…which is translated…

Hultner Estrada

The word “incarnation” provoked a restlessness among the participants.  In fact, some even left the workshop because they thought the Nehemiah Center was promoting beliefs in “reincarnation.”

This story happened a few years ago here in Nicaragua.  A course on Street Psalms Series was being shared and the facilitator spoke about the price Jesus paid to get close to humanity and… “now we are called to incarnate Christ in our communities,” repeated the teacher.  But the participants didn’t seem to understand.                                                    

Image:  "In the begining"

Sculptor: Mike Chapman

The truth is, I myself, with more than 10 years of pastoral youth ministry didn’t understand either.  It wasn’t until the facilitator directed us to the passage in John 1:14 that I began to discover the meaning: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth,” recites the text.  When we talk about the incarnation of the Son of God, we are talking about the mysterious process through which the eternal and infinite Creator of the universe took on a body of flesh.

As the theologian Juan Stam explains, the term “flesh” implies not just our biological nature, but also our vulnerability and even our inclination toward sin.  And that is the human nature that the eternal Word wanted to take on to be born among us.  He was not born with some privileged human nature, immune to the temptation and anxieties of our human lives like some species of “Superman” or a divine angel that only appeared to be human.  He was truly human.

But what does it mean to “incarnate Christ” in our community?  “The Word not only became flesh, but He also lived among us,” explained the facilitator to me.

Jesus didn’t come for a short time or just for an event, but he came to stay among us for more than three decades.  He came to walk in our streets, to put up with the dust, the mosquitos, the scarcity, the heat, the thirst, and the hunger.  He came to live among us, to listen to our conversations, to participate in the synagogues, to visit us in our illness, to get involved in the lives of the people day and night.  “And for that decision to live among us, we were able to discover his glory, his grace, and his truth,” the facilitator told me.

It was on that occasion that I realized that if we want people to see the glory, grace, and truth of God through us, than it is more valuable if we spend time with them, if we walk together, if we share life together, and that we don’t make ourselves superior and distance ourselves from the reality that they are living in.  Essentially, we want to go to the places where they are, just as the Son of God did since the first nativity when he became flesh as Immanuel… “which is translated: God with us” (Matthew 1:23).

A Friendly Church

Hultner Estrada
Bethany Beachum

When Maria Pilar talks about her community, she does it with joy.  Her neighborhood, “David Andino,” is a very typical community in Chinandega, the city of second most economic importance in Nicaragua.

This neighborhood also has many of the symptoms of insecurity, violence, dysfunctional families and community division, but Maria Pilar sees beyond these.  “We have many victories to celebrate”, she expresses joyfully.

For the last two years, Maria Pilar and five of her neighbors, have been involved with the Strategy for Urban Transformation (ETU), a training program that is using the local church to contribute to community transformation by means of a combination of evangelism, discipleship, and development based in the use of local resources and building cooperation among neighbors.

Maria Pilar sums it up this way, “Through ETU, God has taught us how we can help our community, both physically and spiritually.  We have been able to establish friendships with various people in the community that we never knew before.”

“Friendship” is a word that Maria uses often, but it is the term that best describes her work in the neighborhood.  From her home, she has begun teaching handicrafts to young women.  “We have a beautiful group of people who have learned to make handicrafts and sell their own products themselves, generating income for their households,” she shares.

Photo: María del Pilar (center) and her handicrafts class

For Maria and the ETU team, however, the most valuable part has been the camaraderie that has developed among the neighbors as a result of the arts and craft classes.  The community now has a stronger affinity with the church.  “This last semester we have met on several occasions with the leadership of the neighborhood to share the topics of Leadership, Community Service, Domestic Violence, Marriage Problems, and HIV-AIDS.  Also, we are developing roundtable discussions to promote healthy relationship within the family,” adds Maria.

What is happening in the neighborhood of David Andino is a small example of what can happen when the church reaches out to the community, taking small steps to help people flourish.  Beyond just growing new relationships among neighbors, the church allows God to add people that he wants to belong to its reach.  As Maria explains, “We celebrate the fact that two people have accepted our Lord Jesus as Savior and that others are visiting our church and small groups.”

