Christway Church

Pastor Kevin George July 16th, 2007

On May 15th of 2006, I made my first trip to Nicaragua. It was to a place up in the mountains called El Crucero. There, I worked with a ministry named New Hope Children’s Foundation. Through that ministry, I was able to get some real hands-on experience in the missions field. During this time, my heart for the country started to grow. After graduating from Christ for the Nations college, several months later, a ministry named White Dove called me and gave me the opportunity to go back into Nicaragua and work with them. I could hardly believe that I had a chance to go back. It took me by surprise. Gladly, I seized the opportunity and soon found myself living in Managua, Nicaragua.

As time went by, I started to wonder how New Hope was doing and, since El Crucero was only a 45-minute drive from where I was staying, I started making arrangements to go for a visit. Shortly there after, God immediately went to work. For over five years, White Dove has been raising feeding centers throughout Nicaragua, giving food to the children and reaching out to the lost. Likewise, New Hope is a ministry that helps feed the children, as well as provide them with a free education. It has been New Hope’s vision to raise up schools all over Nicaragua. On June 24th, Pastor J. David Ford met with Pastor Mike Mille of White Dove. Shortly after that, a decision was made. Now the two ministries are working together so that the vision can reach even further. The Word of God can now reach even more children and lost souls of Nicaragua. The month of June has been a really exciting month, to say the least. Now that the two ministries have joined forces, there is alot to be done. Along with teaching English to the 3rd,4th and 5th grade students, we started a program called the Junior Crusaders. The Junior Crusaders is a group of tlineyoung students who have a desire to live a more Christ-centered life. We meet twice a week on Monday and Wednesday to get involved in praise and worship and have a Bible lesson. Then, on Tuesdays and Thursdays we get together with the high school students in effort to make an impact in the neighborhood by performing community service. So, needless to say, the weeks have been very busy. However, it does not stop there.

We still have lots of preparing to do, as now both New Hope and White Dove are preparing for a big children’s event on July 21st . There is also another exciting thing that is getting ready to take place. The first co-op feeding center is being built right next to the school in El Crucero. New Hope purchased the land just a few weeks ago. Now White Dove will build the feeding center there. I am truly amazed at the rate God is moving and all the things taking place. As time goes on, I grow more and more excited about what God has in store for these two ministries.

A couple of weeks ago, I received an e-mail. It was a rather inspiring e-mail. I would like to include it in this month’s newsletter, as I close.

How many of us preachers would still be preaching:

