Make 'em Smile

Harvest Equippers Video

2011-08-02T11:58:00.000-07:00

Relationships from Harvest Equippers on Vimeo.

July 2011 Update & General Fund Needs

2011-07-09T09:14:00.000-07:00

see the newest New Song Newsletter here

NSMN July 2011

2011-07-03T23:12:00.000-07:00

The following update can be read with pictures and html formatting by clicking here

Greetings and blessings to all of our faithful followers and supporters:

We would like to share with you about the amazing things the Lord is doing here in NW Nicaragua and with New Song Mission. We also want to present the needs of our general fund.

As all of our churches and ministries grow, our mission needs are also growing. We have noticed that in the last 3 months our general fund needs have well exceeded what our general fund gets in a month. General fund is what most people call the boring fund. It is what people least give to in a church or ministry of any size. It is the fund that covers overhead and basic operations, but it is also the fund that everything we do depends on. Without our general fund we have no mission. We are unable to have pastors on salary to keep them leading and teaching the churches. We have no way to: help children continue in school, see people 6 days a week in our medical dental clinic, or be legally represented before the Nicaragua government. We do not have a place for youth and adults to visit and share ministries with a lost nation.

God has blessed us in the past 2 weeks to get our general fund almost back to even with some large and much appreciated contributions. We are trusting Him to have us balanced by the end of July. We are presenting the opportunity for some one-time gifts toward our general fund, and hoping each of you will prayerfully consider donating. No gift is too little, rather it be 1-time or a monthly commitment. We are encouraging donors to commit to and send towards general mission needs each month: as power bills, cell phone bills, truck gas, pastor and staff salaries are not something we pay only in July, but each month.

Please make checks payable to:

New Song Mission Nicaragua

c/o Atlanta City Church

3355 Old Jonesboro Rd.

Fairburn, GA 30213

Give Online:

http://newsongmissionnicaragua.com/donate

Another, more exciting way to support our general fund, is by entering a chance to win a 1996 Firebird for $10! Evan Dixon has the event on facebook here: 1996 Firebird for $10. Contestants can enter to win as many times as they please. Each ticket is $10 and the raffle will be held at a New Song Mission Nicaragua Golf Tournament (details to follow). For full details on the car raffle please click here.

Please read below to hear about what God is doing here and what ways the general fund can continue to support all of the life and excitement that is building His kingdom in NW Nicaragua.

The rainy season has begun and it is a time that we are seeing new life, and changes. Speaking of new life and changes; most (if not all) of you probably know, one of our youth: 16 year old Anthony Cadena passed away April 19, 2011. The grieving process for this in our staff, youth, church, and partners is still in effect, but so many positive things have begun and are starting in our community, both young and old.

To read more into the lives being changed in a chapter of “Life after Death” visit the links below:

Barbara Coupe: Anthony’s Story: Death and Life

Aftermath: Anthony’s Legacy

Lisa Smith: closure.

Remembering Anthony: Stories

Ripples of FREEDOM

grateful.

Clara Copley: Forever My Friend

Whitney Foreman: I Will Fight for your Dreams

We are also in a season of growth and change with our mission staff. Currently our long term missionaries (listed in order of full-time service in Nicaragua) are:

Jim Bob “Diego” Norman: serving since Feb 2008: Make ‘em Smile

Lisa Smith: serving since Feb 2010: Bringing the Kingdom, Walking in Love

Barb Coupe: serving since Nov 2010: Barbara Coupe in Nicaragua

Whitney Foreman: serving since May 2011: Creo en ti

We have a local staff of nearly 20 Nicaraguans, as this update is written. God is stretching us to depend more on Him, and through trusting Him a new confidence is built in all of us. We have enjoyed seeing God take us to new places, and walking beside locals here growing in their responsibilities and love for the Lord.

Please take time to read more into the growth of our community, pastors, churches here:

Barbara Coupe: What is the Abundant Life Anyways?

Rainy Season Update: I Have a Moat

Lisa Smith: The Difference a Dad Makes

Jesus my Firm Foundatio

From Death to Life

Summer is always a time that we lots of teams and individuals making short and long term mission trips to help in a variety of ways. This summer has been no different. We have enjoyed seeing so many high school and college students give time from their summer break to serve others and feel God’s presence with us and the people of Candelaria, La Isla, Santa Matilde, and Nuevo Amanecer. World Race and Front Runner continue to work alongside us, and later in July we will have 2 more churches bringing a variety of ages and ministries to our churches and villages.

To see some pictures and hear stories from individuals and teams that have been with us this summer:

WR: I Love Nicaragua, Reflections, Lots of Pictures

Front Runner: Pics 1, Pics 3,

Calvary Boca: Pics

Jamie: Pics

Thanks for all of your continued prayer, interest, and support. We love all of you very much. Please email us at info@newsongnica.org with an interest in donating or making a trip down to see us. God is really pouring out his blessings with each afternoon shower, and we are all humbled to be playing a part.

New Song Mission Nicaragua

NSMN New Hyundai Truck

2011-04-03T11:10:00.000-07:00

Hello to all,

The following update is about our new mission truck! Thanks to all of you who partner with us here at New Song Mission Nicaragua.

The report can be read here in the email or to see the report with pictures click here to open a web browser.

New Song's New Hyundai Truck

Truck Fund Raiser and Purchase

As many of you know, our mission started raising awareness about the need for another vehicle in June 2010. God answered those prayers through many of you, and we want to thank you as we had enough funds in January of 2011 to start shopping. During the six months that we were raising funds, we had ideas of what kind of truck we wanted, but until we had the money in hand, we couldn’t guarantee someone would take us as a serious buyer.

After a lot of prayer, research, and searching we found a truck in Leon that we felt would best serve the mission during this season. We would like to extend a big thank you and much gratitude to Larry Sellers and Alex Marin who found the truck that would later become our mission vehicle.

Upon finding the truck and taking interest in it, Larry and some locals got to test drive and have our mechanic give it a full check-up. Everything turned out to be in good shape, and the price was unbeatable. Larry presented the board with the details, and we made an offer. On Friday, March 4, 2010 New Song Mission Nicaragua bought a large flatbed truck for $5,900.00. The mission’s newest vehicle is a 1999 Hyundai, blue, 5-speed, diesel, single-cab truck with a large flat bed. A month later, after a few trips and trials, we present this report with much joy and thanks.

Change of plans to fit Mission Needs

The original plan was to get a second vehicle for the mission’s growth, and outreach to our satellite churches. The Mazda truck was commonly getting caught up with so many projects in Candelaria, and was giving trouble on any trips long distance. We had plans of getting a 2004-2006 Toyota Hilux around $13,500.00, that would work well visiting the outreaches and do well for traveling longer distances where the Mazda had problems.
More growth in our close churches has put a need on the mission to haul more people to services, funerals, and events. We have also had God bless our mission with many short term teams and interns from the United States. A pick-up would limit the space for hauling people and meeting the needs of the season the mission was facing. We contacted the largest donors towards the truck project, and they felt very good about a large-bed truck, including one supporter, that made a trip here to search with us.

Getting the truck at a lower price than expected, has also given us funds to add on and maintain this vehicle and the Mazda truck. These decisions were also agreed on by supporters. There is a day, the Mazda will need to be replaced, or we could trade it in and use the extra funds towards a newer pick-up truck. Having both styles is very helpful to the various needs the mission presents each day.

Lots of use in 1 month

In the past month, we have added a large rack to the truck that allows people a safe place to sit or stand while traveling. We will get a custom tarp for the rack during the rainy season. We have racked the spare tires on the rack of the cab; complete with chain and lock, and put a chassis and lock on the battery. The cab has a small cargo space behind the seats, with wrenches, a jack, and liquids. The truck and its accessories are stocked and secure.

