God's Faithfulness in Condega

*Collaboration with Christian Reformed World Missions

As a Christian school director, Gioconda’s heart aches when she sees many of the young people in her community struggling with addiction and gang violence. She yearns for positive change for both her students and her broader community of Condega, Nicaragua.

“In my mind and in my heart, I see this city with youth that are productive, professional, and above all else, given to the service of the Kingdom of God.”

Gioconda and other staff at Denis Caceres Olivia School see Christian education as a way to  help young people overcome these struggles.“If we can form a solid Christian perspective in the lives of these youth, there will not be a need for the legal system to intervene,” said Gioconda.

 But they needed some practical assistance in making this positive change.

Gioconda struggled as the school lacked resources. She and other staff members needed help in finding practical ways to make the changes they desired. Teachers went months without receiving any salary. Still, they kept working toward their goal.

“We all said, independent from whether we have money or not, that we have a commitment,” said Arlen Blandon, a teacher at the school,  “a commitment that these kids have a better future.”

Then Giocanda discovered that she was not alone in her struggle.

Through a friend, Giocanda found out about the Nehemiah Center, a transformation center that began with the collaboration of Christian Reformed World Missions, World Renew, and other organizations.

Gioconda worked with the Nehemiah Center to provide practical classes for the school’s teachers, stewardship courses for school officials, and other important resources that enabled them to better fulfill their calling.

“We have seen how God touched the heart of the Nehemiah Center to help us with the tools that we lacked as teachers,” added Arlen. “This came at the precise moment that we most needed it.”



One of the ways that the Nehemiah Center encouraged the school was looking at its acceptance policy. For Gioconda and other school administrators, this meant reflecting God’s grace in the students they accept.

“If other schools don’t accept them, we will,” said Gioconda. “We welcome these kids not just for academic reasons but for other reasons like spiritual formation and counseling.”

This is precisely the goal of the Nehemiah Center’s training, said CRWM missionary Steve Holtrop.

“When it’s done well, the training that the Nehemiah Center offers flips people upside down in their thinking,” said Steve.

Walking hand in hand with the Nehemiah Center has helped Gioconda set goals for the school and make those dreams possible. Your prayers and financial support for CRWM also plays an important role in this community transformation.

Pastor: Care for Your Home

“But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, 

he would not have let his house be broken into.” Luke 12:39.

Hultner Estrada / Bethany Beachum

Luke 12:39 carries a possibly uncomfortable warning: “Care for your home because someone has plans to plunder it.” It is an imperative that puts us on vulnerable terrain and emphasizes our duty to be diligent in guarding and protecting our homes. “This is a sensitive subject,” explains Manuel Largaespada, volunteer facilitator of the Families program, and he confesses it causes him some fear each time he addresses this subject with the pastoral couples in the program.

Fears notwithstanding, however, “Care for Your Home” has been the continuous challenge that they have brought to the pastoral couples of the Northern region of Nicaragua who have participated in the Families program in the last year.  “It is about a call to action that doesn’t exactly sound like the theme of a motivational conference.  It is, however, a warning that we cannot ignore in these times in which The Thief is trying to force the door,” adds Manuel.

“Our proposition was that the pastors know a lot about how to take care of their homes in the spiritual sense, but they needed to grow in the understanding of the importance of other areas such as the emotional and physical health of their homes,” shares Luz Urania Largaespada, coordinator of this program.

The Families program has developed a series of workshops and materials that focus on the necessity of caring for the home and practical ways to do so.  Among other ideas, “Caring for Your Home” consists of:

- Modifying our patterns of living and practicing “good treatment” as a lifestyle.

- Recognizing that God wants us to have good health and wants for us to be attentive to our habits of exercise and eating.

- Making the decision to break some heavy and unnecessary yokes that produce exhaustion in the pastoral family, such as the yoke of concern for self-image, the yoke of legalism, and the yoke of over-commitment.

Pastors Ileana and Miguel Castillo have participated in and replicated the workshops with their congregation and share their experience in these words:

Ileana: “The families we work with are not always well cared for, beginning with their marriage and then with the raising of their children. But we are seeing many changes from negative to positive.  For example, families are learning to express issues in a constructive manner instead of destructive within their family unit.”

