Doutt Missions Journey

Tall Jeff

2012-01-10T07:18:00.001-05:00

Upon our arrival back to Nicaragua last week we were greeted by a family with a baby boy. They were anxiously awaiting to tell us that they had named their child Jeff after "tall Jeff". We were blessed because "tall Jeff" (pictured below) was one of our ENGAGE students last year. In 2010, the children in this precious family had accepted Christ at camp while "tall Jeff" was their counselor. He had a great impact on many lives and was able to share Christ's love and leave footprints on the hearts of many children. God has truly blessed us, the national churches and Pastors through ENGAGE. This semester, we have five people joining our ENGAGE in Missions team here in Nicaragua. This has allowed us to provide the national church with a team of young people that have a passion to serve and be used by God. Feel free to pass along our information to any University aged young people who have a passion for missions. They can also check out our ENGAGE Nicaragua website at www.EngageNicaragua.org.

Back to Nicaragua

2012-01-03T07:05:00.001-05:00

A huge THANK YOU to all our friends, family and churches that have made it possible for us to get back to Nicaragua quickly. May God continue to bless your families and ministries as you bless others. Our greatest desire is to share the love of Christ with those who have not yet heard. We are believing God to bring hope to the hopeless, healing to the hurting and food to the hungry.

"Some people come into our lives and quietly go. Others stay awhile, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never the same." We want to leave footprints in Jesus's name on the hearts' of the people of Nicaragua.

Enjoy the video below and celebrate and pray with us for the people you are sending us back to!

Culture Shock

2011-08-01T07:41:00.004-05:00

Here I am, typing this on my laptop, while sitting on my porch on a sunny, summer afternoon. Most, here in the States, are telling me that it's dangerously hot this week, with the heat index over 100. Personally, I don't know what the fuss is all about...feels about right for me. What gets me is that I sit here and look down the street and don't even see one house with bars on the windows. There aren't even any guards!

I guess cultural shock can and will occur in different ways for our family. For instance, while driving down the road the other day, one of my sons tells me that everyone is rich here in the U.S. He goes on to explain that even the dogs here have houses. A little observation that many of us would overlook, but through his Nicaraguan eyes, he saw it right away.

Obviously, we are adjusting being back in the States for itineration. We are thrilled to spend time with family and friends that mean so much to us. We are so happy and excited to communicate with everyone what the Lord is doing in the 2nd poorest country in the western hemisphere and to share with you the vision we have for our second term there. At the same time, it's difficult too. Someone once said that home is where the heart is and for this family, well, it's with the people of Nicaragua.

So, for all of you who have agreed to support us with prayer-please continue. For those who have partnered with us financially, will you continue to support us? We ask, realizing the gravity of that question, but also believing that He who called us is able to supply all our needs. If you don't support us on a monthly basis, will you consider doing so? Our goal is to be back in Nicaragua this January, but we will need your help.

Again, we what to say a huge thank you to all who have partnered with us through prayer and finances. As we look back on the past 3½ years, we can truly say we so clearly see the hand of God working in our midst and without you we could do none of it. Blessings my friends, Ken.

Hope & Healing to Nicaragua

2011-07-20T07:37:00.000-05:00

It has been 4 years since we were commissioned as "full-time" missionaries to the country of Nicaragua. We arrived to serve and to serve however the national church would want us to. Without any agenda of our own, we set out to be a resource, a blessing to the local church and to assist them in reaching the poor and hurting for His glory. That desire turned into a reality this last term, when God allowed us to see the Nicaraguans how He sees them; exactly how He sees us-as children of the King.

With the message of Love and Hope, we were able to communicate that God, indeed, has a purpose and plan for each and everyone of them. By partnering with us these last four years, you allowed the healing to take place through the following means: Camps for street kids, retreats for churches, leadership training for leaders, assisting in church construction, developing kids and youth ministries, special evangelistic rallies, speaking in their Bible schools, and being a part of feeding and discipling over 1000 kids each day.

Looking back, we are just so much more thankful for what God has done in Nicaragua and how He has just ordered our steps. Key relationships were established and His timing was just perfect. We would love to share with you, personally, stories full of the hand of God moving in salvations, miracles and an endless flow of His mercy and grace. Every week in Nicaragua, I was reminded that God has chosen the foolish and the weak and that just makes me excited to get back and see how God will use the people of Nicaragua in these last days. Will you be a part of bringing Hope and Healing to the children of the King?

Camps 2011

2011-07-01T07:32:00.000-05:00

Over the last few months we have had the opportunity to run four incredible camps. This would not have been possible without so many of you who partnered with us by praying, giving or coming to Nicaragua. Camp was a huge team effort and worth every minute.

The majority of the children came from the Managua city dump and surrounding area. Our last two camps had quite a few children from a refugee camp that is in a local school yard. The refugees once called the dump "home" but because of the severe flooding in the fall of 2010 they were displaced along with hundreds of others into a school yard where they have been living the last 10 months.

The pure joy that radiated from every child throughout the three days of camp was priceless. Most of them have never left their area that surrounds the city dump, let alone the city. So, an opportunity to go to beautiful "Campo Alegría" where they learned that there was hope, joy and freedom in our friend name Jesus, were able to swim in a clean lake, play freely, eat three meals a day, see the active volcano across the lake and just be kids... a once in a lifetime event.

Without fail, every Friday, we have kids run up to us, while we are at the Children's Center for the feeding program. Each of them hoping for an opportunity to go to camp. They have heard so many stories and they are excited to experience camp themselves. Most of them have never left their own neighborhood, let alone the city of Managua. So, an opportunity to go to beautiful Campo Alegría (Camp Joy) is a once in a lifetime event.

We have been blessed by so many friends, family and teams who made these camps possible. God is so faithful!

Focus.one

2011-05-29T11:26:00.026-05:00

Focus.one, formally Rockford Master's Commission did an amazing job ministering with us in Nicaragua to children we know and love from the Children's Center. Through a spoken word drama called "God is..." they were successfully able to communicate in a real way who God really is. Each day they were able to expand on that concept and everyone of them were able to share personally who God is and what He means to them.

Team Time

Pastor Carlos and the boys

Crafts

Swim time... their favorite part!

Kid's Outreach/Bible League

2011-04-29T10:07:00.002-05:00

Kids Outreach in Nejapa, Nicaragua

Thanks to materials produced by the Bible League that were donated to us. We were able to put La Vida de Jesus "The Life of Jesus" into 200+ children's hands and share with them personally about the life of Jesus.

An amazing group of young, talented people from Hosanna in Managua came out to minister with us.

Feed The Hungry / River of Life

2011-04-12T11:33:00.003-05:00

We are so thankful for the blessing that Feed the Hungry is to the people of Nicaragua. Last month, we were able to launch two new feeding centers out of local churches who have a desire to reach the neediest of the needy in their communities. Volunteers from the local churches are faithfully providing the children with both physical and spiritual nutrition. Staring this month, April, 2 more new feeding programs will be launched in Nicaragua and we are believing God to do great things in the lives of these children.

This past week we were ministering out on the Atlantic coast of Nicaraga with Feed the Hungry and a team from River of Life in Kent, Washington. God opened up so many doors for ministry opportunities. He went above and beyond our expectation. Lives were changed and we are believing for total transformation by the power of His name.

We want to thank Lamar Austin from Feed the Hungry, Pastor John Terranova and all the members of the The River missions team for going above and beyond, sharing Christ's love, serving with your whole heart and building relationships that will last.

Glad Tidings & Sycamore A/G Youth Team

2011-04-01T09:47:00.003-05:00

Glad Tidings and Sycamore A/G youth helping us pull off an incredible camp for 32 kids from the feeding center at the dump.

Uniform Project 2011

2011-02-14T09:37:00.001-05:00

A huge Thank You to all of you who made "Uniform Project 2011" a huge success. 295 children passed through the Children's Center over the last few days to receive a school uniform, backpack and school supplies. I wish ALL of you could have been here to see the joy and pride that beamed from their faces as they left the center with their backpacks full. AMAZING!!! This would not have been possible without our supporting churches and friends back home.

700,000 school aged children all over Nicaragua are not able to attend school each year. Public school in Nicaragua is free, however they must purchase the standard uniform in order to attend. Due to the extreme poverty in Nicaragua, purchasing this uniform is not possible for many families. It was our desire to bless 200 kids from the Children's Center with an opportunity to go to school this year and begin their education. However, we were able to bless 295 kids through this distribution. With a good education, Lord willing, one day they will be able to rise above their poverty and be blessed enough to have the things we too comonly take for granted like clean water, food and shelter.

Even though their were 295 children that came through, we did everything we could to keep it VERY personal and make every child feel special and loved. They entered the center two children at a time. I, Kendra, got them registared and gave them their name tag so that we could all call them by name. It is hard to comprahend that 6 to 12 year old children don't know how old they are or when their birthday is. This alone shows you the lack of education and the desire that drives getting them into school. Then they went to the uniform fitting station and Tiffany, Engage leader, got their appropriate size. From there they went to the shoe station and Leanna, Engage student, fitted them for school shoes and then they passed on to the backpacks and school supples. Then they were given a yellow slip of paper to hang on to and bring back on Saturday to pick up their fitted uniform. Before they left the center Jeff, one of our Engage students, prayed a prayer over every single one of these precious 295 children. This took us 2 full, long, hot days to complete but was worth every minute and every smile.

Day 3 of the project was Saturday, uniform pick up day. The distribution was to start at 1pm. All of the chidlren knew what time it was going to start and they all had their yellow slips of paper to remind them. We got to the center around 11am to prepare inside the center for the distribution. Much to our surprise, when we came around the corner to pull up to the center, the streets were full of children cheering and waving their yellow slips of paper. There was a line that had started forming at 6am with over 100 children standing in the sun, smiling from ear to ear, waving their yellow slips of paper.

We had every childs uniform individual packed, labeled and ready to go. So, when we opened the doors, we again did every thing we could to keep it personal. The kids came in 16 at a time. They sat in chairs that were set out for them. I talked with them very quickly and told them how proud we were of every single one of them. How excited we are for them to school and how important it is that they get up and go EVERY day. We told them how much God cares about each one of them and how we would continue to pray for them as they begin to study. Then, my husband, kids, Engage team and some national friends helps us to distribute the uniforms. Each helper took one childs slip of paper. Went and got the appropriate labeled uniform package and when they came back to give it to the child they called them by name and told them how proud of them they were and that God would bless them. Very personal and so beautiful to see the pride and joy come of each child.

What an awesome opportunity YOU all gave us to share Christ's love in a very practicle way. Thank you to John and Wilma Hall for allowing us to use the Children's Center for this project. May God continue to bless their ministry as well.

If you would like to download the video please click here.

Worth the Climb!

2011-01-28T13:10:00.126-05:00

This past week we journied north into the mountains of Nicaragua. I hope you can appreciate the special moments the Lord gave us on this ministry journey to share his love with His precious children.

Just shy of 6 hours into our trip we blew a tire in a very remote mountain area, which turned into a special memory for us and the people in the community. Slowly kids started peeking their heads around from behind trees to see the americans on the side of the road changing the tire.

Leanna (Engage student) and I started playing with the kids. They quickly grew in number and we were singing songs, painting faces and making lots of new friends. The little guy in the picture wanted "Bob Esponja" painted so badly, good thing Bob was on his shirt to look at because I am the farthest thing from an artist.

The first night after we arrived we showed a christian movie to the boys at the Farming School of Hope, followed by a beautiful time of prayer for each of the young people. The second night, Jeff (Engage Student) spoke into the boys' lives and Tiffany (Engage leader) lead us all in worship. It is awesome to see God use our Engage team together. Afterwards, we had a time of fellowship and tons of fun just building relatioships with the youth.

The second day we drove a little farther up in the mountains where you can only enter during dry season. Interesting enough, in the middle of dry season it began to rain and there was no way we could get any further. So, about 20 minutes from our destination we found a farmer to watch our vehicle and we hiked the rest of the way in. Once we arrived, it was so rewarding. We had a beautiful time of ministering to the children before having the honor to serve them what is likely their only meal of the day. Thanks to the hike, we were able to appreciate the beautiful mountain view. Since the hike in was mainly down hill the entire way, we were okay. Coming back up was a completely different story and took at least 3x as long, but definitely worth the climb!

We were greeted by a christian mariachi band very early in the morning on the day we were headed back to the capital. It was LOUD and eventful. We were all wide awake by the last song. It was beautiful to watch them worship the lord through their culture and music.

We thank God for His protection and provision to be able to go and share His love throughout Nicaragua.

Romans 8:28

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose".

Dot-to-Dot

2011-01-06T15:08:00.001-05:00

What an incredible year we had here in Nicaragua! We want to say a huge "Thank You" from our family for your continued love and prayers. This past year, 2010, can best be summed up by explaining to you one of my Christmas gifts that I, Ken, just received from my mother-in-law at Christmas. It was an "Extreme Dot to Dot" book...that's right, you read correctly, a dot to dot book. First I was like, you got to be joking! I'm 35, not 3-5! Then I opened it up and saw that there were over 1,400 tiny little dots per page that I'm supposed to follow and connect and my mind started to think, "this could be fun." Trust me, even after you connect over 700 dots, you still have no clue what the picture will be...but when you complete all the dots, you see an awesome picture and you start to appreciate all the dots and what each "connecting line" brings to the overall picture.

After spending most of 2009 building strong, deep relationships with nationals here in Nicaragua, it seemed like this past year was full of many opportunities to fulfill some of those important needs that were expressed to us. We found ourselves, at times, overwhelmed but always blessed to be a part of ministering to the poor, broken, hurt, tired, overburdened, needy and hopeless. We experienced many open doors and were so grateful by your continued support in prayer and finances that allowed us to walk humbly with the Lord through them.

I am amazed how the Lord helped us launch an awesome program called ENGAGE Nicaragua this past year. It has allowed us to provide the national church with a work force of young students that have a passion to be used by God. These ENGAGE student's perspective on life has surely changed since starting here this past September but I believe they know that they are a part of something that is way bigger than us.

It is awesome to see all the dots God connected in 2010 because the future picture of Nicaragua will be breath taking.

Feed The Hungry

2010-11-11T12:05:00.014-05:00

As Thanksgiving approaches, we find ourselves counting our blessings each day. One of the many blessings in our lives is our partnership with Feed The Hungry. Through the food donations from Feed The Hungry we are blessed to be able to provide a warm meal to just over 1,000 children daily in Nicaragua. Not only are the children blessed by the warm meal filling them up, but each local ministry site also shares the word of God and that will last with them forever.

This warm meal is provided daily to the children at the feeding centers around Nicaragua. It is rice meal full of vitamins and nutrients.

This is an example of a "family pack" that is distributed through the local church in areas where we are ministering. It is a huge blessing to those who receive the family pack, as well as, a blessing for the local church that is able to build relationships with new families and provide on-going ministry.

The Pastor's home in Santa Rita where Feed The Hungry blessed the locals with family packs earlier this year. This summer we followed up with ministry in this remote river community providing evangelism outreaches for the youth and children.

Another remote community along the river in Bluefields that was blessed to receive family packs this year as well. We are currently in the process of opening a feeding center in this local church.