In a month’s time the truck has helped us bring people from La Isla and Nuevo Amanacer to church services. It made a 3 hour trip last weekend to take 23 youth on an amazing retreat in the mountains around Matagalpa, and carried some pastors and leaders to the beach last Monday for some rest and recovery. It has run errands with American groups, and taken people to funerals and to visit the sick. It has been a blessing in this first month, and we expect it to be a great help to our mission efforts for years to come. We have hired a professional driver, Evert, who is Bismark’s brother-in-law. For the past 3 weeks he has been very reliable, punctual, and safe, God blessed us with him as well.

Thanks again, and see you soon!

In closing, we want to thank you for your interest in this project and everything our mission is working to accomplish. For those who have helped make this possible through prayers, awareness, and giving we truly thank you. If you are interested in more pictures or updates on the truck or other projects, please let us know. If you are wanting to go for a ride: please make a mission trip down and let this truck, that you helped provide the mission, provide you transportation around Nicaragua and New Song’s churches.

NSMN Food Project Report

2011-03-12T17:43:00.000-08:00

Feed the Hungry and Food Staple Store

Our cry for help
Around the middle of October 2010, we informed many people through emails and blogs about the food crisis our community was hit with, and the response was unbelievable. You can see the video here: We were able to help people of our community for six weeks, donating food staples until the workers were able to re-enter the San Antonio Sugar Cane Plantation. Your generous donations were able to feed families for that final month of winter, until they had work again to provide for themselves, and we thank each of you for that.

The answer
God answered the call through many of you, and over $3,500.00 came in to support our “Food for the Hungry Project.” We want to also let you know how this project has grown and become a real blessing to our community and our mission. We told the Nicaraguans that we would be helping them in this desperate time of need with free food, but we also told them that when the first paychecks started in late November, we would no longer be offering free food, as to keep from hurting people with our help in a welfare system. We told them we would still stock provision that they could buy for cheap.

The stats
By the first week of December, we had provided $1,800.00 worth of provision: rice, beans, oil, sugar, and salt. Based on a help of $10.00 per family per week, your donations provided 30 families food for 6 weeks! Now we wanted to continue blessing the community, with a project that would last, and not see what was raised for the project be gone in just a 2 month time. We bought some big plastic barrels and built some shelves in our church bodega to create more space. Then we bought 200 pounds of rice and 200 pounds of beans, along with (3) 5-gallon buckets of vegetable oil.

Our daytime guard, Julio Rodriguez, said he was fine to weigh and receive payment for people coming to purchase from the pulperia, and when the supply was low he would let the mission know, so that a new supply could be bought with the money that was made in sales. We buy in bulk to get the best price we can on rice, beans, and oil of mid quality; we then offer it on our property for the same price we bought it at in small quantities only adding transportation to the cost. This allows the community to receive products at an affordable price, but the project itself doesn’t lose money. Julio receives rice, beans, and oil weekly for running the store, and other widows and families in real need are still blessed from time to time.

It took people a little while to begin shopping with us, we were stocking 3 times a month in December and January, but now in February and March we are stocking 6 times a month. In other words, we have around 200 pounds of rice, 200 pounds of beans, and 15 gallons of oil come in and out every 5 days!

How the community is still able to provide
For those of you thinking this sounds like nothing more than a Wal-Mart that came to town and offers the lowest prices, and the small corner stores in the area are now without sales, allow us to elaborate. Our mission knows about times when helping is actually hurting, and we have learned from our mistakes and others’ mistakes. Locals started asking us when would start offering ketchup and other sauces in our store; others wanted to know when we would sale soap, shampoo, and other hygiene products. If things are working well with rice, beans, and oil why not add more. We want to provide the essentials and nothing more. Our little store is a ministry and in it you can buy the food staples. We do not want to expand. We also will not allow any buying on credit. The other little stores offer credit, and then high interest, we will not do it! If someone cannot buy from us, they are able to go buy on credit and help the other little stores around us. If they want a higher grade rice, bean, or oil they can also go to the other local stores. For their needs more than rice, beans, and oil we also encourage them to shop with their neighbors because we not want to take in all the business. We want to offer the best price there is through buying in bulk and charging no gain more than the transportation.

What’s even better?
The first 2000 pounds of rice was grown by the garden workers on our property in Candelaria, and the next 4000 pounds of rice (which we are currently selling) is from the other 2 church properties within our mission in Santa Matilde and La Isla. So those workers are selling their products to the local community, through our mission.

What’s even more?
The sales are out of the bodega attached to our church building, on our mission’s largest piece of property. So every person that comes to buy is seeing our dance team, baseball team, softball team, clinic, and other life happening all around them as they place and receive their food order.

The project is very simple, and we hope to keep it that way. We are humbled by the donations you all made to the project, and overjoyed seeing people come on to our property and having their needs met, through food and spirit. The project has run the last four weeks, turning the same sales into another bulk buy and resale; thanks for your interest and answering the call. Stay alert for the update of our new mission truck coming soon!

Links

2011-02-26T06:06:00.001-08:00

i want to share a few links with you all, as I have taken on other mission responsibilities, and as you can easily see have not had the time to update this blog in the past year...I am truly sorry to those of you who have been following, and have not seen any updates...I am praying for a time to open up to get this blog and my personal website more regularly updated.

Lisa Smith and Barbara Coupe are full time missionaries with us, and are both very talented writers...They share pictures and stories often

Lisa Smith: http://lisasmith.myadventures.org/
Barbara Coupe: http://newsongmissionnicaragua.com/barbcoupe

They have some pictures on facebook, that are public, and others that show to their facebook friends...so please follow them their as well:

Lisa Pics: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=686055203&sk=photos
Barbara Pics: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=563297447&sk=photos

NewSong Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/newsongnica

Newsong website (getting updated now): http://www.newsongnica.org

I am sorry that some of these updates will not be in my own words, and i am honored to know that people still follow me here...Please enjoy these places to follow New Song Mission Nicaragua and all God is doing here!!!

email me personally whenever you want a specific update or just to stay in touch, i love hearing from all of you back home, and pray God is blessing you and your families in these difficult times

In Christ,
Jim Bob "Diego" Norman

Walk with Me: A Year in My Shoes from Lisa Smith on Vimeo.

Make 'em Smile Computer Lab

2010-04-02T03:41:00.000-07:00

INTRODUCTION

My name is James Robert Norman “Jim Bob” and I graduated from Blowing Rock Elementary ’99, Watauga High ’03, and ASU ’07. At Blowing Rock, I remember my love for sports and computers beginning at a very young age. By middle school, you could find me in two places: the computer lab, or the gymnasium. I remember learning about typing, digital photography, and the internet with Mrs. Oswalt. While at Watauga I played football and basketball, and recorded high grades in nearly all my classes. I maintained many of the schools websites and enjoyed taking many computer classes with Mrs. Sheets and Mr.Shook. I continued my education and football career at Appalachian State University. I graduated in December 2007, with a degree in Industrial Electronic Computer Technologies and a minor in Computer Information Systems.

Upon graduation, I visited a rural village in Nicaragua for a week in January 2010. I fell in love with this place and moved back February 2010 to live full time. I have been here 25 months, and my love for sports and computers is as great as it has ever been. I am working with children, youth, and adults to see their lives improved in these areas and many others. I remember the excitement of having time in the library or computer labs, and learning more about the inventions that have grown and run life as we know it today: computers & internet. I now understand what an advantage it was to have that technology available for educational and relational purposes alike. The schools here do not have textbooks, much less computers and internet access. I am currently doing my best to raise awareness of the needs here, and build a computer lab for the students of our community. I want them to research their homework assignments and improve the very little knowledge and curiosity they have for computers and the internet.

