Greetings from all at Chosen Children Ministries...

After being gone from the field for three months due to hernia surgery it was good to see all of our staff again. We also had the opportunity to be with nine of our teams who were serving in July. It was a blessing for Kim and I to be a small part of wht God is doing through all the teams who are joining Chosen Children Ministries this year.

Chosen Children Ministries gives every team that joins our staff all sorts of opportunitiesto be a blessing to so many who have so little.  Everything from door-to-door evangelism, construction (building schools, houses, and churches) providing food for the hungry, VBS, sports ministry, medical teams, farming, providing water, and yes, to be a part of the new Genesis project that is a community development program with the design to identify, resource, and monitor apsiring families so they can break the cycle of generational poverty with an eternal value persective.

It is time to sign up for the Christmas Trip and also prayerfully consider joining us in 2015 for a week of serving on the mission field alongside Guillermo and his staff.

In Christ,

Wallce Nix

 Spartanburg, South Carolina

   This past July our Student Ministry had the privilege of going to Nicaragua with some of the adults from our Singles ministry.  This was the 10th mission trip to Nicaragua for our Student Ministry.  As always, it is such a blessing to see how God impacts the lives of our team members as we try to meet needs, and share the gospel with the people of Nicaragua.  Our team was divided into 6 different ministry teams:  Trekking, Bible Club, Sports Team, Ladies Bible Studies, ESL (English as a Second Language), and Construction.  We began the week with a church service on Sunday in Flags Barrio.  Dwayne Morris preached, and our students helped in leading worship as well as having a Bible Club for the children.  It was such a privilege to worship with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and to witness all that God is doing in this church!

   On Monday and Tuesday we had the opportunity to go to a school in Flags. We had a Bible Club for the children led by students who sang and worshipped with the children, taught them a Bible story with an object lesson and gospel presentation, and helped them memorize a Scripture verse.   It was a tremendous blessing to see children respond to the gospel and memorize a Scripture verse.  The Bible Club Team was encouraged that God's word would not return void, but would accomplish the purpose for which He sent it (Isaiah 55:11).

   Our Construction Team stayed busy mixing and pouring concrete to lay a new floor for an outdoor kitchen at the school.  Our guys really enjoyed working with the Chosen Children Ministries staff on this project.  The Sports Team played soccer and shared the wordless bracelet with the children as well.  Every child was given a wordless bracelet to wear and our team challenged them to go share the bracelet's meaning with someone else.  Meanwhile, the ESL team taught English in the school, while four groups of students and leaders were out trekking through the barrio, inviting kids to the VBS we were hosting that afternoon.  We ended the day with VBS and a Ladies Bible Study.      

   Wednesday was another great day for us!  We went to a new barrio that Chosen Children Ministries had never taken a team to before.  This was a beautiful mountainous area with an incredible view of Lake Nicaragua.  Everyone on our team had the opportunity to go trekking that morning.  We went door to door spending time with the people and getting to know them.  We also gave them toiletry bags with shampoo, soap, toothpaste and other essentials.  Later that afternoon we held a Bible Club, Ladies Bible study, and Sports Camp in this same Barrio.  This was such a great opportunity for us to minister to mothers and children at the same time.   It was so exciting to see our Ladies Bible Study packed with a room full of women coming to hear God's word!  During this time of ministry to moms and children, our construction team built a latrine and a covering for a well. We concluded the day with a "Spa Time" where we painted nails and gave out hair bows to the children.  God had truly put our team together with students and adults who used their various gifts to minister in different ways to these people.  We even had a lady on our team who did haircuts for the children, mothers, and some of the men as well. 

    On Thursday morning we spent time in San Brano trekking and working on more construction projects. We had a great opportunity to pray over some land that Chosen Children Ministries is trying to purchase for a church there.  Later that afternoon we returned to this same Barrio for a Ladies Bible study, Sports Camp, Construction, Bible Club, and "Spa". Our construction team built a bed for a family and worked on another latrine as well.  It was encouraging to our team to see how Chosen Children Ministries works to meet the physical needs of the people while also building relationships and sharing the gospel with them. 

  

    Just as we were about to begin our Ladies Bible Study and Bible Club, some of our guys decided to go back to one of the homes they had visited during our trekking that morning to check on an older man.  One of the guys from our Sports Team had shared the gospel with him that morning and he prayed to receive Christ.   He wanted to come to the Bible Study even though he knew it was a "Ladies" Bible study.  Our guys went to his house and helped him get in his wheel chair so they could bring him to the Bible Study.  He listened attentively as our ladies taught from God's word.  After it was over, he continued to ask questions and wanted to learn more.  Two of our guys began talking with him and decided to go through the book of John with him.  He continued to listen and ask questions as they shared stories about Jesus with him.  He was so eager to hear God's word and learn about Jesus.   This man reminded all of us that we often take God's word, and the privilege to read and study it, for granted. 

