Kate Boone (FC in Nicaragua) and I (Lauren) very much enjoyed teaching the ESVO cooking class last year.  However, with my task of mothering 2 boys every day and her even bigger task of mothering 3 boys every day, we knew it was time to pass the torch.  Mike and I prayed for months about who this person could be and at the same time, we thought of Aura.  Aura worked for the Baptist Mission House here in Nicaragua; I have always been impressed with her professionalism, kindness, and spunk.  We called her and as God would have it, Aura is actually studying to be a chef right now, specializing in hotel administration.  She was thrilled to have the chance to share her knowledge.  I am teaching the first class with her to show her the ropes, and then she is teaching the remaining four classes alone.  Despite her not having ever taught before, she really has a gift for it, as some people just do.  Last year, Kate and I over and over tried to convince our students that there is money in a budget for vegetables; they never really believed us.  But when Aura says it, it is taken as truth. That is our vision coming to life: Nicaraguans leading Nicaraguans!

A few weeks ago, Luke and I drove to Matagalpa, Nicarauga to visit a good friend of ours.  While in there, we decided to try and find a church that Luke helped construct on a mission team when he was 11 years old!  Amazingly, Luke remembered the area and after trecking up a steep hill and asking a few people, we found the church!

It was really special for Luke to return to this place – his first mission trip. A place he spent a week with his dad and others from his church.
 A place where his love for Nicaragua and calling to be here began.

If you ask Luke’s dad, he’d tell you something like this, “Be careful when you take or send your kids on missions trips. That may just be the beginning of where God is calling them.”

God is so amazing, isn’t He? And we don’t even know the half of it!  The ways in which His hand is in the very details of our lives is incredible and unfathomable. And here we are twenty years later, having met in Nicaragua and continuing to live and minister here together. Amazing!

Article submitted by Glen Dubois, President of MVI

I love God stories. I’d like to tell you one story that started five years ago when we’d gone to Matagalpa, Nicaragua, to purchase the property for a school. The price was to be $60,000. At the closing, the lawyer asked for $30,000 more. We had to walk away from the dream of breaking the cycle of poverty through a Christ-centered education for the community.

A few year later, Eric Loftsgard (Country Director Nicaragua) was in Matagalpa having lunch and “happened” to run into the owner of the property. She expressed her disappointment that we hadn’t purchased it. When Eric explained about the price increase, she was shocked. All she had asked for was the $60,000. If we were still interested, she’d sell it for $50,000. God provided!

We started preparing the land and needed a backhoe. A friend of the ministry said the local John Deere Company in Nicaragua would help. They told us to choose whichever unit we needed, and they delivered it to the sight for free. Now we had another challenge. No one knew how to operate it. One of our missionaries just “happened” to ask if we could use a father and son team from Canada who had a land evacuation company. They were in Nicaragua for two weeks and wanted God to use them. Then, within six months, God moved on hearts to pray and give, and the school was completed and opened.

Do you have a moment for the update of this God story? Two months ago, I was in Nicaragua to celebrate the opening of NCA III in Matagalpa. We’ve had a thirteen-year involvement with NCA. We’ve been involved in the birth, development, and oversight of NCA II since its creation eight years ago. We’re now at 412 students. We have a goal to start Christian schools, within the next fifteen years, to reach the six major cities with a population of 150,000 or greater.

More than ever, I recognize that we desperately need God every day. Isn’t it interesting how God moves in His timing? Be encouraged as you trust and pray for God’s provision in your life.

We never take for granted your partnership and are so honored to be your outreach to the nations.

On an MV mission trip:  can we…, will we…, do we have to…, can I bring my…, will there be any…, what happens if…?

People going on a mission trip certainly do ask a lot of questions.  But that’s a good idea!  It’s one of the reasons why the MV staff does everything possible to help with planning for your mission trip.  MV has a large number of training resources available, and is willing to devote enormous effort toward preparing your team for all that they will experience during their journey into a foreign country for the Lord.  Flexibility is one of the keys to any successful mission trip; but nevertheless, it is also important to plan and train as much as possible.