THE CURRENT SETUP

I currently have 1 MB of high speed internet hooked into a wireless router that networks my personal computer with two desktop machines and two laptops. This is a great start, as it took me one year to get internet access, and another year to get more than my personal computer down here. It has been very exciting for a few of our students to be able and do their homework on the laptops throughout February and March of this year. Our community has about 200 students between ages 5-15, and another 50 students between ages 16-25. Of the 50 older students 20 are studying in colleges and trade schools. The four computers we have are not nearly enough to meet the demands of these 250 children and young adults.

I have wanted to do this project since February 1, but we lost power in our community in mid January, and have been without steady power for over ten weeks! We, as of yesterday, have a sufficient power supply running into our community after months of using a gas generator. My dream for a computer lab is beginning! I’m ready to start the project.

THE PROJECT AND DREAM

So what’s the project you ask? I want a real computer lab, not 2-3 computers that must be shared among 250 people. No money is being asked for this project! For those of you, who have replaced your desktops, laptops, monitors, and networking devices, or plan to replace them soon, please do not get rid of your old machines. Any computer from year 2000 and newer would be a blessing to this project. These cannot be shipped to me in Nicaragua, but groups and I will be in and out of North Carolina in the next 6 months to bring these down in hand.

For those of you who have asked me multiple times how you can help from your end, but have not been able to give financially, here is my request from you. Ask people in your family, where you work, at your church or school who have replaced or no longer use their computers and computer electronics including monitors, keyboards, and mice to donate them towards the Make ‘em Smile Computer Lab.

Please start spreading the word among your: family and friends, workplace, church, and school who have replaced or no longer use their computers and electronics to donate to our mission and not just throw them away. I see this lab, one day, running in its own building, serving as a library with a classroom for computer technologies and greater education possibilities than the local schools provide.

WHERE AM I SEEKING HELP?

It is my understanding that Watauga County is changing out some computers as the high school is getting ready to move to their new building. I assume these machines will be used until the end of this school year, but I do not have many details. Anything you all can share with me, or anyone that you can put me in touch with would be greatly appreciated.

I am headed to North Carolina Friday, April 2 and will be in and out of Boone up until April 27. I would love to have some time to talk with someone via telephone, or even better in person. I would love to be in touch with people at Blowing Rock School, and Watauga High School, as they are my alma maters, but any of the 9 county schools that can help would be a blessing.

I want to touch base with Appalachian State University, especially in the techonology department that I graduated from. The applied technology students make trips ever year or so to Nicaragua, and I feel this is a great common interest for us.

I am hoping to make this public to businesses and individuals around the high country as well. I am not limited to solely computer towers or laptops: monitors, mice, keyboards, printers, network and power cables can all be a great help, and I know businesses and individuals have equipment stored in a closet or taking up space on a desk, after purchasing newer machines.

Anyone can help, that’s the beautiful thing about this project, anyone can raise awareness to others, and put them in touch with us. I want to collect things at Martin Real Estate in Boone, NC. I will be in and out of North Carolina in April and May, and some other people are making trips down to Nicaragua in June and July, so please help us get things collected soon!

Jim Bob Norman
jimbobnorman@gmail.com
Make ‘em Smile
New Song Mission Nicaragua
Dan & Teresa Norman Home Phone: 828-264-2535
Dan Norman at Martin Real Estate 828-264-3444

Big Welcome to 2010!

2010-01-06T19:59:00.000-08:00

The following report is nearly 2500 words and 4 full pages as a word document. I know that some of you only want a quick recap, while others will enjoy the full detailed report. Below you can see bullet points, or key facts, of the report. For those of you who want to print the document, please download the attachment and print copies to share with your friends, families, and churches.

· 2009 has passed quickly with many highs and lows for our mission, but ended on very high notes. God’s planning and faithfulness has our mission healthy and blessed for a great 2010!

· We have had many trials and staff changes this year, which currently leaves our Nicaragua staff stronger and made up of 3 Americans and 7 Nicaraguans. Of those 10 people, 7 are 32 years old and under, and of those 7, 4 are 25 years old and younger.

· Our mission house is seeing great results, thanks to God and the support of many of you, this house will be full by February 1.

· By February 1, we will have 8 young Americans, including myself, living on the land and working in Candelaria from 3-12 months as long-term missionaries. 5 of them have been there since December 2009, and all are open to staying with us longer if God calls them to it during their commitments.

· We had over 80 people serving in lengths of 7-21 days throughout more than ten groups from mid-November until the first week of January. They all came with different ways to bless our mission and community, and this momentum has our mission so excited for 2010.

· I cannot share enough about God’s timing and perfect plan for our mission, as He has called Tommy, Erick, and I into other ministries in January, but supplied our mission staff with great Christians to keep things going with Linda, and our staff will be even stronger when we return.

· W cannot say thank you enough to those of you who have supported the many projects in 2009. The adopt-a-family, goat house, mission house, bakery, clinic, and other projects have been blessed with funds, and those funds have been used to see amazing progress in all areas. We are also receiving blessings for our outreach communities, which is so exciting and encouraging for us, but even more so for our villages.

· We are currently asking for prayer and support in our general fund, and are hoping to see it blessed in 2010 the way our projects were supported in 2009.

· My next project is starting a computer lab, this project does not need money raised, it needs donations of all computers, laptops, and electronics. More info coming in February, but please start letting people know I want their old electronics.

I am headed to Kenya for 2 weeks on a mission trip with my dad and other NC Baptists. I will have a weekend in North Carolina, 2 weeks in Kenya, and return to Nicaragua in the last days of January. I hope to see many of you during this short trip. I will also be back in North Carolina for two weddings in April, and for those I miss in January, I hope to get some time with you in April. Thanks to everyone who has stayed interested in my mission work, thanks for the prayers and support these first 2 years. I still feel at home here, and hope some of you will come visit when time allows.

Jim Bob “Diego” Norman
Make ‘em Smile
New Song Mission Nicaragua

A Big Welcome to 2010

Well 2009 has come and gone, and it seemed to go by faster than 2008 for me here with New Song Mission Nicaragua. It has been a year of ups and downs, joys and disappointments, tears and laughs. Through everything this mission has faced in 2009, we have stayed confident just as we are told to do in Philippians 1:6 knowing that God who started this great work will see it carried to completion until Jesus Christ returns.

God’s Amazing Timing and Faithfulness

I am always amazed at God’s timing and how He truly orders things to work for His perfect plan. Allow me to give you a real example. From March 2009-September 2009, our mission faced some storms. I am talking about some powerful storms, like we hear about in Matthew 7. Storms that had this mission not been built on the rock, it would have certainly fallen with a great crash. We lost some key members of our Nicaraguan staff, the drop of the United States’ economy caused lower contributions in a year with greater in-country costs closing the old and legalizing the new organization. Also, some of the short-term mission teams were unable to come, or fell short of results they had planned. But God was only giving our mission and its staff a trial of faith through these months, as He strengthens us and provides everything in His time.

Staff and pastor changes over the past year, have caused the responsibilities of locals to grow and they have matured indescribably in the process. Walter is leading and pastoring multiple communities in real Christian ways, and Erick is being a great assistant to him in the churches and running the projects, as if he is three people in one. Yader and Juanita have jumped in whole-heartedly to help wherever they are asked, from women ministries to project managing. Daniel has really been restored, and is doing great leading our worship and helping with the projects. Julio’s English vocabulary is growing every day. He is a great interpreter and is now teaching English two times a week in the community. Yaharia and Darling seem to have matured 5 years in six months and are running many things on their own. They are great examples in the community to the children, youth, and adults. Everyone is really buying into their part and growing!

