Testimony Videos.

Heading Home.

Well prayer warriors... it's the end of the week!

We had a blast today as we traveled the country...

boat ride this morning,
then to a zip line in the forest,
then to tip top chicken for lunch...
to the market for some souvenirs,
& off to the volcano.

Phew! We are exhausted and ready to see all of you again.


Please pray for safe travels tomorrow. We leave the mission home at 4:30am and will return to Nashville around 2pm.


We look forward to sharing stories with you at church on Sunday! Don't miss it :)

Till Nicaragua 2011... Peace out!

No turning back... no turning back

Final day in El Canon:

Today was our last day in el canon. We spent our morning traveling from room to room (1st-6th grade) leading Bible Studies for the children at the school. The children were extremely attentive and loved the time that we spent with them.


And then it started to rain. Okay - we'll be honest... it started to pour! And pour it did... for about 2 hours.


It rained all of the way up until the beginning of our Family Festival church service - and despite the rain... God's people came. They came carrying their children and soaking wet. Praise God.

The team had the opportunity to sing "Every move I make" for the congregation - and Emily and Rose did a phenomenal job sharing their testimonies. Pastor Josue preached tonight - and what a passionate man of God he is.

Some words from pastor Josue tonight:

-You (the team) are here in this community because God called you to be here.

-God has given us this life not to find joy in material things, but to find joy in salvation!

-Christ didn't carry a coin around in His pocket to draw crowds to Himself - He drew people to Himself because He had one thing that no one else could offer.

-And after proclaiming the good news of new believers in the church, Pastor asked his congregation... what now? What do we do now? ... his answer? A song.

I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;No turning back, no turning back.

Though I may wonder, I still will follow;
Though I may wonder, I still will follow;
Though I may wonder, I still will follow;
No turning back, no turning back.

The world behind me, the cross before me;
The world behind me, the cross before me;
The world behind me, the cross before me;
No turning back, no turning back.

Though none go with me, still I will follow;
Though none go with me, still I will follow;
Though none go with me, still I will follow;
No turning back, no turning back.

My cross I’ll carry, Till I see Jesus;
My cross I’ll carry Till I see Jesus, :
My cross I’ll carry Till I see Jesus,
No turning back, No turning back.

Will you decide now to follow Jesus?
Will you decide now to follow Jesus?
Will you decide now to follow Jesus?
No turning back, no turning back.

We had the opportunity to sing this (in english) right along with the rest of the congregation singing beautifully in spanish. What a glorious moment.


We presented Pastor Josue and the church with 75 Bibles and a new guitar for the music ministry. And Pastor Josue's response??

"... I now have 75 reasons to continue God's work in this community."

May God bless this community, this orphanage, this school & this church. May he bless Pastor Josue and the leaders of the orphanage and school. And may he continue to provide the means to bring His people to serve in El Canon.

No turning back.

No turning back.

Day 4

Day 4:

Another beautiful day here in Nicaragua. God kept us safe all day - and blessed us with beautiful weather.


We were able to complete all of our work both at the orphanage and the school.... painting the swing set, cleaning the bathrooms, & fixing minor electrical work in the orphanage. We delivered all 200+ items to the orphanage from all of you at Bridgepointe (thank you!!) and they were extremely grateful.


This afternoon we spent some time loving on the precious children at the orphanage, provided all of them with ice cream (huge hit!) and Jessica, Kristen & Kinsey lead a bible study with the kids.


Tonight, we had our first evening of the Family Festival. What a wonderful turn out! Families came from miles away (carrying children and all) to hear God's word. Craig & Kegan shared their testimonies and Benji preached. So thankful that God's presence was known tonight.


Thank you for your prayers. Continue to pray for health (as some of the members of the team are beginning to not feel well) and safety of all. Tomorrow is our last day serving in the community and loving on those kids. As always... I'm sure it will be difficult to drive away knowing we won't be going back tomorrow.

Thank you for your prayers.

The Team!

Day 3

Day 3:

We spent the day today working & serving in the community. The principal at the school had asked us to paint the window bars black... so off we went!

Here is a before picture...









& after...










Once again - we were blessed with beautiful (& hot) weather all day long. Blessed with safety & praise God that not one person on the team has gotten sick!!

It took the team about 6 hours to complete the paint project... but the school was very appreciative and it looks great.


This afternoon, Benji lead a men's bible study at the church & Emily lead a women's study. And once again - a God-ordained turn out! So many women came out to the study, and the kids were flocking to Benji's. (surprise! surprise! the Nicaraguan children love him just as much as they do back home!) :)


We have a few more projects to do tomorrow at the school & our first family festival tomorrow night! Praying God brings His people - lives are touched - & His Kingdom increases.