Maria finishes her testimony asking for prayer for the members of the ETU team in the neighborhood of David Andino in Chinandega, “That the Holy Spirit would accompany us, illuminate us, give us patience, give us time, and above all, the disposition to work as a team, that God would touch the hearts and minds of those in our barrio and allow us to advance in the transformation of individuals.”

We must do the same

Hultner Estrada

There are times when we have no strength to pray for ourselves. Perhaps for this reason St. Paul advises christians saying, "Carry each other's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2).

Last week we received a team of missionaries coming exclusively to pray for us and for church leaders connected with different programs of the Nehemiah Center.

This team made a pilgrimage to five cities, traveling near 300 miles, visiting twenty churches and ministries in different communities of the pacific and northern area of Nicaragua. Their tour had a significant impact on many hearts. Here we share some testimonies:

"When they said they came to pray, I felt a little strange, this is the first time we got a group coming especially to pray. Their visit has impacted us greatly." (Porfirio Maldonado, Pastor in Chinandega City).

"All the families at El Manantial community have been through times of great concern because this year the rain was not very good and we lost many crops. These brothers came to give us spiritual strength, they prayed for our plots and our children. We are very grateful”. (Gilberto Lopez, community promoter in Carazo City)

 

"The visit of these friends was very comforting for us as a 

pastoral family. Their visit taught us that we must do the same for other families." (Obed Anton, Pastor in Leon City)

"They came just when I most needed because lately I have had to deal with the loss of an aunt and a girl who was like a daughter to me. I testified to my congregation how good it feels others to pray for one and how important it is to visit other families to give an encouraging word”. (Agustina Gutierrez, Pastor in Estelí).

"Several fellow ministers know that I and my family have been struggling with health, but they have not had the time to come to our house to pray for us, but these brothers came from afar to intercede for our family. In addition, they have a model prayer that we liked and we want to implement in our congregation”. (Maria Elena Garmendia, Pastor in Estelí)

Nehemiah Center thanks John Algera, Stafford Miller, Henry Swinkels, Henrietta Swinkels and Alma Hernandez. Their time and willingness to help us bear our burdens is a reminder of those words of Jesus Christ: "Go and do likewise." (Luke 10:37)

Meet Emily

Hultner Estrada

Bethany Beachum

All that some young people need to flourish is just a little time dedicated to them from adults.  The story of Emily proves this.

Emily comes from a family of scarce resources and a home broken by the separation of her parents.  As if this weren’t enough, school has not been a satisfactory place for her either.  There she earned the reputation of being a poor student for her below-average grades and her difficulties with learning.

Fortunately, the love of Jesus has reached Emily.  Her youthful smile and hope for a better future have been returning to her since she joined a particular Bible study group.  Beyond just finding spiritual support in the group, she has also found help in facing one of her school nightmares – math class.

“After we talked about the importance of good grades as an expression of our Christian life as it is a means for future prosperity, this girl decided that it was time for a change,” explains Scott McEwan, who, along with his wife Bethany, leads this Bible study group with young girls who come from difficult family situations.  Scott is also a civil engineer and Bethany a teacher by profession.  Both decided to support Emily with her math homework.

“During the week of vacation, Emily arrived to our house each night, walking several kilometers, to study mathematics,” explains Scott, “On one occasion, she even arrived under a downpour,” he adds.

This young girl of 14 years has not only learned to master numbers, but her self-esteem has also improved by realizing that she is capable of solving complex math problems and what’s more, that she likes to do it.  “Emily is now quicker at solving math problems than either I or my wife,” shares Scott.

Recently, Emily fulfilled another of her longings which was to be baptized.  Pictured: Emily after her baptism.  Accompanying her is Pastor Rider Reyes and Scott McEwan

“We pray that the enthusiasm of this girl stays strong and extends itself to her other school subjects as well,” says Scott.  “We also pray that the members of her family wouldn’t discourage her.  This is a cultural problem in Nicarauga.  If someone does something well, it will be praised a little bit.  But if they mess up in something, they are heavily criticized,” he observes.