Current Nicaragua-based Staff

Our mission staff and project workers have changed almost more times than we can count, but we feel God is forming this mission for what He wants here in 2010. After many successes and failures, we or God rather, has shown us the best way to form our current Nicaraguan-based staff going into 2010:

Tommy and Linda Gable as founders and spiritual and project heads respectively
Jim Bob “Diego” Norman as head of youth, Candelaria property manager, and state-side accounting
Walter Varela as senior pastor of Santa Matilde and leader of New Song Church of Candelaria
Yader Sanchez as project and in-country accountant
Daniel Campos as project manager, marketing and sales, and worship leader
Julio Briones as full-time mission interpreter and English teacher
Yahaira Gonzalez as Director of Children’s Ministries and assistant to Darling
Darling Matamoros as New Song Medical & Dental Clinic administrator and assistant to Yahaira
Erick Rocha started a good full-time job in Leon January 4, but stays committed to the mission, helping the whole staff and working to legalize our Nicaraguan organization and medical/dental clinic as time allows

Mission House Progressing

Thanks first and foremost to God, and then to many of you and your churches, our mission house is making great progress. All of the rooms have tiled floors, painted walls, drop ceilings and ceiling fans installed. We are still raising funds to add furniture and air conditioning to bed rooms. Thanks to God and all of you that have been such a big part of this project. Because of you, all of the people listed below are living on the mission property, where they can help our community and me full-time. Donations to the house project can be made by mail or online, please mark them for construction.

Long-term Missionaries

A new chapter has begun in our mission, and it is very exciting. After the Gables move to Nicaragua in June 2007, and mine in February 2008, God has sent an uncountable number of short-term missionaries and mission teams (Short-term being anything under one month). Starting 2010, He has called a large number of young long termers, many of which made it a week before 2010 started. They have their own blogs!

Brittany McManus, age 24, FIU graduate, from Orlando, FL came September 2009, and plans to stay until mid April 2010 or longer http://blog.brittanymcmanus.com/
Jacob Willingham, age 22, ASU graduate, from Hendersonville, NC came in the last week of 2009, and will be here through June 2010 or longer http://wordsfromawillingham.blogspot.com/
Ashley Willingham, age 22, ASU graduate from Hendersonville, NC is Jacob’s wife and came in the last week of 2009, and will be here through June 2010 or longer http://wordsfromawillingham.blogspot.com/
Evan Dixon, age 20, UNCC student, from Huntersville, NC did 11 months here the summer of 2009, and got back the last week of December with plans to be here until April 2010 http://evandixon.com/blog/
Kelly Young, age 20, UNCC student, from Huntersville, NC is Evan’s girlfriend and came the last week of December with plans to be here until April 2010 http://kelly89.com/
Lisa Smith, age 26, King graduate, from Beckley, WV did the month of August 2008 with us during her World Race and after completing it, is headed back for the 2010 year http://lisasmith.myadventures.org/
Lindsay Dobner, age 21, Campbell graduate, from Indian Trail, NC will be with us by February 1, and plans to serve for five months http://lindsayinnicaragua.blogspot.com/

All of these missionaries come with their own talents, gifts, and ideas for helping New Song, and we are tickled to have them with us this year. Some of their gifts include, but are not limited to: marketing and sales of local business and projects, construction, dance and worship leadership with hearts to teach children, photography, graphic and webpage design skills, audio/video talent, children ministry, sport ministry, and hearts for abandoned children, youth, and young women.

They have plans to help our projects productivity, build and repair, teach dance and worship, improve mission website, liven church services, and be disciples and Christian examples for all age groups and both genders. All of them are self-supported, so please pray for them, and support as you can as they work for God’s kingdom alongside us at New Song. All of them are current college students, or have just graduated. People always comment on how young I am to be doing what I am doing, and to see God call so many more my age and younger has us so excited. To see them all answer that call and step out on faith and obedience is so encouraging. Pray for funds for others who have made contact and might join us later in the year.

Riding the End of 2009’s Momentum

In the last 7 weeks, He has opened the doors and poured a waterfall of blessings on this mission. We have had over 80 people stay between a week and three weeks serving with us between November 16 and January 5. In the final two weeks of November: Bice, Cindy, Dwayne, and Nancy led our staff and community through powerful teaching and prayer in spiritual warfare, World Race sent us 13 more racers who encouraged our youth and adults in many activities and graduations, Atlanta City Church brought a small team that worked like a huge team; leading evangelism, worship, and services in new, creative ways.

December was a month like no other, starting with Rachel, of WWOOF, helping in our gardens and construction of Francisca’s house for a week. The Armstrongs provided an unbelievable children’s Christmas party and blessed the Garcia family during their Christmas vacation trip. Living Water brought a group of 22 made up of college students and graduates, the Roberts family, and the Greenes for three weeks that closed 2009 with a bang and gave us an amazing momentum starting 2010. They blessed churches with music instrument and audio equipment, dance, drama, artwork, and puppets. They did house construction in the community and on our mission house. They taught worship, dance, art, and other skills while leading many to Christ through: home visits, prayer, and interactive services for children, youth, and adults. On the heels of their encouraging and motivating trip we had a team of six from Independence Hills Baptist and Steele Creek that blessed the community of Santa Matilde with tables and swing sets, and encouragement for big progress in 2010. We currently have a team of thirteen college students from Concordia University of St. Paul, Minnesota serving in Candelaria and building off of that momentum from the last six weeks of 2009 and sharing in our community until mid January.

More of God’s Amazing Plans and Timing

I told you how much I love seeing why God does what He does, and how His timing is so perfect; knowing that He is up to something, but not knowing why, and later figuring out parts of it. I find myself questioning His timing, not getting an answer, and learning to practice patience until He is ready to let me understand part of His plan. So here I am bragging on Him again in this aspect. Tommy and I have both been called out of Nicaragua for a big part of January to do some other ministry. Tommy will be in Charlotte, and I will am headed to the NC mountains followed by a trip to Kenya. Tommy’s trip happened very suddenly, whereas mine has been planned for a few months, but neither one came as a surprise to God. He had already equipped New Song with everything it needed in our absence. God put Darrell Roberts and his dynamite Living Water team in our community to lead services in Tommy’s absence. He also got 5 of the 7 long-term missionaries into the community two weeks before my departure, where they have become a great team that understands managing things on the property. Just a few days later, we got the news that Erick had accepted a good accounting job in Leon. We were happy for the opportunity he was taking, but worried how Walter and the church, our clinic and other projects, and Nicaraguan organization would suffer in his absence. Darling was out of the country visiting family, but God sent her back a few days early to train to not only do accounting and reception for the clinic, but fully administer it. God gave her and Yahaira willing hearts to help wherever else they are needed during this transition and they have a couple months to train full-time before starting their senior years of university classes. Erick is also committing to help on weekends when they are in classes and teaching Sunday School. Classes. I am fascinated by God’s timing!

Thanksgiving for Project Funding & Prayer for General Fund

The waterfall of blessings that God is pouring on us that I mentioned above; it has not just been with people coming, but He is also releasing funds. In the final two months of 2009, God has allowed us to nearly complete the mission house construction and Francisca and Edwin’s house construction. The oven for the soon-to-come bakery was finished January 7^thand a large contribution has been given to the medical/dental clinic. This will help legalize the clinic and allow it to be open more days a week. It will also get containers shipped to provide dental equipment, and much more. Our outreach community of Tonala has also had a great amount of funds raised for purchasing land and beginning construction of a church shelter. Our faithful Sunday School students had a great Christmas party with: a message on giving, individual gifts, and a big lunch.