MV provides Team Leader Training to anyone who wonders what is involved in organizing a mission trip.  This would give you the personal knowledge and confidence to plan a team trip that would be successful and be a blessing to everybody involved.  The free training is offered several times each year, on a Saturday at the MV offices in Orlando from 9am – 4pm, with lunch provided.  The next one is set for June 8, 2013.  You will spend time with others who have similar questions about putting together a mission trip from your church or other group.  This next session will include a number of missionaries-in-training, and will make it even more interesting.  At the close of the training, additional materials will be made available to you to pass on to your church leaders and/or the other team members as well.

A fun part of the MV team leader training involves a session on cross-cultural role playing.  The group will practice encountering people with very different traditions, values and customs.  Participants always discover how many misconceptions we all have about meeting people from another culture.  By the end of the session they realize interesting ways to help prepare hearts and minds for the trip.

Besides all the training and preparation here in this country, an MV missionary (Field Coordinator) who lives in your destination nation will meet your team when the plane lands.  Your trip will be very well planned out by this person with extensive experience.  The MV missionary will contribute significantly to the success of the mission trip.  He/she not only knows the specific people you will work with, and the areas you will visit; but also has experience working with short-term mission teams, making sure each person has the most meaningful trip possible.

Preparation, planning and experience can make your Missionary Ventures trip one of the most rewarding and impacting  things you will ever do.  Move forward with confidence as your mission dreams become reality with MV.

Please give a phone call (407-859-7322) or send an email to Arlen King, former missionary to Guatemala.  He will help you to sign up for this free training.  Arlen can also help you plug into one of our existing team trips, or help create a very specific trip for you and your group.  We are here for you; all you have to do is call.

We have sent out a prayer request before, but we want to bring it to your attention again.  Many of our northern atolls have not had rain in over five months.  The water lens that they do have on a few of the atolls have become brackish.  At this time there is no rain forecast for that area.  Here in the southern atolls we have had rain to sustain us.  To the far south many have had plenty of rain.  We ask you to agree with us for rain to fall in the northern atolls.

The president of the Marshall Islands, three weeks ago, declared a state of emergency for these atolls.  Some governments are responding with reverse osmosis machines.  Several survey teams have gone out and surveyed the atolls.  The report is not good and in some place there is no water.  The people are surviving on coconut water from day to day.  There are churches in that area that need our prayers too.  Not just for water but for wisdom during this time.  Many men and women of faith are still there sharing the Gospel.  We as a mission are researching the cost of reverse osmosis machines.  We want to and are believing God for the provision to place machines in churches throughout this drought stricken area.  Here in the Marshall islands over 90 percent of all water is caught when it rains.  The water lens is replenished when it rains.

Please agree with us for the drought to be broken and the rain to fall in the northern atolls and all over the Marshalls.  God bless and thank you for your faithful prayers and support.

Luther Meier, MVI Vice-President-at-Large, shares his testimony courtesy of Influence Living

A 32-year old lady has been sharing her dream since the day we met her. As we studied God’s Word together in a ladies’ Bible group, her prayers were consistent. She just wanted to FINISH school! Without even a primary education, this dream appeared lofty to the rest of the ladies. Yet, we PRAYED together!

One day she arrived with complete JOY! An aunt had offered to pay the fees for her to complete her high school degree. We were all amazed at God’s faithfulness! We knelt in our thanksgiving together.

She walked over 5 miles each day over a very hilly road to get to school. She worked at one of her aunt’s businesses in the evenings to repay her for the school fees. And she smiled!

But one day, she arrived at our center – right away, we knew something was wrong. She should have been in school at that time! Through her tears and brokenness, she shared. The night before, her aunt had met her and guided her to the bar instead of the business she had been working at. There, they met a man. The aunt had promised Stella to him as a prostitute for the night. As Stella reeled back in shock,  the aunt looked on in surprise. “How did you think you were going to pay for your school? You are beautiful – we can’t waste your beauty!”

Stella left the bar. Left her dreams behind. That night, she read and reread her Bible. No matter how strong her desire for an education, she remained strong. She called her aunt and cancelled her schooling.

Her story has grabbed my heart. Following GOD, following TRUTH is no joke! Stella inspires me to pursue GOD in new, committed and deeper ways!

To read more about the Matlacks’ ministry in Kenya, follow their blog!

