Home at the Nehemiah Center

Today at the Nehemiah Center we had a graduation for all of the courses from Better Churches II. There were 59 graduates present, and some of them had participated in two separate courses. The courses included:

1) Presupuesto del Buen Sentido (Good Sense) from Kingdom Finances, which was a pilot program about budgeting and learning how to manage finances. The takeaway from the course was that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us, but that power in Christ requires good planning - not just random hoping.

2) Consejería en Familia (Family Counseling) from DEFE, a program for pastoral couples to strengthen their own relationship and learn how to counsel others better. These pastors felt that they were pastored in the course, and they expressed appreciation for their mentors, Luz and Manuel.

3) Salmos de la Calle (Street Psalms) from DEFE learned that we are all singers of God's psalms. Participants felt inspired to be involved in their communities, using art and asking beautiful questions.

4) Instituto Timoteo (Timothy Leadership Institute) from DEFE, where participants who were pastors and church leaders learned about different modules related to pastoral care, family violence, preaching, and church planning. The pastor who spoke about his experience attested to the changes that have happened in his church and the work that God is bringing about in a new church that has been planted as a result of their participation in Timothy and the other church planting course.

5) Más Iglesia (More Church - Church Planting) from DEFE taught participants principles for healthy churches and how to multiply them, either through planting a new church or adding to the one they currently have. Participants talked about how much they learned and how much they appreciated the course.

As the participants gave testimonies of their time at the Nehemiah Center over the past two years - starting with Better Churches 1: Take the Pulse of Your Church and continuing with one or two of the above courses, they expressed appreciation for the facilitators at the Nehemiah Center. Some said that the Nehemiah Center feels like home for them.

For me, this was very humbling and encouraging to hear. Mentoring and pastoring pastors and church leaders is not an easy job, but it's also not very flashy or glamorous. It doesn't cost very much money in and of itself, these visits and coffees and hours dedicated to listening. The overhead for these kinds of activities is very high comparatively because someone needs to pay salaries for facilitators and cleaning ladies and cooks and security guards. However, in today's day and age, relationship is a scarce commodity and it needs to be brought to the forefront. While these pastors are in Nehemiah Center trainings, they are meeting other pastors and forming support networks that will last much longer than a year or two. They have learned that they have friends, resources, and a place to call home at the Nehemiah Center.

Significant events

Today is the day after the world changed 500 years ago. In 1517 on October 31, Martin Luther is said to have begun the Protestant Reformation by nailing 95 theses to the door of a church. How could he have known that his desire to reform the Catholic church would later result in a myriad of Protestant churches? It makes me ponder how the actions we take today affect the lives of people years and years later. It also makes me think about how striking it is that all of the churches I work with - both in Nicaragua and in North America - owe their existence to Martin Luther. What a motive for celebration!

The month of October was a busy one for me, and not because of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. I'd like to write about each one of these events more in-depth, but for now I'll just give you the highlights.


October 10

The Nehemiah Center held a "Vision Conference" for new pastors in Managua to come, meet the Nehemiah Center, and possibly sign-up to receive training in the coming year. We had 54 participants though not all were pastors of formal churches like we were hoping for. After a devotional time and a plenary speaker, the participants were divided into three groups. Each group rotated around three workshops: The Context of the Church, The Context of Managua, and the Nehemiah Center and its program Better Churches 1. I assisted my colleague Freddy in the Managua workshop. We had a photo collage that people looked at and talked about what the photos provoked in them. Then we discussed how Jesus saw the city of Jerusalem with all its flaws, and we prayed for Managua. After the workshops finished, we adjoined to the large ranchón area for feedback and lunch.

Praying for Managua

October 13 and 27
The León pastors began the Daniel Plan study. They opted for a more informal format than the pastors in Chinandega who had participated in three workshops facilitated by Manuel at the Nehemiah Center. The León pastors decided to meet every other week and asked me to facilitate the study. They have challenged themselves to lose 4 pounds in the next two weeks, and they are encouraging each other to have healthier lifestyles.


October 20
For the first time ever, we invited all the participants in the Church Friendship Program who live in Nicaragua to come to the Nehemiah Center to meet each other, share experiences, and give input for the program next year. I'm still working on going through all the questionnaires and notes that we took that day! I was very thankful for Raúl's presence taking notes and leading games with the 18 participants who arrived. Only 2 pastoral couples didn't show up out of the 11 who participate in the program. Praise God for a great turnout, and they all asked to do this again (and on an international scale!) next year!

October 22
In Acahualinca the 4 churches hosted a marriage conference for the couples in the church. In total with kids and servers there were about 60 people present, with 20 couples who participated. Pastor Andy, formerly from Oskaloosa, shared about the promises that couples should make to each other, and Pastor Henry from Acahualinca talked about the enemies of marriage. It was a sweltering afternoon, but we made it through by listening to some good music, playing some fun games, and eating good food at the end.


October 24 The Chinandega couples finished their study of the Daniel Plan with an afternoon potluck and prayer in Chinandega. We focused on the importance of friendship to continue to make changes. It's been a little hard to foster fellowship lately, but I trust that the Spirit knows what it's doing. We really enjoyed all the dishes that everyone brought to share at the end!




October 28
I handed over the keys to my house in León. My roommate moved out on the 10th, and since I have been traveling between Managua and León so much, it doesn't make sense to have a big, empty house to pay rent on. Plus, it's dangerous to leave a house without anyone in it, and the roof was leaking very badly during the rains. So I sold some things and put the rest of it in storage. For now I am house-sitting for some friends, and lots of people have offered me their extra beds when I need a place to stay. Between December and May I'll be with so many teams and traveling to the States that I won't need a place for more than a month of nights! It is definitely interesting to know that I'm a nomad right now, but I'm thankful for all the gestures of hospitality from people that I have received.

Now you know why I didn't blog all month! I've still been involved with the Nehemiah Center daily grind, meetings, Dordt students, and other random things. Perhaps one day, like Martin Luther, my actions will affect others' lives in ways that I can't even imagine. Soli deo gloria.