Miguel: “We are very busy working in the church and sometimes we fail to take care of our own home. But we have improved in our communication – we haven’t always been good listeners, but we have improved in this within our marriage and with our children. This has helped us to be better listeners to others who are under our care as well.”

Pastors Ileana & Miguel Castillo

God cares for the birds, the flowers, the fields, and our homes.  He desires for us to be sacred guards of the family he has given us.  He wants us to know how to care for our own homes in such a way that The Thief cannot plunder it.  Care for Your Home!

Digital Literacy

Hultner Estrada & Bethany Beachum

The statistics for “digital illiteracy” in Nicaragua still remain very high.  According to the report “Economy of Knowledge in Central America,” our country ranks 131^st out of 148 countries in regards to education and access to Information and Communication Technologies.  Honduras is in the 99^th position on the list and Costa Rica the 58^th.

Experts from the Science Academy of Nicaragua say that this country is a straggler in the competition of a global economy sustained by knowledge because so many people still do not have access to the internet.  Hardly 5% of the schools in the nation own a computer.

The factor of access is key.  A computer in Nicaragua can cost up to 40% more than in the United States or Panama.  Internet service – that is somewhat functional – costs 10% of what it takes for a family to eat for a month.

Despite all of this, many Christian schools are making an extraordinary effort to reduce these statistics of digital illiteracy, helping the next generation to develop the ability to use technological tools.  Even so they have to overcome many difficulties.

“The computer labs in our schools end up becoming “museums,” because we use donated computers that are turning obsolete,” explains Rafael Castro, facilitator of a network of Christian computer teachers that have formed precisely with the purpose of supporting schools in the mission to produce digitally literate youth for the benefit of the country.  This network goes by the name REDPROCOM.

“We are dedicated to providing technical assistance, academic planning, maintenance, and software and hardware repair, but most importantly, we provide training in the use of “Libre” software which is completely free and is very functional for Christian schools,” shares Rafael Castro, a licensed English and computer teacher.

REDPROCOM, a collaboration with ACECEN (Association for Evangelical Christian Educational Centers in Nicaragua), has succeeded in providing this type of key support to more than 30 Christian schools.  “We are a small team – for now – but we are very united,” adds Castro, who sums up the dream of REDPROCOM in the following words:

-“We dream that our computer labs are going to be the best of the future, we are going to work so that our program works and then, when it has been established and is strong, we are going to share it with the government so that teachers at the national level can also benefit from it.”

Learn more about REDPROCOM and ACECEN

The Nehemiah Center in the Informal Sector

Hultner Estrada & Bethany Beachum

According to the most recent poverty survey in Nicaragua*, 70% of employed Nicaraguans work in the informal sector.  This is to say two million people work either for themselves or are sub-employed.

The lack of formal, well-paying Jobs (those which offer a contract, fixed salary, benefits, and social security) has caused the majority of Nicaraguans to create their own businesses or go to the streets to be able to support themselves.

For this reason, the cities of Nicaragua are characterized by an abundance of small businesses, corner convenience stores, food stands, small pharmacies, tortilla stands, bakeries, used clothing stores, not to mention countless vehicles and bicycles that offer transportation services.  On the streets, too, you can buy everything: juices, fruit, hammocks, car parts, exotic dogs, and on special occasions, artificial roses, Christmas decorations, flags, and political symbols.

“The Nicaraguan doesn’t die of hunger,” goes a saying that describes the ingenuity of this people who never cease to generate ideas and create all variety of micro-business that are the motor of our economy.

Even so, although informal employment has been the alternative for surviving day to day, it still doesn’t hold a guarantee for long-term economic improvement.  The informal employee is someone with few possibilities for training to improve their business and pay off credit and loans.

According to the same survey, few self-employed workers have received support in their work.  At the national level, around 6% declare to have participated in some type of training and only 2% report having received technical assistance.

 “That 2% is where we enter, thanks to God!  That is our little grain of sand!” says Freddy Méndez, coordinator of the program “Kingdom Businesses.”  The program focuses on providing technical assistance, accompaniment, and training in Biblical principles to a growing number of Christians who earn their living from running a small business.

One of those Christians is Taylor Chávez, a dedicated pastor and chicken salesman in the city of Chinandega who has been participating in the business network for three years now.  “The workshop titled ‘The Accounting of the Orange Seller’ challenged me greatly,” says Taylor, “That practical and simple study helped to open my accounting mind more for my business.”