We want to extend a very large thank you to everyone who funded these projects and came to work in country towards completing them in 2009. We want to encourage everyone to contribute towards the mission’s general fund in the beginning of 2010. These projects are wonderful and give a sense of ownership to contributions, but be that as it is, none of these projects can exist without the mission, and the mission cannot exist without its general fund needs met. We are trusting God to provide for our general fund, and know He will be faithful with it as He has proven faithful in all of our project fund raising. Once again thank you to everyone who has given faithfully in 2009, we know this was as difficult a year as any, your contribution statements will be mailed out from Atlanta City Church the last day of January.

Near Future, My Next Project

For those of you who follow me closely, you know that I enjoyed taking on my own personal projects throughout 2009 in trimesters. One of my personal goals when I left in February 2008, was to start a computer lab within 2 years. Well, let me tell you that two years is right on target! In February, we will have 2-3 computers with Windows XP Spanish installed and available for our youth and pastors to use for school and bible research. We have had internet on the land for the past year now, and a few donations of routers and CAT5 has us networked and surfing. No money is being asked for this project, as I stated above, we want money contributions to go towards the general fund. For those of you replacing your desktops, laptops, printers, monitors, keyboards, mice, and networking devices please do not get rid of your old parts. Any computer from year 2000 and newer would be a blessing to this project. The official project awareness letter, with more info, will be sent the first week of February. For now, please start spreading the word among your: family and friends, workplace, church, and school who have replaced or no longer use their computers and electronics to donate to our mission and not just throw them away. I see this lab, one day, running in its own building, serving as a library with a classroom for computer technologies and greater education possibilities than the local schools provide.

Closing Thoughts & Prayer Requests

In closing, I want to thank all of you who continue to have an interest in our mission work here in Northwest Nicaragua. I cannot tell you how excited I am to see what God has in store for 2010. Please pray for my travels between Nicaragua, NC, and Kenya throughout January. Please pray for all of the new people we have with our mission and the new roles our staff are stepping into this year. In Christ, JB/Diego

Happy Holidays

2009-12-15T14:18:00.000-08:00

Happy holidays to everyone!

I just finished typing all of this and realized how long it got, and want to apologize in advance, but I have been so out of touch I wanted to share everything that has been going on here since my last bulk email. Thanks to all of you who will read this entire report .

For those who will not read it all please read this paragraph and look at some of the videos we have posted. I will not be in the states for Christmas or New Years, but I will have 4 days in Boone, NC before taking a 2 week mission trip to Kenya, Africa. For those of you around Boone January 8-11, I would love to visit with you. Be blessed in this exciting time of year. I love you all!!

I hope that everyone has had a great Thanksgiving and is excited for Christmas and the New Year. We have had a very exciting year here in northwest Nicaragua, especially in these final 3 months. I want to share a few of the newest things going on with everyone. I believe that pictures say so much more than words, and videos do even more than pictures, plus they are probably more interesting than what I can type. So below you will see a list of different video links to a few of the many activities and ministries we have been a part of in the past 2 months.

There are 5 videos and they are listed oldest to newest by clicking on the following link:

http://vimeo.com/user1005962/videos/page:3/sort:oldest

If you only have time or interest to visit one of these videos here they are in the same order:

Rural Medical Clinics with Pinnacle Church: http://vimeo.com/7427563

Wheelchair Distribution with Rotary Club: http://vimeo.com/7479013

Thanksgiving with Bice-Cindy & Dwayne-Nancy: http://vimeo.com/7861732

Santa Matilde Rice Harvest: http://vimeo.com/7983537

New Song Mission Land Tour with World Race: http://vimeo.com/7984558

For those of you that want to read more about our last 3 months…

Barbara Coupe, from south Florida, was with us at the end of August and first 10 days of September. She came in March with One Hope and had been wanting to come back to do a trip by herself, and see if God is calling her into full-time mission work. She left convinced as ever that God is calling her to long-term mission work, and that she wants to start it with us here at New Song in late 2010.

My friend from Orlando, Florida, Brittany McManus, has visited 3 times between July 2008 and January 2009. She became a Christian during her first trip here and has done her best to come back as often as possible while finishing college and working 2-3 different jobs. In September 2009, she put all of those things behind her and is now living on the land and serving with our mission full time. She teaches English classes on the weekend, and throughout the week is being a great help to me and the entire mission with the youth in our community. She is also working with Daniel to help sale and promote things from our garden, sewing ladies, and other small business projects.

For a short, but fun 5 days in September, Darrell Roberts and some young men from Living Water in Boone, NC came down to do a scout trip for their church, and later this week they will have a group of over 20 young people here spending the holidays and an extra 10 days ministering through music, construction, crafts, and much more. They are blessing our ministry with a lot of music equipment and a possible retreat in the mountains of Matagalpa.

Also in September, Lisa Smith, who was a part of the 2^nd world race group to visit us, came with her family and best friend for a week. Lisa is planning to be here in January 2010 for a year or longer serving with New Song Mission Nicaragua. Her family had a good time visiting the community where she will be serving and getting to know Tommy, Linda, Brittany, and myself.

In October, the Gables and I each had trips to the states and Mexico respectively, before the big groups we had planned for November, December, and January came in. At the end of October, Jennifer Sellers and Lynda Baltzell of Pinnacle Church in Canter, NC came and helped in 3 clinics in 1 week. They did our normal Friday clinic in Candelaria, followed by rural clinics in La Isla and Santa Matilde. They were a great help and have started and continued some great friendships.

In the first week of November, The Wheelchair Foundation and Rotary Club were her to distribute 270 brand new wheelchairs in Leon and Chichigalpa. Yader and Erick from our mission staff along with a lot of our key men and youth helped build and distribute all of these in 2 days. It was a real blessing to see that plan come together and see so many needs met for people of our community and many others in the area.

Later in November, we had visits from 2 couples, Bice and Cindy and Dwayne and Nancy, who had ministry days for the women, pastors, and staff of New Song Mission Nicaragua as well as a week of training on Spiritual Warfare that we are still studying each Sunday afternoon. They have been a great help to our mission over the past year in so many ways, and this trip was a true blessing for our staff, pastors, and church community.

Throughout the entire month of November we had 2 teams from the World Race with us. Weston and his team of 7, along with Cristina and her team of 6 filled our mission house and clinic up for the whole month and were an awesome help to Brittany and I with the youth. They led nights of discipleship, fun, and made many friendships with the youth and children of our church. They also helped do some work projects including laying floor in the bedrooms of the house, harvesting 8,300 pounds of rice, and building an outdoor shower for a widow in a neighboring village. This was the 4^th World Race group we have hosted, and cannot wait for another. They always, always bring such life to our community!

Overlapping with the World Race teams in the last week of November, Atlanta City Church had a group of 6 here that brought fun and powerful messages to our community. They packed their days with all kinds of ministry. From playing with children and educating the Sunday school teachers to interactive creative worship and services for personal prayer and ministry. They shared dramas, music, and messages in a new and interesting way that the church enjoyed.

We have had about 10 days now to collect ourselves and get ready for a full 2^nd half of December and January.

We have a young lady coming to help in the garden tomorrow for a couple weeks, and a couple from Boone doing construction projects and living in the mission house at the community. This weekend a group of over 20 young people will be spending the next 3 weeks ministering in countless ways, including praise and worship which I am most excited about.

In January, a group of 13 college students from Concordia University will be serving with us for 2 weeks. In the last week of December we will be welcoming the first 4 of our 6 long term missionaries planning to live on the land between 4-12 months along with Brittany and I. By the last few days of January 2010, there with be a total of 8 of us between ages 20-27 living on the land and working together with New Song Mission for His kingdom. I am excited for the new friendships ahead and the help each of them will bring our ministry and me personally.

