Good things happened in Nicaragua this past week.
Hello, everyone,
We left Harrisonburg at 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning. Our flight left Dulles at 5:35 a.m. and landed in El Salvador about at 7:35 a.m. where we saw Colleen and Alan they were on their return trip after serving in the Denial clinics all week. They were waiting for their plane trip back to Harrisonburg. We arrived in Managua at 9:30 a.m. but had to wait for Sam (the main speaker for the crusade) who arrived at 1:30. After a drive of nearly 3 hours, we arrived at the mission house of Voice of Hope in Las Penitas, northwest of Managua. The house is located on the black sand beaches of the Pacific Ocean.
Sunday morning we had 5 ministers (Dr Richard Evans, Merv Webb, Jay McGuirk, Dr. Paul White and Sam Douglas) travel to 5 different churches to minister to people. The church that I (Dr. Evans) ministered in had about 30 adults and about 35 children that attended the service. The service was great. The people did not have power or music but the Spirit of God moved on us and them as they sang to Jesus. They were moved by another of our team members (John Huddle) testimony and Michael our interpreter said the message was good and the people received it.
Old Church New Church
Tonight, we will go to some churches for the evening service. Some of us will need to bring the message and the rest of us will give testimonies. Pastor Paul White brought the message at a local church that Dr. Richard Evans attended and shared his testimony. We had 5 people give their hearts to the Lord at the end of the service. We will be preparing for our outdoor fiesta that starts tomorrow morning.
Monday: At 9:00 AM this morning we went out to do our outdoor fiesta with the kids and while the Fiesta was going on, 5 teams went from house to house sharing the gospel. We did a very simple drama about Sin-box-Sally. The drama was about a girl who falls into sin and can’t get free. Beth played Sin-box-Sally the first day. While Sin-box-Sally is trapped in sin, two singers come along and try to get her out of the sin-box (singers were Lynette and John) but they can’t help her out of sin. A strong man comes by (played by Jeremy) and he shows his muscles and tries to get her out but he can’t. The two drunks come by (played by RA and Josh) and they are stumbling around and nearly knock her out of the box but like the others they can’t get her out. Then the pastor comes by and shares the Gospel to the girl who confesses her sins and accepts Christ and then she is able to get out of the Sin-Box with the help of Christ. We did two of these fiestas today and at the first we had 48 young girls, 15 young boys, and 34 adults who gave their hearts to Jesus. In the second fiesta we had 26 young girls, 43 young boys, and 32 adults give their hearts to Jesus. A total of 231 individuals made decisions today and 33 of them were from one on one street ministering. Tonight we are going to the rally which is the first night of the crusade. We are expecting 33 of the surrounding churches to be attending the crusade this week.
The rally this evening was great. Dr. Richard Evans (RA) shared his testimony and Sam Douglas (our evangelist) brought the message. There were many different churches and ministers present at the rally. The Rally had the feeling of a good old West Texas Fellowship meeting where different ministers spoke and singers sang and the Lord really blessed us. We have experienced a good cohesion as a group as we traveled from house to house sharing the word and presenting the gospel to those at the fiesta. Everyone had an opportunity to pray with and share their testimony during the first day.
Tuesday morning at 8:30 we went out for two more outdoor fiestas with the kids in a different part of the city and while the Fiesta was going on; our teams went around town sharing the gospel. At the same time in a different part of the city. Jay (with help from Josh and Bethany) conducted a youth service. The first fiesta was in a very poor part of town. Many of the houses that we went into to invite children to the first fiesta did not have electricity or in-door plumbing in their homes. In the second fiesta which was located in an area of the city where most of the fisherman in the city lived, was located on a small cove. As I look at these people and their basic lifestyles, I could not keep from thinking about how this could have been very similar to the place were Jesus called the first disciples. This was even more surreal as we talked to the families about coming to the crusade tonight and making commitments to Christ. This in itself was a great experience as many of them gave their hearts to Jesus.