Just as I was finishing up this blog, I received a call from Pulse FM Christian Radio out of South Bend, Indiana. They were having their annual "Take Away Hunger" campaign. They asked if I would take some time and share with the listeners about the opportunity we have to feed the hungry, with both food and the word of God here in Nicaragua. Also, about how the resources we have been provided with has made an impact on the children's lives that we are able to minister to. The simple answer in life changing. By providing these children with a warm meal we earn the right to be heard by not only them but their families and community as well. This allows us and the local church the ongoing opportunity to share Christ with them.

Pierce and Meghan Davis

2010-10-16T00:11:00.000-05:00

Please meet Pierce and Meghan Davis! Pierce and Meghan are from a wonderful church, Freedom Christian A/G, in Sterling Heights, Michigan where our friends Aaron and Jaime Hlavin are Senior Pastors. Pierce and Meghan have been approved by The A/G World Missions to come to Nicaragua and serve with us as Missionary Associates. We are excited for what God is doing in their lives and for what they will bring to our ministry team here in Nicaragua. They are a very talented young couple, with a call on their lives and a heart to GO and SERVE.

We just launched the ENGAGE NICARAGUA program this fall, and we are in desperate need for Pierce and Meghan to get to Nicaragua as soon as possible. We will be working together to fulfill the ministries God has placed in our hands, but above all, they will be overseeing the students that are in the Engage program.

We ask that you take a moment to check out their website www.pierceandmeghan.com and prayerfully consider supporting them monthly or even with a one-time offering. Please join us in prayer that the Lord will miraculously provide for them as they share their heart with others and raise the necessary funds to come to Nicaragua.

If you are a Youth/College Pastor and you would like them to come to your youth group and share about Engage Nicaragua with your students, feel free to contact them through their website. Senior Pastors, as Missionary Associates, Pierce and Meghan are not able to contact you to book services unless they know you personally. However, you can contact them. Please consider blessing this young couple and contacting THEM to come and share in your service. You won't be disappointed!

They have already been a blessing to us in many ways. Recently they created a logo for Engage Nicaragua (see below) that we absolutely love. If you are a Youth Pastor or Michigan Teenager and plan on being at the Michigan Youth Convention in November, please stop by and see Pierce and Meghan at the Engage Nicaragua booth.

We love you Pierce & Meghan and can't wait until you get to Nicaragua!

The Dream Team

2010-10-15T19:13:00.002-05:00

In 2007 our friends and fellow missionaries Jon and Wilma Hall were ministering on the street in Acauhalinca with their "El Camino" Sidewalk Sunday School truck. Once a week for 12 weeks they went with their children's ministry team to reach the children in this impoverished community. Many children accepted Christ for the first time during those 12 weeks. Shortly after completing that 12 week discipleship program Jon and Wilma began an ongoing weekly Children's outreach and feeding program. The feeding program continued to grow and grow and that is when "Wilma's dream" started to become a reality. As of today, there is a beautiful 2 story building under construction that is the future Children's Center of Acauhalinca. Plans for completion are well underway and we are excited for all the ministry that will be able to take place out of the Children's Center.

In 2006 when we visited Nicaragua for the first time, this same community was one of the areas we had a heart to minister in. Once we made the move to Nicaragua, the Hall's lovingly invited us to visit their Friday feeding program. We fell in love with the children and we have had the honor of spending lots of time serving along side our dear friends, Jon and Wilma, in this very poor community.

Coming out of youth ministry in the states, when we first heard about the Children's Center, we were excited about the possibility of taking these kids out of their seemingly hopeless situations and pouring Christ's love into them during a 3 day camp. We also dreamed of training these young Nicaraguans to go out into their surrounding communities and share Christ's love with other children and youth who have yet to hear the Gospel. We firmly believe that future leaders, Pastors and Missionaries will come from this Children's Center.

This summer, along with the Michigan AIM team, we were able to take 50 kids from the Children's Center on a 3 day camp. Our desire was to share Christ's love with those who had not yet accepted Christ and build deeper relationships with those who had. Out of those 50 kids that came to camp this summer, we have had the opportunity start an evangelism team. A few weeks ago, along with our Engage team, we started training. One of our Engage students has appropriately named them the "Dream Team".

Yesterday was a very special day. Words will never describe the love and joy that filled our ministry van as we loaded up our family, the Engage team and the DREAM TEAM. Together we headed out to meet Jon and Wilma and the "El Camino" truck. Our place of ministry was one of the worst parks in Managua that is well known for its poverty, violence, gangs and drug activity. It was a beautiful sight to see these young people so full of joy and have the opportunity to leave their community and go and tell other children about Jesus! Just amazing...... We thank God for every one of these young people and the opportunity He has given us to make disciples. Enjoy the pictures and feel free to rejoice with us.

"The Dream Team"
Jeyson, Carlos, Efrain, Samuel, Reynaldo, Norlan, Tañia, Kevin, Oliver, and of course, our Kaden and Kaleb.

Ministering

Getting ready for more ministry.

Reynaldo praying for kids that accepted Christ for the 1st time!!!

Flooding

2010-10-04T13:49:00.000-05:00

There has been an unbelievable amount of flooding in the last few weeks. The flooding has caused 1,000's of people to be displaced in the community where the Children's Center is located outside the dump. In response to the flooding our Engage team has been assisting with a temporary soup kitchen that is set up outside the Children's Center. Both adults and children are welcome to come and receive warm soup and rice. Please pray for Nicaragua and those who have been affected by the flooding as we still have another month or more of rainy season to get through. Our prayer is that we will be a blessing to those in need and be able to share Christ's love with them.

Raise The Roof: Las Brisas

2010-09-29T14:33:00.001-05:00

Thanks to "Feed The Hungry" we are able to give food supplies to "Impacto Juvenil" and the children in Las Brisas are able to hear about the love of Jesus and also receive what is likely to be their only hot meal of the day. For the past few years this ministry has taken place in the street and just recently the community gave an empty lot, free of charge so this ministry could get out of the street. Currently the outreach program is unde trees to help shade some of the children from the beating sun, but there is no shelter when there is rain. Recently, the Lord has put it on our hearts to "Raise the Roof" and build a small pavilion style shelter that would protect the children from the sun and rain and would be such a great blessing to this outreach site as it continues to grow. If you are interested in making a donation towards the "Raise the Roof"project, feel free to e-mail us for information or give on-line here and put "Raise The Roof" in the comments box. Thanks for all your love and support. Enjoy the pictures!

Maria teaching the bible story and a little boy quoting the memory verse.

Jeff serving the children.

"Thank you Feed The Hungry"

Some of the kids enjoying their meal.

The home of the family next to the outreach site.

Love & Baseball

2010-09-27T02:48:00.000-05:00

Last week were able to go out and spend some quality time with some of the boys from the Children's Center playing baseball. Our friends from Holland 1st A/G in Michigan have a genuine love for the kids from the dump and the surrounding area. This summer they brought both a construction team and evangelism team to work at the center and were a great blessing to the children. Last month they donated over a hundred pounds of baseball equipment that is being put to good use. Thanks for your love and support Pastor Mike and friends. We look forward to having another "Rise up & BUILD" team soon.

ENGAGE: Granada

2010-09-16T23:11:00.004-05:00

This week our Engage Team headed to Granada for a week long Intense Spanish Immersion program. They stayed with a local Nicaraguan family and have to complete 20 hours of course work with their Spanish teachers and 20 hours participating in cultural activities. You can already tell they have such a love for the culture and language. I must say they are quite literally "engaging" into the culture as they were playing soccer barefoot in the streets with the local kids. Please pray for each of them because it is never easy adjusting to a new culture, a hotter climate and different language all at once. We are really excited about the ministry opportunities and relationship that will stem from their time studying in Granada.

Jeff working on basic conversation at Spanish Class.

Leanna on her first day of Spanish Class.

The Dog Days of Summer

2010-08-19T10:26:00.001-05:00

Almost everyone knows that the “dog days of summer” refers to the hottest and muggiest part of summer. Actually Webster defines “dog days” as... 1. The period between early July and early Sept. when the hot sultry weather of summer usually occurs in the northern hemisphere. 2. A period of stagnation or inactivity

Well, in Nicaragua, that is not the case. You see, during these “dog days of summer,” we have been receiving teams from the states and they can tell you that there is no period of stagnation or inactivity when you come to Nicaragua to be used by God. Some of them might tell you that it’s still hot and muggy but let the truth be told; Nicaragua’s hottest and muggiest months are March and April.

What these teams might not tell you is what an incredible blessing they were to the future of Nicaragua. Our family had the honor and privilege to host three amazing teams. We were witnesses to the many sacrifices of the Michigan AIM team as they gave, 50 kids from the poorest part of the country, a camp of their life. Literally showing Christ’s love, one child at a time, for 60 hours straight.

We were right there, when the Faith Community team went above and beyond and unselfishly traveled and gave of themselves to bless four small church plants with their awesome VBS and youth programs. Whether we got there by 4x4 or panga boats, this team was ready to serve and allow God to move in the services.

Lastly, we were just in awe of how generous and compassionate the Holland First construction team was. Not only did they put in the drop ceiling and ceramic tile for a children's outreach center, in the heart of the poorest part of the country, but also they did it while ministering personally with the children. Each day, they took time to invest into the children, not just the building that will be used by them.

We are eternally grateful for these amazing teams and most importantly, their God-like attitudes they brought with them. I have learned that not all teams are created equal, but I assure you that Nicaragua has been impacted by the love of these teams and for that, we say, THANK YOU.

Michigan AIM Team 2010

2010-08-10T10:46:00.009-05:00

Words can not express the eternal impact of the children's camp the Michigan AIM team did this summer. 32 young people from Michigan came to partner with us in the vision to take 50 kids from the Mangaua city dump to camp. Through much prayer and lots of planning, together we all pulled it off. We look forward to many testimonies in the future about the impact this camp had on the lives of the precious children that were able to go. It was beautiful to see the kids we love so much running around, singing, praying and splashing through the water at the lake with our friends from Michigan. The community has been blessed and we have seen a positive change in the attitude and lives of the children and parents. Every child has a name and a story to be shared and through this camp we had the opportunity to build lasting relationships with children who come from a very hopeless community. We were able to hear their stories and learn how we can better minister to the needs of this community in the future. Ken was with the children on the bus ride back to Managua from the camp. His heart was touched after more than an hour and a half had gone by and the kids were sitting silent on the bus and their eyes filled with tears. So many special memories were made for these precious children. Many of them saying, "This was the best time of my life." We wanted to show them Christ's love and compassion so that we may have an open door in their hearts to continue to minister and disciple the young people in their community.

Next month in September when the Engage students arrive, we will be starting a discipleship/evangelism group in the dump with the older students that came to camp. We look forward to the day when these young people will be with us out on other streets of Nicaragua sharing Christ's love with others.

Thank you Michigan AIM for helping us make one of our dreams a reality for these special children. God has big plans with each one of them and we are excited to see that unfold.

Pictures and videos from the camp are posted at these two links. ENJOY!

Michigan AIM Team Album #1

Michigan AIM Team Album #2

Clothing Distribution

2010-07-10T10:54:00.026-05:00

Yesterday we had an amazing opportunity to bless over 150 families in the surrounding area of the city dump by having a clothing and shoe distribution. With all the donations left behind from the teams this summer we made a make shift store in the front of Lilieth's house next door to where the Children's Center is being built. With the help of the ladies from the Holland First team, we were able to pull off a very organized little space where each person was able to come in a pick two clothing items, a pair of shoes, a small toy and even a hygien product. We allowed them to come in and pick the items as apposed to just handing them a bag of stuff, to show them a little love. As a way of life they dig through the garbage for whatever they can find and then the just make it work. It was beautiful to see all the smiles on the kids faces as they were able to find a little pair of shoes that fit them properly. Thank you to all the team who so selflessly left behind their own belongings to bless others, as well as the many people from their supporting churches who sent donations with their teams. You were part on a wonderful blessing to many mothers and their children. Thank you!

Compelled By Compassion Logo

2010-06-25T10:03:00.020-05:00

We just wanted to share the amazing art work of Ben Neary. Ben is a high school student and attends church at Lakeside A/G in Sterling Heights, Michigan. God has given him an incredible gift in art and graphic design. Ben offered to help our ministry with his gifting and use his talent for the Lord, as you can see he is extremely talented. After coming to Nicaragua himself on a youth missions trip in April, he was able to capture the heart of our ministry and created this logo for us. My favorite part is that he was able to incorporate the map of Nicaragua as the palm of the hand. We just had t-shirts printed and will be selling them to help with a special project we have coming up. If your church our youth ministry is interested in buying t-shirts just send us an e-mail. We love you Ben and Lakeside youth, Thank you!

SUMMER CAMP HERE WE COME

2010-06-16T22:09:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we went down to the feeding center to pass out lanyards to all the kids that are going to be going to camp next week. We are looking forward to a great week with the Michigan AIM youth team. The kids are all SO excited. One little girl asked with her eyes wide open and a huge grin "I heard that at the camp you are going to feed us 3 times a day. I heard we are going to have beans, rice and fruit too, is that true"? Needless to say they are very excited. We are believing God for great things. Please keep the team and the campers in your prayers!

GREAT FRIENDS, GREAT MEMORIES

2010-06-10T09:23:00.006-05:00

This past week we had an amazing time with some very special young people. In 2000, when we moved to Michigan to be Youth Pastors at St. Clair Shores A/G, these young people were just entering junior high. We were blessed to be able to spend 7 incredible years at The Shores and see these jr. highers graduate from high school. Now, they have graduated from college and they are doing amazing things with their lives. Faithfully serving the Lord and growing in Him tremendously. They came down to visit our family for a week and serve the people of Nicaragua alongside us. What an awesome experience to see them love the people as much as we do.

It was both an honor

and a blessing to be able to see them so selflessly pouring into people's lives and sharing Christ's love. Thanks to their help, we were able to do a food distribution and clothing distribution for very needy families in the mountains. Now there are 16 teenage boys from the Farming School of Hope proudly sporting their Michigan t-shirts. SO AWESOME!

What an amazing week for all of us incluiding our children, who loved having some friends with us. Together we share many memories from years that have passed, now we share even more memories together seeing God touch people's lives and I am sure there will be many more to come.

Testimony Of The Well

2010-05-30T17:06:00.007-05:00

Saturday we traveled to visit a small village near Rama where there is a new church plant that is only 3 months old. Ken had visited the same church less than a month ago with fellow missionary Troy Doudy and a team from Feed The Hungry. While we were sitting talking with the Pastor, Ken asked her to share the testimony of the well with our family and our summer intern. We walked across the property and down the hill to the lowest point on the property. The Pastor proceeded to tell us the following testimony.