I want to say thanks to everyone and report things that are still needed for those of you who are still with me…

First of all, thank you all so much for all the prayers, interest, and support you send out way each month. This mission could not exist without all of you! The amount of people God is sending this way now, would not be able to stay with us, without all the help we have received getting the pastor house turned into a dorm and kitchen, and now into a long-term mission house. The past 6 months, have been very exciting to see the progress of the house and it is really looking great. By the end of this week we should have the tile down throughout all the bedrooms, bathrooms, and living room. We want to then go back and install ceilings throughout these same areas and paint all the interior and exterior walls; both of these will require more funds.

Our general fund, house fund, and other small business projects could all use support here at the end of 2009. All contributions are available to be written off on taxes and will qualify for the year 2009 if sent in the next 2 weeks. You can send checks to New Song Mission Nicaragua, 3355 Old Jonesboro Rd., Fairburn, GA 30213 or logon to www.NewsongMissionNicaragua.com and send online.

Thanks to all of you who have read this entire report and I hope that God Blesses your holiday time. I will not be in the states for Christmas or New Years, but I will have 4 days in Boone, NC before taking a 2 week mission trip to Kenya, Africa. For those of you around Boone January 8-11, I would love to visit with you. Be blessed in this exciting time of year. I love you all!!

In Christ,
Jim Bob / Diego
John 15:13

Oct. 2009 Report & 3rd Project

2009-10-10T14:44:00.000-07:00

I feel like it was just last week that I wrote my 2nd report & project fund raising letter. I think the past 4 months went by faster than the 4 between February and June. I cannot believe it is already October 2009! What an interesting year it has been here in northwest Nicaragua serving God with New Song Mission Nicaragua. I cannot tell you how many friendships God has opened me up to this year. I have had a great time helping and being helped by Nicaraguans and more so with young adults here from the states. I want to thank every one of you who has partnered with us this year here in the country and others from the states. This work could not exist without your prayers, contributions, donations, and visits. Thank you for being a blessing to the mission, the projects, and to me personally thus far in 2009.

As most of you know, when I started my second year, I planned to help fund-raise for 3 projects a year. In February, the Adopt-a-Family and 22Fifty Project was a huge success as we sent over 250 children to school with uniforms, shoes, and school supplies. I want you all to know that last week we gave notebooks and pencils out to those children in Sunday school, as they have 6 weeks of school left this year, and a lot of work and testing to complete. Thank you to each of you that gave as little as $5.00 towards this project, and a bigger thank you to those of you giving every month helping your adopted family’s school needs. In May, God helped provide us enough support to host over 50 people (in-and-out) living on the property to date. The youth house is also being used to do youth discipleship, Sunday school teacher training, and many hours of fellowship. Thank you to each gift given towards putting the roof, doors, beds, and flush toilets into the house for the summer teams that visited. I also want to thank the ones of you who gave to my personal bedroom, bathroom, and closet in the house.

We have completed 2/3 of our mission year, and our first two projects have been a great success. Thanks again for each of you who has made them possible. The summer teams have gone back to the states, and we have finished paying off the beds, doors, and septic system. Many groups and individuals stayed on the property in the past 4 months, and the youth house served its purpose, but our mission is about to really change. We have young adults that were so touched in their short-term trips here, that they are coming back to serve full-time. Four people already have their plane tickets to be with us in late December and early January, with plans of serving for 4-months, 8-months, and 12-months. We have a couple, and another individual highly considering coming in January or February for 6-12 months. With this being said, I present my 3rd project, The New Song Mission House!

The dormitory style housing worked for the summer, with people here between 7 days and 11 weeks. But God is sending young adults here to serve for a longer term, and we need to finish this house to fit their needs. We want to completely finish the living room, kitchen, bedrooms, and bathrooms in this house by the end of 2009. Of course, we will finish it into 2010 if needed, but right now the rooms are open for construction and we can welcome our long term missionaries into a much more comfortable living space. As I said, everything we have to this point is paid off, and we are ready to start work again because the rooms are empty. Please help us take advantage of the time we have right now with the house unoccupied to get funds here and finish construction.

As money is made available, we will tile floors and put ceilings throughout the house. We want to screen all windows and add air conditioning units to the bedrooms. Once these are finished, we will be putting organizational shelves or furniture into rooms to store clothes and personal belongings. We have one piece of furniture in the living room, but for the most part it is open space. The open space is good during our youth and children discipleship; we separate the children here during the evening services for hearing bible stories and watching animated DVDs. We want moveable chairs and tables in this room for children and youth to come and do their homework and hangout with our long term missionaries. The kitchen is functional, but also needs funding for building counters and tables and buying appliances and utensils.

We are asking that you prayerfully consider helping complete our mission house for the missionaries who will start serving with us here in December and January. The house will have some people staying in it short term in November and December as well, and we would like to have most construction done before they arrive to not disrupt them during their stay. We will be able to do work in open rooms throughout November and December with them here, but the biggest help would be having the funds to start as soon as possible while we are empty. We know the economy is a disaster right now, but as little as $20.00 from each of you can get the work started and keep work going throughout this year so that this project can be just as successful as the first two.

Once again, thank you so much to all of you who support New Song Mission Nicaragua, Make ‘em Smile, and me personally. Nothing here is possible without the support given by each of you. We are overjoyed at the new people God is putting into His plans here. In the future, we want to have a two story dormitory for the short term teams that come, but we cannot start that dream until we see this mission house completed. I hope to hear from you soon and pray that all is well with you and your families.

Donate online at: https://www.newsongmissionnicaragua.com/mynewsong/ and choose Construction from the drop down menuSend donations by mail: make checks out to New Song Mission Nicaragua and tag/memo to Construction or Mission HouseMail to: New Song Mission Nicaragua, c/o Atlanta City Church, 3355 Old Jonesboro Road, Fairburn GA, 30213

I will be in Boone, North Carolina from January 8-11, before making a 2-week mission trip to Kenya, Africa with my dad and others from First Baptist Church Boone, NC. I plan to be back in Nicaragua by the end of January, so those four days will be my only ones in the Boone area. I would love to see all of you then to fellowship and share with you personally how great God has been to this ministry and me for two years. I love and miss you all, and cannot wait to see you then, or before for those headed this way.

Many Blessings in Christ,
Jim Bob “Diego” Norman
New Song Mission Nicaragua
Make ‘em Smile
John 15:13

NSMN Sept. 2009

2009-09-19T23:57:00.000-07:00

Greetings to everyone from Jim Bob Norman...below you can read the september update Tommy, Linda, and I put together...it is also attached as a 2-page word document for those of you who wish to print it off to read and/or share...God is doing a great work here, and I have loved my first 20 months serving with New Song...God is sending so many short-term and long-term people to us from the states to help in the harvest here, and I am really loving the lifetime friendships that are starting. For those of you who email, facebook, or ask me in person on my short trips to the states how you can help, or what area we are mostly in need; the youth house is our top priority right now. We are starting work back on October 1, building onto and improving its living conditions for our American groups and individuals who are being called to come and stay on the land in the village in our main community of Candelaria. Please enjoy the updates below and the video links! If you can help in anyway towards our youth house construction and furnishing, please get in touch with me. May God bless you all, and thanks for all the support, love, and prayers that have allowed me to serve here for the first 20 months.

