Nicaragua 2009 Slideshow

Apawas

Faces of Nicaragua

Mount Olives @ El Crucero, Managua

Pastor Gomez and Yvonne - head pastor
Wendy - amazing personality to turn any smile right side up
Ruben - youngest of the gomez


Pastora Yeni - pastor

Pastor Sebastian - pastor of evangelism

Pastor Ellesis



Rosina - faithful and amazing cook for the missions team




Luise - "the chef"

Eddie Paul - psychologist, amazing knowledge of american tunes

Jose Ramone - youth pastor

Jose Estaban - soccer prodigy

Omar - dependable omar

Avidel (Jonathan) - insomniac, guitarist, "get some sleep dude", member of trifecta dance team

Immanuel - member of trifecta dance team

Wilmer - member of trifecta dance team

David - worship leader

Javier - worship team,










Apawas, Nicaragua

Pastor Robins and Maria - missions pastor residing in Apawas

Katherine - full of joy, to us as well as joy to Pastor Robins and Maria

Elmer - studying in Managua

Sergio and Miriam - lead Apawas mission

Carlos - lead Apawas mission
Blanca, Eraika



Matteo - servant leader

Antonio - farmer off the Rio





Apawas youth
Elring
Jose
Ezekiel
Moses
Samuel
Danie
Thomas




Jaquine
Jaime
Anna Maria

Day 0 - departure day

This evening, the remainder of the team will depart for Nicaragua. There will be 4 of us departing - Pastor David, Kyle, Danielle, and me. Sarah and Susie left two days earlier to begin working on the logistics of transportation, lodging, camping, etc. Thanks S&S for all the preparation for our arrival despite our first encounter today.

So Danielle and Kyle were supposed to have left yesterday but due to some unforeseen troubles at the security gate, they got held back resulting in missing their flight. Praise God they were able to reschedule with no rebooking fees and now they will be flying out around the same time that David and I will be flying out. I hope they can look back on this and appreciate the extra night of sleep in their own bed as they have been sleep deprived due to string of events that lead up to today. Thank you God.

I am thankful for so many things I've witnessed over this last week (in no particular order). Thank you God for allowing me to count our blessings this week.

• My sister's dog (that ran away but made us chase him good 4 miles before coming back unharmed)
• Bible reading accountability group
• Danielle and Kyle rescheduled flight
• Job transition
• Danielle and Sarah's ability to translate Spanish
• Spending time with friends and family
• David's safe return from a new found conference
• Birthday celebrations and the spurring times

In this coming week, I know there will be challenges unforeseen and unplanned. Please watch over us as we embark on the mission making disciples of all nations.

Please pray for:

• Safe arrival in Managua this evening
• Overall safety all throughout the mission
• Unwavering commitment to build lasting relationships through Christ
• 100% focused and effective team
  

For God, By God and With God

We want this trip to be for God, by God and with God.  The best way to do this is to be filled with His Word.  Below is the start of our meditations on His Word to guide us...

John 4:35-38 "I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor."

 

Be at peace with our role whether it is to sow small seeds or reap a huge harvest.  Really listen to God to see the role he has for us.  No matter if big or small, God can use it mightily for his kingdom. 

 

"So many of us spend our whole lives trying to be a big part of something small, when God has called us to be a small part of something big" (Joyce Myers?)

 

--Via Danielle

 

John 5:6 "Do you want to get well?" 

 

Jesus did not impose goodness on people, but respected where they were at.  We don't need to force feed our Nicaraguan friends we meet.  God is ultimately at work in their lives.  However, if they say "yes", be ready for God to speak through us to them on how they can begin to walk (added by Kyle).

 

--Via Pastor David

 

John 1:39,43 "Come and you shall see," "Follow me". 

 

We don't have to have this huge plan to bring.  Let's simply let them see Christ through our interaction with each other and the way we care for them.  Let's just be ourselves and do what we do, but invite them to join us in it.

 

--Via Kyle

 

John 5:30  "By myself I can do nothing, I do not seek to please myself but him who sent me." 

 

We have to submit more of our selfish desires before God and what we hope to get out of the trip or accomplish with the people and simply be open to what God's leading is for us individually and as a team.  This is where listening really comes into play.  LET'S LISTEN BABY! (Susie really said this)

 

--Via Susie

 

 

John 6:53-59 "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you."

 

Unless we internalize him in our being through abiding in Him, we have no life.  We need to abide in Him on a daily basis if we are to radiate life and not a dull version of being Christian.  I think the Church (in global terms) is fed up with experiences of Christian life that fall short of reflecting Him.  May we struggle together to seek Him and dwell in Him so that we can experience the life that He meant for us and in the process bless others.

 

--Via Sarah

 

John 6:45 "Anyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me." 

 

A lot of time we can push our desires with all our might but if we don't see eye-to-eye with God, it is unfortunately fruitless.  A lot of Pharisees and disciples have witnessed Jesus' street performances but they still held doubts because they didn't connect with the Father who sent him.  I am reminded of a book Falling for God by Gary Moon.  There is a chapter on "Learning to Listen" I highly recommend we get to as a group.  Moon points out that we play Bible roulette with God instead of listening for direction.  Don't we all wish bread of life was more like a wheel of fortune?  Wish. Spin. Win.

 

--Via Ji

Susie's Mission Letter

Dear Friends,

I hope that God is doing as many wonderful things in your life as He is in mine. As I approach my last year at Georgia State University studying dietetics, and I am feeling God's will to do more for the world around me.