Three months ago they came to plant a church in this small remote village where the people walk up to three hours each direction to get to church every Sunday and Thursday. There is no electricity or running water and they walk very far to carry clean water from a spring and also walk far to get to the river to wash clothes and bathe. Shortly after arriving to plant the church, the Pastor had a dream that they had a well on the property for the people of this small community. She shared the dream with people from the church and community and almost everyone said they wouldn't be able to hit water there. However, they announced that they were going to start digging and would like help. Five men from the church showed up to help. They had plans to dig 36 meters at which they hoped and prayed to hit water. They dug for 25 days during daylight most of the time spent removing large rocks and bolders. The rocks just kept getting bigger and bigger. More and more people were needed to help pull the cables they were using to bring the bolders out of the hole. The largest bolder being brought by almost 40 locals. They ripped towels and wrapped them around their hands and then covered their hands with thick socks. everyone pulling at once on the cables. Then they would would catch the slack and rest by wrapping the cables around one tree and then another. It took them almost an entire day to get this one rock out of the hole. On the 25th day and only 13 meters down they struck water. Those who had been helping were all there to celebrate and word spread quickly about the faith of these people. People were walking from all around asking if it was true and coming to see the well. With tears in the Pastor's eyes she continued to tell us that they really struggled when they were sent to Pastor this church in such a remote area, but that God shown them His favor and blessing and now people are walking from even farther away to come and hear about Jesus.

This summer we have the awesome opportunity to return to this village and do a children's outreach. We are excited for the opportunity to minister along side this new church plant. God is so faithful!

Pure Joy!

2010-05-17T14:29:00.004-05:00

Thanks to a special donation from a childhood friend and her family, this past weekend we were able to take 11 of the boys from the Farming School of Hope on a Youth Retreat. It was very special for many reasons. Most of the boys had never traveled outside their small mountain village, none of them had ever been swimming before or been to the countries capital of Managua. Although their country is filled with lakes, active volcanoes and a beautiful coastline, these are things their eyes had never seen.

Campo Alegría which means "Camp Joy" is a very special place and we were blessed to be able to take them there. "Campo Alegría" is a camp in Nicaragua that was built and is run by Chop Point Camp in Woolwich, Maine. I, Kendra, spent many summers as both a camper and a counselor at Chop Point camp. It has a very special place in my heart and to be able to take these boys from this far mountain community out of their village and to one of the most beautiful places in Nicaragua it was a delight and for them PURE JOY!

They traveled over 5 hours to get to the closest mayor city to them of Matagalpa. Ken then drove to Matagalpa and loaded them in a van and drove another 5 hours to Camp. After more than a 10 hour journey across the country they arrived at Campo Alegría and words can't express the Joy that poured our of each one of them.

Ken shared a very special message that went with the theme of the weekend and we had a precious time of devotions and quiet time with the Lord. We put together a short video for the boys themselves and that is why the music is in Spanish, but please watch it and enjoy the never-ending smiles. This last weekend will make a mark in each of their lives and in their journey with Christ. What a joy to serve in Nicaragua, Thank You!

Farming School of Hope Youth Retreat Video

Survivor Nicaragua

2010-05-11T11:15:00.005-05:00

Not too far from the filming of next season's Survivor Nicaragua, is a small remote community of which people call home. To the locals, it is called Kukrahill and it's located in the Atlantic South part of Nicaragua (the Bluefield region). Most people that need to travel there would do so by a small boat from the town of Bluefields. Unlike Bluefields, one could reach it by land if they had a 4x4 and alot of time. I had an awesome previledge to spend most of the month of February in that part of the country.

Yes, it's exciting to hear that they are starting filming Survivor Nicaragua here but that name alone means so much more to me. By getting to know the people here in Nicaragua and especially the people of Kukrahill, you can get a sense that it's more then just 39 days, it's their life. In this area, not only do they have to battle the rough elements, but they are faced with poor living conditions, very little medical attention, and horrible education. Survivel for many is just living day to day with very little purpose in life other then to just exist. But we all should know that we should not fix our eyes on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

I assisted a great friend and fellow missionary, Troy Doudy, for close to a month in touching the lives of so many in Kukrahill. Along with a couple of great teams from the west coast of the States, we were able to build a church, host special evening services, and meet the communities basic medical needs by giving everyone in that area an opportunity to be seen by doctors, nurses, and dentists. After it was said and done, thanks to Jesus, we had a new church building, salvations, healings, and an excitement/greater expectancy of a brighter tomorrow.

Kukrahill-Bluefields Photos

Compelled By Compassion

2010-05-01T07:02:00.000-05:00

Lakeside Youth Team

2010-04-24T10:41:00.007-05:00

We want to say a huge THANK YOU to Youth Pastor Steve and Lisa Royalty from Lakeside A/G in Sterling Heights, Michigan for bringing an AWESOME team of young people to serve in Nicaragua. This team had an amazing heart to serve and be used in every way possible for the Lord.

While the team was here, we had an incredible opportunity to put on a kids camp in a remote mountain community. We also had powerful nightly youth services, food distribution, baseball outreach and ministry in feeding centers. There are so many testimonies of what God did during the week in both the lives of the team and the lives of the people they touched.

We have been without internet for almost a month and only have it for a few minutes at the moment. As soon as we are back online we look forward to sharing specific testimonies with you. Here is a link to the on-line album of pictures from the week. Lakeside Team

Miracle of the Manna!

2010-03-17T20:52:00.009-05:00

It is such a privilege to be able to serve alongside our fellow missionary Noemi and her ministry Love In Action. As I have mentioned before, the Farming School of Hope is a project that was birthed out of Love In Action ministries as a way to fight hunger in some small mountain communities.

The youth at the Farming School of Hope have been carefully and faithfully taking care of the 1.5 acres of beans that they planted just a few months ago. Their prayer was that they would harvest enough to supply Love In Action's two feeding centers in the mountains with enough beans to last until the next harvest. This way, beans would not have to be purchased for the two feeding centers that feed over 240 malnutritioned children each day. What an awesome goal!

Over the last week, the boys have been bringing in the harvest. We got a phone call late one night from the youth and with such excitement they said "We harvested 500 pounds of beans today!" A few days went by and we got another call early one morning, "We are up to 2,200 pounds of beans!!" The joy these youth have to be learning about farming and the Word of God simultaneously is unbelievable. Their testimony of God's blessing was stirring throughout their mountain community without anyone even having to say a word about the Lord's favor. It was evident! It has been a very rough season for the farmers in these communities, most knew that their harvest was going to be small and that they could take a loss. Another farmer, very nearby, harvested 1,300 pounds of beans from the two acres he planted. The youth from the Farming School of Hope had a harvest of 3,300 pounds of beans out of 1.5 acres.

God is so faithful!! What a confirmation to the youth and testimony to the community. The youth have always referred to the farm as, "la tierra prometida" (the promise land), but the community referred to it as, "la finca central" (the central farm). Now, not only the youth but the locals too, refer to the farm as the promise land. The youth harvested enough beans to feed the children in both feeding centers for the rest of 2010, as well as, each take 50 pounds of beans home to their families

The blessing doesn't stop there! The youth wanted to both tithe and give to missions with their harvest. So, they sent 600 pounds of the beans to fellow missionaries at the King's Castle training center in Managua, where they are training Nicaraguans for ministry and missions. Fellow missionaries Kim and Steve Sobey had been praying for a miracle because of the lack of funds to buy food for the students in their ministry. They were praying one night that God would supply miraculous manna for their ministry. The very next day, they heard about the 600 pounds of beans from the youth at the Farming School of Hope. The youth had signed each of the four bags of beans pictured below without knowing anything about the needs King's Castle has been facing and they wrote, "Manna from the promised land." What an awesome God we serve! God supplied their manna!!

Moises's Testimony

2010-01-09T11:10:00.001-05:00

As a young child Moises began shining shoes on the street with hopes of earning $1 a day to help put food on the table for his mother and 6 siblings. Like most families in this community, lack of food is a major issue. At 17 years old, he could not read or write, was shoeless himself and still shining shoes. After being part of the Farming School of Hope the last 6 months, he is full of joy and hope, loves the Lord, has multiple farming and construction skills and a great job. Today Moises can read and write and is in an adult education program. In March Moises will continue his studies with adult education with hopes of completing grades 3 and 4 in 2010. Now that Moises can read and write he is excited about being able to fully participate in the Felipe discipleship program. Moises is 1 of 12 boys in the program who are being trained, discipled, and raised up to make a difference for God in his family and community. Please pray for Moises that God would continue to teach him new skills and perseverance to complete his studies.

Reflecting Over The Past Year

2010-01-04T10:34:00.003-05:00

Another year has come and gone and we are so blessed and grateful! We are blessed to see God move in the lives of so many and grateful to be able to be a part of what God has done this past year. Without a doubt, you have played a huge role in all of this. You have continued to lift us up in prayer and invested financially into a cause that is greater then both you and I. We could not have had the year we had without all your support, and for that, we are blessed and grateful to have you in our lives.

Looking back, I must admit it was a new adventure in January when we moved our family, of five, from San Jose, Costa Rica (Where we were studying Spanish for all of last year) to Nicaragua. Even though we were already living “overseas,” the two countries are so drastically different in many ways; politically, climatically, and culturally. As a family, we were so eager and very excited to finally arrive in the land of our calling.

Kendra and I knew that we needed to learn and adjust as a missionary family. We have found that we have been adjusting and learning all year. There is nothing better to build upon, for life and ministry, then a good foundation in the Lord that is well balanced for the family and ministry. We were encouraged to know that many missionaries that had gone ahead of us have had families, with spouses to care for and children to train. We knew we only had one chance to introduce a life of missions to our three little ones and to God’s glory, not only have they adjusted, they have embraced God’s heartbeat towards missions.

Nicaragua, with a population of 6 million is the poorest of the seven Central American countries. Half of the population lives below the poverty line and almost 80% of them live with less than $2 a day. No matter where you go in Nicaragua, you can sense that the people here have little hope. As new missionaries this past yeat, it’s about slowing down. It’s about seeing what God is seeing. It’s about feeling what God is feeling and being that person God has called us to be, for such a time as this.

Our hearts’ desire from day one was to come along side the local churches here and serve them in the area of compassion evangelism, to help them reach the youth and children of Nicaragua. After a decade of very little focus towards their young people, the national church was so excited for our family to be here to assist them in this area. Their desire for us, this past year, was for us to build relationships and get to know their churches. So that is what we set out to do.

Thank you for your continued love, prayers and support. We couldn't do what God has called us to do without your help. It is great to be a team and we are blessed that you are part of it!

A Changed Generation

2009-12-18T11:21:00.001-05:00

In Nicaragua we face many challenges in ministering to the young people and trusting God to raise up a changed generation. We are believing God to touch the hearts of young people and that with the life they have been given they will rise above their poverty and devastating circumstances to see their fellow Nicaraguans touched and changed. How can we assist the local churches in reaching a generation that so many just push to the side as worthless? How can we help the mountain families, when they willingly sell their daughters to the sex trade, so they can receive $7.50? How can we show this culture that they are truly special and that they do have a purpose other then just surviving? How do you fight such great huger?

We know that it is by the power of His name and by reaching out to them one young person at a time. We believe it’s being Jesus with skin on and coming along side them to serve, love, feed, cloth and disciple them. We believe it will take more than a hand raised for salvation...it’s walking beside them and making a difference one young person at a time. We are believing God for a Changed Generation in Nicaragua!

ENGAGE Nicaragua, Fall 2010!

2009-12-14T10:01:00.004-05:00

This entire past year, I have consistently found myself coming back to Matthew 9:35-38. It’s a passage that we all know well but it has really consumed me this year in Nicaragua. It talks about Jesus and states, “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Imagine that God would allow this ministry to be used in that way; healing every disease and sickness. What impact on Nicaragua would come about for the Kingdom of God? Now imagine, with me, the impact on Nicaragua if there was a program in Nicaragua that exists to empower students to clarify the call of God in their life while being provided the opportunity to fulfill the Great Commission.

We are excited to announce the start of, “ENGAGE NICARAGUA.” Engage is a program designed to meet the need to empower a generation of young people by providing a cross-cultural platform to clarify the call of God on their lives and concurrently/simultaneously pursue a quality education from an accredited institution in the US. This would at the same time supply the Nicaragua national church with a workforce full of servant-leaders.

ENGAGE is based on four pillars: Education, Experience, Discipleship and Mentorship. Students are invited from any region of the world to serve here, in Nicaragua, from a semester to two years in a context where they will be mentored and trained. The opportunity for students to explore the call of God on their lives is the primary goal of Engage. An ENGAGE student is ENGAGED in the daily job of coming along the national church and reaching people for Christ. That includes, but is not limited to: serving, teaching, preaching, witnessing, evangelistic outreaches, feeding centers, camps, and assisting local pastors.

Feel free to pass along our Engage website to anyone who you think might be interested.

www.EngageNicaragua.org

Farming School of Hope

2009-11-20T15:13:00.002-05:00

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

Last week was an incredible week as a team from Parkersburg, WV came and ministered. The team of men came along side the youth in the farming program and taught them basic construction skills and together they built a beautiful chicken coop. 10 youth completed the construction course and were involved with the construction of the Farming School of Hope's chicken coop.

The ladies on the team worked with 4 women from this mountain community and taught a sewing course. God used this team in a very practical, hands on way. Today 4 beautiful women with families to care for have learned to make clothes from patterns on sewing machines. A sewing room was built at the Farming School of Hope so that the woman can come and continue to use the skills they have learned.

After the team left we (our family of 5) went back up to the mountains to help the youth start their chicken coop and also teach them how to raise rabbits. Pictured you see one of our little guys joining in on the action after returning from a 2 hour hike in the mountains to get the chickens. They have started with 26 chickens and 3 rabbits. They are very excited as the first bunnies are due on Christmas day. Can you image the joy that brings to these youth in this small mountain community.

Currently there are 12 boys in the Farming School of Hope program. God is doing great things in each of their lives. Once where there was very little food, no hope of jobs and very little joy; now there is an abundance. God is doing great things in each of their lives. In the near future we hope to post the testimonies of each one so that you can pray for them, as well as, rejoice in what God is doing. Our heart is to see these youth raised up and see a changed generation full of faith and hope. Already the youth are going to nearby communities to share God's love. For us it is more than a hand raised for salvation, it is walking beside them and seeing God change the life of one child at a time.

We look forward to seeing all the members of the North Parkersburg church back in 2010! Thank you for investing into the lives of each of these precious youth.

Convoy Of Hope

2009-10-15T10:35:00.001-05:00

Sometimes it's like what my friend once told me, "You have to earn the right to be heard." Showing Christ's love in a practical way is doing just that. It's a way that shows others that there is a God that hasn't forgotten, that hasn't stopped loving, and that hasn't stopped hearing the cries of His children. It happens when we start seeing people the way that Christ sees them and we are compelled by compassion to act. So when I heard that a fellow missionary with Convoy of Hope received some wheelchairs, walkers, and even a hospital bed to give to a very poor hospital and community in Nicaragua, I wanted to act.

I can't even put in words how much it meant to the people in that community. They were so grateful. The director of the hospital greeted us and even the vice-mayor of the town came out and made an appearance. We presented the wheelchairs, walkers, and a bed to this very poor hospital on behalf of the North Americans and Convoy of Hope. After the presentation, we had an opportunity to pray with them.

From there, we went to a very rundown-looking shack, along the road. This is where a very sweet, elderly lady lives, who is confined to a chair. For years, she stated, that she has always sat by the window, looking out, praying that someone that passes by would just stop and help her. Well, that day was the day her faith was strengthened. We presented her with a wheelchair and also had an opportunity to share the love of Christ with her and to pray for her.

