Youth Impact
Our youth made up a large portion of our team this year. This was very important as they are the ones who have made the biggest impact with the youth of Bluefields. The closeness of age and the willingness to serve has helped to bridge the cultural gap between children of Bluefields and our team. Through this we have been able to build relationships with children at the school, the feeding program, and the orphanage. Through this, we have been able to determine their needs and talk about these needs with the staff at this locations there. This has allowed them to support these families in a more comprehensive manner. The youth created and delivered Bible stories to share at the feeding program and orphanage. Their theme was “Heroes of the Faith.” They did an excellent job of sharing the stories in an interactive and engaging manner. They also created a “take away” so that children went away with an item they could use at home (e.g., cutlery, face cloth). They left behind ideas and stories that those working with the children can use in the future.
Verbo School
At the Verbo school we came in to play with them and learn about the life of the children at Verbo school. Many of these students live nearby in the garbage dump, rock quarry or just the small “shacks” in the community. Many have also been kicked out of other schools or were not able to continue in other local schools. Verbo takes in many of the children who are unable to go to school elsewhere. We have provided a parachute for the school so that they can build on games with the children in the school. We worked at cleaning some of their exterior walls and started helping paint - to freshen up the building.
In the past we have worked on the computer lab and supported teacher education and training. This year we have provided a replacement air conditioner unit for the computer lab. Imagine a room with 35 computers and students, yet there is no air conditioning. A unit that was put in 5 years ago has now died. It had been repaired several times and finally it was beyond fixing. We are working towards helping them next year as their WiFi network needs an upgrade to support the PCs that they do have, as well as the XO laptops that have been given them by another NGO. There are over 200 computers (PCs and XOs) and the network is unable to support this. Corporate grade access points are required. These have been sourced and are being donated by Telus. We will work on setting these up for the next trip.
Feeding Program
The Verbo feeding program feeds about 100 children daily. These children are sponsored through a variety of means and these children are the neediest in the area. Many of these children only receive the one good meal for the day. Here we share a Bible story with the kids. The youth mentioned above, lead this time. We helped the kitchen by cooking and distributing the food. They employ some of the moms who come with their kids through getting them to help clean and tidy up. This way they empower the women to take a role in the program and they earn a small amount of money as well as they are able to be part of the feeding program. Lessons created are left behind for a member of the church to use with the feeding program kids in the future.
On the last day, we often walk children home. This way the team gets to see the living conditions of these children. Often it is eye opening and a reminder of how much we have in North America. A humbling experience, which reminds us that it is not of worldly things we should strive after, but rather be content with what we do have.
Rama Key
The indigineous people of Rama live in Bluefields as well as the islands and land surrounding it. We visited the island that holds a significant number of these people. This area is known as Rama Key. There is a church on the island – called Cornerstone! We went to encourage the people and children of Rama Key, as well as their pastor and family. We brought snacks and candies with us, along with some sports equipment. It was so fun to play with these children – they were just excited that people were coming to the island! We played for a while and visited the church. They only have power on the island from 1 pm – 10 pm. Outside of this period, there is no power unless there is a special event (e.g. the day we visited, power was on because there were crews working on homes from the government). I am thinking about how we might be able to encourage these people and the church and school there on our next visit next year.
Evangelism Training
Pastor Steve led, on the Tuesday evening, an evangelism training for people in the church. Anyone who was interested, both from Verbo and other churches was invited. He went through “The Big Story” with them, and explained how this model can help us go through the gospel presentation and how to evangelize. This helped to equip these people so that they could become proficient in sharing the gospel with others. As mentioned before, if the local church is to be the hope of the world, then we are there to help equip the local church with the tools and trainings that we have learned.
Women’s Ministry
Barbara and Zola led a women’s training – sharing biblical principles about being a woman of God. Their ministry touched many lives. Their initiative in this venture provided a needed avenue of ministry to the women in Bluefields. They collected toiletries and women’s makeup items to share with the women who came. These little care packages helped to reinforce the message that they are beautiful in the eyes of God; deeply loved and cared for.
Casa Materna
This is a maternity home in Bluefields, that is next door to the hospital. This is a place for those who are at high risk pregnancies to come and wait before their due date. All these women are either in their 8th or 9th month of pregnancy, or have just given birth. There are usually about 40 women living in this small house. We go to just bless them and encourage. We do this through a spa day. We offer to wash hair, paint nails, pray with them and bless them; no strings attached. These ladies often come to Casa Materna with nothing other than a few clothing items. We provide a wash towel and just bless them while we are there. We have seen women, or rather girls, as young as 13 years old – and we have even seen repeat women over the years. Some have had many children. Teenage pregnancy is a problem – but we are not there to judge. We are there to bless and love them as Jesus loves them. Each holds a life that God has ordained and it is his child.
Challenges and learnings
Upon reflecting on this trip, we have found that the relationships we have developed have been the most encouraging aspect. It is wonderful to be able to meet these people and build a long term relationship; helping each other as we move forward. We struggled at the start through spiritual warfare. This was extremely evident to me this year as the leader. It started from struggling with planning for the trip – external work pressures distracted me from being able to fully devote myself to planning. Then when the team first arrived, all our luggage was lost. They did not receive it until Sunday! Then 5 members of the team became ill. Pastor Steve was ill on the day that he was to do his training. Pastor Steve felt God saying to him – why don’t you ask for prayer. So those of us who were still there were prayed over. Pastor Steve made it through the day and evening to be able to deliver his message to the people. God is Good! As a team we bonded well together. We hope God worked through us, but I think we received more than we blessed. God has blessed us in that way. It is always a pleasure and joy to be able to serve in Bluefields. As you can see, we have already started thinking about the future and next steps. The youth are excited and thinking of what next. They want to expand their impact and influence and are thinking of what else they can do on the trip for the years to come.