We are seeing so many changes in the lives of people in Majuro and in the church. One of the areas under going change is our children’s department at Majuro English Assembly (MEA) headed up by Edna our Christian Education Coordinator. Edna and Shawn have been working together to put in place a new curriculum and transform the children’s department. Since they kicked off the new program, the place has been packed. Now we are going to have to expand the children’s area soon. What a great problem to have. The children’s ministry is growing and growing.

A couple of months ago we kicked off the new program in our main service to give the parents a taste of what is happening in our children’s ministry. On that day 44 volunteers signed up to be a part of the program. Edna  divided them up into 4 teams to work with the children.  They then took the leaders and have been training them to lead the teams.

It is going to be awesome. They have been trained in puppets, drama, object lessons, teaching and leading children’s ministry.  Please keep our children’s ministry team in your prayers.  Soon we will begin mobile outreaches and a feeding program for children.  We thank God for what He is doing among the children here in Majuro, Marshall Islands.

We’re 3 months into school, and we have settled in to about as much of a “normal” routine as we will this first year.  We celebrated International Book Day here last week by dressing up as our favorite book characters and visiting the library.  I can’t say I’ve really ever cared much about International Book Day before, but in a country where there is so little access to books, it certainly took on a new significance.  I have taken for granted how much books have shaped my life: they have taken me on journeys around the world, they have ignited passions, and maybe more than anything, books have given me the images that define my faith.  We are really excited to be able to offer a lending library to our students, something very rare in Nicaragua, and it has been exciting to see them devour book after book.

On that note, if you are interested in helping us stock our library, we have access to a shipping container that ships at the end of May.  Follow these instructions if you are interested in donating new or used Spanish language books.

1. Scour your community for Spanish books, set up a collection box at your church or in your small group.
2. Once the box is full. Make a list of all of the book titles packed in the box and write a letter to Susan Hall stating that these books are a donation for Nicaragua Christian Academy. Print the inventory and the donation letter and put them in the box.
3. Send an email to Susan Hall at hsprincipal@nca.edu.ni and cfranklin@nca.edu.ni with an electronic copy of the letter and the box inventory attached.
4. Mail the books to the following address. NOTE: If you send the box with USPS get delivery confirmation.  Last year many books were lost and never recovered by USPS.
5. Nicaragua Christian Academy  c/o TAN Cargo Edgard Toruño 7215 NW 41st St. Bay E Miami, FL  33166 305-470-9730 Contact person at TAN Cargo:  Edgard Toruño

Ship the books to the freight forwarder in time for them to arrive by May 31, 2012.

For every Facebook Like on MVI’s page, a donor is making a $1 donation to the Maternal Care Center in Peru. Now through May 5. 

From Susan Holowecky, Field Coordinator in Peru

The Balsapuerto district of the Amazon Basin, located near the city of Yurimaguas, has one of the highest levels of poverty in Peru.  It’s one of the reasons I believe God led me to start working here about 10 years ago.  I had visited a Chayahuita (now called Shawi) village with a team of pastors to do a pastor’s conference, and was very impacted by the suffering I saw among the people of this tribe….children with heads covered in sores, stomachs distended by parasites, their unwashed clothes hanging on them in tatters, malnourished, and sad.  I was a novelty, and many had never seen someone with my hair (dark blonde) and eye color (blue), so they either ran away in terror, or cautiously slid up to touch the skin on my arm and THEN ran away in terror.  There was little medical care provided by the government for such an impoverished people group, and it was evident.

A few years later, we opened a home for women with high-risk pregnancies which soon also turned into a re-nutrition center for very malnourished children.   It’s called the Hogar Materno Hannah, and serves as a base for helping the people of the Shawi tribe in many different ways.  Although there is more government health care now, they are often distrustful of it (there can be discrimination, indifference or even carelessness in the treatment of native tribes here), and they prefer to come to us.  There are not a lot of health posts out on the rivers, and many are poorly staffed.   When we take a Missionary Ventures medical team upriver, there is a great turnout, even if there is a health post in the village.  Through the team’s witness of the love of Jesus Christ, demonstrated through dedicated and compassionate medical care, there is a softening in their hearts to receive the message of the Gospel.  That is why medical teams are so important and can be effective in winning souls to Christ.

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