We also stopped at another house where we witnessed a mother taking care of her child that has a severe case of multiple sclerosis. The look on both their faces when they saw us bring in a wheelchair, so the mother didn't have to carry this young boy around everywhere, was priceless. This 16 year old boy, with a crippled body of a 9 year old, shouted with excitement. It brought so much joy to my heart, just to see this mother and son so happy. Once again, I had the opportunity to share about the love of Christ with them and pray for them before we left.

All three contacts were made possible by working alongside a national pastor in that community. That pastor even gave me permission to speak an "encouraging word" to his teachers at the school, which was connected to his church, before we traveled home for the day.

Showing Christ's love in a practical way that was made available because people like yourself acted upon a compelling sense of compassion and seeing the need for the love of Christ to be shared. On behalf of the people that were forever touched today, THANK YOU.

Our Kaleb (6) Serving God and Loving People

2009-09-24T11:43:00.006-05:00

As is every parent, we are very proud of all our children. They have done an exceptional job adjusting to a new language and culture. Just yesterday, the boys were talking about Michigan and how old they will be when we go back. Our littlest one, KyAnna (3), asked "What is Michigan?". We have been gone for almost 2 years, so KyAnna (as sad as it is) being only 3, doesn't have memories of Michigan and our precious church family. To her, home is Nicaragua. We Thank God for the wonderful attitudes He has given our little ones. We have moved from Michigan to Costa Rica and then from Costa Rica to Nicaragua in less than 2 years.

I just want to take a moment and share with you a little about Kaleb. He and I just came back from an adventure, ministering in the mountains. Kaleb is full of love, life, and Jesus and wants to share all of the above with everyone. We traveled 8 hours on Friday past Matagalpa into the mountains to the "Farming School of Hope" with fellow missionary Noemí. We had a 3 day trip planned to check on the farm, do some training on the farm, speak on Saturday morning, and train the leaders of our new discipleship program called Project "Felipe" Saturday afternoon.

With a full 3 days ahead of us we headed straight for the farm when we arrived. There we found all the youth that work on the farm who are being trained and discipled. They were excited to show us all of the fruit trees they had just planted within the last 2 weeks, as well as, the rice that had been planted since we had last been there. They were excieted to show us their work, but sad that their work was dying because of the lack of rain. Here, it is rainy season and it should rain everyday, but they had gone nearly 8 days without rain.

There was not a cloud in the sky to be found as we stood there on the side of the mountain with 8 of the youth and the director of the farming project. Kaleb said, "Mommy we should pray and ask God to bring them rain so they can eat." So, Kaleb and I knelt down on the side of the mountain and prayed. Not even 2 minutes passed and the rain came pouring down. We all went running in the pouring rain back down

to where the truck was parked. Once we reached the truck Kaleb says, "Mom, I'm sorry, we should have waited to pray until we got back to the truck so everyone wouldn't be soaked, because we knew that when we prayed, it would rain". I love my little guy so much. This is the childlike faith we have to keep. The youth rode

on the back of the truck back into town and were telling the other people in town what happened when Kaleb prayed. They were so excited!

We had an incredible weekend and God used Kaleb in so many wonderful ways. We had a great time during our Project "Felipe" training and when we got home Kaden (7) and Kaleb (6) decided they wanted to complete the kids version of the project just like the youth in the mountains. All 3 studies last 6 weeks each and the study guides are in spanish. I read the stories and scriptures to them in Spanish and Kaden translates anything Kaleb doesn't understand to him. Then they both do the workbook on their own. Talk about team work!

Thank you to all of you who make it possible for us to be here and serve in Nicaragua. Thank you for not only investing into Ken and I, but also into the lives of our children.

Project "Felipe"

2009-09-21T09:28:00.019-05:00

We are excited about a discipleship program we have launched in the mountains called, Proyecto Felipe. Which translates, The Philip Project. We currently have 3 groups of youth and 3 groups of adults. Above, you will see some of the wonderful people involved.

Project "Felipe" goes beyond providing Bibles and getting "decisions for Christ". Through Project "Felipe", people are invited to participate in a Bible study. After completing their first 6 week study, they receive a gift of a New Testament, after their 2nd six week study, a full bible, and then a very nice hardback Spanish Study Bible after their final study.

Throughout the process, these young people are studying God's Word side-by-side with local Christians. As they complete the lessons, their interest in the Bible increases, their relationship with God grows, and their relationship with the local church is strengthened. The Bible they receive, the fellowship they join, and the knowledge they gain will feed their new faith.

God has called us to make disciples and we are excited about this opportunity to not only share Christ, but give them the Word of God, so that they may continue to grow, learn, and in return, share Christ's love with others. We are reminded that faith that is not grounded in God's Word and nurtured by fellowship with other Christians is like a seed on rocky soil. It has no root, so it cannot last.

La Líga Bíblica (the Bible League) has reduced the cost of the materials to $10, which includes 3 study guides in spanish; paperback New Testament, Bible, and hardcover study Bible. After they complete each 6 week study, they receive one gift of a bible that they are in return, able to share it with others. When they complete all 3 studies, they receive their very own study bible. The Spanish Study Bible alone costs $20, but thanks to the efforts of the bible league in Chicago we are able to buy all of the necessary materials for the cost of $10 per pack/person. If you are interested in contributing $10 toward this project you can donate online and here and type Project "Felipe" in the comments area. Thank you for your prayer and support in this project.

East Coast International Church

2009-09-15T20:15:00.011-05:00

A few weeks ago, we had the awesome privilege to work with the Pastors of East Coast International Church (ECIC) from Lynn, MA. For those of you who don't know, the lead pastor there, Pastor Kurt Lange, is my (Kendra) brother. He, along with his wife Jen and daughter Kyla, came and served selflessly and had an awesome week of ministry, as we reached out to the children in Granada and San Matías.

One of ECIC’s ministries is an inner-city kids ministry called "Metro kids." This is where they take the gospel to the streets, ministering to the kids, right where they are. For a few years now, ECIC has been bringing their program here to Granada, a colonial city in Nicaragua. They have brought a number of teams from their church down to help reach the children and also to physically help build a local church that the kids can attend and bring their families to.

Between their family of three, our family of five and the Pastor in Granada and his wife, we had a great little team. We were able to put on the “Metro Kids” program at 2 different sites each day and we are believing that God will continue to work in the lives of those children that were touched by Him that week. Our prayer is that they, along with their families, will continue to come and be a part of that local church. There is an incredible need in the city of Granada. This beautiful, colonial city has seen a rise in tourism, which has been great for the economy in such a poor community. However, the tourism has also caused a significant rise in violence and child prostitution.

During this week, Pastor Kurt and Jen made it a priority to visit this certain, little orphanage. ECIC has grown very close to 16 young girls who reside at this local orphanage. To the orphanage’s surprise, ECIC had purchased beautiful, small gifts for all the girls and also blessed the orphanage with enough money to pay for one month of the girls schooling. This was a current need and ECIC was able to share God’s love in a very practical way by helping. We also read to the girls and listened to them practice their English. These girls are so precious and have so much love to give! We had a wonderful time at the orphanage as we spent time just being with the girls, loving on them, and just talking with them. One young girl was just taken in off the streets, from being sold for prostitution. We thank God for people and places like this that are available and are willing to take in these precious children. We thank God for this little Nicaraguan run orphanage.

This is not an orphanage run by a group of Americans or foreigners that have funding from the States. These ladies live by faith, literally believing in God on a daily basis for their food and financial needs of the day. Pray with us that God would protect these young girls and continue to bless the ladies that run it and provide for their every need.

Lastly, we went to the feeding program that we continue to help with in Acahualinca every Friday. This is soon to be the home of a Children's Center, which is the project of our fellow missionaries, Jon and Wilma Hall. The Children’s Center will be used to reach out to the homeless, hungry, hurting and lost children of Acahualinca and the city dump "La Chureca". The children were excited to say the least, to see some new American faces and practice the few words in English they have learned.

ECIC also hosts teams at their Boston Dream Center in Lynn, MA. We personally lead 3 teams to work with ECIC and the Boston Dream Center while we were Youth Pastor's in Michigan. If you would like more info about this inner-city ministry, their upcoming church plants, taking a team to minister or partnering with their ministry in any way, here is a link to their website. East Coast International Church

We thank God for an awesome week of ministry and the love that ECIC has for the people of Lynn, MA and Nicaragua. We look forward to working with the entire ECIC team in 2010!

Michigan AIM Team '09

2009-08-01T12:11:00.003-05:00

It's never too late to come to Nicaragua and be used by God in a way that ministers to so many. This is exactly what I witnessed when a Michigan AIM Team had a last minute switch from Mexico to Nicaragua. When I found out that a team from Michigan changed their plans and were going to be working with Convoy of Hope and Latin America Child Care (LACC) in Nicaragua, I made sure I was available. I called the director and asked if I could be of any help and the very next day, I was on my way to the airport to pick up the team with one of LACC's buses.

As the team and I were making our way back to the place where they would be sleeping that week, I was hoping that the team was really getting a good sense of what the country was like. Then, to my surprise, the team really did get introduced to missions. Around one hundred meters from one of the markets in Managua, the front left tire caught on fire. It turne

d out that the brake line starting leaking and caused the fire. Everyone got out of the bus and was fine. Actually, they all loved the experience of having so many Nicaraguans run over and help put out the fire and drawing a huge crowd because they stopped traffic on one of the main roads in Managua. Honestly, I had something else in mind when I said I wanted them to get introduced to missions, but I guess that did the job.

Their week of ministry was incredible. The first half consisted of doing a "make-over" for one of the LACC schools. I don't know what the team was thinking, but I had my doubts on what the team could get done in the 48 hours they had designated to the job before the students returned back to school. I can honestly tell you that I am so proud of that Michigan team and all their hard work. They were able to completely prep each classroom, bathroom, and all the metal bars for painting, get them primed with paint, and finish them all off with the f

inal coat within the 48 hours. The students and school were so grateful for the team and all their hard work, that they had a presentation assembly and fed them brunch (That is a "huge thank you" from them). It was great watching the team try to figure out if the sandwich they received was peanut butter or some kind of chicken salad.

The second half of the week consisted of Convoy of Hope prep-work for a four-site distribution outreach. We h

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ling and praying over 1,600 bags of food and clothing, that were going to extremely needy families. For some, this will be the only food they will have this month to survive on. We split the team into four smaller teams and traveled to four different locations. These locations ranged from 3 hours to 6 hours outside Managua (capital of Nicaragua). Once the teams got to their church location, they had the opportunity to really see

how God was using them that week. Each team had people sharing testimonies and each were personally involved in giving the food and clothes out to the families. They even had the opportunity to take the kids out and do a mini-program especially for them. I had the honor of translating for the Michigan team during the kids program. I was very thankful that they were kids!

I still can't get over the fact that God loves us so much, that he will have a team, last minute, come to a country and be His hands and feet, to bless a person they have never met. This team did not just minister to people for that week, but the ripple effects of Christ's Love that flowed out of them continues to be felt long after they returned to Michigan on that airplane. It's amazing how God will put you directly in the right place at directly the right time. Kendra and I have already started praying now for the 2010 Michigan AIM team that we will be hosting. It will be incredible! Also, if your youth group, district or church would like to come down and serve for a week in Nicargaua we would love to host you. We are planning now for 2010 and believing God for great things here in Nicaragua!

Missions With The Family

2009-07-18T15:03:00.005-05:00

Some of us can still remember the adventures of packing the vehicle and traveling. Hearing, “Are we there yet?” or “I need to go to the bathroom…NOW!” (Most times with no previous warnings) One of my favorites is when we finally arrive to our destination and discover that one of our little ones has just gone to sleep, after the whole ride of “expressing energy.” The funniest times were when we had our family along with our youth group when I was a youth pastor!

But now, it’s just us five here in Nicaragua. We are busy adjusting to life and ministry as a family and on some occasions, going on some “family ministry trips.” A few weeks ago, we had a great adventure as a family. We loaded up our vehicle and headed out to the mountains to visit some pastors. From what Kendra and I experienced on previous trips, we knew we needed to be prepared to take a 7,6, and 3 year old to the mountains for a few days. Our kids were excited! They couldn’t wait to go camping in the mountains! They all got their backpacks loaded up and sleeping bags rolled up and of course their favorite toy for the seven hour trip into the mountains. Kendra and I knew we needed to bring our own food for our kids because we all know that sometimes kids are really honest about what they eat. So Kendra prepared some rice and beans (gallo pinto) that our kids enjoy and of course, some dry cereal.

Before we left Kendra and the kids spent two days preparing “craft projects” so that our kids could be involved and be ready to show the 100 kids at the mountain feeding program how to make their own crafts. I was so happy with our kids’ desire to want to be a blessing to the children and share about God's love.

Well, after a very long trip, we finally arrived! The kids were happy that we were finally there and I was happy as well because we made it safely with very little rain. (Half the trip is in 4x4, but the last 40 minutes is really not a road and you can’t even take a 4x4 there during the rainy season…we would need to hop on some mules for 2 hours to complete the journey.)

The pastor and his family were so happy that we were there too, but at the same time, embarrassed. It turned out that in their one room house, they had no food. At that time, we had the opportunity to share with the pastor and his family our rice and beans that we brought already prepared. Kendra and the pastor's wife gathered wood to start a little fire and warmed the food. We all sat and ate dinner together. They were so grateful and liked the "gallo pinto" so much that they even asked Kendra for the recipe.

In this mountain community, there is no electricty or plumbing. The people aren't even able to receive a radio signal. So, under candlelight on the side of a mountain the kids played while we fellowshiped with the Pastor and his wife and talked about their dreams and needs in their ministry. Hoping that we can come along side them and be a support in some way. This was our main purpose in going, to build relationships with the Pastor and his wife. The pastor really wanted to give our family his only small bed for all 5 of us to sleep in but we insisted that he and his wife who is pregnant and their little boy sleep there because our family could just sleep in our Speed-the-Light vehicle. The plan was to sleep in hammocks, but the rain had started and there was no other shelter. That night in our vehicle is an experience that our kids will probably talk about for a very long time.

The next morning, our kids started preparing the crafts for the kids that were about to show up while I headed out with the pastor a mile away to a riverbed. For the next 4 hours, I helped this pastor collect sand from the bottom of the river so he can do some construction projects back by the feeding center. I was in awe of how others would just come and help. I asked the pastor if that was the culture or was it because I was there. He replied that it’s just how people are here. They don’t ask if you need help, they just help.

As we made our way back up to the feeding center, it was a pure joy to see all the kids with smiles and of course with their new craft. They got done just in time for their daily meal that is provided at the center. It was also great to see my kids right there in the midst of them helping. Kaden (7) was helping the kids gather the crafts that they had already completed. Kaleb (6) was helping serve food to the kidsand KyAnna was helping clean dishes. What a joy to see our kids serving these precious children.

As we drove off, both our kids and the kids from the feeding program waved goodbye. It’s always fun traveling together with young kids, but I feel this time, God showed me how He is truly using our whole family here in Nicaragua.

