed this part.


Yes, Kevin says they did eat the Goat!!!

A Great Time of Worship

The team had the opportunity to worship with a church in Nicaragua and experience a baptismal service as a part of their mission trip during spring break.

Meeting Needs and Sharing Jesus

 

The Nicaragua Mission Team from RCC is having a great time doing missions. We got to visit a children's ward in a hospital and pass out toys and pray for the patients. Then went to a feeding station to help prepare the meal and do some Bible School activities.

 

A Little Help in the Kitchen!!!

As many of you know, Mrs. Roselea and the ladies do the cooking for the mission teams that come to Nicaragua. They had been doing that on a small stove that was not large enough for the task. They now have a new commercial stove with a large oven so that they can better take care of the mission teams that are doing great Kingdom work in Nicaragua. A special thank you to all the teams that serve in Nicaragua and also thank you to those who made this new stove possible for some very thankful ladies.

Great Looking Group in Nicaragua

This group from RCC with Patty & Tommy Melvin have been doing great mission work all week in Nicaragua. We will be posting updates regarding there mission work soon!!!

Jamaica VBS

WE HAVE 20 - YES 20 NEW SLOTS THAT HAVE JUST OPENED UP FOR THIS SUMMER - 2012 VBS MISSIONS IN JAMAICA. IF YOU CHURCH OR YOUTH GROUP WOULD LIKE TO GO TO BE A PART OF A GREAT VBS THIS SUMMER CONTACT BRO CHARLES - charlesiim@yahoo.com. DO NOT MISS THIS GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR YOUR CHURCH OR YOUTH GROUP!!!

Important Prayer Request

Please remember the families of all the prisoners in the Comayagua prison where we have ministered. There was a fire today and there are at least 370 confirmed dead and many were burned. Some of the people were just waiting on their trial. It is a very sad situation and has touched many lives all over Honduras.

Again, please lift up the families of those who have died and for the prisoners who are burned and for the others as they have gone through a terrible ordeal. They believe it was caused by an electrical problem.