The topic of accounting is a difficult one for the majority of self-employed workers.  They are used to doing the numbers for their business “in their head” or in a small, informal notebook.  This is principally because they consider their business to be small and therefore, accounting isn’t necessary.  Or it may just be that they don’t know how or they don’t see the value in it.

But the practical workshops on accounting offered by the “Kingdom Businesses” network are expanding minds and equipping small businesspeople with some tools to grow.  “The next thing I would like to learn,” says Taylor, “Is how to audit my business – even though I’m not an auditor.”

Seeds Projects

Hultner Estrada & Bethany Beachum

 “There are so many things we would like to do, but we lack the resources.”  This quote sums up the lament of many Christian leaders in the face of a number of issues that go unresolved in their communities.  Despite these challenges, several churches have been experimenting with a simple methodology that is helping to meet small – but significant – needs in their barrios and neighborhoods.  They are called “Seed Projects.”

The Seed Projects are carried out by the local church and are acts that demonstrate the love of God to their neighbors.  These projects are set apart because of their short-term nature – they are completed in a few hours and they use local resources from the same community.

Recently, a group of pastors and youth leaders that participated in the program “Misión Transformadora” (or, Transformational Mission), organized a Seed Project to restore a recreational space known as “the park of the dropouts” in a community with named “El Proyecto,” located in the department of Estelí.

Everyone helped out in some way, whether it was cleaning up the park, pruning shrubs, painting benches and the basketball court, or contributing brooms, shovels, machetes, paint, brushes, and other materials.

It didn’t take long to have the community involved in the project.  The first to arrive that day were youth from the community, who already had the habit of gathering there in the mornings.  Although they were shy at first and maintained their distance, soon, they too offered to lend a hand in helping and contributing materials.

 “Why are they doing that,” asked some onlookers, “It’s a miracle that someone came to clean this,” others expressed.

 “This park had become a meeting place for youth with a history of drug addiction and violence.  It had been abandoned to the point that the authorities didn’t even pay attention to it anymore,” explained Gioconda Ordoñez, director of “The Renewal” Educational Center.  “But by coming here, I think we are reaching out to the youth, and maybe that will help them want to improve their lives.”

Many neighbors observed the activity in the “park of the dropouts” from their homes, and it even generated interest from the local television channel.

 “We are here as leaders of different churches to put into practice what we have learned about service to our community,” expressed Esperanza Castillo, leader of the church La Hermosa, who was interviewed by a journalist.  “This place was chosen because this park has been abandoned, and children and adults alike are scared to come here.  We also chose it because it is an opportunity to demonstrate the love of God to the youth here and the people who live in this area.”

 “These youth remind me of my own past,” shared Pastor Álvaro Garcia, of the church Josué 1:9, “And just look at how they get involved when someone pays attention and cares about them.”

At the end of the day, Roberto Aldana, young painter and member of the church Tabernáculo de Adoración, asked the youth, “We want to paint a quote on the basketball court, what would you like it to say?”  After a small discussion among them, the youth of the barrio decided to paint, “God with the Project.”

Bethany Beachum

Should we call the workshop Asset Based Community Development or should we call it Desarrollo Basado en Recursos Comunitario?  ABCD or DBRC?  Should it be named in English or Spanish?  

Thus the first half hour of this workshop in Nicaragua, led by Roland Vandenburg of Calgary, was spent discussing the name of the workshop, all before Roland even presented what the workshop was actually about.  By the time the name Desarrollo Basado en Recursos Comunitario (, or DBRC), was adopted,  every person attending felt they had some personal ownership in the workshop.    What a great beginning to a two-day training session designed to change a fundamental mindset.  First, the mindset of the workshop participant needed to be changed, then they would be ready to go out into their communities and work on changing mindsets there!

 In the model of DBRC, or Asset Based Community Development, the community developer goes into a community looking for strengths.  Working with the community members, together they identify the strengths.  Relationships are established as they look closely at the community through the eyes of the people who live within it.  The community developer and the community members all come to recognize the strengths of the individuals in the community and the strengths of the collective community.  And everyone understands that the community members will be intimately involved in whatever  plan of action is developed for the place where they live.