I want to share with you a challenging ministry opportunity that God has presented to me. From August 6^th through the 14^th God has offered me the chance to go to Nicaragua with five other team members from Zoe Community Church. Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America, and the second poorest in the Western Hemisphere. Although water covers ten percent of Nicaragua's surface, environmental degradation, pollution, and simple scarcity in some regions threaten the country's ability to provide enough water to sustain its population and productivity. Today, nearly a third of the Nicaraguans do not have access to potable water.

Zoe has an existing partnership with a church in Nicaragua called Mount Olives, and we are joining them to serve their immediate community. We hope to minister to the people of Nicaragua by

1. building relationships and partnerships for sustainable, long-term ministry
2. helping raise money and connect expertise for a well project
3. ministering to the women, who are often neglected and overworked

This trip provides an opportunity to meet the physical and spiritual needs of a community that is in need.  More than anything, I would value your prayers for our team and those whose lives will be touched by God through us.  I am asking you to pray with me for safety, good health, and a listening heart to be sensitive to how God is moving. 

Beyond your prayers, if you are led to join me by financially supporting this mission, I would be grateful.  Our group needs to raise nearly $800 to cover the total cost of the trip.  Additionally, we are seeking to raise funds for a well-project for a community called Apawas.  We will have to be creative to raise the money, and I want to extend an invitation for you to participate. This is a journey that God has called me to and I would greatly appreciate any level of support you are able to offer.

I look forward to doing God's work in Nicaragua and letting you know about how God has worked through this team when I return in August.

God Bless,

Susie Park

Walk down the memory lane - Nicaragua 2008

Here is a posting from "Polythene Pam" from last year who visited Apawas, Nicaragua with Zoe Community Church in Summer of 2008.

http://pamsadventures.blogspot.com/2008/07/apawas.html

"This is the town of Apawas. It has sprung up in just the past nine years to provide merchandise for the farmers who are taming the "agricultural frontier of Nicaragua." Land is extremely cheap in this area. Most of these shops are owned by people who go to Managua once a month or more to buy wares and return to sell them here. People walk into town from hours away to buy necesities. Because no roads lead to Apawas, there are no cars here. Only horses."

That was her introduction to her photo-journal-blog. Please visit her site for rest of the blog. Thanks Pam!

If you have any photos from last year's mission trip, please contact me so we can publish it on our blog. Thanks!

-Ji

Be part of the team!

Greetings,


People have asked us how they can help on this trip and also help build this partnership with Nicaragua ministry. Sometimes I think the notion of helping has been interpreted as boxing up charity work and handing it to them with a pretty bow on top. This is mislead belief and I'd like to clarify how we can work together to deliver more than charity work and more than mere exchange of needs. I'd like to invite you on a trip to build a partnership where we can all work together for God's glory.

A director for a Nicaraguan faith-based NGO bluntly points out that if we are thinking to save Nicaragua by taking 2 weeks of our vacation time by going over there to build what they might need such as a health center, then we ought to just save our time and spend our time elsewhere because charity is not what they are looking for. They want us, you and I, to do work on basis of solidarity. This process begins by humbly empathizing with their struggles and with the ability to share their blessings and happiness.

Although we can argue that if we pour enough time and energy on a problem, we might be able to solve just about any problem that exists today. However, to cultivate a Christ centered community, we must first form a relationship with God then extend that same relationship to others. The quality of our relationship with others will extend only as far as our relationship with God. Bottom line, to make an impact, our ability to help others will only be as great as we acknowledge God's impact on our lives.


Here is how WE can help Nicaragua, together (try some of this on your own):

• Focus on spending quality time within your small group
  
• As a group, empathize with each other by going thirsty or hungry for a day. Think about what a day in a drought feels like and share with the group
  
• Limit your daily spending to less than ~$2 per day per person (HINT: with in your small group, combine your daily allowance to help you get through this hurdle)
• Raise awareness around Nicaragua's current events. Research what is going on today and think about how your talent can be poised to do charity work
  
• Stay connected to the team and keep us in your prayers
  

I think this is a good list where we can start our work. In the next few weeks to come, we'll start posting specific exercises we can do to build our relationship with God and with the people in Nicaragua.


Please pray for us that

• God will give us a humble and contrite heart during the time of trip preparation
  
• We will be able to witness God's grace through any financial and logistical burdens

-Ji

Dear God

Dear God,

Thanks for finding our blog and taking this opportunity to read about your work in our lives. Between August 6th-10th, 6 members from Zoe Community Church will embark/continue on a mission trip to spread the love of Christ to the people of Nicaragua. What might start as a mission trip, we hope will lead us to develop a partnership for what is deeper than mere need-based exchange of resources.

Despite their poor socio-economic status, Nicaraguans rely on your faith and hope for providing everyday resources that we Westerners take for granted. We are blessed with resources such as drinkable water that it is unthinkable for us to go a day without. Matter of fact, we are privileged with so much resources and options that in our initial reaction to the slightest conflict, we turn to our alternatives without listening to what you might have to say.

We are deeply encouraged by Nicaragua's faith-lead life and inspired to do the same in our land of plenty. In the short span of 2 weeks, we hope to build a spiritual partnership with Nicaraguans to build a Christ centered community.


Christ centered MO

Our MO for the trip is simple. It is based on the foundational prayer of OT faith, the Shema:

"Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord is One."

1. "Hear" Our highest priority is to listen to God.
2. "Lord is God" As we hear, we will obey.
3. "Lord is One" Our unity in Him is the most precious asset.

Thanks for reading and we hope to hear what you have to say to us.


Yours truly,
David, Sarah, Kyle, Danielle, Susie, Ji and ZOE!