Nicaragua
Trip: Bluefields, Nicaragua, CA
When: March 9-20, 2016
Team leader: Kevin Ko
This was the 11th trip to Bluefields Nicaragua for Cornerstone. We have built up a relationship with Verbo church and school, working with Pastor Ed over these past 11 years. Over the years, we have supported the Verbo church and school with construction projects, helping at the feeding program, helping at the new orphanage, building a computer lab for the school, installing Internet both at the school and at the Pastor’s home, and supporting a variety of projects in the local neighbourhood to help individuals to get out of poverty.
We have gone down with the mindset based upon “When Helping Hurts.” We are not the ones with all the answers, nor do we go in as the “saviours of all their ills.” We go to help where they ask for help. We support through the local church. We believe that for the mission to be successful, and for the message of Jesus to be preached, it must come through the local church. To that extent we have worked with the leaders of Verbo to provide them with the tools, skills, and strategies that will help maximize their impact long after we are gone. We are there only for 9 days – they see them 365 days!