This model is in direct opposition to the traditional model that starts by naming all the problems in a place.  Communities are identified and may even work with the community developer, but the perspective is one of looking for problems that can be addressed.  This can set up a negative mindset which can lead to the community feeling overwhelmed by their problems and unable to see solutions without dependence on outside help.  The Asset Based Community Development model has a different point of view, a different approach, and it produces a very different attitude in all involved.

This workshop, held at the Nehemiah Center in Managua, Nicaragua, was preparing 24 Nicaraguans, all community leaders, to work in their own communities using the techniques presented by Roland.  During the workshop the participants designed a survey to use in discovering the strengths of individuals in the community and of the community as a whole.  In the afternoon session they divided into small working groups to hammer out 8 questions using clear and appropriate language.  The wording had to be understandable and still clearly explain the asset approach.  It was very encouraging that everyone at the workshop also was concerned about preserving the dignity of every survey participant.  No question was to be complicated or demeaning.  Once the survey questions were agreed upon, the group considered the initial request to ask community members to participate in the survey. They agreed a friendly, non-threatening approach was critical.

The following day all was put to the test.  The entire group went to Leon, approximately 90 km away, and visited one of the neighborhood communities where about 60 families live along the main street.  The newly-trained community developers paired up to conduct the surveys.  Approximately 40 homes were contacted and no one turned the surveyors away, indicating a great success for the friendly approach!

At the end of the day the group discussed the results of the surveys.  Many of the people surveyed were initially perplexed by the question, “What do you have of value in your house?”  Many people first replied that they had very little of value.  But when pressed to consider what resources they had--water, furniture, dishes, guard dogs--they realized they had quite a list.  With patience and encouragement they began to change their mindset into one of seeing their assets, and eventually they came up with long lists of resources in both their homes and their communities.  

Many of the people surveyed were grateful for the opportunity to participate.  One woman told the community developer that she now realized she really did have a lot to be grateful for.  What an example of a changed mindset!   At the conclusion of some of the surveys, prayers were shared for the homes, families and the community.

This survey technique of DBRC--Asset Based Community Development--will be duplicated in the local communities of the participants of the workshop.  The community developers will develop relationships with the families in their communities, and together they will work to identify the strengths of individuals and the community as they plan for a better future.  In the words of one of the participants, “We can help our community see that they are important in the eyes of God and they have great resources provided by God.”  

Popular Proverbs & Sayings of Faith

Hultner Estrada & Bethany Beachum.

In Nicaragua, we have a saying for everything.  Some are funny, others are harsh, and still others are a little hard to interpret, such as the one that says, “The lone ox licks itself well.”

The ox is a very common beast of burden in Central America and is also a symbol of hard work, nobility and strength.  But another particularity of this animal is that it waits until it is alone to clean itself.  Only when it is calm and solitary, in the afternoon or evening, does the ox turn to its tongue to knead its skin and lick any wounds it may have suffered while carrying out its work.

That is why the saying, “The lone ox licks itself well” means that it is preferable to be alone and, on one’s own, try to overcome shame or sorrow, to then be able to complete one’s work.

“But these types of proverbs can keep us tethered,” explained Carlos Mejía, during the graduation ceremony of Youth Agents of Transformation that took place on October 5^th.  “I grew up hearing these proverbs and I became accustomed to doing things alone, but also to letting others resolve their problems on their own,” shared Carlos, a construction worker from the city of León and a member of the Filadelfia church. 

Carlos Mejía, along with 20 other teachers and youth leaders in the city of León, participated in the series of workshops entitled “Mission Transformation,” which focuses on equipping the local church to serve youth (and their families) from difficult home situations. “These courses helped the scales to fall from our eyes,” added Carlos, “Because they taught us that we are relational and that we are to practice love and mercy for our neighbor.”

Leader and Bible teacher Abigail Picado shared a new proverb that she has incorporated into her collection of faith proverbs, “I really liked the saying that we learned in Street Psalms course that said: ‘Grace is like water, it flows downhill and pools up in the lowest places.’  Through this saying I have come to understand my community better,” she expressed.  

“I learned that above all, one must have love for others in one’s community.  And that we should relate to them, help them and recognize the value they have with God.”

We extend congratulations to the new generation of Youth Agents of Transformation and their facilitators Trinidad Juárez of the Filadelfia church and Denis Cienfuegos of Belén church.  Both churches have been joining in the dance of the Holy Spirit in their communities and learning how to work hand-in-hand with their neighbors for the good of their own communities.