The Nehemiah Center wants to give thinks to the Lord for the life of Scott and Bethany McEwan and for their passion for serving youth and families that live in difficult contexts.  During the 12 months that they have been serving as volunteer missionaries in our country, they have shared their talents and resources, supporting the work of different programs of the Nehemiah Center and the safe house, Casa Esperanza.

Learn more about the ministry of Scott and Bethany McEwan.  Follow this link: http://mcewanministry.wordpress.com/

Health and Ministry

Hultner Estrada
Bethany McEwan

“As a pastor, it’s not easy to stay in shape,” says Ricardo Herrera. “Many of my fellow pastors suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity.”

Ricardo has served as a pastor for more than 30 years, and he knows firsthand the difficulties of trying to balance ministry and a healthy lifestyle. In describing the life of a pastor, he shares, “we have to go to events with lots of food, we often eat at irregular times, we use cars or motorcycles for all our transportation, we never exercise, and we don’t even discuss healthy living among ourselves!”

Ricardo’s lifestyle doesn’t just affect him; it also affects his wife Olga. “I went to a seminar, and I got on the scale. When I saw that I weighed nearly 200 pounds, it really bothered me,” she explains.

But something is changing in the lives of Ricardo and Olga. Between the two of them, they have lost more than 35 pounds in the last four months. “I feel that my health really is changing for the better. I feel happier and healthier,” Olga says joyfully. Her husband shares that now he talks about healthy living with his colleagues and the members of his church. “Before, I felt ashamed to talk about taking care of one’s body because I was overweight, but now, when people notice that I’ve lost more than 20 pounds, I take the opportunity to explain to them what I’m doing.”

In April of this year, Ricardo and his wife attended the workshop “Integral Health and Nutrition.” In this special training session for pastoral couples in Leon, the Nehemiah Center shared the “Seven Pillars of Health” by author Dr. Don Colbert.

Dr. Colbert emphasizes seven basic practices to stay healthy mentally, emotionally, and physically:

1. Drinking enough water
2. Resting and sleeping enough
3. Eating raw foods
4. Exericising
5. Detoxifying the body
6. Paying attention to stress levels
7. Using vitamins and supplements

Learn more about the Seven Pillars of Health. The PDF and PowerPoint are available in spanish here.

“Now in the house we are more careful with what we eat. We have gotten rid of soft drinks, we eat more fruits and vegetables, and we’ve eliminated greasy foods,” says Olga.

“I learned that I am responsible to keep myself healthy, and I like that the pastors learned that our health is as important as our theology. God wants us to be healthy,” Ricardo concludes.

Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you

and that you may be in good health,

as it goes well with your soul.

John the Apostle (3 John 2)

Surprising Questions

Hultner Estrada
Bethany McEwan

If you had the opportunity to ask God just one question about something that still doesn’t make sense to you, what would you ask him?

“This is the question that we are going to take to the streets,” said the facilitator. “We are going to leave this church building and everyone is going to find and interview one person in the central park.”

At first the participants of the course The Scandal of God*, seemed nervous and unsure about the idea of going out on the streets to talk to non-Christians, but after the interviews in the park, their attitudes were very different. They came back excited; smiling, and talking about the different questions they had heard:

• How can I get a divorce from my church-sanctioned marriage?
• Why did my mother abandon me, my father mistreat me, and why do my siblings not love me?
• Why would God send me to this world?
• When will I find the light that will guide me to Him?
• Why won’t God let me forget the person that I’m in love with?
• Why has God given so much power to Satan?

The workshop participants were surprised at the questions and the discoveries that they made through them. They realized that society does have an enormous thirst for knowledge about human relations. More importantly, the people outside the church really do want to know God, and they will easily and frankly talk about spiritual subjects if they are asked the right question. 

“Imagine the great door that would open for us if instead of going out to preach, we went out to question,” remarked another facilitator.

This exercise reminded me of the story of the “Road to Emmaus” in Luke 24 that clearly shows the method Jesus used to reach the heart of people. He first asked questions and listened attentively, and only then did he respectfully communicate the truth of the gospel.

