Visoneering 2014

We returned from Nicaragua a month ago after a 12 week furlough. While we enjoyed our time there immensely, it feels great to be "home" again in Nicaragua. We came back with a renewed excitement and a focused vision of what we want to accomplish here.  During our time away, we had some time to step back and reassess the ministries that we were involved in here. We want to focus our attention on doing a few things well instead of spreading ourselves too thin.

I, Cory, will be focusing on building a wood shop for the purpose of vocational training near our home in Masatepe. I have been traveling down the mountain to the vocational school in Managua to teach for the past 2 years. Now that we have learned how a vocational school functions in Nicaragua, we feel the time is right to open a satellite school in our rural mountain community. We have been working with the youth from our church here in Masatepe, and we want to be involved in training them vocationally, but more importantly, through discipleship. 

The new building will be situated just left of the church. It will have classroom space for the ever-growing preschool program, the pastors' training program, and the English classes already in place. A computer lab and therapy classes for special needs kids are just a few of the many possible uses for this classroom space in the future too. 

As funds become available the building will be constructed in phases starting with the foundation, first floor walls, second floor, second floor walls, ceiling, and finally furniture and tools.  The Summit Church team (that is arriving in 2 1/2 weeks), will help us clear the space and participate in the groundbreaking for the new building. We have the funds available for the foundation and possibly the first floor walls already!

This design was the product of a long on-going conversation with our pastor at Betania Iglesia. We asked him what his vision was for the future of his church. I worked with him to design this building and together we presented the design to the church body for approval today. He asked the people in the church to commit to bringing whatever they could to help the project, whether it's labor or building supplies. He spoke about Nehemiah rebuilding the walls and how the people did the same in the Bible. 

Click on this link for a model of the building:  https://vimeo.com/87368590

Pastor Emilio and Mayra Urbina

While we are optimistic that the building will be funded and finished soon, I am renting this small house as a temporary wood shop. It is within walking distance between our house and the church. It will be very much in use making furniture for the new building. Thanks to the The Summit Church, we have many of the tools needed to equip this wood shop.

It even comes with electricity, but not an indoor bathroom.

February also marks the harvest season in the agricultural community of Masatepe. Betania Iglesia held it's annual "Día de Cosecha" on February 15. People come from all over the country to buy fruit, local food, and attend the morning church services. The community works long days tirelessly the week before the event preparing foods and harvesting baskets and baskets of fruit.

The church is so full that people stand outside listening to the message.

The women worked together to prepare nacatamles the day before.

On February 22, we attended the baptism of a girl who is like a daughter to us. Kimberly stayed with us last fall for 3 months while her guardian was having medical treatment in the states. We were so excited to be invited to her baptism service. She comes from a very difficult family situation, but she hasn't let it make her bitter. She has dedicated her life to God now. We are so proud of her!

We updated our website this month, so check us out at impactnica.org for more information!

Inspiration

We landed back on U.S. soil  (for the first time since we moved to Nicaragua) almost 2 months ago now. It has been such a busy and fun 2 months reuniting with family and friends. Perhaps it took moving far away to realize how much we really value those relationships in our lives. The kids wished for snow and God even sent record snowfall amounts to Michigan this Christmas. It has been incredibly beautiful and restful. 

 I was afraid that when we arrived back in the States, I would be angry at the materialistic and selfish attitudes, especially around Christmas time. But I couldn't have been more wrong. I was surprised and amazed almost daily with the inspiring and selfless people we encountered. As we visited churches, we would often have people come up to us and thank us for our inspiring work as missionaries. I just wanted to say to them that it isn't us, but God who is doing great things in Nicaragua. And He is doing great things in their communities too through people like them. And I wanted to say to them that they were an example and an inspiration to us by the way they selflessly loved others. They were the reason we decided to be missionaries in the first place.

Here are just a few examples of the people we have met in the last 2 months who are living selfless lives loving others:

• About 300 children in need from our home town were given a beautiful Christmas carnival, called "Hope for Christmas" complete with loads and loads of presents and even fake snow.
• Preschoolers from a church in Orlando, Florida collected their pennies and even gave their toys for kids in Nicaragua. 
• A young girl, had no heat in her house, but within hours of learning of the problem, it was resolved by people who care.
• A group of high school girls learn that one of their friends doesn't have food in her house the week before Christmas, and they not only give food, but conspire together to give many gifts. 
• A friend who takes time each week to visit an underprivileged student at a local elementary school and sits and eats lunch with her and makes sure she knows that she matters.
• A friend who doesn't hesitate to let her in-laws move in to her small house when theirs' burns down.
• A group of homeschoolers who give up their own allowance for students in Nicaragua and help them buy school supplies. 
• A woman who works more than 40 hours a week, but still provides constant care for her aging father-in-law in her home.
• An aunt who not only cares for my 96 year old grandmother 24 hours a day, but also all of the neighborhood children who need a place to go to feel safe. 
• A cousin who cares for her step-son with Down's Syndrome more lovingly than if he were her own child. 
• A group of teenagers who gave up their own money to provide Christmas gifts for children in Nicaragua. 

Even though we weren't there for Christmas this year, we were able to send the money that was raised on to Betania Iglesia for the children's Christmas parties. They were able to provide gifts for 200 children in 3 different locations, complete with a big Christmas meal and pinatas full of candy. 

 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

                   -I Corinthians 13:3

Please continue to pray for Stacy's dad, who is undergoing a bone marrow transplant this month for cancer treatment. He is responding well to the treatment at the moment, but it will be a tough recovery.  We plan to return to Nicaragua on February 8, after spending a little more time with him first.