Hello from Nicaragua to our family and friends!!!!
We are happy to be able to write you all and give an update of the mission to catch you up. We are singing a New Song!! Jesus is Lord of ALL as we scan 2009 in awe of what He has done! We constantly acknowledge that this is His work and exists for His glory! We are learning firsthand how God uses all things for good. Even the financial depression has been used to purify and focus the mission. We thank God for the testing and sifting of this year, as it has produced a team of Kingdom minded workers that God has sent to help us reap the great harvest . We are all jelling like a family, both Nicaraguans and us foreigners, as we walk together through the trials of this year; we are emerging as a vital community of God. His ways are far above ours!!September Update Video: http://vimeo.com/6598469

Children Discipleship
We have also noticed the eye of God on the next generation. We have 15 youth, many of whom are new believers, coming to a weekly training preparation for teaching Sunday school the following Sunday. Our Nicaraguan daughter, a mighty woman of God, Yahaira is training the teachers in the weekly Bible lesson, focusing on the manner in which Jesus valued and loved children. We desire the next generation to know God in His whole story, so they are beginning with creation and will continue through the final judgment. Each teacher has their own small group with the 180 children divided among the 15 teachers. In this manner God has given wisdom to disciple the youth and children, giving them a firm foundation of truth and a healthy network of relationships.

Youth Discipleship
These 15 youth Sunday school teachers plus 10-15 more youth are faithful to our Wednesday night youth discipleship, and Friday night youth activities. Tommy and Diego are really enjoying these Wednesday nights with messages and themes focused for youth and young adults between ages 14-25. They are learning to listen, and we are hoping to see them walk-out these teachings as they learn about maturity. In the future, we see these youth traveling around to outreach villages and even on to some of the bigger cities of Nicaragua, sharing real Christianity with the lost. On Friday nights, we are rotating between fellowship times and “important life choices” teachings. The fellowship times include things ike monthly birthday parties, movie nights, or trips to the park. Our Christian Psychologist, from the clinic, is helping every other Friday with the youth teaching on different topics the youth have asked for guidance in. Some of the 10-15 topics we are covering with them include: self-esteem, boyfriend/girlfriend advice, depression, and abstinence. The Nicaraguan youth and Diego are really enjoying the friendships and encouragement found in the American youth that God has sent and is continuing to send this way. For the groups coming this way we mix ministry with tourism days of fellowship like the beach or water fall. American Youth: http://vimeo.com/5587337 Waterfall: http://vimeo.com/6049133

US Youth Involvement
Kevin Costner said “If you build it, they will come”! Well… the youth dorm is not completely finished but they are here!!! This summer we had 30 youth (in-and-out) full of life youth buzzing around on the land. They were here from 2 weeks to 3 months. By January we will have 5 full time US young people serving full time in community. We feel called to offer young adults an opportunity to experience God in-country, teaching this generation how to listen and partner with Him to bring His Kingdom. It has brought life to tap into the gifts in both the US and Nicaraguan young people as it give them a place to express life and be a part of developing a Christian community. Here is one of the 2 murals we received as a gift in the summer groups: http://vimeo.com/6000838.We have watched the local youth wake up spiritually with a new genuine hunger for the Lord and applying truth. Much discipleship training is offered weekly and they are forever having fiestas for all of their birthdays. They know how to party!!! Love gives way to sorrow when these strong friendships have to part ways but strong eternal bonds of love are formed forever. These youth have been transformed and strengthen on their path with increased purpose and vision.Birthday Piñata Video: http://vimeo.com/6141561

Clinic
The Lord has provided for us to run the medical and dental clinic one day per week since April. We have a Doctor, a Dentist, a Christian Psychologist, a Pharmacist, an administrator, a receptionist and a house cleaner. We have recently partnered with a local medical facility to do rural clinics in outreach communities. Our Pharmacy is now legalized and so am I (Linda) after 2 years; I am finally a Nicaraguan resident. Now I am able to complete the legalization of our Nicaraguan Association under which we can legalize the clinic. Thank you Jesus!

Projects and Small Businesses
God has blessed Daniel’s goat ministry!! Within less than 2 weeks 8 goats were birthed which makes 22 goats now!! I get so excited to see the goat shelter, now with water and lights and secure from theft. They make really good popsicles with goat milk and bananas!! We are selling goat milk and cheese also. Goat Ministry Video: http://vimeo.com/5586628

Our garden workers recently harvested over 5000 ears of corn. We also have begun a good relationship with the head of the largest agricultural center in our area and he is coming once a week to help us! Our next goal is to get the bottom field irrigated for the upcoming dry months.

The sewing and craft classes are turning into businesses which are producing very professional work. They custom-make every article of clothing after measuring the person and drawing their own patterns! Our next step is marketing and sales.

Our Bakery group is baking in a hand built wood burning oven and has begun the first step toward their business. We are waiting to hear if we have been approved for a grant that will allow us to finish the bakery/kitchen and dorms. The kitchen staff cooks daily to serve as many as we have on the land and the food is delicious!!

Several young men are thankful for a small gift that enabled them to continue with the skills to make hammocks. They stay busy and are producing well made hammocks quickly and are buying their own materials.

Each of these small businesses has a director who loves the Lord and is working well to oversee their project. These directors work under Erick Roche who is our missions administrator and he works closely with me so I am able to supervise but nor be consumed with too many things. The best part to me is that each of these projects have provide a structure where small groups can form trusting relationships and real friendships and the real Kingdom of God can be walked out!Various Summer Activities Video: http://vimeo.com/6143636

Our Immediate Goal
Our priority now is to finish the youth dorm/bakery/ kitchen, after which we need to build another dorm/office/industrial building where we will provide a place of employment and security for the sewing, craft and hammock making businesses. We are presently housing the girls in the clinic and the guys in the dorm and we feel that and we feel that the next step is to provide affordable housing for many young disciples to participate in bringing the Kingdom of God in this area of Nicaragua.

We are convinced that God has mighty plans to transform this country through this generation rising up as mighty warriors to bring His Kingdom and see His will be done!

May the blessings of the Lord be on each of us as we each have a special part to play in these last days!

With much love, Tommy and Linda Gable and Jim Bob Norman

NEW VIDEOS!!!

2009-08-10T07:12:00.000-07:00

Luke Cantrell from our last World Race group painted an awesome mural in our church, and has since made the following video:

http://vimeo.com/6000838

I also noticed that ashley has made a video about their time in Candelaria:

http://vimeo.com/5955752

Tara as well:

http://vimeo.com/5891855

Luke also added clips from our "fun day" at the waterfall:

http://vimeo.com/6049133

THANKS GUYS!!!! I love you all, and hope to see you soon!

Videos

2009-07-17T06:09:00.000-07:00

Our current youth on the land:

http://www.theworldrace.org/widgets/meet/byteamFrame.asp?pteamname=Abandon

http://www.theworldrace.org/widgets/meet/byteamFrame.asp?pteamname=fuego

here are videos some of our groups have made this summer:

Beauty Day: http://www.vimeo.com/5572702

Goat video: http://vimeo.com/5586628

USA video: http://vimeo.com/5587337

Garden & Goats: http://www.vimeo.com/5567161

Bug Eating: http://vimeo.com/5595362

Weaterfall: http://vimeo.com/5602516

Making Tortillas: http://09ca0529rl2.myadventures.org/?filename=video-how-to-make-tortillas

Church Mural: http://09ca0529rl2.myadventures.org/?filename=candelaria-mural-in-progess

Pictures: http://09ca0529rl2.myadventures.org/?isFunction=photos&pg=2

25 Years & 18 Months

2009-07-17T02:07:00.000-07:00

Greetings to all…I hope your summer is going as great as ours is here in Candelaria. On July 2, I turned 25 years old, and July 10 marked 18 months from the day I first placed foot in Nicaragua. This summer has been a blast so far! Since May 17th we have had nearly 40 Americans visiting, ministering, and living on the land. Thanks to everyone who as a part of contributing to get our youth house/dorm livable to host all these groups. The house has 5 beds, 2 showers, and 2 flush toilets, and lots of room for others to sleep in tents and sleeping bags in empty rooms.