* IF… we had to paddle a dugout canoe 80 miles upriver; rather than lounge in our private jet as we traveled to our next crusade?
* IF… we had to sleep on a dirt floor in a primitive hut; rather than on a Sealy Posturepedic mattress in our lavishly furnished condo?
* IF… we finally had to do what we have been preaching about and really “trust the Lord”; rather than in our insurance policies, a 401K and our bank account?
* IF… our family did not have so much as a morsel of bread to eat; rather than bickering over which restaurant we should go to “dine out”?
* IF… with the dawning of each new day, we were facing the very real threat of malaria, dengue fever, tuberculosis and typhoid; rather than the possibility of just “catching” a cold?
*IF… there were absolutely no stores for us to shop for our everyday needs; rather than a super-sized mall where we relish spending so much of our time and money?
*IF… there were no way to take care of our basic “needs” because our billfolds were empty; rather than satisfying our “every whim and desire,” just by flipping out our “Master Card” and saying, “Charge it”?
* IF… we had only one, almost decent change of clothes someone handed down to us; rather than a closet full of the “latest designer” garments?
*IF… our only pair of shoes had holes in the bottom and were way too big, or a bit too small; rather than a rack full of different styles and colors, a pair to match every outfit?
*IF… our congregation of 25 all fit under our thatched roof church at one service on Sunday morning; rather than a mega church, that cost our Lord millions, that we think we must have in order to worship Him?
*IF… the only instrument we had to worship the Lord was a drum we made from an empty turtle shell; rather than an array of the finest instruments money can buy?
*IF… all the people in our church were singing at the top of their lungs, but could not carry a tune in a bucket; rather than having a hired “praise leader” and a highly trained “worship team”?
*IF… our ministry brings us no “significance” and we have “no reputation”; rather than everyone knowing our name and giving us the special recognition we believe we deserve?
*IF… there were no opportunity for us to write down the words we felt the Lord had laid on our hearts; rather than being the “author of the year” with a long line of “saints” waiting their turn, so we could autograph our book for them?
*IF… we had no electricity; rather than having the latest sound equipment, smoke machines and tantalizing lights to enhance our worship?
*IF… our homes had no running water or indoor toilets; rather than a bathroom with a shower, jacuzzi or spa, and all the other latest porcelain fixtures?
*IF… our family had to obtain our drinking water, wash our dishes, and take our baths in a contaminated stream; rather than having the convenience of clean, safe water piped into our homes?
*IF… there were no reason for us to smile into a camera for a “telecast”; because the farthest our words will ever carry are to the ears of our tiny congregation, sitting before us on a few rough boards we have nailed together for pews?
*IF… the greatest ministry we will ever have is preaching to a handful of the poorest, worse dressed, illiterate people on the face of the earth; rather than to the astute, educated and “well heeled” we feel we deserve for our audience?
*IF… when we get together with our minister friends, our conversation is about finding something to feed our family as our children are starving; rather than whether our church is on the freeway, how soon are we going to get our next pay raise, or how many million will our church take in this year?
*IF… there were no longer any reason for us to minister our favorite “hyped up” high-powered prosperity message to “induce” gullible people to support our lavish lifestyle because the richest people in our congregation have no more than a dime to drop into offering plate?
*IF… there were absolutely no doctors, or a hospital waiting just around the corner; rather than 24 hour emergency rooms equipped with the latest equipment waiting to serve you or your family should any of you need emergency medical attention.
*IF… our ministry consisted of only a few passages from the Bible that we have memorized; rather than having at our disposal, a laptop computer filled with the latest Biblical resources and sermon helps? *IF… we never had the Bible in our language until 1998; rather than the many different versions of the Bible that grace our bookshelves?
*IF… our lifestyle has become the way of the “poor and starving”; rather than the way of the “rich and famous,” and we actually have to get down on our knees and intreat for our Lord and Master to intervene for our daily needs?

Where would we be… IF we had to leave behind the religious “glitter and glamour” of show business preaching, and humbly pick up our cross and deny ourselves and follow Jesus???

We would be deep in the rain forest of Nicaragua, “rubbing shoulders” with some of God’s finest servants… the Miskito Indian preachers. No, this group of “God’s elite” may not be making any “religious waves” here on earth, but I believe these very precious men and women are, in God’s sight, making “BIG NEWS” in Heaven. Doesn’t it say somewhere in the Bible… that one day, “the last will be first, and the first… will be last”? Could this possibly be what God “really had in mind”? Could it be that many of those who are “well known” here are earth, will be “little known,” or even “unknown” in Heaven???

Is it perhaps possible…. that some of us be among the more “fortunate ones” who will be standing in a crowd near Heaven’s throne when the angels of the Lord suddenly snap to attention and salute. Then, after the trumpeters of Heaven send forth a blast from of their trumpets that seems to make the very foundations of Heaven quake, a booming Heavenly voice announces the arrival of “VIPS” to the throne.

Will we be standing on our tippy toes as we strain to see who these very important people are? And then, joyfully nudge the one next to us and exclaim, “I knew them… I did, I really knew them… back on earth!”

Then as a “holy hush” falls across Heaven… God rises from His throne and bids these faithful servants to come up His holy steps reserved for just a few. Then, as we watch in awe, God almighty puts His loving arms around these “unknown” preachers, and while He looks deeply into their eyes, He smiles and says, “Well done my good and faithful servants. No longer will you know pain… no longer will you toil… no longer will you know sorrow… oftlineno longer will you hunger.”

And as we all jubilantly applaud, we watch… as for the very first time, these humble servants learn how to laugh, as they joyfully jump and dance in glee around His throne. Then, in unison they stop… as they look deeply into His eyes, and with a sigh, sit down with Him in His Heavenly throne… to enjoy… eternity.
And then someone standing by us asks, “Do you know who these people are?” Then we too laugh as we say, “Don’t you know them??? These are the preachers who had one of God’s choicest assignments… deep… in the rain forest of Nicaragua.”

• Locations , Mission in Nicaragua
• Comments(0)