Well, we have gone from working on one house to working on another. We are presently working hard on our home in Texas so that we can sell it and get back to our misson work unencumbered. (written by Tim Mott)
There is so much to tell you that it is hard to know where to start.
We returned to Bluefields, Nicaragua on September 23rd and spent three whirlwind weeks on the Atlantic Coast. It was a very good trip which helped to  energize us and renew and refine our vision.
We began with a week in Bluefields, teaching a course on The Seven Laws of the Teacher. I taught three sessions each day so that everyone could make it to one of the courses. This meant teaching at 9 am, 2 pm, and 6 pm every day. By the end of the day Friday, i was exhausted.
We left early the next morning for Corn Island and preached on Sunday morning and then taught Monday - Wednesday, finishing up a study on Bible Study Methods. Corn Island is beautiful, but it was a little more difficult because the water system was off for two days, electricity came and went and we had no internet the entire time.
 We came back to Bluefelds and were able to spend more time there getting the house better organized. Kim did quite a bit of cleaning and organizing on the house part and I finished a large bookcase for the music lab and reduced the computer lab to one computer (gave several to pastors, etc), and cleaned up.
During these last days, I had a lot of good opportunities to spend time with pastors and leaders.
Unplanned Opportunity
One of the highlights of the trip was something that we did not anticipate. I was working with Israel, a leader in one of the churches. He was at the house, studying Psalm 2 for a message he was planning to deliver to a men's group. As we were talking, he told me about a group of boys he was dealing with.
Israel had started a neighborhood patrol, with the police ot try to stem crime and drugs in his barrio. The kids  had surrounded one of the guys and intimidated him into quitting the patrol.
Israel prayed about it and was at his wit's end because he felt that God wanted him there. He walked outside and met one of the delinquent kids and told him "bring your leader here, I want to talk to him.'' The kid replied that the leader would never come, but Israel told him he would be waiting right there.
Sure enough, within 20 minutes, the leader of the gang came up and Israel started to visit with him and told him he wanted to meet with the entire group. He got that meeting and was able to share the message of God with them.
As Israel and I talked, he told me that these kids (age 15 and up) had a basketball court (sort of) but no hoops or balls , so it just sat there abandoned, amidst all the government promises. We decided to get Cesar, our welder, and go the neighborhood and see what it would take to put up some basketball goals.
All the kids met us there and we had a good visit and I told them that when we come back in January, we will bring the funds needed to build them a set of basketball backboards. I also had a chance to share a word of encouragement with them, but the truth is that they are not going to really hear that until they see that we care.
We don't have any allusions about this group. As we were walking, Israel dryly commented that he would be chasing this same group around that same night, trying to keep them from stealing and using drugs. All we can do is pray for them and show them the love of Christ and watch God work miracles in their lives.
 We are praying that as we are able to return, we will be able to start a weekly gathering with these guys where we can share the message of the love of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God with them.
One thing that God has really put upon my heart is the need to get out into these barrios and build communities of faith, more like the original church.
The churches in Nicaragua are not touching their culture and I am coming under the strong conviction that the only answer is to get out of the four walls of the church and build separate faith communities among the people. If Jesus came to Nicaragua, I am convinced that this is what he would be doing.
This update has already gone long, so I will cut it off for now. There are so many more pictures and videos and we will do another update in another week or so. This is enough to digest for one week.
Thank you as always for your prayers.
God bless you,
Tim and Kim |