Thank you for your prayers.

We could not have asked for a greater support system. Thank you for your emails, your facebook status', your letters, comments, and prayers.... we are truly blessed to have you a part of OUR team. We love you Bridgepointe!

Day 2

Day 2 in El Canon:

This morning we traveled through the community with the intention of sharing the gospel & building relationships with families... and God did much more than that!

Every single family shared prayer requests with us and allowed us to pray over their home. We were lead into many homes to pray over sick family members in bed & many people accepted Jesus Christ for the first time. Praise God!

Every family welcomed us into their homes with open arms. And we began to think about this:

Imagine walking door to door in America & asking families what you could pray for them about... End Result: a door shut in your face. (most of the time)

And yet, here we are, a bunch of English-speaking Gringos, being welcomed into homes...bombarded with prayer requests... & thanked for praying over them and their families. God is so good & this country is truly blessed.

This afternoon, Rose lead a bible study for the women and Craig lead one for the men. God-ordained turn out!!

The women were giggling, smiling & extremely receptive to what God was saying through Rose. They painted each others finger & toe nails, painted pots to plant seeds in & spent time in fellowship with one another.

The men were blessed through the wise words of Craig & walked miles to attend the Bible Study (even days after surgery.)


We spent some time with the children in the orphanage, and Benji (of course) was lovin' on those babies! We told the Mom's it was okay if Benji came and stole their babies... he does that at home too.. and he'll always bring them back. ;-)

And at the orphanage this evening we got the opportunity to see our first lizard tied to a key chain.... the kids thought it was hilarious!


Praise God for our team fellowship time this evening... laughing until our stomach's hurt and tears in our eyes.

Thank you for your prayers.

The Kingdom of God grew today because of you.

Until tomorrow...

Keep hangin onto that Rope

Singing Praises

Another beautiful day here in Nicaragua. Thank you for your prayers.

The service this morning was... powerful. What a blessing it is to hear children singing praises to our God. To hear pastors and adults singing praises to our God.

Described by team members as:
"eye opening to see people worship God in a different language"
"amazing to see children genuinely happy to be worshiping God"
"empowering"
"adults were truly worshiping - with a child-like faith"


This afternoon we traveled back to the canyon to go door to door inviting families to our family festival later in the week. 5 miles later... we were grateful for families that welcomed us with open arms into their homes. We look forward to the outcome at our family festival on wednesday & thursday afternoons.

And now... we sit together on the balcony of the mission home (in a cool breeze) overlooking the beauty of this country.

Check this out...

Worshiping the same God

Thank you for your prayers tonight.

What a blessing it was to see the community, orphanage & school that we will be serving in this coming week. Lots of serving to be done...


Here are our plans for tomorrow for you to be PRAYING, PRAYING, PRAYING:
Morning: Kaleb preaching @ the church
Meagan & Jeff sharing testimonies

Afternoon/evening: Walking from home to home in the community inviting the families to events later in the week, and searching for open doors to share Christ.


Pray for safety. Pray for boldness. Pray for God to speak through us.




AND... perfect reminder to pray for your Nicaraguan team...while we are singing worship songs in the morning during the church service (and hearing those same songs sung in spanish) what great comfort it is to know that you too will be worshiping the same God at the exact same time hundreds of miles away.

To Him be the glory - forever, and ever. Amen.

Hola de Nicaragua!

We have made it! After quite a few hours lounging around in the Nashville Airport, flights went wonderful, we were picked up at the Managua airport this afternoon at 11:30am, rode back to the mission home and just had our first meal:

Chicken tacos :) All-in-all everyone loved it!



We've had a few hours to just relax and unwind from being awake since ... oh well too long to even think about!!


And here in an hour we're going to make that "SAFE" march down the canyon on a "flat steady road" to meet the wonderful people we will be ministering to all week long. Pray for God to break down barriers tonight and allow us even in the hour we have with them, to begin to build lasting & meaningful relationships.

Blessings to all of you.
Thank you for your prayers.

More to come later tonight.....

COUNTDOWN is ON!

Thanks to everyone who made it out to the Prayer Service for the team tonight. It was great seeing all the love and support from our church family. Just a few more hours and the team meets back at church to load up and head off!

Keep holding those ropes!

Commissioning Service TONIGHT!

Join us at 6:30 tonight @ Bridgepointe Church for the team's commissioning service.

We leave Owensboro tonight at midnight :)
Please pray for safe travels.

Talk to ya from the other side....