My mission for this trip has been to find a need for our larger team in October and WOW have I found it! I scheduled four days to do my research and actually only need about 15 minutes. The need for support is greater than anyone can imagine.

My first day was spent with a local missionary named Ana. She is a young girl who has given her life to the children and their parents of her community.  She is truly a gift from God. She has many programs that are in the early stages of development and I feel that we could have a dramatic impact on what she is trying to accomplish. There are many projects that need a lot of attention. One project was the concrete oven that I was building (Robert Burks this one has your name on it.) or running the gas line so that they can actually cook on the property where they are feeding the children (Wayne Howser I can see your hands all over this.) and maybe the most important part of it all, spending time with the children and bringing them the word of God (Sharron Brandt and Melissa Patterson, I hear God calling your name).  I have tons of pictures and will be able to define specific needs for anyone who wants to participate in the October trip. There is enough work for anyone who wants to go.

My second day was spent on Ometepe Island, which is a short ferry ride from our hotel. There I visited a school for deaf children. It is run by a married couple from South Carolina who have dedicated their life to helping the Nicaraguan people. They have many ongoing projects that require as much help as we can give.

Oh yea, God asked me to spend a couple of hours on Tuesday riding a zip-line down the volcano on Ometepe Island.  I obeyed and survived (Thank God!!!).

In short, this is an incredible opportunity to bring the word of God to a group of people who are truly needed. God has blessed me more than I deserve and being able to share my blessings has been the most rewarding thing that I have ever done.

John  Moss (for the Team)

I can not express how excited I was today as I introduced Melvin Loza to teach his first lesson as an instructor at the Bible Institute. I met Melvin 9 years ago in Corinto when he was a student at the first Bible Institute established by Hope Church from Huntsville Alabama. At that time Melvin was a great young kid with pretty good english but a heavy accent. Since then I have seen him mature as a man and as a Bible and Theological student. He has been one of the translators at every one of the Institutes I taught in Juigalpa (6 total). Today I saw a man of God stand and teach on the nature of sin for 55 minutes as everyone in the room was captivated. Even the man sitting on the front row who dropped his notebook repeated as he fell asleep in my lesson was attentive the whole time. (Melvin has posted a video of the man falling asleep during my lesson on the internet under the heading “The Effect of Ken’s Teaching.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sk83kBaTYQ Some things are the same no matter what culture you find yourself in.) Back to the highlight of the day. Melvin did a great job. He taught with passion, clarity and had great illustrations of the multifaceted nature of sin and how sin is more than the acts we do that are wrong. Sin is a matter of our attitudes and beliefs as well. Eric and I taught on either side of Melvin but his teaching was clearly the highlight of the day for all of the Gringos, the pastors and for Melvin himself. He loved it.

John has done a great job gathering places for us to plug in down here with a big team in the fall. His heart is as big as Texas and we will have some great opportunities to work with very poor families. Both children and adults are in need of almost everything you can image including meals and small group bible study leaders. I will let him compose an update tomorrow. He is not back from his explorations yet today.

Please continue to pray for the receptivity of the people as we teach on Salvation for the rest of the week. Pray for safety and wisdom for John as he explores. We are having a great time and are blessed to be here.

For the Only Cause that Matters

Ken – for the Team