It was more than a
privilege to be part of our team from Gaylord E-Free that went to Nicaragua last week. In case you are not yet aware, our church is
part of a “church-to-church” partnership through World Orphans with a small
church in Managua, Nicaragua called “Verbo Sur.”
This church is led by a wonderful man named
Pastor Jairo. They are located in one of
the poorest communities in Managua where they also run a Child Development
Center (CDC). This CDC involves academic
programs for preschoolers and a safe place for elementary aged students to come
to when they are not in school as their parents are at work.
The CDC also involves a feeding program where
up to 150 children each day come to receive a hot, nutritious meal. This is crucial as the average child in Nicaragua
only gets one meal a day at best. The
CDC allows these 150 children to avoid the malnutrition and disease that runs
rampant among children in this poor country.
Our partnership involves
supporting Verbo Sur’s CDC each month but the key to our partnership with Verbo Sur is relational. That is why we send one, sometimes two, teams
to Nicaragua each year.
In the past we
asked Pastor Jairo if it would be more beneficial to send the money we spend on
these trips rather than taking the trips.
He insisted that our presence is what they need much more than our
money. He and his staff are starved for
encouragement and soak up our love and encouragement like a dry sponge while we
are there.
This was especially seen in
the life of Pastor Jairo’s wife. She was
in desperate need of encouragement and love from a godly woman which she found
in my wife. Though they could not speak
the same language, they connected in a very special way. Pastor Jairo shared how much Laura’s presence
met to his wife. I did not think Pastor
Jairo’s wife was going to let go of Laura when we were saying our good-byes at
the end of the trip.
Obviously, the most enjoyable part of the trip was spending time with these precious children which included playing with the children and doing crafts with them that we
had brought with us.
I think each of us on the team was drawn to one specific child. For me it was a boy I affectionately called "onion." I couldn't understand what he said his name was but it sounded like "onion" so that is what I called him. He would come over to me and point at my water bottle and say "agua." I would then have him tilt his head and open his mouth and I would pour some water in it. We did this for hours along with playing with paper airplanes and paper footballs!
We also participated in a two day medical clinic in which
190 people (adults and children) from the community came to get free medical
treatment that included doctors from Nicaragua.
Each person that came had their height, weight, blood pressure and
temperature checked.
They also received a “d-worming”
pill due to the parasites that are in the ground and the small children also received
some vitamin A.
Each person also had
their blood sugar checked and met with a doctor. They then received any prescriptions they
needed and everything was free. Our
partnership paid for all of the medicine that was given out over these two
days.
The most beautiful part of
the medical clinic was watching a dear lady from the Verbo Sur church named
Veronica. The last station in the clinic
for adults was meeting one-on-one with Veronica who talked with them about
their spiritual lives.
Veronica prayed for
each one of them individually and over the two days she personally led 11
adults to Christ. When I saw her Bible I
knew exactly why she was so effective.
Her Bible was literally falling apart due to her excessive reading of
it.
We also were part of a
food distribution day. Our partnership provided
rice, beans and sugar for 50 of the poorest families in the community around
Verbo Sur at the invitation of the church.
These families came to a program put on by the church which included a
message from pastor Jairo before they were each given a bag of much needed
food. Though we provided the food,
everything we provide is given through the church and the staff at Verbo Sur so
the people make the connection with them and not with us.
We also were part of the
Sunday morning service at Verbo Sur.
What a joy it was to be part of their lively worship. I could not understand one word they said
with my ears but I understood every word with my heart. It was truly beautiful to watch these very
poor people who are dedicated to the Lord singing praises in Spanish to the
Lord.
Pastor Jairo was also able to
present 7 of the 11 people who prayed to receive Christ at the Medical Center
that were at church that morning. There
were also several who had come to the food distribution that were there as
well.
I had the privilege of preaching
that morning through an interpreter. Our
team got a real kick out of Dennis (the interpreter) as he did not just repeat
my words in Spanish, he mimicked every move and motion I made as well as all of
the up and down inflections of my voice.
Both of our interpreters as well as our bus driver was a very fun and valuable
part of our trip.
On Sunday in front of his
church I also presented Pastor Jairo a plaque I had made that included a stone
I picked up in a creek at the Valley of Elah in Israel where David most likely picked
up his stone to kill Goliath. On the
plaque I had the verses in Spanish were David picks up the stone and uses it to
kill Goliath. I told Pastor Jairo that
my hope was that it would always remind him that there is no giant that can
come into his life or ministry that is bigger than our God.
Our team gelled real well
on this trip and Brent Holmes, who is the Team Lead of our Mission Team and who
led the trip did an outstanding job.
It was a joy to surround Pastor Jairo and the special staff at Verbo Sur and pray for them before we left them. They will remain in our hearts, our thoughts and our prayers!
I came home with great joy in knowing that E-Free Church is making a significant difference in this poor community in Managua, Nicaragua!