Do we follow Jesus’s model when we share our faith, or do we do the exact opposite? What are the questions that those outside the church need us Christians to ask? Are we listening carefully to their doubts and concerns? What would happen in our communities if we went out to question instead of to preach? Who knows what we might discover if we only tried a new strategy.

He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

Luke 24:17 and 27 (NIV)

* The Scandal of God is a course in the curriculum series Mission for Transformation that the Nehemiah Center program for youth development teaches. Its goal is to equip the church to serve at-risk youth and their families. 

September 23th

Hultner Estrada

Bethany Beachum

“Young men for rent. Will do dangerous jobs.”  “Women for rent for night activities.”  “Young girls for rent for whatever you choose.”

Does this “menu” surprise you?

Behind these offers operates a well-structured, clandestine network  which abducts human beings and then sells them as premium products, goods, or objects.

The trafficking of persons is one of the worst violations of human rights.  It is referred to as the slavery of our modern era.

But there remains much to be explained: Who is behind this business?  What kind of industry would demand such kind of “goods”?  Why has this form of trade been able to evade border and state controls?  What is the logic or social philosophy that supports this degrading commerce?  And why is Nicaragua considered the top country in Central America to be a “provider of slaves?” 

The 23rd of September is commemorated as the International Day of Human Trafficking precisely to talk about these issues, to inform, and to prevent the population from this threat.  The day was established by the Conference against Human Trafficking in Dhaka, Bangladesh in January of 1999.

This week, 13 participating churches in the project Combating Human Trafficking, promoted by the Nehemiah Center, are holding informative and preventative workshops in schools, parks, churches, and the streets of León and Chinandega.  The idea is to alert and empower the population but also to demonstrate to the Christian community that, as the church, there are many things we can do to offset this crime.

On our part, we want to ask you to join in the prayer chain that these churches are promoting, asking God that justice may shine, that he would train us in his wisdom to fight against this crime effectively, and that, above all, his love would comfort and defend the victims.

A digital version of an informative poster is available here for you to print, hang in your office, and/or share with others (Spanish).

Pictured: The three volunteer promoters that work with the Nehemiah Center in  the project Combating Human trafficking in Nicaragua (Claudia Balmaceda, María Luisa Martínez and Ligia Rivera).

Taking the mask off

Luz Urania Largaespada with Kathy Most

Some confessions may take us by surprise. We asked pastor Evenor Maltez how the trainings for pastoral couples had helped him to improve his life over the last year, and this was his response:

"When you're a pastor, sometimes you put on a mask to pretend that everything is okay. Participating in the training as a couple, has helped us take off that mask and become aware of our need to learn. "

Although Evenor and Lolita have been Christians for long time, they began their ministry at Tabernacle Family Church in Estelí six years ago, and decided that the ministry in the community would have an emphasis on the family, but often felt that they had to wear a mask so that others did not perceive their relationship problems.

As a result of their involvement in the training for the network of pastoral couples that the Nehemiah Center promotes, they have realized that they do not need to wear a mask to cover the conflicts.   They can talk about them in an environment specially designed to promote dialogue, discover each of their responsibilities and find ways to solve them, along with other colleagues who also have similar problems.

"In an open environment for learning where you feel relaxed and safe, it is easier to talk, it's easy to see we're not the only ones who have these problems and that we have the ability to change," says Lolita, who also says they want to learn how to use the dialogue methodology to help other couples.

Nehemiah Center's goal is about promoting a network of pastoral couples to facilitate the comprehensive transformation of families.   This transformation is achieved when couples become close, develop transparency, and assist each other in their growth. The network is a place for couples, with the mediation of a marriage mentor,  designed to facilitate dialogue on critical issues, in a friendly setting that allows them to build confidence.

Now Evenor and Lolita take time once a week (every Monday), to discuss the difficulties and challenges they face as a family, they work on a family budget that is helping them to achieve financial peace, and have included their children in making new decisions. "Communication has improved a lot," say both.

Every couple faces conflicts, both large and small. The challenge of every marriage is to build in the right amount of time, in the most appropriate setting, to talk about their differences in a spirit of humility and love.

Do two walk together

unless they have agreed to do so?