   We are so grateful for the ministry of Chosen Children Ministries and their passion to see the gospel impact the lives of others!  It is a privilege and honor to partner with them.  Our team had such an incredible experience spending time with the staff and getting to see their heart for the people of Nicaragua.  They are always such a blessing to us and we love them all dearly!

Amy Gray, Team Leader

Saluda Baptist Church

Saluda, South Carolina 

Saluda Baptist Church's 21-member team was composed of members from Taylors First Baptist Church, Walnut Grove United Methodist Church, Bethany United Methodist Church, Mt. Pleasant Lutheran Church as well as Saluda Baptist Church. What a wonderful week serving the Lord in Nicaragua with Chosen Children Ministries!

We began our week on Sunday worshipping with Pastor Carlos at Mt. Horeb Church in El Chague, Leon. Our pastor, Rev. Stacey Smith brought the morning message.  We held Vacation Bible School for the children. The children loved the costumes that our young people used as they did "The Good Samaritan" and "The Widow's Offering".  Our two nurses were able to minister to many sick people. A church-wide feeding was served to over 300 people by our team members. We left school supplies, Bibles, Sunday School materials in Spanish, and manna packs for Pastor Carlos and his church. On our way back to the Masaya campus, we visited Pastor Rito at "Jesus is Coming" church. He shared his ministry and sang two songs for the team. What an enormous voice! The team also left school supplies, Bibles and manna packs for his church and Pastor Luis' church at Tomas Borge.

On Monday, we began our work in the Flags community. Part of our team built a new home for a young mother of two who had nowhere to live. Gabriella had recently moved from another barrio to get away from her abusive husband. She and her children were homeless but they were very involved in the church at Flags. Our guys completed her home on Wednesday. We prayed over the home and dedicated the home and her family to the Lord. We had a "house-warming" for her, supplying her with food, clothing and money for a new bed. Time did not allow us to build a second home for a mother who had a four-year-old handicapped child. She was living in a make-shift shed with a borrowed tin roof. We were able to minister to her by providing food and Pampers for the child and we left money with Guillermo for the next team to build a home for her and her family. God is good and He provides for his children.

We conducted door-to-door visitation inviting the community to attend three days of services which included Vacation Bible School, Men's Bible Study, Women's Bible Study, a Youth Bible Study, and medical clinics as well as preaching services each day.  God's Word was proclaimed in many ways during those three days!On Wednesday, after the church service, the team fed over 350 men, women and children. During the week, we had the opportunity to visit and assist in the Genesis Project in Flags. Abner is doing a great job with this new ministry. One of the projects involved a young lady who wanted to open a beauty shop in her home. The ministry provided her a beautician's table and mirror. Our team provided supplies, scissors and other needed items. What a joy to see the happy tears as she was provided a livelihood to help her become self-sufficient and to witness her being involved in God's work at the church in Flags.

Another Genesis project that we were able to have a part in was a young man who wanted to make pizza and sell them at his home. He had previously worked in a pizza place. The ministry had an oven that had been removed from the kitchen at the mission house. We delivered the oven to him and before we left he and his family were busy washing and cleaning the oven getting ready to start baking! Our team provided propane and a tank, along with pans and supplies for him to get started. On the last day, our construction team stopped by and he cooked them a pizza! Thanks so much to Abner for his guidance and leadership with the Genesis Project. It is undeniably making a difference in the lives of those involved.

On Thursday, we traveled to Juigalpa to visit the nursing home and the orphanage. Seeing the children at the orphanage and the elderly patients at the nursing home is always one of the highlights of our trip.  We provided medical supplies and food for the nursing home and enjoyed renewing our friendships made there. The 106-year-old lady that we had ministered to last year passed away this year, but what a blessing to know where she is today.

Our team had a great time playing with the children and our young folks presented the "Good Samaritan" VBS skit. As always, we concluded our trip with a visit from the Eskimo man. Clothing, school supplies and medicines were left for the children. Friday was our R & R day. We traveled into Managua to the "tourist" area, had a nice boat ride on Lake Managua and a great meal at a restaurant beside the lake. We commented that the folks we had ministered to just days before probably did not even know a place like this existed in Nicaragua.

We returned home on Saturday, and as we say each year, it is a joy and honor and pleasure to serve the Lord in Nicaragua through Chosen Children Ministries. Many on our team have been for ten straight years and Guillermo and his staff are like family to us. We pray for them daily as they continue to spread God's Word throughout their country.

Blessings

Bill & Carol Whitfield

Team Leaders