Day 7 - Thoughts From Aleida

"You didn't choose me, I chose you, I appointed you to go
and produce fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you
whatever you ask for, using my name.I command you to
love each other".John 15: 16-17

At our worship service on Sunday morning the departing
blessing to each one of us was to step out in faithand
daily live this scripture passage.We witnessed the truth
of these verses on our cultural day outing on Monday,
first at the House Of Hope.This ministry embraces the pain
of young girls as young as nine, teens, and mothers who
were forced into prostitution, endured physical abuse, or
who were sold and escaped the hardships in the child
trafficking trade.They are Nicaragua's poorest of the poor.
Here, they and their children can with the help of the local
policelive in the safety of this compound.We could see
that they are embraced by loving staff members who help
to rehabilitate them both physically and spiritually.
We later visited two Edu-deo sponsored Christian Schools
in the poorer areas surrounding Managua. We could visibly
see how God is blessing these two schools, the student
numbers growth is exploding. Nicaragua has a population
of just over seven million people, it is said that there are
over one million children who have no access to any education.
Along with providing Christ centered education these schools
have developed a separate Compassion Program where the
kids are taught life skills, proper hygiene, and they receive a
nutritional well balanced meal once a week.
We ended the day by seeing the movie Reparando, he is an 
ex-gang member.He along with Rita, an ex-abused wife,
minister in gaining the trust of people who live in the slums
and city dump of Guatemala City. Their joint ministry
embraces the pains of gang membership, usage of illegal
drugs, theft, and helps them repair their lives which they
will pass on to the next generation.In all honesty, this
day was a cultural shock to say the least.We struggle with
many unanswered questions.
How do I (we) personally respond to all of this??

On this mission trip our team has been working hard at 
digging holes in blistering sunshine, mixing concrete, 
and preparing the rebar columns.In our team discussions
after work we felt that Edu-deo Ministry would greatly benefit
from a concrete mixer.Together we decided to purchase and 
donate a new mixer to make the concrete work a better quality
 and make it much quicker.This purchase will benefit the 
local workers andfuture Edu-deo teams in their school building
projects. By doing this, we hope to have one more fundraiser 
at the end of February-early March to cover the cost of this unit.
 More information on this fundraiser will be given upon our
return home.

We began this week jointly meeting with all of the staff at the
Nehemiah Centre for one hour of prayer, Bible reading, and singing.
We were touched to learn that this is done every Monday morning.
In coming together on a weekly basis, the dismissal blessing of the 
past Sunday morning worship service, words from John 15: 16-17 
demonstrated the love and blessing the ministries have for each 
other in a most beautiful way. God's spirit is visibly moving among 
the people at the Nehemiah Centre and in Nicaragua.
blessings, Aleida