Amos 3:3

A Story with Flavor

Hultner Estrada with Bethany Beachum

Grab your favorite fruit and put it on Lesbia’s hands and she will make a delicious jelly. Papaya, guava, melon, pineapple – it doesn’t matter what kind of fruit it is.  The imagination is the limit for this woman, known for her extraordinary palate and her gift for teaching.

Trained in chemistry and specialized in fruit and vegetable preserves, Lesbia Cárcamo has worked for several different organizations training other women in western Nicaragua so that they can make the most of the plants on their land.

Nevertheless, with all of the knowledge and training she has, Lesbia has still not been able to overcome many of her own personal limitations.  “It wasn’t until just recently that I asked myself, ‘How is it that I have not been able to escape from poverty?  Why haven’t I started my own business?’” she shares with us.

“I had received all kinds of trainings, from those related to my career to other courses on topics such as health and women’s issues.  I taught others to work hard and improve their lives, but I myself was not practicing what I preached.  My family was in total poverty, subsisting on what I made from the workshops I was giving.”

Lesbia explains that what she had was a worldview problem.  She was getting in the way of herself and her ability to move ahead in life.  “I couldn’t defeat the negativity I had nor had I improved my own self-esteem.  I lived with the mentality that I was always going to be poor.  I wouldn’t consider opening my own business because I was sure that it would go badly”, she thinks aloud.

But one day, Lesbia came upon a realization, “Whenever I hear teachings on Biblical worldview and I read that God lifts us out of the misery of poverty, I am encouraged to empower myself spiritually by reading the Bible.  As I read, I am more and more amazed by it and grow in my belief in it,” she emphasizes.

“I always thought that the Bible was full of good stories – but stories from the past, from other times that didn’t apply to the reality that we are living today.  But when this blindfold was removed from my eyes, I realized that those good things that happened in the past were also possible in the present.”

The change in perspective and the faith she recovered in those workshops restored Lesbia’s optimism to write a business plan and design a budget.  “I began to knock on doors, here, there, at the town hall and other places.  And yes, some doors were closed, but I knew that God was with me and that another, better door was going to open,” she expresses with enthusiasm.

Today, Preservas Cárcamo is Lesbia and her family’s company’s name.  They have been able to convert a room in their house into a workshop with basic equipment for creating and jarring the delicious jams that she learned to make 20 years ago.

Lesbia is thankful to her pastor, Francisca Rayo, to the fellowship of the other women entrepreneurs who are known as the “Deborah League,” and to the Nehemiah Center, for making it possible to give the trainings on “Kingdom Businesses” in her community.

At the center of difficulty

Hultner Estrada & Dave Stienstra

What kind of father sends his son off to be tortured? Such a father, could easily be considered inhuman. A God such as, could certainly not be the God of the universe.

These lines illustrate the Greek mindset that antagonized the message of Paul in the first century. Jews demand signs and gentiles argue through reason. “Our gospel of Christ crucified is hard for Jews to accept, and everyone else thinks our message is foolish”, we hear the aposlte reveal in his report. "But there are those God has chosen, both Jews and others. To them Christ [crucified] is God’s power and God’s wisdom" (1 Corinthians 1).

Oddly enough, the ancient Greek mentality still powerfully affects the way we see God, the scriptures, and the world today. In a post-modern era in which feelings and individual comfort have taken the lead, people prefer to hear from a friendly God, guarantor of security and happiness, rather than a Master who invites us to take up a cross every day.

Indeed, the Bible says God is love, that He defines himself as an advocate, provider, and Savior, but it also warns us that we live in a dangerous world and that we are likely to face tribulation (John 16:33)

Trusting in a God who is good but doesn’t necessarily conform to the current standards of "security" is not easy. It takes conviction. It takes a humble faith to embrace those moments of pain and suffering as our participation in the suffering of Christ --the fullest expression of the wisdom and power of God.

The Greeks could not accept the sacrifice of the Son of God was the vehicle used by the Father to bring salvation and restoration to all creation. Likewise today, many people still struggle with the idea that a loving God will allow pain and suffering affect the lives of His children.

