Sunday, January 30, 2011

The Restoration Begins





Starting tomorrow, the ministry of Restoration of the Nations begins to walk in the fullness of it's original vision: ministering to the total needs of the young men of impoverished nations.  Not only are we to teach vocational skills in order that young men can be employed and thus sustain themselves and their families; but we will teach them basic life skills that should have been taught to them by their parents or other family members.  More importantly, we want to fulfill God's command to "go into the world and disciple the nations".   To us, discipleship is more than preaching God's Word.  It is a process of investing yourself into the life of a person, walking out the love of Jesus into their every day life.





We were given the vision that we would have young men living at our school facilities.  These boys would be from places that were too far for them to travel to and from the school.  They would be boys that may have been abandoned by one or both of their parents.  They also may be boys who have lived part of their lives on the streets but wanting to make a change.  

Right now, we do not have the facilities that we had envisioned to house such boys.  But God has made it plain that we are not to wait.  He has orchestrated events where 3 young men, all the age of eighteen, need what we have to offer.  So, these young men are coming to live in our home.   We have spent the last couple of weeks preparing our home to receive these boys.  There is still much work to be done but we are far enough along that the boys no longer have to wait.  It's by divine appointment that we have these boys.







Many months ago, we heard about a man, Pastor Dennis,  who had a rehab center.  We tried to find out more information about him but the people we talked with were not familiar with him or his program.  Recently, we acquired a new next door neighbor who just happened to know the man and within hours had a meeting set up for us with him.  Timing is everything! When we talked with him, we learned that his first group of men had completed their time at his rehabilitation center. He was concerned as to what would happen to the young men when they left the facility.  They needed more training and time to transition themselves into society, but he did not have the means to do this.   What we had to offer him was exactly what he felt the boys needed.  Into our lives we welcome Eduardo and Elvis.













The very next day after our meeting with Pastor Dennis, our interpreter received a phone call from a person who heard about our vocational school.  She knew about our desire to have young men not only attend the school, but live at the school to receive the additional help they needed to become more self-sufficient in every way.  Into our lives we welcome, Claudio.









This is a huge step forward for the ministry and for us personally.  We look forward to the building of relationships with the boys as well as imparting to them skills which will lead them into a life that is productive and full of peace, love and joy.

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Monday, January 24, 2011

Bethel Church



We were blessed to host a short term mission's team from Bethel Church in Redding, CA.  It was our first time meeting the group.  They arrived to our home when we were without electric or water, not too uncommon for us; except that this outage lasted for about 36 hours.   They were good sports when it came to using our laundry tub's pila (we keep filled with water) in order to wash off the day's dirt and grime. 






 The team ministered to some of the boys in the carpentry class.  A local pastor, his wife and son stopped by and joined the team in ministry. They prayed and prophesied over the boys. One boy, Jose, has had the same Word repeated to him by each missions team that comes here to visit.  He is destined to preach. All the boys have been chosen by God for special purposes.  We look forward to the upcoming years when we get to witness them begin to walk in their callings.






The evening was spent with the group ministering to us and other local mission's leaders and pastors.  Being in the mission field, a person's soul can get very dry.  Visits like this from fellow English speaking believers, who's only purpose in coming to visit was to pour into us, does so much to encourage and refresh us.  








Time was also spent ministering to the youth at a local church called Nuevo Restauracion teaching them how to "hear" from God.  They prayed over each young person and imparted a Word from God to them.











There was a couple who was a close friend to the team leader that experienced a mission trip for the first time.  It was apparent that their lives were forever changed.  It will be interesting to hear in the upcoming months what direction their lives will be headed.


The team experienced how most Nicaraguans eat their meals.  After the time of ministry to the youth at Nuevo Restauracion, we stopped at a late night vendor who sells food along side the road.  We took home our meals wrapped in banana leaves and had a feast of typical Nica food consisting of gallo pinto, chicken, beef, pork, plantains and tortillas.  All eaten with the fingers.  I love the fact that it cuts down on having to wash dishes.




Meeting the team from Bethel is the beginning of what appears to be a lasting relationship.  Their heart is joined with ours in seeing the youth of Nicaragua rise up and become tomorrow's leaders in their homes and in their communities.   

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Sunday, January 16, 2011

Scarleth

As we begin ministry in the new year, we are very much aware that we could never do this without God's help and the helper He provided for us.
We met Scarleth Chavez 3 years ago while she worked for another ministry.  We would tell Scarleth on many occasions during our first year in Nicaragua that she needed to find us our "own Scarleth".   When the other ministry went through many internal changes in structure, Scarleth became available to pursue other work.   We immediately recruited her to work for us part time until we moved here and now she is permanent.


In her private life, she is a mother to a 14 year old son and wife to a handsome man from the Dominican who has a passion for baseball.   She is beautiful with a spirit to match, witty, and brilliant.  When she is not working for us, she loves to work as an interpreter with small mission groups that come for a week or two to volunteer their time and services.
Scarleth is our interpreter, advisor, instructor, mediator, miracle worker on the seemingly impossible and most of all trusted Christian friend.  She not only speaks Spanish and English but learned French as well.  This gives you an idea of the drive and passion that she has for education.  She studied in France to better learn the language but returned to her beloved Nicaragua.


She has a heart to see the young men of this nation arise to become the leaders God meant for them to be in their home and community. The only way this is possible is through education and a personal relationship with God. Scarleth fits in well with the boys in our school, they love her.  She is a natural teacher and mentor.   She helps to balance us out and is patient with us in our misunderstanding of the cultural differences.
We cannot count the times that she was called when we were in challenging situations:  such as the house being flooded because the roof was leaking during a torrential downpour, or when we were left alone between the borders of Costa Rica & Nicaragua unable to understand the person who took charge over us, or to simply comfort me (Sandra) when I was having a melt-down.  We have cried together and laughed heartily more often.  We've celebrated the American holiday Thanksgiving together as well as New Year's.





Scarleth is very important to the every day schedule of Restoration of the Nations.   Shortly, we will begin another class of carpentry for beginners and Scarleth will be the instructor.   She has picked up the training techniques quickly and very much enjoys working with the boys.  We are blessed to have her contributing to the success of the ministry.
We are more than blessed to call her friend.   













         




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