Running The Race

2009-06-20T17:35:00.014-05:00

This past Saturday our son Kaden (#2) competed in a Jr. Olympics style event against other schools in Nicaragua. In the picture above, are 2 friends from Kaden's school that also qualified for the competition. As you can see, Kaden is very tall for 7 years old. His friends pictured are 12 and 9. It was quite the experiance. He was the only foreigner on the field and of course we were the only foreigners cheering. I guess you could say we kind of stood out. He did an outstanding job!!! We are so proud of him. All the instructions and rules were, of course, were in Spanish and he didn't miss a beat. In 3 of his 5 events he placed 1st and his school took 2nd place for the day. We are so proud of him!

Kendra and I both loved running track when we were younger. I especially loved being on the relay team. There were four of us and we all had our part to do. When our part was done, we passed the baton off to our next teammate. To finish the race, we all had to do our part to the best of our ability. With most relay teams, "Coach" would save the best athlete for the last leg of race. It was the athlete that Coach knew would be the best to bring it down the “homestretch” and to finish strong. My teammates and I would all want to be picked by Coach for that 4^th leg of the race because we all knew that Coach saved the best for last.

As I stop and think about what’s going on with the world around us, I can’t stop thinking about my track days when I was younger. I know that we are living in the last days, but to know that God chose me and chose you to be the last leg of the great race is very humbling. We have read about so many great men and women of God and what they did to advance and add to the Kingdom of God, it blows my mind to know that they already passed on the baton. Now they are cheering us on to finish the race strong. God chose us for such a time as this! Your faithfulness in prayer and support during these days tells me that we are running with men and women who have their eyes fixed on Christ. Thank you for allowing us to be your hands extended here in Nicaragua!

Farming School of Hope

2009-06-01T07:44:00.030-05:00

Recently we had the joy of traveling as a family with fellow missionary, Noemi Caiazzo, to the mountains. She has 2 feeding programs for kids who suffer from malnutrition and is in the process of starting a Farming School of Hope.

These villages are located way up in the mountains, about 5 hours from the city. It is only accessible by a 4-wheel drive vehicle or mule. As we are every day, we were grateful and blessed by our Speed-The-Light vehicle. We had the opportunity to go and share our hearts with the children in a remote mountain village, sing songs about Jesus and play. The mountain children are very shy and well behaved. We were so blessed! The children were so excited that people were coming, the word spread, and the kids lined the edge of the mountain, river and road. You can imagine their excitement when they saw our 3 little missionary kids get out of our car. Pure Joy! We all helped carry the bags of rice, beans, and oats that have to be brought in from the capital. (for now until the Farming School of Hope is going full swing.)

The next stop was the land that has been purchased for the Farming School of Hope. A small storage area has been built that will hold the construction materials and gardening/ farming supplies, as well as, house the gentleman that will teach the youth the necessary farming skills they need. Most kids in Nicaragua only complete the 3rd or 4th grade because they stop going to school to work and help provide for their families. The idea behind the Farming School of Hope is that the youth would have to go to regular school in the morning and then in the afternoon come to the Farming School of Hope to learn skills and apply them on the projects that have been started. This way, they will still get their basic education, plus farming school and discipleship. When they harvest the crops, the crops will be used to provide food for the feeding programs as well as for the families of the workers. The remainder will be sold in the market as income for the workers. There are currently 4 students in the program and they just had their first harvest of beans!! The week before we visited they had built a small greenhouse where they planted vegetable seeds. When we arrived we were all excited for the youth as the vegetables were growing quickly. A cow stable was in the process of being finished, so that the first cows can be purchased. The milk from the cows will also be used at the 2 feeding centers and for the families of the workers. Currently the youth that work at the school are in need of discipleship and that is where we come in. We are headed back up in a few weeks and we pray that God would give us direction, contacts and open doors to minister to these young people.

After visiting the land for the school, we went a little ways down the mountain to a larger community where they have a little corner store and a really beautiful Assemblies of God church where we participated in a Children's outreach. Hundreds of children walked from all around to come and hear about Jesus and many received him into their heart for the first time. What a blessing to see these little ones on their knees and receiving God's love. God is so faithful!

We are so grateful for Missionaries like Noemi that have allowed us to come along side and partner together to reach the children and youth of Nicaragua.

IX Consulta Misionera

2009-04-26T18:48:00.003-05:00

What an AWESOME week!!! The Assemblies of God of Nicaragua was the host country of the “IX Consulta Misionera” this past week. A/G Superintendents, Mission Directors, and their delegates from 20 different countries gathered for a very impacting four days. It was a time of coming together, getting updated, encouraged, trained, and inspired to go back to their own country to mobilize Latino missionaries. Over 250 people came together and took part in what I felt as a “God ordained” moment. It was very powerful to sit in and witness what God is raising up in these last days.

There’s truly something extraordinary about these leaders from these 20 nations coming together and working together to send out missionaries of their own to reach this world for Christ. I had the privilege of transporting some of them around all week for this special event and heard some awesome stories of how God is using their Latino missionaries. It is simply amazing, but not surprising; on how God can use the Latino missionaries in countries/cultures where as U.S. missionaries may have a more difficult time relating to the family culture/customs and in some cases, are even denied access into the country simply because they are U.S. citizens.

Many of these nations still have great needs of their own and there is so much work yet to be done for the Kingdom of God in their own “backyard”, but they see the need and know their responsibility to be senders as well. Kendra and I are so honored to be sent out by you to work along side the national church of Nicaragua and to help them reach their young people. The need is great! We are truly excited in believing that one day soon we will see the young people that come to know the Lord through our ministry here, be called by God, raised up and sent out to the ends of the Earth.

Travel With Me To "El Tortuguero"

2009-04-04T16:17:00.016-05:00

The day had arrived where I had the opportunity to travel with the A/G superintendent of Nicaragua (Brother Saturnino). I arrived with my backpack, bug spray, 2½ gallons of water, and of course some TP. As we head out of town, it dawns on me that it is truly just Brother Saturnino, his wife, and myself in his truck. My mind quickly races to find topics I could talk about in Spanish. I’m so use to having Kendra with me to help fill the time with talking, that after 2 hours of straight Spanish, I was done. I think I used up all the Spanish that was in me…I think I even threw in some Taco Bell Spanish to make it last longer. Around that time, Brother Saturnino turned on the radio and I was thinking, "thank you Jesus" because my mind needed some down time. I believe Brother Saturnino was thinking the same thing from listening to me speak Spanish.

Around the third hour, we stopped to get gas and have the oil changed. As I was waiting, I went over to a little boy at the gas station to pass the time and to change up my speaking partner (Hey, the boy had no idea that I was reusing the Spanish I just used in the truck).

When it was time to get back on the road, I went over to Brother Saturnino and told him that I wanted to pay for it. He was like, “Are you sure?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “Do you really know what you are saying?” I said, “Yes, I really do want to pay for this.” Just then, he started laughing and told me that I said that I wanted to hit him, NOT pay for him. So be careful how you say the Spanish verbs “pagar” and “pegar.”

Around one hour later, just after it got dark outside, we suddenly stopped on the side of the road. As brother Saturnino turns off the truck, he said, “It’s time for dinner.” I thought to myself, ok…where? Not too far from the road was a church and the pastor came out with his family to greet us and take us to their home for dinner. It was a normal pastor’s home here with both dirt floors and cement floors. Slabs of wood and some corrugated steel sheets make up the walls and roof. They cooked over wood and used an outhouse. The whole house was no more then 400 sq feet. They sat the three of us down in the dark with just a little light coming from one of the other rooms. They gave us a huge bowl of something and then just stood and watched us. At that moment, I was wondering what I was eating and trying to talk to them in Spanish at the same time. I did however come to a conclusion that it is better to just eat and not think about it.

Back in the truck, but this time, the pastor and his wife had joined us. We go another 3 hours but now we are traveling on a very, very rocky, dirt road through the mountains at night. We arrived at this small pueblo looking for a place to sleep. After stopping at 4 different places, we found it. For $4, I got a cot in a small 8x8 room that had a mosquito net over it. This place also included a complementary outhouse with a door you have to hold shut if you wanted it shut and the use of buckets for your shower. So at 5 am, I woke up and grabbed a bucket and found the place to fill it up (all in the dark because I forgot my flashlight) and headed towards the place to take the shower. I found out that morning that I am a two-bucket person.

After breakfast at the home of someone in that pueblo (rice & beans and a slice of cake...don’t ask), we headed further into the mountains. You see, “El Tortuguero” is a pueblo in the “Bluefield region” of Nicaragua and you can only get there by 4x4 during dry season. During raining seasons, you must go by boat. Well, it’s dry season, so we traveled 5 more hours through the mountains on a very bad rocky/dirt trails. We passed through 6 small riverbeds and had to open up around 50 barbed-wire fences. Along the way, we picked up 5 more people.

We finally arrived at “El Tortuguero”! I’m almost a foot taller than everyone else and with 10 people in the truck with all our belongings, I was ready to undo the pretzel position I was in…not to mention the 8 times I hit my head because of the rocky terrain.

I grabbed my belongings and crossed over a walking suspension bridge. We walked addition 2 miles through town to get to the church. Around 100 people greeted us. They were made up of pastors and church leaders who came from all around the “El Tortuguero” area for 2 days of special services. Directly after greeting us, they took us into the pastor’s home and fed us grilled chicken and rice (Not bad, but they used every part of that chicken). From there, they took us to the platform of the church where they had special seats ready for us. The presbyter of that region gets up and introduces Brother Saturnino to everyone and he greets the people. As I was sitting there, I knew I was next, so my mind starts racing once again because I wanted to make a good first impression. But I was not ready for what I heard. The presbyter starts talking about me to the people about how this was a special moment and how they have been waiting a long time for this. He said to the people that I was the first missionary to come to their area. Well, that just left me speechless and stunned for a bit. I just thought I was being Brother Saturnino’s shadow for a few days and it turned out that I was one of the first “gringos” in that pueblo ever and actually the first A/G missionary that came out, as far as they can remember.

We had four special services in the next 2 days and it was truly wonderful to be able to worship along side my new friends in Nicaragua and see God move in their lives. I had the opportunity to preach in Spanish at one of them. I think it was a 15 minute message (1/6 the time they are used to). I also had the privilege of sitting in on a pastor’s meeting. During that meeting, the 10+ pastors all expressed a great need for our family to come out and help them train up leaders to do youth and children ministries. They have never had training and their young people are leaving their churches. Needless to say, I left that meeting with a deeper burden to help them reach their young people.

I found myself during meal times being the center attraction. It didn’t matter how old they were or what position they held at their churches, when I received food, it drew a crowd. They would all surround me, 5 and even 6 deep, just to watch me eat their food. By God’s grace I was able to eat the food that ranged from different parts from pigs that was really, really hard to tear and chew with my teeth, to a fresh, beefy rib soup from a bull they slaughter hours before, to a “nice” cow brain soup for breakfast.

I also had the great experience of singing to the kids in English. If you know me, I’m so bad, I don’t even sing in the shower. But what does a missionary do when around 50 people, young and old, surround me and a kid starts to sing to me and then pleads for me to sing to them in English. I think I found that more difficult than eating the food.

One time between services, I was asked to take a walk with some adult leaders from the church in “El Tortuguero.” Before I knew it, it turned into around a dozen people showing me off to the city people (because I was truly one of the first gringos to come to their village). There was this awesome young man of God who was basically telling me things about his city…it turns out that he was the “tax collector” for the city. At one stop, I was introduced to a man in a store…he left the store with us and joined us in greeting the people as we continued to tour the village. It turned out that he was 2^nd in charge of the city. I must admit, I felt like I was C-3PO in the movie “Return of the Jedi” with the Ewoks in their tree village.

When it was time to head home, we were all together saying our goodbyes and when I turned around to start to make the walk back to the bridge, I realized that I was left behind by Brother Saturnino. All the towns people began to cheer loudly (as if I was going to stay)…it was a special moment and funny moment all in one. Don’t worry, I caught up to Brother Saturnino at his truck and was somewhat relieved to learn that only 7 people would be in the truck on the way back, however, we did add a live lamb and a huge bag of beans. I also learned on the way home that everytime we stopped to drop off someone, we had to go inside and have coffee together before continueing on.

It was truly a priceless experience in all ways. It was great for me to learn the culture and language better. The relationships built with the pastors in that region were and will be the beginning of great things for the Lord in days ahead. There are great needs, but we serve an even greater God. I’m praying for people (teams) that will come to Nicaragua and experience missions in a unique way by partnering with these churches and helping us train them in youth and children ministries. They want to have a conference just for that sole purpose in March of 2010 during dry season when we can access the village. It will truly be a “missions” experience and it won’t be for everyone, but it WILL be worth it.

More Than Meets The Eye

2009-03-18T20:27:00.009-05:00

Today we had the awesome opportunity to work with a medical team from Minnesota and missionaries Levys and Bonnie Hernandez. We traveled out to a small village in Masaya and set up a clinic in a local church. I, Kendra, was asked to translate and help in the vision station. The team had brought down hundreds of pairs of glasses to give away. However, none of the glasses were labeled with the appropriate prescription, and there was no way of figuring it out other than trial and error. Our first patient of the day came and not only did she have poor vision, but she hadn't been able to read in more than 8 years. We knew that she was going to need bifocals, and so we quickly separated the glasses and placed a bag of maybe 100 pairs of bifocals in front of her. Seem a little overwhelming? It was... at first. We were praying that God would touch her or that there would be a pair of glasses in this pile that would be the exact prescription that she needed. Pair after pair she tried them on and as she neared the end of the bag said "Oh, no, it is so blurry, how sad that you have all these wonderful glasses and none of them work for me." However, would you know that just 3 pairs from the end of the bag.....there they were. Glasses made just for her! She was able to see far and able to read perfectly, not to mention they fit her beautifully. She had tears in her eyes and said that she couldn't believe it. She hadn't been able to read in more than 8 years. She was so excited that she stayed in her chair and read verse after verse out load from the bible that we had there. She went on to say thank you to us for coming and being patient to allow her to search for HER glasses. She wanted me to thank the person that donated these glasses. Since I will probably never know who donated them, I figured I would share this story with all of you, our friends, and remind us that an old pair of glasses can be very valuable and a great blessing to others, especially in a place like Nicaragua.

Please keep our family in prayer as we will be gone for the weekend ministering with this medical team. Please pray for protection and that God will touch His people in a miraculous way.

Missionaries Of The Month - Holland, MI

2009-03-13T16:41:00.008-05:00

Every Friday, we go to the Post Office in Managua to check for mail. Today, we received a great blessing in the mail. We received a wonderful care package from Holland First A/G in Michigan! It turns out that during the month of February, we were their missionaries of the month. What an honor! It was filled with amazing pictures made by the children in their kids ministry. Along with the pictures, there were airplanes for the boys to build and fly and some maracas for KyAnna. We can't begin to share with you the excitement that our children had as they read through the letters and looked at the beautiful drawings from the children at Holland First. What a great opportunity to expose these little ones to missions at such a young age. We want to say thank you to our friends, Pastor Mike and Amy Houser and the children's ministry at Holland First, for their love, support, and prayers for our family and our ministry in Nicaragua. Thank you for being a part of what God is doing in Nicaragua for Jesus.