As those who have decided to believe, we accept the risk of walking the path of difficulty, but with the confidence that the power and wisdom of God will be manifested, and God will act through those painful moments and everything will work for the good of His Kingdom.

Through this brief post, The Nehemiah Center would like to send a word of encouragement and solidarity to several brothers, transformational leaders, who are going through very difficult circumstances. We are remembering and praying for many members of our community who are suffering the loss of loved ones, health complications, and other troubles and attacks.

The courage and resilience of each of these friends, as Paul would say, to quench the fury of the flames, to draw strength from weakness and to stay strong in the battle, encourages us to continue trusting in the sovereignty and care of the Lord even when we are in the center of the difficulty.

"If truth is that God will allow their children

pass through the fire,

is also true that he will be with them

amid the flames. "

For Those On The Outside

There are people who, by their own will, would never set foot in a church.  Meet Manuel, who is one of those people.  Although his mother is a Christian and he acknowledges the truth of the Gospel, it has been many years since Manuel has entered a church... nor does he have any desire to in the near future.

Five years ago, Manuel was right in the middle of a tragedy.  While carrying out a special mission with the military in a remote region of the country, he witnessed the brutal assassination of his best friend at the hands of another good friend.  The three men were soldiers trained in marine watch and rescue and other capacities.  But one night, an argument erupted between the two friends and in the heat of drunkenness, it tragically ended in spilled blood.

The crime not only took the life of his friend, but it also robbed Manuel of his career in the military.  Following a complicated judicial process, he was forbidden from re-entering the military as a soldier.  For Manuel, this was the vocation and sacrifice he had dreamed of since he was a young boy.  “The military was my life, my family, my future.  I moved up very high in the ranks, and I couldn’t understand why they would throw me out after I had invested so much,” expressed Manuel, visibly pained.

Ever since that weekend in 2007, Manuel has been able to think of little else.  The trauma is too great, and there are too many images and daily events that trigger his memory of that terrible night when his story changed forever.  “The psychologist that was assigned to me did nothing more than say a few nice words and tell me to think about something else... that’s crazy,” says this boy who comes off as a much older man.

For many years now, Manuel has been drinking daily.  He always goes about with “some” alcohol in his system because it is the only way he feels he can survive the loss of five years ago.  I met Manuel on the outskirts of a soccer field in Sutiava, where he was watching the game by himself from a distance and with a sad look on his face.

“These are the kinds of youth we want to gather,” said the Lieutenant Tiberio, who along with Pastor Denis Cienfuego and Belén Church, have begun an initiative to rescue at-risk youth through doing creative activities in the streets.

Manuel is just one of the many people who do not enter the church.  There are some who don’t come simply because they cannot be in places packed with people.  Others don’t because they have problems with hearing and they cannot withstand the high volume that is common in many church services.  And others frankly are not capable because they are not in good health, are chronically injured, struggle with depression, or are incapable of moving about on their own.

We would like to commend Belén Church, Pastor Denis, Lieutenant Tiberio, and the police of Sutiava for their passion for youth, especially those who struggle with addictions, loneliness, or misconduct.  Thanks be to God for these leaders who are spending time with the marginalized of our society and who have hope that people like these may one day set foot in the church.  Thanks be to God that they are being Christ in the streets and in their neighborhood.

“So let us go out to him, outside the camp, bearing the disgrace He bore.”

Hebreos 13:13 (NLT) 

That family umbilical cord

Hultner Estrada & Dave Stienstra

Las Peñitas Beach is a picturesque place.  In this bay of tranquil waters, river currents meet the tides at the Padre Ramos Estuary, one of the wildlife parks in the department of León.

Very close to this beautiful place lives Jaime Pastor Orozco, a friendly local fisherman in his thirties, who is dedicated to the discipleship of youth in his costal neighborhood.

One day, while chating about the cultural differences between Anglo-Americans and Nicaraguans, Jaime Pastor made a comment that I have never forgotten.  “North American youth, at 18 years old, are already looking for a way to leave the nest and live on their own.  We Nicaraguans, at age 18, are looking for ways to bring a woman into our homes.”

Jaime Pastor’s commentary has made me think much about the reality of thousands of young couples that are living with their in-laws.

