Bellevue Student Ministry

Jun 22

Nicaragua Mission Trip 2008

Click here for pictures from the trip!

Message from Phil (Thursday Night):

Our final full day on the island has been one we will cherish for a lifetime.  From the fisherman's wharf to the door to door evangelism to the final youth rally and then concluding with a team worship service at 10 p.m. tonight it has been quite a day.  Today was the Day of Salvation for some dear souls on the island and we are grateful the Lord that He allowed us to be "agents of change".  We have fallen in love with these "islanders" and bless the Lord for this week and we believe it will not be the last time we are allowed to visit this beautiful, yet, impoverished land.  The average monthly income is $90.00 and it shows.  But, oh how they now know that Christ loves them and gave His life for them.  Thank you, once again, for your prayers and support.  What a team God assembled for this years Central America project to Nicaragua!  You would be so proud of your son's, daughters, husbands, wives, mom's and dad's. Please make plans to join us next Wednesday for our Central America Reunion and hear first hand reports from Honduras and Corn Island.  I'll try and place more photos late tomorrow (Friday) but this maybe the final installment.  I'll put together a cd of several hundred photos and give them to your kids. By the way, a couple photos are from our final dinner at the Arenas Beach Hotel and our steak and lobster dinner.  Hey, we're on an island in the Caribbean that catches lobster, what can I say??  Enjoy!

Message from Phil (Thursday Morning):

Thursday morning Pastor Eli took us to the main lobster factory and shipping yards.  There the owner, Mr. Morgan, allowed us to visit one on one with his workers and share Christ with them.  We had many give their hearts to the Lord.  Even boat Captians were asking us to come aboard and share with the lobster crew.  It was a great morning and an experience we will never forget.

Message from Phil (Wednesday Night):

Thanks for praying for our crusade Wednesday night.  We saw many pray to receive Christ.  We had youth from all over the Island including the youth group from the Catholic Church.  Thursday we minister to the local fishermen and then go door to door witnessing.  Special thanks to Crosspoint Company for preparing 9 different presentations and to Susan Glover and Jeanne Newberry for training and leading the group.

Message from Phil (Wednesday):

Wednesday on the island, we did a chapel for one of the schools and saw several teenagers and one teacher pray to receive Christ. Pastor Eli gave us a tour of the island followed by a couple of hours of down time before heading to the church for the island wide Crusade. Prior to the crusade we will do door to door evangelism as well as invite people to the crusade. Pray for us as we share Christ tonight at the crusade.

Message from Phil (Tuesday):

It has been a great day. The first group left the hotel at 4:45 a.m. to catch the first flight to Corn Island. The flight was only 1 hour and 20 minutes but because of the strike and back log of people needing to get to the island it took us 4 different flights to get to Corn island. The first group arrived at 8:20 a.m. and the last group arrived at 4:30 p.m. It has been a long day but this day alone was worth the trip. We closed out the day with a youth rally at the church with 90 people present. We did a program filled with drama, music and testimonies then had seminars based on our 7 discipleship courses. The evening concluded with a pizza fellowship with the local teens. Be sure and check out the hotline for more info. Enjoy the pictures from Monday and Tuesday.

Message from Phil (Monday):

Thank you for praying for our Nicaragua Corn Island team and project. We arrived safely Sunday night after a 3 hour flight from Houston. Our plans were to fly to Corn Island Monday morning at 6:30 and start with a prayer walk around the island, however, our plans quickly changed. Upon arriving Managua we discovered that the tiny airport on Corn Island has been closed for a few days. Apparently, the local fisherman (lobster is the islands main economic income) upset with the high cost of diesel fuel and the low pay the are receiving from their lobsters began a protest on the island. First, the cut power to the island and thus there was no power or water for several days. Then they placed rocks on the airport runway to block flights. Welcome to third world!

So, today, Monday, we are staying in Managua and teaming with the Tim Shelton led Singles group from Bellevue and ministering with them in local churches. Back on Corn Island the strike has been settled so we are working toward flying to the island on Tuesday. We'll keep you posted via the hotline (347-5691) and the website. Again, thanks for your prayers.