Pictures For The Children

2009-02-21T18:27:00.005-05:00

A few weeks ago we had taken some pictures while we were at the feeding center we have been helping at. As we mentioned before, there is a kids program in the street where the children learn about Jesus before the feeding begins. Then they get in the line that fills the street with some 250 children and wait until it is their turn to get their bowl filled with food. The youngest children are served first leaving the older children standing in line for 30-45 minutes. So, Ken was having fun with the kids in the back of the line and taking pictures of them. They were so excited when they could actually see their faces on the view finder. Once we got home we decided to print a handful of photos and bring them back with us the following week. So, we printed them at home on our printer and stamped the back of them with the "El Camino" ministry information ("el camino" is the name of the ministry that our fellow missionaries started) so that the children and their families would always remember that the people who shared the hope and love of Jesus with them also shared God's love with them in a very practical way. We laminated the pictures with hopes that they would last in the harsh living environments that these children live in everyday.

Yesterday, after the program, the kids were waiting in line and our little KyAnna (3) helped us find the kids in the line that we had taken pictures of. We wish each of you could have seen their faces... it was absolutely priceless. All the children were gathering around laughing and smiling when one of the little girls (pictured to the left) who was 8 years old, told me that this was the first picture she has ever seen/had of herself. I can't express the joy and pride she had as she clung to that little 4x6 laminated photo not allowing anyone to take it from her, she covered it with both hands close to her body.

We were not able to find one of the little girls (about 5 years old) that we had a picture of, but all of the children were quick to ask if they could take it to her. We told them that we would wait and bring it next week for her. About an hour later we were getting ready to leave and we heard some little voices shouting out at us from down the narrow dirt road. 2 little kids had left after they got their food and went and found this precious little girl and brought her back to the feeding center so that she could have her photo. She was a shy little girl. I showed her the picture and she smiled and giggled and gave it back to me. I put it back in her hands and told her it was a gift. She said "to keep forever" I responded, "of course" and she gave me this huge hug.

Thank you to each of you who partner with us to share the gospel with the kids and youth of Nicaragua, but also for making special things like this possible.

Getting Adjusted

2009-02-18T10:56:00.014-05:00

Well, it has been a couple of weeks now in our house and we are all adjusting. We have figured out a routine with the lack of water and have learned to be extremely grateful when we do have water in the evening. However, the kids would like a different system as the water comes on too late for them to stay awake and too early for them to get up. So, they have been bathing with cold water out of 5 gallon buckets that we have stored from the night before. We are waiting on the people to come hook up internet and a gas line for the house so we can cook and communicate. They said they were coming "tomorrow" and that was 10 days ago. We are hoping everything will be connected by the end of the month..

We have the most incredible neighbors/landlords who have been helping us figure out life in Nicaragua. It is great for our Spanish too!

We have been learning a lot about the culture and the kids haven't missed a beat. They even caught on to the local game of soccer using whatever you have as a ball. The other day we were outside and the kids were playing soccer with some old coconuts that had fallen in our yard. It was priceless. Enjoy the pictures...

Feeding Center

2009-01-30T21:51:00.014-05:00

Over the next few months our plan is to travel and meet Pastors to get a better idea of how we can be the most effective in the ministry God has called us to. We will also be helping other missionaries in their missions projects so that we can see firsthand their work and see how we can work together to reach the youth and children of Nicaragua together. One of the missionary couples we are currently helping are fellow missionaries Jon and Wilma Hall. The Hall's have a ministry called El Camino which means "the way". They have a ministry truck that they take into some of the poorest parts of Managua and the surrounding areas to do a 12 week discipleship program with street kids. They also have a relatively new feeding center. They are currently in a building project building a children's center which will house the feeding program for the kids that live near the Managua city dump 'La Chureca". On Friday mornings they have a children's program which takes place right in the middle of the street as the center is not yet ready. After the children participate in the program and have an opportunity to be prayed with, they are able to receive a hot meal. Currently 250-300 children are being fed every Friday. What a remarkable way to share the love of Christ to families and specifically children who have such great needs.

Once the feeding center is complete, the first floor will be a kitchen and dining hall and the 2nd floor will be used for community development/education and ministry training. We can only imagine the incredible impact that this small children's center will have for these forgotten people. Where there once was no hope, hope is alive.

If you or your church are interested in donating toward the completion of the children's center you may donate on-line here. Please write 'feeding center" in the comments area of your donation. We would love you, your family or church to be a part of this great work.

Speed-The-Light

2009-01-23T11:07:00.003-05:00

The big day had arrived! After living here in Nicaragua for a few weeks and all of last year in Costa Rica without a vehicle, it felt like Christmas on Jan 17. Why, you may ask. Because that was the day that we picked up our Speed-the-Light vehicle!!!

THANK YOU MICHIGAN TEENAGERS!!! We want to personally thank Jeff & Becky Kennedy, Pastor Nathan and the youth from The Shores Church and all the young people and youth pastors of Michigan. We are so blessed by your generosity. Being on the receiving end after years of giving/raising STL funds as Youth Pastors, I must tell you it is truly humbling to receive such an awesome gift knowing first hand all the hard work and sacrifices you and your teens have done to raise money for STL, and for that, we are grateful.

We live on a property with 3 other houses and when we came home Saturday with our STL vehicle, one of the families (they're all Nicaraguans) said, "Wow, you will need that here with what you are going to do." I went on to tell them that the teenagers in Michigan bought us this vehicle as a way to share God's love and take the gospel all over Nicaragua. At that moment, they sort of had a different look on their faces. I personally thought they didn't understand my Spanish, so I repeated it and tried to explain more in detail. It turned out that they did understand me but they were just really in awe of what an American teenager would do during these economic hard times.

You will notice in the picture of our STL vehicle, that the location is on top of Volcán Masaya (an active volcano). The cross behind us was the place a priest put a cross, as he said, "at the mouth of hell" many, many years ago. That location is only 10 miles from our house and we will be sure to take the Michigan teens when they come to help minister next summer. Thanks to the teens of Michigan, we are now able to take the message of the cross all over this beautiful country of Nicaragua.

Move In Day - Where's The Water?

2009-01-10T10:30:00.009-05:00

Jan. 5th was our official day to move into our house. As mentioned before, there was quite a bit of work that needed to be done on the house (and a lot more to go). It was a great day however I must be honest, the reality of the possibility of culture shock set in real fast. You see, the thing is, there is no water "during the day." Had we been aware of that, it would not have come as such a shock. So, trying to clean a house to move into was, well... virtually impossible. We piled everything up in one room and decided that we would let the kids play outside and run around until the water came on. There is no grass around our house, it is all dirt (for now) and this is the windy/dry season. There are no screens to help keep it out, so, the amount of dirt and dust is well..incredible. So, we waited and swept and organized and kept waiting for the water to come on thinking to ourselves. What exactly do they mean by "no water during the day" Does that mean 8am-5pm? Sun up to sun down? 10am-4pm? Well, apparently, from experience over the last few days it means that it comes on at night between 8 and 11 and stays on during the night until between 4-6 in the morning. So, needless to say, we have learned quickly to store up water for the following day.

The kids have jumped right in and are helping around the house getting things in order. They are also quick to help fill in the blanks when mom and dad don't remember the correct Spanish word. They also enjoy hanging the laundry out to dry, kind of a novelty to them. Oh, and about the kids playing outside in the dirt, they LOVE it...however, only when there is water to clean up afterward.

We do not have internet yet, so please be patient with us as the updates may be slow coming for a while. Today we had the opportunity to use the internet at one of the training centers in Managua.

Line 24

2008-12-22T22:24:00.005-05:00

Well today we spent the afternoon at immigration waiting in lines. I wish you all could have been there with us just to get a small taste of how things work in a 3rd world country. The application process to receive residency here in Nicaragua starts with purchasing your application and then obtaining all the proper documentation from the states. Today we walked into the immigration office in Managua and were greeted by a worker who asked what we needed. We said we needed to purchase applications for residency. She smiled and nicely told us to go to line 24. After waiting in line 24 for 30 minutes the lady at the window sent us to line 21. Another 30 minutes later we were sent to line 22, then on to 19 and on to 20 all to go back to line 24. Now that we we back to line 24, we finally paid 3 Cordobas (about 15 cents) for our residency applications. You are probably wondering the same question as I am...Why didn't they just give us the application the first time we were at Line 24? Well, no idea, but at least we have the applications and are able to get started on the long process that awaits us. This can be a complicated process with lots of documents that are time sensitive and have to have county, state and federal authentications on each document. Please keep this in prayer as we are only allowed in country on 90 day visas until we obtain residency.

Container Miracle

2008-12-19T22:23:00.012-05:00

Let us start by saying that today we had a miracle happen regarding our container. Thank you for your prayers!

Those of you who have been following our journey from the beginning might remember some pictures about a year ago when we were packing up to head to language school in Costa Rica. Just a few days before we left, we packed a truck that headed to Louisiana where our shipping container was packed and stored. For those of you who have recently been following our journey here is a link to the pictures from last year when we were packing to leave. kendoutt.blogspot.com/2008/01/packing-up.html.

So, as I said before, last night our container arrived at the port here in Managua. Then this morning it was taken to a shipping yard where it normally sits for a few days before they start going through the container and clearing the items. Well, today at about 1pm we received a call from our customs broker that the customs agent wasn't going to start working on our container until after the Holidays because there was a document missing that the shipping company didn't send. Well, luckily we had the shipping company scan all the necessary documents to us before the container left the states and so we printed our copy and headed to the broker's office. When we arrived he said he didn't think they would accept the document, but that he would try. He called over to the shipping yard and they said they wouldn't accept it because each item on the list had not been translated and approved by the consulate. So, being the naive new missionaries that we are, we asked if we could go to the shipping yard ourselves and talk with the customs agent to explain the situation and ask to help us get the paperwork moving so we could clear the container before the holidays. Our broker gave us directions and said "you can try, but don't be disappointed when he says no." Off we went to another part of Managua to the shipping yard. We went inside and asked to speak with the gentleman in charge of our container. He came out and we explained our situation and even offered to stay and help to make it go quicker. The most amazing part is that he agreed. He said that if we could go into the warehouse and help identify the items he would help us clear our documents faster. We had to identify every item as it came off the container, explain what each item was and if it was new or old. For the first 30 minutes they checked our every word. They opened up every box and checked every item inside to make sure our information was correct. Once they realized we weren't trying to hide anything and that we were telling the truth, they stopped opening the boxes and things starting moving quickly. Before we knew it, we were done. The best part is nothing was missing.

So, to sum it up, we received the call at 1pm that they wouldn't be able to work on our container until after the holidays and at 4pm today, our container was CLEARED! Some of you may not understand the pure miracle in this, but our fellow missionaries around the world can testify. This was truly a miracle!

Favor of God

2008-12-18T21:27:00.011-05:00

Over the last few days we have been blessed by the favor of God. The Lord's hand has clearly been over our family and all the logistics.

We were able to find a house the day after we arrived in the country and signed the contract the following day. The owners of the house are wonderful Nicaraguans and live on the same property. We look forward to building friendships with them over the next few years. The house we are going to rent will not be ready until January the 4th as it has some work that needs to be done before we will be able to move in. The kids are excited because there are 3 dogs, roosters, chickens, geese, ducks and turkey's on the property as well as lots of Mango trees to climb.

We have found a small bilingual school for the kids to attend and got them registered for the school year which begins February 9th. Kaden (7) took his entrance exam this week and did excellent. He and Kaleb (5) will both be attending the same school which is very close to where we will be living. Please pray for our boys. They will be the only foreigners in the school and the school does not have the types of resources our schools in the states do. The picture of Kaden, is just after he finished his entrance exam.

We found a wonderful 4x4 vehicle and put down a deposit thanks to speed-the-light. We will be able to purchase the vehicle on Jan. 17th with funds that the youth of Michigan have raised. We love you Michigan!!!

Please pray for us as our container of household goods will arrive at port tonight and tomorrow the paperwork process begins. We hear it could take anywhere from 10 days to more than a month to clear the container through customs and with Christmas being next week maybe even longer. We have been told that things are ALWAYS missing from containers by the time they clear customs. God has opened doors, protected us and made a way many times the last few days when it didn't seem possible. We are believing God to give us favor to clear this container quickly and protect the belongings inside. Please pray with us.

Our Trip To Nicaragua

2008-12-14T21:59:00.023-05:00

Well, this morning we got our little ones up at 1am to get ready and head to the "tica bus" station. As you can tell from the pictures they were tired, but still very excited to go. Our dear friend Jose Antonio came and took us to the station with ALL our luggage. When we got to the station our day of waiting in lines began. We waited in line for 45 minutes to get our luggage put on the bus. We had 4 pieces over our allotted amount for the bus and were prepared to pay and beg and plead, however, our first blessing of the day happened. Not one question about why we had so much luggage and not one penny paid, we were allowed to take all the luggage. Then we headed to another line where we waited to load the bus. As many of you know, our children are very prone to motion sickness. Well, our seats were in the very back of the bus and we still managed to make it the entire day with no one getting sick. Once we arrived at the Costa Rica/Nicaragua border we got off the bus and waited in a line to do our exit paperwork for Costa Rica. The kids had fun pushing around a log that you see them sitting on in the picture and playing games. After we received our stamps to leave we proceeded to the Nicaragua side of the border where we had to take all our luggage off the bus and wait in yet another long line. At this stop is where they can keep us from taking things into Nicaragua or make us pay duties on our belongings. With the overwhelming amount of luggage, extreme heat and heavy theft at the border, Ken had a plan. I was to watch the kids and our backpacks and go get in the "line" as quick as possible while the other passengers were removing their luggage from the bottom of the bus. Ken would take care of ALL the suitcases. Well at every boarder crossing there are always people there to carry bags, but not necessarily 14 bags at 70 pounds each. What happened next has to be one of my favorite travel memories in a long time. Ken gets off the bus and steps into a massive crowd of people. It is very noisy and in a loud voice he says in Spanish "I need 3 men, only 3. I need you to get all my luggage, carry it through the line and into the customs office, help me through customs and then return all the luggage to the bus when we are done." Then he says, "there are 14 and they all have this on them" and he held up a huge roll of red tape. When those men saw him hold up that red tape, they went flying. They spotted that red tape and rushed all those bags straight into a side building. Before I knew it, the kids and I had only been in line for 5 minutes and Ken's trusty friends were waving us into another building where they had went and gotten the head customs agent to clear our belongings. They had all the bags lined up side by side in a Looooooooong row with all the luggage opened so the customs agent could quickly go through all our belongings. He spent about 10 minutes going through them and only asked us 1 question. "Is your clothing new or used?" After, he went through the last piece, he looked at us smiled and said "It's all good". Once again, everything made it through and not a penny paid. So, out the door, trip after trip the guys went again, returning it all below the bus. When they were done, Ken tipped them for all there hard work and then Ken hung out with them and chatted for awhile as we waited for our bus to load. God is so faithful! Many things could have been complicated during this part of our trip. Not only did we get through problem free, but we had a blast doing it. Thank you for your prayers. Some of our friends and family had e-mailed us today saying that this morning in church our family was lifted up in prayer. Thank you!!!
The ride through the small towns as we approached Managua were beautiful. When we arrived in Managua we were joyfully greeted by fellow Missionary's, Matt & Eva Barlow and Jon and Wilma Hall. God's continued faithfulness and protection is a continued blessing. God is so good! Over the next week we will be searching to find a safe place to live and clearing our shipping container that arrives Wednesday. Please continue to pray for God's direction and favor.