Why have so many of the young people who have married decided to live in the home of their in-laws?

The reasons are economic, but also cultural.  They lack a stable income, earning less than $250 per month, and are unable to qualify for a home loan.  Much less are they capable of paying the sizable down payment and associated fees.  But they have not cut the “familial umbilical cord”, which would allow the young couple to establish their own home.

In our culture, a “good son” is a thankful son who remains close to his parents.  As a result, abandoning the parents’ home is understood as a gesture of rejection towards those who raised him.  In many cases, when a son or daughter leaves, it means one less income for the family budget, which is the reason that parents prefer to build an addition onto the house for the newlyweds; it is a strategy for protecting their mutual finances.

“After thirty years of marriage, I had never broken this umbilical cord!” shares Estanislao Ramírez, who, along with his wife, recently completed the marriage course Restoring the Original Model, offered by the Nehemiah Center in the city of Estelí.

“I had never thought about the commandment in the Bible that says, ‘For that reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,’ and that cord was still firmly attached for me,” Estanislao adds.  His wife interrupts, “From the moment that he made some changes in the relationship with his family, our communication and relationship has improved enormously. In this way the course has helped us greatly.”

Cutting the familial umbilical cord is a challenge for young couples, but also for other couples who have years of independence. This is a challenging process if we consider that our culture gives a greater respect and regard for the mother or the father than your own spouse.

Fortunately, many Christians in Estelí and in the coastal area of ​​Leon and other cities are embracing the biblical principles for a married life according to God's design.

"Husbands love your wives ... and the wife must respect her husband."

Ephesians 5:25-33

They Helped Us Expand Our Radars

Hultner Estrada & Bethany Beachum

When a worldview is improved, the changes that people experience are always surprising.

This past month, more than 100 leaders from different churches in three Nicaraguan cities completed the first level of the program for formation of Agents of Transformation, bringing to close a year of studies in Biblical Worldview.

Although the Nehemiah Center has already been facilitating workshops for eight years now, the testimonies that come out of the end of each cycle are always surprising.  For example, Julián Garcia, a rancher from the town of Estelí, tells us:

 “I don’t have much education, I wasn’t even able to finish primary school, and maybe that is why I have always had difficulties with relating to other people.  I always thought it would be very hard to become an important person in society, but with these courses I have felt uplifted.  I feel that I have grown so much and have been trained to understand that the Lord has called me to be an Agent of Transformation.

Another thing that has kept me from relating well with other people is the Christian message that I had received, which was a very accusatory and condemning one.  Now, I feel much freer to talk about the Lord because I can share a gospel of peace.  Now I can tell others that He is a God of love, that He wants His people to flourish, and that it is us that He is calling to bring about that flourishing.”

On the part of Zulema Trujillo, a nurse in the hospital of Chinandega, she summarizes her experience with the following:

 “Because of a poor decision I made when I was younger, I distanced myself from the life of the church.  Ever since then it has been very difficult for me to return to a good relationship with the Lord.  Furthermore, because of my job, I don’t allocate time to be involved in any type of ministry.  So really I have felt sad in my life as a Christian; I have felt useless before God.

But through the courses on Biblical Worldview, I have realized that what I am doing in the hospital is a way of serving God, that I can minister, I can serve and be useful to God from my workplace.  And that, for me, has been very beautiful.  Now I feel that I can enjoy my job more.  I feel that I am close to God and that I serve him every time I help another person.  I feel that I have been freed.”

Stories similar to this one are very common at the end of the worldview courses, but we should clarify and recognize that the source of all such changes is the Word of God.  It is the rediscovery of Biblical truth and how we understand the world and ourselves as creations and co-workers of God.

As Julián García expresses, it is these truths that “have helped us expand our radars toward our own family and our community and come to understand that God wants a transformed society and we are His instruments to carry it out.” 

Transformation in the Computer Lab

Hultner Estrada

In general, we don’t question our customs.

They are part of us, day after day, and because of how well they work, we don’t see much reason to change them.

“We were accustomed to using pirated software.  We saw this as the “normal” thing to do – we didn’t know it was illegal.”  With these words, the director of the Bethlehem Baptist School of Managua describes what has become the widespread culture for using software at the national level.