After the second fiesta, we headed to the dump ground in a neighboring city where more than 250 people lived and made their living from digging through the trash for any metals or plastics that could be sold for money. Earlier this morning before we went to the fiestas and we all pitched in to help buy food to feed those individuals a hot meal at noon. Some of the women from a church in that city (that will be attending the rally tonight) prepared the food and met us at the site. When we arrived, the sight was amazing, never have we seen so many individuals who were undernourished, dirty, and that had such a look of misery. As you looked into their faces you saw the shell of a people who had no hope of change. We drove to the top of a hill where an old fort stood and as we did we saw the people follow. This must have been what it looked like when Jesus was traveling around and the people followed him. These people came and gathered around us when some of the Spanish singers begin to sing. After a few songs, Sam shared the word and I think we were blessed more than the people we fed. Sam made the observation that this was probably as near to New Testament ministering to the rejected and Lepers than most of us will ever see. Truly we are a blessed nation and a blessed people. Tonight we are going to the rally which is the first night of the crusade.
The first night of the crusade was great. We were on the baseball field just up from the mission house, so we all walked to church. We had cloud cover for most of the service and a light breeze which made the event very nice. Over the course of the day, 155 individuals made decisions to give their hearts to Jesus. Tomorrow is July the 4th and we will do two more fiestas during the morning in different parts of the city.
Wednesday: The fiestas today were much smaller than they have been and many of the children had already made decisions, so our teams took to the streets. We worked over the all of the houses that we could find on the main roads and then we discovered a place called "The lost neighborhood" we saw where many families were living on the site of an old dump ground. The harvest was ready as many members of each family made decisions to give their hearts to Jesus. It was great as we would share with one family member about Christ and then we would ask them if they had another member of their family that they thought needed to hear the "Good News" and if they did, (most did) we would help them share the Gospel with their family member. At the Crusade tonight, we saw many of our new brothers and sisters in Christ and many of them brought friends and family members to hear the word. It was a great day. We had 182 individuals; mostly adults make decisions to give their hearts to Jesus today and 41 of those made the decision at the Crusade.
Almost forgot to mention that we had a great 4th of July. After the crusade somewhere on the beach south of the mission house, there was a small fireworks display. Not sure why they had it but we enjoyed it. For lunch we had chicken bar-b-q and for dinner we had hotdogs. At the end of the day during our reflection time we discussed the fact that this was the first organized crusade in this area and that already a total of 575 individuals had made a life changing decision to follow Jesus.
Thursday: Our morning starts as it has been our custom, with individual quiet time and prayer. As the coffee kicks in we begin to hear conversations among the teams about what and how they will do today. Then we all come together at seven for breakfast and then at 8:30 have some group time to pray and talk about what God has laid on our hearts. Today we will do three more fiestas and Dr. Richard Evans and Dr. Paul White will do a pastor's conference in the morning, then we have the last day of the crusade.
There were 41 church leaders and 12 pastors at the conference. A total of 53 individuals explored the OT and NT modules for church leadership as Dr. Richard Evans and Dr. Paul White facilitated the discussion. The local pastors were quiet at first but shortly after our 10AM break the conversation in them stirred. They began to explore the NT module of the Sheppard and their responsibility as a pastor and/or church leaders. At the close of the pastors' conference Paul and Richard prayed with and for the pastors and then asked the church leaders to come up and pray for their pastor. It was really a grand opportunity to bless and be blessed by our brothers and sisters in Christ.
The fiestas today were small because a number of the children had already made decisions, so our teams took to the streets. We worked over the all the houses that we could find on the main roads and then moved over to a basketball court and an area where some men were working. The harvest was ready as many members of each family made decisions to give their hearts to Jesus. It was great as we would start to share we would ask the individual if they knew of anyone else who they thought needed to have a personal relationship with Christ and many of them did. Then we would ask them if they would like to go get them so we could share the Gospel with them. Then right there we would share the Gospel with their family member and friends. At the Crusade tonight, we saw many of our new brothers and sisters in Christ and many of them brought friends and family members to hear the word and to ask us to help them share. It was a great way to end the week as it was the last night of the crusade. We had 160 individuals; mostly adults make decisions to give their hearts to Jesus today and many of those made the decision at the Crusade.
Last week 56 at the dental mission and this week a total of 735 people made decisions for Christ. Friday: Today is our last full day in Nicaragua and it is a day to rest and enjoy the country. We went to a traditional Nicaraguan restaurant and had lunch. Went also visited several museums and historical churches where we meet people that had accepted Christ with us during the week. They were all so happy and it really made our day to visit with them and work on our Spanish. Then as the day drew to a close we went out to a popular seafood restaurant in Las Penitas. After dinner we all packed our bags in preparation for the long trip home tomorrow. Before we went to bed we loaded the bags in the truck so at 2:30 in the morning we can get started for the Airport.