Language School Graduation

2008-12-12T23:14:00.006-05:00

It is hard to believe that we arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica almost a year ago for the purpose of learning Spanish. Through out the year our minds have been filled to full capacity and overflowing with grammar rules. Our kids have adjusted to a new culture and a new school. We have made many memories and had the opportunity to build great friendships with other missionary families from all over Latin America.

Today we graduated from Cincel. Cincel is the name of our language school and is also the Spanish word for "chisel". Chisel is an excellent word for describing what this year has been like for our family. God is continuing to mold and shape our lives.

Today at graduation we each had the opportunity to publicly share a word of thanks with our teachers. We would like to share a part of this with you as it applies to each of you as well.

"Queremos decirles gracias a ustedes por haberse creido en nosotros. Por su dedicación a Dios y su apoyo, juntos podemos compartir el amor de Dios a los niños y los jovenes en Nicargaua. Cuando Dios nos usa a tocar una vida, sepan que ustedes tambien estan tocando una vida."

"We would like to say thank you for believing in us, because of your dedication to God and your support, together we are able to share the love of God with the children and youth of Nicaragua. Remember, when God uses us to touch someones life, please know that you are also touching someones life."

We would not have been able to complete this intense year of language study without you. Thank you for your love and prayers for our family!

We have created a slide show of pictures to share with you. These are all pictures from the last 2 days as we say good bye to our fellow classmates, missionaries, teachers and friends. The picture in the top left hand corner is of us with our fellow missionaries to Nicaragua, Steve and Kim Sobey. Please keep us all in your prayers as we make this transition to Nicaragua. Our family will be heading to Nicaragua this Sunday morning. We will load our family and belongings in a bus and leave Costa Rica at 3 a.m. to begin the next chapter in this journey. Thank you for coming along with us. . .

Michigan Youth Invitation

2008-12-01T13:45:00.006-05:00

I am thankful for . . .

2008-11-29T22:08:00.004-05:00

For the past 9 years of our marriage we have always spent Thanksgiving with Ken's side of the family and Christmas with my side of the family. This was our first Holiday away from our families. As much as we wished we were with our family, we did our very best to keep our traditions and to create a traditional Thanksgiving meal with the items we have available here. Our kids were so excited. Our oldest son Kaden said it was his favorite day in Costa Rica so far. Earlier in the day Ken shared the history of thanksgiving with the kids and then before we ate dinner we went around and each of us shared what we were thankful for this year. Kaleb (5) started..."I am thankful for Art Class at school because we get to cut and paint and make beautiful things", then KyAnna (3 years old today!!) said "I am thankful for everything" next Kaden (7) said "I am thankful for our family, school and being able to read". After Kaleb's big brother Kaden shared, Kaleb had to make it clear that he was also very, very, very thankful for family. (He didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.)

Ken and I both are thankful for our family, God's continued provision and protection over us, our opportunity to study Spanish this year, and YOU! Thank you for your continued love, encouragement, support and prayers for our family. With each step we take, we see the hand of God working. We graduate from language school in just 12 days. Thank you for coming along side us on this journey. We love you and are thankful for all God has done in your lives and ours.

Foundation and Vision

2008-11-20T22:56:00.009-05:00

Earlier this year we had the opportunity to travel to the Nicoya Peninsula here in Costa Rica. It took us just over 9 hours to travel 135 miles. Why? Years ago when the roads were constructed, they were not built with an accurate vision and therefore are not able to meet the demand of what is now needed.

A few weeks ago when we were walking home from the store, we came upon a gentleman and a car that had completely fallen through the road while driving. Why? This road was not built on solid ground. Over time, the water below the surface was able to slowly wash away the foundation and eventually gave way.

These are just 2 examples of many from our time here in language school where we have been reminded that foundation and vision are both very vital in our years to come in missions. We want to say “thank you” to each individual and church that have so faithfully committed to support us during our language studies. We are so blessed by each of you and your sacrifice. We know that the time invested at language school will allow us to be more effective in reaching the children and youth of Nicaragua.

Youth Group with the MK's

2008-10-20T21:50:00.008-05:00

The teenagers in this picture are headed to Honduras, El Salvador and a few live right here in Costa Rica.

Each missionary faces new challenges while here at language school in Costa Rica. The adjustment to a foreign country, the battle of a new language and learning to survive without a car. The teenagers of our fellow missionaries here at language school are no exception. They too are in transition and have stepped up to the call God has placed on them as a family.

Last night we had the awesome privilege to have youth group with these amazing MK's. When we first arrived at language school there were not many teenagers, but with this last group of new students that came in, that changed. So, we have the opportunity from now until we head for Nicaragua December 14th to minister to each of these young people. We had the opportunity to have youth group in our apartment. We had a blast! Ken shared God's word and challenged them, we were able to pray together and encourage them to be all that God wants them to be. We cannot express how refreshing it was to be with teenagers again. We feel so blessed to be a small part of what God is doing in their lives.

Preparing For The Final Stretch

2008-08-21T21:27:00.001-05:00

We have just completed our 2nd of 3 trimesters at language school here in San Jose, Costa Rica. The picture to the left is of Ken, myself, our amazing conversation teacher Roxana, Dallas Hines (Argentina) and Chad Burgbacher (Panama). Together as missionaries we have learned the language over the past 8 months and have 4 months to go. We begin our last trimester September 2nd and will graduate December 12th. It is hard to believe. There are days it feels like we have been here forever and days when we feel like we just arrived. Language school has been more than learning a new language it has also been about learning a new culture, and when we finally land in Nicaragua we will begin to learn much more. God has been faithful to us in so many ways, but specifically protection. He has watched over us and our little ones and kept us out of harm's way, when it was so very near, so many times. Please continue to pray as we enter the final stretch, God would open our ears to both understand the language that we have so diligently studied and also to hear His voice as we begin to make arrangements for our move in December. THANK YOU for your prayers for our protection and provision.

Fellow Michiganders

2008-08-08T23:14:00.001-05:00

This past week we had the opportunity to have a great time of fellowship with some friends from Michigan. Freedom Christian in Sterling Heights brought a great team to minister through evangelism and construction in the surrounding areas of San Jose. Unfortunately, we were not able to participate in the ministry as we have a very ridged class schedule to complete our material and time here at language school. However, we were able to get together with them for dinner a few nights. It was a breath of fresh air to be with some old friends. It also brought much excitement to us as we look forward to hosting many of you and your churches and reaching the children and youth of Nicaragua together.

Tropical Virus

2008-07-28T22:13:00.001-05:00

During our time here in Costa Rica we have quickly learned about E coli, parasites and tropical flues and viruses from personal experiences to one of the five of us at one time or another. Midsummer Kaleb (5) contracted an incredibly strong tropical virus. Poor little guy was sick for 7 days with a fever of 104. We were doing everything we could to get his fever down rotating Motrin and Tylenol. There are no bath tubs here in Central America and so we did our best to improvise and make a tub for Kaleb. We had been praying all week and had visited the Doctor, who told us that there was nothing to do but ride it out. Just as we were nearing the end of the virus his fever spiked to 105.1. I was sure the thermometer was broken. Those of you who know me well, can imagine how quickly I was in a cab to the nearest hospital. Come to find out Kaleb not only had a tropical virus, but also a parasite and strep throat. We quickly got antibiotics and were on our way to recovery.

The night we returned from the hospital, there was a team of woman here in Costa Rica from California working on the student housing here at our language school. While they were here in Costa Rica, they were also planning to have a kids crusade in English for our Missionary Kids who do not normally have that opportunity. The leader of the team was one of the most precious woman I have ever met, Robin Garvin, the Woman's Director for the Southern California District. She came with a team of women to serve and WOW they did! The Missionary kids had been looking forward to the crusade for weeks, and now our little Kaleb was not able to go because he was highly contagious. He cried his little eyes out because there was so much excitement amongst the kids for the crusade and he had to stay home.

The following day, after Kaleb had heard all about the night before from his big brother, we had a knock at our door. Robin had come to make a special visit to Kaleb, but she didn't come alone. She brought her 2 puppet friends. Robin is a gifted ventriloquist and joyfully came with her two friends to share some encouraging words with Kaleb and pray with him. It was the first smile we got out of him in 9 days. He felt so very special and will always remember Robin and her friends.

"Did Jesus Heal You?"

2008-07-05T09:46:00.008-05:00

Last night we got together for a 4^th of July celebration with our fellow language school students. KyAnna was in the groove running with a group of kids and she tripped. As she tripped, the kids from behind didn’t have time to stop and the impact from behind sent her head first into the cement floor. I ran to pick her up and she was completely limp with her eyes rolled back in her head. Kaden and another mom ran to get Ken, while our little Kaleb and I started praying for her. She was completely unconscious for a minute to a minute and a half. When she regained consciousness she began crying (which was a good sign). We took her inside to the house to calm her down and check her. Her pupils were fine, but she wouldn’t really respond to us. I knew in my heart God had touched her. God’s peace came over us in an indescribable way. Calmly, Ken said "Kendra, she is okay." I looked at KyAnna and said “KyAnna, did Jesus heal you?” she immediately lifted her head, looked me in the eyes, made 1 big nod with her head and said “Yes". She started looking around. She got up and she walked away to play as if it never happened. She doesn't have a bruise or a bump on her head, and absolutely no pain. There is NO DOUBT that God touched her in an awesome way! Thank you for your faithful prayer support. It is in moments like these that God shows us the army of prayer warriors going with us to Nicaragua. Please continue to pray for our safety and protection. We are truly blessed by each of you!

The Rain Has Just Begun

2008-06-01T21:35:00.008-05:00

A few years ago our home church went on the 1st of 2 missions trips to Costa Rica. While in Costa Rica they were helping to build a church in the city of Quepos. After the team returned, while we were listening to the testimonies of God's provision and protection, I remember hearing these phrases over and over. "It was raining so hard", "It rained the entire time", "We just kept working in the rain because it didn't stop" , "I have never seen so much rain". I am sure those of you that were on that trip will never forget. We may not have been able to understand then, but we do now. Costa Rica has only two seasons: The dry season from late November to mid April and the rainy season from May to mid November. As of May 1st, we officially started raining season here, and believe us this year is no exception. In theory, it is supposed to rain every afternoon into the evening from now until August. In August it begins to rain for longer stretches of time into September and October where it goes days without a break from the rain. Well, the rain doesn't want to wait until September because it just keeps raining and raining. Last week it started in the morning and rained all day into the evening for 3 days. It has slowed down a little, but for the most part rains most of the day and all evening. Keep in mind that while we are in language school we do not have a vehicle. So, walking in the hard rain with the kids on very narrow sidewalks and sometimes no sidewalks at all, with streets that have large uncovered manholes can be interesting most of the time. Today the kids and I walked to the store with another missionary mom and her daughter. On our way home the rain was so hard that we stopped in front of a little church that had a small overhang. We got ourselves out of the rain and took a break from the struggle of trying to watch where we were going, carrying our bags, keep away from speeding cars, and gripping the hands of our little ones... of course trying to keep the umbrellas over us at the same time. While we were taking our little break from the rain, Kaden (6) looks up to heaven and so sincerely and sweet he says, "Jesus, thank you for your church." The heart of a child is so precious. Your MK's (missionary kids) are some real troopers

As the rain continues, so do we. Pray for us as we continue to study Spanish and prepare for the work ahead of us in Nicaragua.

1/3 Of The Way There

2008-04-18T17:04:00.004-05:00

Today we finished our 1st of 3 trimesters here at language school. We are so grateful to have the opportunity to study in a language school specifically for missionaries. God has blessed us with 4 very patient and gifted teachers that dedicate their lives to training missionaries. From left to right in the picture you will see our teachers for the following classes; interaction, phonetics and conversation. We also have another teacher who is not pictured, Arturo, for Grammar. Our teachers have a great task ahead of them. When we arrived in January, our Spanish vocabulary was all of about 5 words. We are believing that through prayer and hard work, God will give us the ability to grasp this beautiful language.

What is God up to?

2008-04-01T08:37:00.008-05:00

We have found ourselves saying this phrase over and over the last three months. We said it when God allowed us to raise our budget, with your help, in only seven months. We said it when God found renters for our house the very last week before we moved overseas. We continue to say it as we balance family time in a new culture in the midst of Spanish class by day and homework by night. However, most significantly, we recall saying it while enrolling Kaden into his new school across town here in San Jose.

As many of you know, we attend a Missionary language school by the name of Cincel, which means "chisel" in Spanish. When we arrived here in January with the other new Missionaries, we were the largest class to come in at one time to Cincel. When adding our new class to the current enrollment, Cincel is now training and equipping more Missionaries than ever before.

Kaden (our 6 year old) attends a bi-lingual school for missionary kids. His school is located on the the campus of yet another language school here in San Jose for Missionaries. When enrolling Kaden into his new school, we found out that their enrollment increased by 100 new kids in January alone! They mentioned it was due to the amount of new Missionary families that had just arrived at language school to prepare to go to the field in which God had called them. This too making their attendance the largest it has ever been.

So “what is God up to” calling so many missionaries to Latin America right now? We know that He doesn’t want any to parish. However, could it also be that the future missionaries to the 10/40 window will be from Latin America? Possibly, the very ones that will be reached, raised up, and trained by these new missionaries? Perhaps,young people, whose lives that will be touched by God and sent out to reach where we cannot go? Only time will tell, but we all know that God is up to something incredible.

                              Thank you for being a part of what God is up to!

3 Amigos

2008-03-10T20:15:00.008-05:00

Many of you have written and asked how the kids have been doing and how their transition is going here in Costa Rica. We truly appreciate all your e-mails and love hearing updates from your families and churches in the states. Our internet connection goes in and out, and sometimes we go a few days without internet in our apartment. We are not ignoring you, God is just preparing us for Nicaragua where the connection will be much less reliable.

All of the kids have done remarkably well with their transition into a new culture and language. Kaden (6) goes to a school where both Spanish and English are spoken and taught, so he has the advantage of having teachers who understand English and Spanish. Kaleb (4) and KyAnna (2) are in a Kinder Care program at our language school where they only speak Spanish. So, you can imagine how quickly their little minds are picking up this new language that they are growing to love. We only speak English with them at home, so that they are better able to separate and identify the 2 languages.

Some of the pictures in this blog are taken at a neighborhood playground right next to our language school. Thanks to our little ones we have had the opportunity to meet some wonderful people in the park who have now become our Spanish interaction partners for one of our classes. When we first arrived in Costa Rica the park did not look very appealing. The grass was way overgrown, there were dogs everywhere and just one look at the rusted and broken equipment made me think "hazard". Now, over 2 months later we have a bit of a different view. It is hard to find places in San Jose for kids to run and play outside. So, this once seemingly danger zone has become a bit of a treasure and a blessing in so many ways. It is amazing what a good mow and a lot of happy kids can do to a place.

