Changes!

Patients exercise patience as they await their turn with the doctor.

Corn fields behind the Mission Chapel

 

Changes mark our arrival in Nicaragua as we begin our second three month service in the country. Our previous visits have been during the dry season. This time we arrived in the midst of the rainy season. The evidence is all around.  The country side is lush and green; crops are growing in most fields and even now beginning to mature. We are pleased to see that a crop of corn and squash were planted in the back fields of the Mission Centre.  The proceeds that come from the crop will certainly assist in the upkeep of the Centre itself. 

Even the insects appear different in the rainy season and of course we are seeing a lot more of them. My first major encounter came when I stepped into a fire ant hill and almost immediately had my feet and legs covered with the biting insects. Now I know why they are called fire ants; the pain of their bite feels like fire. Linda and I have also begun to take our malaria tablets as a precautionary measure as the rainy season is equated with malaria season in the country

Just as we see growth and maturing in the countryside, so we see it in the mission and the church. The planting of three new mission outreaches in the communities of Leon, Rivas and Sebaco, initiated in the spring of the year, are beginning to bear fruit.  Small communities of believers are gathering for study and prayer and by God’s grace others are being added to their assemblies. Continue to remember Missionaries Maximo, Rufino and  Hector and their outreach efforts in your prayers. 

In the spring of the year, just before our departure from Nicaragua we were privileged to participate in the dedication of our Mission Medical/Dental Clinic. The Clinic has now been in operation for almost five months. The medical ledger reads that over 500 patients have been seen by Doctors Benjamin and Maria. What makes this number amazing is that the clinic is only open one day per week.

God has used this clinic to provide healing to many who might not normally receive medical attention. He has also used it as a vehicle by which our pastors and deaconesses can make new contacts and share a little of who we are and Whom we proclaim.  The result?  A weekly bible class is now being held in the Mission Centre Chapel each Wednesday as well as a worship service each Sunday. At the present time, President Luis is providing the leadership. He reports that last Sunday 23 people were in worship. He shrugs his shoulders and say, “Just a small group, but God will bless!”

Once again, it is a privilege for us to be serving in Nicaragua. The task and mission is much the same as it was during our first stint in the spring of this year. I will serve as a pastoral counsellor and advisor to the new church and its board and until we have a new administrative missionary located in Nicaragua, I will also serve in that capacity. We had hoped to make a trip into Honduras to explore new opportunities for outreach, but we must wait until the political situation stabilizes in the country. Please keep us in your prayers  — that God would keep us in good health and provide us with the wisdom to be of service to the church and mission.