Coni’s Perseverant Prayer

The following testimony comes to us from our Local Church Initiative partners at El Faro. It is the remarkable story of a 49 year old woman, Coni; her family’s struggle and determination to survive, and how God has answered her prayers.

15 years ago, due to living in extreme poverty, the Gutierrez Sanchez family moved to a place close to the Managua Lake, better known as “La Chureca.” They made their living by collecting recyclable materials in the dump and selling them for a small profit. There were 10 people in the Gutierrez Sanchez family – five adults and five children. One of the adults is mentally disabled. Despite their challenges, the family worked together to survive.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

When the Nicaraguan government (along with Spain) built 300 homes for the families of the dump, to form a new community known as Villa Guadalupe, circumstances changed for the family. The family got a home and was promised a job at the new recycling plant, but they did not receive the work needed to make an income. So the family made a new way of getting an income by recollecting large used bags (that often held rancid food). They had to clean the dirty bags with chlorine and then resell them for 2 cords each (about $0.07 each). They barely had enough money for food.

Villa Guadalupe Community Street

Concepcion (Coni), the matriarch, had been praying to God for over a year to help her family provide food for their home. Just recently, some members of El Faro church visited her. They asked her if she would consider using her home as a feeding center where the kids that live close by could go to receive their lunch. She saw this as an answer to her prayers and willingly opened her home.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Today Coni is currently serving around 60 children lunch from her home, and it guarantees that her family has food as well. Realizing that He heard her prayers caused Coni to reconcile with God and accept his call upon her life – to be a disciple for His children. She feels she’s been called to grow the capacity of the lunch program to serve the other hungry children in Villa Guadalupe.

We asked Coni where does she see herself in five years, she answered:

“There are some children that only get one meal per day and sometimes they get none. I want to get involved so much that we will be able to open more feeding centers and serve more children and serve God as well. In five years I hope I am still serving God because he has changed my life.”

It’s hardly possible to contain all the emotion and feelings we got when hearing her story. What is left for us now is join Mrs. Sanchez in her exciting dream to become a complete server of God.

~ El Faro Ministry Team

Expanding Our Network in Nicaragua!

We recently launched our 28th and 29th Local Church Initiatives in the Leon region of Nicaragua! These two churches, Iglesia Aposento Alto and Iglesia Luz y Vida, collectively serve over 150 children. The churches are members of a Florida based NGO, Twelve Churches, which has been working to train, equip and resource pastors in some of the poorest areas of Leon, Nicaragua since 2009.

Twelve Churches and ORPHANetwork have similar ministry models – we both work through the local Nicaraguan church to empower Nicaraguans to reach their communities for Christ.  Much of Twelve Churches’ work focuses on leadership development and each church serves about 25-100 people living in some of the poorest communities in the Leon region.

This need was realized after church members of  Killearn United Methodist Church went on three consecutive mission trips to Leon. Twelve Churches Executive Director, Chris Smith, recalls that “the team left that third trip realizing they had found men of passion and spirit, but without any form of pastoral training.” They felt a calling from God to partner on a deeper level with a church in Nicaragua, and He led them to not one, but twelve churches!

In addition to leadership development, additional programs that Twelve Churches offers to their local church partners vary from micro loans, to medical care and basic English classes. They have been providing basic feeding programs to four of their church partners for the past few years and when Twelve Churches learned about ORPHANetwork’s work in Nicaragua they were eager to learn more about a potential partnership. “God opened up the door. When we saw the values and methodology of ORPHANetwork, we realized so much of our vision and values align perfectly. We can learn from ORPHANetwork and we will both work together to empower Nicaraguans to solve the problems of Nicaragua,” says Smith.

Today the children of Iglesia Aposento and Igesia Luz y Vida’s meals have been nutritionally improved by our staff Nutritionist, Flavia Urbina, and the nourishing meals provide 850 calories for these children on a daily basis. Our medical team, led by Dr. Janice Hebbert, has administered de-worming pills to rid the children’s bodies of harmful parasites and thanks to our partners at Vitamin Angels, children ages five and under now receive Vitamin-A supplements. To determine malnourishment rates, the team performed health assessments, and children that were found to be malnourished (the average of the two locations was about 20%), are receiving soy fortified milk to aid in the restoration of their health.

Twelve Churches is a wonderful organization to partner with and they have done amazing work for God’s Kingdom in Nicaragua.  We are honored to come alongside their work, and most especially to have the opportunity to reach more children and families for our Lord!