Again, thank you for your e-mails, we truly love hearing from you. Thank you for praying for us and our children as ALL of us continue to learn the language and culture.

{Pictures}
Top, right: Kaleb at the park in his favorite place, high up in the mango tree.
Middle, left: KyAnna and her new tica (Costa Rican) friend Dani.
Bottom, right: Kaden having a good laugh listening to us try and speak Spanish.
Bottom, left: Kaleb, Kaden and KyAnna with their MK (Missionary Kid) friends to Venezuela.

Cartago

2008-02-22T20:01:00.009-05:00

Today we had the opportunity to go on a "Paseo" with our teachers and fellow students here at language school. We visited "Basilica de Nuestra Senora de los Angeles" in Cartago. This was an excellent way for us to better understand part of the culture in Central America.

A beautiful church with amazing stained glass windows, this Basilica is home to La Negrita ‘The Black Virgin’. Every August, millions of Ticos (Costa Ricans) come from all across the country to pray here and ask for miracles. People are frequently sighted walking, many barefoot, along the Pan American highway and other Costa Rican roadways. They come from towns all over Costa Rica and even the bordering countries of Nicaragua and Panama. Some walk several hundred miles, others just a few, but all have one destination in mind. Upon arriving at the Basilica, many climb the church steps on their knees and crawl to the alter as a way of penance. Below is a small exert about the history of the Basilica and its importance."As the story goes, a young girl, on August 2nd, 1635, was playing in a stream while her mother was washing clothes. On top of a rock she found the little statue and took it home. When her mother found out she was very angry and ordered her to take it back because the real owner was probably very upset. The little girl went to the box where she had hidden it and it was gone. The next day when they returned to the stream the statue was again on the same rock. The mother, upon finding it was very upset, thinking that her daughter had lied. Again they took the statue, this time with the intention of bringing it to the local priest. The next day when they went to get the statue to take it to the priest, it was gone again. They immediately ran down to the stream and there it was once more atop the rock. This was taken as a message from God and a shrine and church were built on the site. The original church was destroyed in an earthquake in 1920 and the current church, La Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles (see photo) was built six years later. The Basílica is in the Byzantine tradition and is probably the most unique church in the country. The north side of the church is the shrine to the Virgin Mary, on the very site where the statue was first discovered. So, on August 2nd of every year, there is a pilgrimage of the faithful to the shrine." (Exert from: worldheadquarters.com)During our "Paseo" we were once again reminded of the desperate need to share the love of God and the Freedom that is received in serving Him. Pray with us that God will continue to open the hearts of His people and that they too will receive the freedom we have in Christ.

Getting around

2008-01-12T14:56:00.001-05:00

Getting around in Costa Rica is a bit more complicated than in the states. First, we must figure out where to purchase what we need, and how to say it in Spanish (this is the most challenging part). Next we must figure out how to get there; walk, take a bus or taxi. Once we get there, they may or may not be open. Everything isn't always in one place. Who knew you bought baking soda at the pharmacy? Well, now you do! It has been quite a fun adventure so far. There is a really nice small grocery store about a mile from our apartment that we can walk to. The bread store and pharmacy are also not too far of a walk. You can imagine how much exercise we have already gotten. Thankfully we brought KyAnna's stroller and the boys have been real troopers. On Saturdays, Ken goes by taxi to an open air market to buy all our fruits, vegetables, spices and herbs. Once we get the produce home we must soak it in bleach water to avoid getting Amebae Infection. The picture of Ken and I is at Central Market, downtown San Jose. The other is of La Feria, the open air market Ken goes to on Saturdays. The produce from the market is very inexpensive and taste AMAZING, we wish we could send you all some.

Welcome to San Jose!

2008-01-03T15:42:00.000-05:00

We arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica yesterday afternoon. Thank you to all of you who have been praying for us while we were packing and preparing to leave. God's hand was over us as we traveled. For all of you that were praying for us, we have to share this story with you, because prayer works. Once we landed in San Jose, we gathered the kids and headed straight for immigration with no problems. Actually, KyAnna was still sleeping from the plane in her car seat, so we just took her off the plane and put her and her car seat into the stroller. The picture of her was taken at the immigration counter, where she just slept her way through. Then, we headed to baggage claim to retrieve our luggage. When we got to baggage claim, it felt like every other piece of luggage was ours. We had 15 regular checked items and 13 carry-ons that they checked in at the gate for us because we were moving. We began to pull our boxes, trunks and suitcases and quickly realized there was no possible way we would ever make it through customs by ourselves. By the time we would have carried them all to the check point, got each piece scanned, each box searched and paid the duties of their choosing, we could have easily been there all afternoon. So, I quickly went to an airport employee and asked if he could help us. 5 minutes later he had packed all 28 items onto 2 huge moving carts. He and I pushed the carts to the check point and Kendra brought the kids behind us. Once we got there, he nodded at a few customs agents and through the check point we went, bypassing all the steps to clear customs. Not a question asked, not a box opened, not a duty paid. We just walked outside to our waiting party and the gentleman even unpacked our carts and loaded our taxi bus. What a blessing, thank you for praying!

Packing up

2008-01-01T23:30:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas

2007-12-25T20:00:00.000-05:00

We hope you are having a wonderful holiday celebrating the precious birth of Jesus. What a wonderful time of year to look back and reflect on the Lord's goodness and blessing in our lives. We are so truly grateful for so many things and this year we are especially grateful for YOU. On January 2nd, we will leave for Language School in San Jose, Costa Rica. This would not have been possible without you. Together we will reach the children and youth of Nicaragua and we are so grateful for the opportunity to go to Costa Rica and study language so that we are effective in our ministry.

Thank you for being a part of the Christmas miracle in our lives. We are so blessed to be a part of what God is doing through your prayers and support. We know that there will be many beautiful Nicaraguan people telling you "Thank You" in heaven. May God bring you great joy and blessing in 2008.

Clear Direction

2007-11-06T19:52:00.001-05:00

This past week our itineration took us back to North Central University in Minneapolis, MN. North Central is where we met and studied youth/missions during our college years. Most recently, during our visit, we were able to spend time with 10 very special people. While on staff at The Shores Church, we had the opportunity to be youth pastors to each of these amazing young people. Along with these 10 at North Central, there are 5 more students currently studying at Assemblies of God Universities. Each one of them are extremely talented and could choose to study anywhere, but they have chosen to walk in obedience and are following the call of God on their lives. We are so proud of each of them and we know that God is going to use them in a mighty way.

Will you take a moment and pray for each of these students?

Pray. . .

God will prepare their hearts and minds for ministry
They are able to manage their time wisely
God will use them where they are
That God will give them clear direction for their future

North Central: Sean, Roy, Chris, Jenelle, Jesse, (not pictured: Rita, Dan, Kate, Tiff & Jeremiah)
Evangel: Nicole, Deanna, Angelina
Southwestern: Laura (not pictured Ryan)

We Go Together

2007-10-19T20:27:00.000-05:00

There’s an old African proverb that says, “If you want to go quickly, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.” We know that we are being sent by you, being prayed for by you, and being encouraged by you. It makes us excited to sense that we are planning on going far with God because we are going together with you. We are anxiously waiting to see what God is going to do, as we reach the children and youth of Nicaragua together for God’s glory.

Pictured above with us are two of our fellow missionary friends, Brad & Shelly Foltz, missionaries to Honduras. The four of us go together with 119 other new missionary candidates that were commissioned in August to 51 different countries around the world. At our commissioning service, World Missions Director, John Bueno spoke these words, “God’s power is still evident in the hour in which we live as much as it ever was. We have a supernatural God who works in every country of the world. His intention is to reach everyone everywhere because this is His supernatural power.” This powerful statement reminds us that there is much work to be done and His Spirit is still drawing people to Him.

Child-like Faith

2007-09-20T20:24:00.001-05:00

Yesterday our dryer had a total "melt down." I heard something very loud and so I went to see what had happened. The dryer had broken down and would not start. I waited for it to cool off and a few hours later tried to figure out what had happened. The boys came around the corner and asked what I was doing, I explained to them that our dryer had broken. The boys immediately laid their hands on the dryer and started to pray, Kaden (5) prays "Dear Jesus, could you please fix our dryer so we don't have to wear wet clothes." Kaleb (4) prays next, "Jesus you need to fix our dryer or send someone to fix it please." Immediately after they finished praying, Kaden reached up and pressed the start button but nothing happened. He looked up at me and said, "It's okay mom, Jesus is going to fix it."

Throughout the rest of the night periodically Kaden would run to the laundry room to see if it worked. Over and over he pressed the start button waiting for it to work. A few hours later it was bedtime and the boys kneeled beside their bed to say their prayers. Kaleb "Thank you for a good day today, but could you still fix the dryer" then Kaden "Thank you for mommy, daddy, Kaleb, KyAnna, sister Krista and thank you for fixing our dryer." I thought to myself, wow he sure is claiming it.

I began to pick up the house and eventually found myself in the laundry room. I began to smile as I thought about how cute the boys were laying hands on and praying for our dryer. I treasured the moment in my heart and thought about the child-like faith that Jesus desires us to have in Mark 10:15. As I walked out of the room, I went back and pressed the start button and what do you know. Not only did it work, but it ran like it was brand new.

Tonight Kaleb prays "Jesus, thank you for fixing our dryer, now can you fix my bear." We'll keep you posted!

Little Missionary

2007-08-19T20:02:00.000-05:00

Serving as a missionary has been a dream of mine since I was five. More importantly, it has been a dream because of the call of God on my life as a little girl.

When I (Kendra) was 13, I went on my first missions trip to Jamaica. While I was there, I entered this in my journal "I feel like a little missionary, a real live one."

On August 10th, at the 2007 General Council in Indianapolis, I found myself standing overwhelmed with emotion as Ken and I were commissioned as World Missionaries.

It was one of the most memorable moments in my life. I felt so blessed by the support from our family, our pastor and our district. I was filled with so much excitement as this dream was becoming a reality.

From the day we are born, God has a plan for our lives. Sometimes God deposits a burden in our hearts or a call on our lives that doesn't always unfold immediately. As we follow His leading, things start to fall into place in His timing. I just want to encourage you. If God has given you a dream, hold on to it. He does have a plan and wants to use you!

Believing For Many Miracles

2007-07-27T07:34:00.000-05:00

This past fall, while in Nicaragua, God confirmed the call and burden He had placed on our lives to reach their young people. While we were there, we had the opportunity to go to a Christian Orphanage where we were introduced to an incredible child of God. We held a beautiful baby girl that was found in a trash heap in Leon, a large city about two hours from Managua. She was found wrapped in a black plastic trash bag with rope tied around her, she was left to die.

By the grace of God someone heard her crying and opened the bag. This precious child was suffering from severe malnutrition and was being eaten by bugs. After her hospitalization, there was no where for her to go. Praise God for a Christian Orphanage where missionaries Tim & Chris Bagwell have taken her in, love her, care for her and will find her a safe and loving family. Today she is thriving, laughing and smiling, when just a few months ago there was little hope she would live.

No one knows where she came from or why she was left to die, but we believe God has a great plan for her life because He saved her from such a horrible situation. The missionaries at the orphanage named her ‘Milagro’ which means miracle in Spanish, and that is what she is.

There are other miracles ready to take place in Nicaragua, a country where 50% of their nearly 6 million people are under the age of 15. We are believing for miracles in young people that have been abandoned physically and spiritually and live life with no hope. There are more miracles to come because we serve an Almighty God that has an incredible plan for every child in Nicaragua.

Blast Off

2007-06-09T20:18:00.000-05:00

3…2…1…We have lift-off of the Doutt Missionary Family! With our “mini-shuttle” fueled up, the extra storage cargo latched securely, and Springfield standing by, we have been launched into the new and exciting world called: Itineration. Words can’t start to express what it has been like for our family to be thrust into this awe-inspiring event. A life-time of dreaming, months of anticipating, and weeks of planning did not accurately prepare us for the “send-off” we have encountered.

We are so grateful and thankful for our pastor, David Diehl and our church family, The Shores Church. We never could have imagined the amount of love and support the Lord has allowed us to receive. We are blessed to have a pastor with such a mission’s heart and a church family that continues to lead the way in launching missionaries. We know the hearts of the people and believe that they will continually lift us up in prayer. For this, we are forever grateful. Thank you “Shores,” we love you!

District Council Miracle

2007-05-14T14:42:00.000-05:00

They call it "Fast Track" I call it a huge blessing and a true miracle. During the process of becoming a missionary, we heard the stories: "It will take you 8 phone calls per church just to speak with the pastor. It will take around 100 phone calls to book a single service. It will take you you 15 -18 months of itineration to raise your budget.......oh, what's that...you're from Michigan....well...God bless you with their economy." That's exactly what He did!

Wednesday night at the World Missions service for the Michigan District Council, God continued to show me how amazing and faithful He really is. I knew that our family was going to be spot-lighted in the service and be introduced as the new missionary candidates in our district this year. I didn't know that God had arranged for Randy Valimont to bring a challenging and anointed message that would open obedient hearts. God's children responded to the challenge and raised 55% of our monthly commitments and 19% of our cash budget in one night!!! On top of that, our youth group surprised us with being the first to sow into our ministry with the teens giving close to a thousand dollars themselves!

We are so thankful and grateful for the men and women that are allowing us to partner with them and their vision for missions. I have a new fear of God in my life then ever before because I see now, more then ever, the hand of God on our family's life and ministry 'for such a time as this.'

World Missions Board Approval

2007-04-10T20:19:00.000-05:00

If you were in our home tonight, you would have seen me (Ken) beaming with joy. No one could have been feeling the way I did, because I was "the man". There I, in the midst of feeling victorious, knew that once again I have proven to my sons that I am, indeed "King of the beanbags". During all of the excitement, the phone began to ring. I continued to let the phone ring because I needed to remind my boys that you just can't mess with dad when it comes to "father-son beanbag wrestling."

After I called a quick timeout for a water break (my prime is not what it used to be), my wife was beaming with joy. We received the phone call that we have so anxiously been awaiting. Rick Johnson, a member of the world missions board, called our home tonight to simply say "congratulations!"

We knew the official phone call from Springfield was coming, but we were anticipating it tomorrow. We are grateful for the many blessings in our lives including God's timing. He is never too early nor to late, He is always right on time.

Please keep us in your prayers during this time of transition in our lives. We will continue ministry at The Shores Church with the students that we have grown to love so deeply until May 17. At that time we will begin full time itineration.

Candidate Orientation

2007-03-29T10:41:00.000-05:00

March 23rd we returned home from Springfield, MO where we attended Candidate Missionary Orientation. This was an intense 10 day orientation where we learned about the policies and procedures on Missions. We also had interviews with the Regional Director of Latin America and the AGWM Executive Committee. We had the opportunity to share with them our heart and the call God has placed on our lives for full time missionary appointment. It was a wonderful opportunity and we gained information that will be valuable to us over the next year during itineration. Now, with much anticipation, we will wait until the World Missions Board meets on April 11th for final approval. Upon approval we will start to book Missions services which will begin Sunday, May 20th and will continue until 100% of our budget is raised.