A large number of the cybercafés, academies, and schools in Nicaragua that teach computer literacy, use “cloned” or “borrowed” software licenses, as has become the norm for the rest of the world as well.  “It wasn’t until the folks from REDPROCOM came and made us aware that we came to see that we were being poor Christian witnesses,” adds director Jazmina López.

REDPROCOM is a network of Christian computer teachers that was started by a small group of friends who were interested in transforming the culture of technology use in Christian schools in Nicaragua.  With the support of the Nehemiah Center, ACECEN, EDU-DEO, and FH-NICARAGUA, they are promoting the use of free software and teaching ethics in the world of computer usage.

“Honestly, I had a lot of fears about changing our computer system”, says director López.  “The teachers feared that it would draw many complaints from parents and that the students would be resistant to the change – they were already accustomed to the programs, the colors, the layout of Microsoft Office and we thought they weren’t going to like the Ubuntu programs.  But in the end, it all turned out well.”

The teachers of Bethlehem Baptist School, along with other Nicaraguan schools have joined the trainings that are being organized by REDPROCOM.  “The teachers have received many tools and have discovered many new options they weren’t familiar with before,” adds the director.  “We also discovered that using the free software, we weren’t incurring as many costs from repairing machines infected with viruses.”

“Now we have realized that we have made the best decision.  We feel that we are working with total integrity and that we have authority to tell our students that they too should be doing things honestly,” shares López, who on her part thanks God and the REDPROCOM staff who are caring about teaching correct computer usage in Christian schools.

“Do not quench the Spirit.  Do not treat prophecies with contempt

but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.

May your whole spirit, soul and body

Be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Apostle St. Paul

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A Modern-Day Slavery

By María Lourdes Rivas*

  

Slavery still exists.

Human trafficking currently takes third place for the most severe issues affecting Central America after narcotrafficking and the smuggling of weapons.  Nicaragua is first on the list of “source countries” for human trafficking, and evidence shows that Guatemala is the highest “consumer” in the region.

Women, children, and adolescents of both sexes are the principal target of traffickers’ networks who seek the sale of organs and the trafficking of persons for sexual or labor exploitation.

According to the National Coalition for Human Trafficking, the furthest borders of Nicaragua (to the north and to the south), are the territories where the majority of traffickers operate.  Chinandega, León, Madriz, Nueva Segovia, Rivas, and Rio San Juan are the departments with the highest number of cases of trafficking victims.

The threat is so real and so close that it is affecting the evangelical church.  In a survey done by the Nehemiah Center (2011) with two groups of pastors and leaders from León and Chinandega, 74% of those interviewed claimed that this is a problem that has been affecting their congregations for some time now.  80% of those surveyed were in agreement that the church should act in response to this reality.

The pilot project Combating Human Trafficking in Nicaragua, directed by the Nehemiah Center, has been researching this topic during the past year and has been training 12 churches in León and Chinandega in themes such as Legislation on Human Trafficking, Victim Counseling, and Action Plans for preventing trafficking in communities.

Through these trainings, the churches have been able to verify that the buying and selling of persons is a real threat in their neighborhoods.  Before, many leaders though that the cases of minors disappearing were an issue resulting from rebellious adolescents that had run away from home.  With the information they now have, they have been able to effectively recognize these cases as human trafficking.

At the beginning of this year, thanks be to God, we were able to rescue a girl from Chinandega.  Following the procedures they had learned, through prayer, and by working as a team, we were able to learn the whereabouts of the girl just before she was about to be transported by traffickers to El Salvador.  The young girl is now receiving spiritual and psychological support.

The Nehemiah Center is concluding the pilot project in the next month.  We are very satisfied with what we have accomplished, but we hope to continue with this effort.  We are praying for the human and financial resources to continue with this work of prevention and attention to victims.  It is risky work, but it is also a duty: as Christians we are called to live an abundant life in Christ, but we are also called to announce and defend the plentitude of life in the context of slavery and death.

*Project Facilitator, Combating Human Trafficking in Nicaragua.