Nicaragua 2010

I know this blog is supposed to be about the work in Haiti, but there have been a few people who wanted me to post updates about the Nicaragua trip.

Jeremy is currently with a team from our church (Gardendale First Baptist), as well as a few people from other churches, in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua. They flew out of Atlanta early this morning and, after a layover in Miami, arrived in Puerto Cabezas late this afternoon. I don't know all the details of this trip and I don't even have all the team members' names, so I apologize for that. Although I will probably contintue to refer to them as "Jeremy and the team", I'm pretty sure that Richard Bradley is the leader of this trip. He has been to Nicaragua many times over the last several years and knows the local missionaries well. He's done a lot of construction in the area, but again, I don't have many details.

The people group they will be working with are the Miskito Indians, who speak Miskito and for the most part don't speak or understand Spanish. So the team will be breaking up into several groups which will include two Americans, an English to Spanish interpreter, and a Spanish to Miskito interpreter. Each team will go to a village tomorrow morning and stay there for the remainder of the week. They will be teaching, preaching, and discipling local believers. On Friday, they will be reunited with the rest of the group from the U.S. and begin the journey back home.

I spoke with Jeremy a little while ago and he said that, having been up for two days now, they are all exhausted. They attended a church service at the mission compound tonight and one local man became a believer! To God be the glory! I'm sure the exhaustion they feel doesn't compare to the joy of seeing a person come to faith in Christ.

I will have communication with Jeremy in the morning, but that will probably be the last time until Friday. The team will be in a very remote area without much communication. In case of emergency there is a sat. phone but no cell coverage. We were told to abide by the policy "no news is good news", so I probably won't have much to report after tomorrow. Thank you all for praying for the team as they attempt to live out the gospel for the sake of glorifying God among the nations.

There are still things in the works as far as Haiti is concerned, so I don't want anyone to think that we have forgotten about it. Jeremy and many others have been hard at work, researching and planning future Haiti trips, and more details about that will come later. We are praying that God will raise up locals to assist and eventually take over this work, which is the only feasible way to improve the long term situation in this poverty stricken country. We know that it will more than likely take quite a while for that to happen, but we are certainly not abandoning the Haitian people in their darkest hour. God will be glorified through this. We are praying for discernment as to the best course of action. Please pray with us and consider joining the effort in some way as you feel led.