Pastor Lopez (far right) presents the ONET medical team to his church

Iglesia Luz y Vida’s Pastor Reynoldo Lopez and his family

Iglesia Aposento Alto’s Pastor Eucebio Caceres cuts the ribbon at the official launch of the LCI

Vitamin-A supplements supplied through our partnership with Vitamin Angels were administered and will be every six months for kids under five.

The Orsini Mobile Medical Clinic provided by the Orsini Charitable Foundation transports medical supplies to all of our LCIs.

Dr. Juarez, a contracted Nicaraguan doctor, consults with a mother and her child

A new stove with new pots and cooking utensils is provided by ONET for each new LCI.

A special meal is always part of the launch of a new LCI.

Pastor Caceres, his wife, Juana, Pastor Sanchez (Twelve Churches), Pastor Lopez and ONET Nicaragua Director, Eddy Morales after signing all of the legal paperwork to launch these churches to Local Church Initiative partners.

 

Pastor Caceres’ church

 

 

 

 

 

Read our 2013 Annual Report

The pages of our 2013 Annual Report tell many of the ways the Lord blessed our ministry last year. We hope you will enjoy seeing the big, beautiful pictures, reading the transformational stories that accompany them, evaluating the statistics and celebrating the substantial growth we’ve experienced over recent years. We also hope that you would pass our Annual Report on to friends, family, co-workers, and basically anyone that you’d like to introduce to ORPHANetwork.

You can click on the image above for a special message from our Executive Director, Dick Anderson, or click here to go straight to the report. Enjoy!

Our 1st LCI Launch in Northern Nicaragua

Our team recently launched our 27th Local Church Initiative (LCI), and it’s the first LCI launch out of our Northern Nicaragua program (where we partner with On Eagle’s Wings Ministries to serve a network of 55 churches).

Pastor Ricardo serves 50 children at Las Chacaras, which is in a rural community located just outside of Leon.  Before the launch Pastor Ricardo’s church was simply serving the children Feed My Starving Children’s Manna packs of rice and soy, and only about 3 times a week. In order to cook the meals the fire had to be started by hand, and it was quite time consuming.

Now that his church has joined ON’s LCI program they are equipped with a new propane powered stove, cooking utensils, bowls, spoons and cups, and the children will now eat an 800+ calorie meal which includes a specialized menu of proteins and vegetables five days a week.

Check out the pictures below to see some of the day’s celebrations.  The activities of the launch included: training on dental hygiene and hand washing, prayer for the program,  a special lunch for the children, a ribbon cutting ceremony to inaugurate the LCI, followed by health and nutritional assessments.  The children were also given hygiene kits to take home from our in-country partner Colgate-Palmolive.

Pastor Ricardo cutting the ribbon (he is third from the left).

A line of children preparing to wash their hands.

A special meal for the children

A little girl is holding her kit from Colgate-Palmolive.

A view of the church

One of the beautiful children at Las Characas

A neighboring home to Las Characas

Lives Redeemed in Bluefields

The dining room at Verbo Bluefields

For so many of the children we serve at our Local Church Initiatives, “love” is tough concept to grasp.  Growing up in the harsh realities of living below the poverty line, can make it hard to understand that there truly is a Father in Heaven with an infinite love for each of us.

At Pastor Ed’s Local Church Initiative at Verbo Bluefields, he and his staff welcome 185 children to the church each day.  It’s a safe place where they come to eat a hot, nutritious lunch and they are invited into a life long relationship with our savior, Jesus Christ.  They are taught about the forgiveness, mercy and grace that only the Lord can provide.  Many of them come to church on Sunday and they are encouraged to bring their parents.

When we receive updates that children, and adults too, have received this message and accepted the Lord into their lives we are overwhelmed with joy. When we learn of the public profession of faith through baptism, we feel like if we listen hard enough, we can almost hear the party in Heaven!

This past weekend at Verbo Bluefields, five people made the public profession of faith to follow Him, and two are girls from the LCI.  What a blessing it is to be an eyewitness to God’s redemptive work here on earth!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

…”go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you.  I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day, right up to the end of age.” Matthew 28:19-20 MSG

In July, ten boys were baptized! Take a look at this memorable day:

The eight boys that were baptized in July!

Lindo, age 12

Martin, age 12

Gerald, Age 12

Daylon, age 12

Kerwin, age 15

Can’t you just feel the joy?!