Many of these American youth have helped us in projects around the land including:

The youth house and kitchen are coming along, and very busy
We have a goat house under construction for our 17 goats and pregnant cow living on the land.
One of our church walls has a mural of Psalms 40 painted on it, and 2 more walls will have mission statements and art work painted on them by the end of July.
The garden and lower field are full of corn and other vegetables ready for harvest later this month
The women had a beauty day last Saturday with a focus on outer beauty during the day and a service focused on inner beauty for the night. They are planning another for next Saturday

But, where we have seen God moving the most using these groups is spiritually:

Our Wednesday night youth discipleship that Tommy is leading has around 20 Nicaraguans and 20 Americans each week, and everyone is paying attention, hungry to learn biblical foundations of Christianity.
Every Friday night we are doing different youth activities to keep the young people from getting bored. Between 20-30 people are around each week for different activities including: concerts, worship & prayer services, birthday parties, and game/movie nights
The group here did a day of prayer and fasting yesterday and it was so powerful for them, and people watching that we are doing it again Sunday with any of the Candelarians that want to join.

We have also had some days touring the country: visiting volcanoes, lagoons, waterfalls, and the beaches. I know for me personally having the American youth here has been a breath of fresh air. Every day we are having worship and devotions, and throughout each day our group is enjoying community and friendships.

I haven’t had time to get many of my own pictures or make videos, but the groups have there’s on their World Race and Adventures in Missions Websites. I will continue to add their links onto my blog at: http://makemsmile.blogspot.com

I will be coming to the states from August 5-August 17. I will be traveling only to North Carolina this trip as my brother is getting married August 8th in Banner Elk, and then we are taking a family vacation to the outer banks for my mom’s birthday August 14th. I hope to see as many of you as possible during this trip, and my schedule is open Aug. 9-Aug. 13 to speak to churches and youth groups.

Please visit my blog and the New Song Website to follow links to pictures, videos, and blogs to see all that is going on here with the American youth groups here building community and friendships with our Candelarian youth.

May God bless each and every one of you the rest of the summer, and if possible I would love to see you in August. Thanks to everyone for all the prayers, financial support, and interest in my mission work here over the past year and a half.

In Christ,
James Robert “Jim Bob / Diego” Norman
Make ‘em Smile
New Song Mission Nicaragua
John 15:13

MORE world racers

2009-07-12T12:22:00.003-07:00

we are hosting more world racers...and they are AWESOME!!

video, pics, bios, links all COMING SOON!!

Diego

Group here

2009-06-10T13:57:00.000-07:00

we have our first group here using the partially finished youth house and a room of the clinic

we will have more groups here as well...i am staying busy helping them and the mission both, so i'm not sure when i personally can update

but to keep up with them and a little bit of me through them follow the link:

http://09ca0529rl2.myadventures.org/

Having a busy weekend

2009-06-07T05:25:00.000-07:00

We have a group of teenagers from GA (group of 20) staying in the bloquera bethel between our property and rostipollo in chinandega sharing books in the schools for book of hope...they did dramas in our friday night activity, we had a band here covering hillsong that Evan has been playing with, as well as some specials from a Christian rap band in chichigalpa. They put together a fun day for kids youth yesterday, and will do sunday school for all the kids up in the blue basketball arena in chichigalpla this morning

They will be here through thursday but will only be visiting schools and maybe showing some movies at night..not so much more with us involved i think....got our group of 7 staying on land shadowing them as well as doing some of their own things...city of God in chichigalpla is planning youth camps june 28 and aug 9...so today this morn from 6 AM (now) til 1 PM they are using our building to host this pre-camp to train leaders...the training will be for the leaders for those dates later on..we have 5 of our youth in this training.

Things are going great...our guards and consuelo are doing a great job taking care of our first hosted team on the land with meals and all other needs...they are enjoying it here, and we are hoping to see more of the house finished over the next 2 weeks they are here. They will be helping in building our goat shelter monday/tuesday now that it is rain season and most goats are staying 24 hours on land, not in homes of church members we need to get them out fo the rain to keep from getting sick

Hope all is well with each of you….want to give more updates about our team here, and how hosting them in the youth house is going, but my evenings consist of reporting each teams, new songs, and my own finances…plus I am still setting up my room. I am so happy to be in my room and Evan and Joshua are enjoying the youth dorm as well. The internet is working at good speed and we have it wired through a switch with up to 4 of us using internet at a time.

Hoping to get their doors bought and put on this week and then see other parts of the house added to. We also need funds to buy mattresses for the beds, right now people are sleeping on foam. God Bless everyone helping to see this house come along…we will be adding 4 more youth on June 15th and 17th.

Many Blessings,
Jim Bob / Diego
Juan 15:13

Happy Memorial Day!!

2009-05-25T09:38:00.000-07:00

Happy Memorial Day to everyone! I want to thank those of you who have donated towards the youth house in the past couple weeks. The goal we have for completing this house is $8000.00 and we have had been donated $600.00 this month for the house. We have also had 2 clothing sales at the church the past 2 weekends to raise $200.00 from this end; putting us $7200.00 from our goal.

For this week, the last week of May, we are praying and hoping to receive the $1000.00 needed to have the house livable for the first summer team. Evan Dixon and I are currently in the clinic, but are hoping to be in the house the first day of June. On June 3rd, we have a group of 6 Americans coming to spend 4 weeks in the house. To be ready for this team we need 2 toilets, 5 beds with mattresses, and 2 doors.

I know that for some of you, the online donations have been a problem, but thanks to Kevin Howell, the site is working now. Mailing checks to ACC in Georgia is also available.
Visit our facebook event to see the pictures and videos we will be adding throughout the summer, as we will continue running this fund raiser until the house is complete. We hope to include pictures of the groups staying here and some of their thoughts/needs for the house, as they live and serve here this summer.

Facebook Event Link: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=78735211386&ref=mf

Donate online at: https://www.newsongmissionnicaragua.com/mynewsong/ and choose Construction from the drop down menu

Send donations by mail, make checks out to New Song Mission Nicaragua and tag/memo to Construction or Youth House

Mail to:
NewSong Mission Nicaragua
3355 Old Jonesboro Road
Fairburn GA, 30213

Many Blessings in Christ,
Jim Bob “Diego” Norman
Make ‘em Smile
New Song Mission Nicaragua
John 15:13

2nd 2009 Project: YOUTH HOUSE

2009-05-01T14:57:00.000-07:00

I find it hard to believe we are already into May of 2009. We have had a very interesting first third of 2009. We have had some great moments, and other very difficult times serving here in NW Nicaragua. We are learning from both our victories and mistakes and moving forward. One of the biggest successes I want to brag on all of you that gave to is the 22Fifty Project and school uniform fund raiser. This was a huge success for Make ‘em Smile and New Song Mission Nicaragua in 2009. With your help, we have over 250 children currently uniformed and studying from preschool through high school. We have 25 families receiving monthly support and contact from their American “adopted families” and another 9 youth receiving monthly support as they further their education in universities and trade schools. For those of you that gave as little as $5.00 to those of you that are still giving $35-$250 a month, we truly appreciate the lives you’re changing and pray that God continues to bless your selfless attitudes and giving hearts.

1/3 of 2009 is over, and our education project is going very well. As of May 1, 2009 I am starting my 2nd trimester of projects for the 2009 NSMN mission year. The project is to complete our youth house! This building housed our pastor and his family for the past 5 years, and upon his retirement we are making it into a youth house.

I will personally live in one of the rooms, and we are going to use the others to outreach to our young people, ages 15-25. We began this project in November of last year, planning to have me live in one room and use the rest of the house for our youth. I estimated $1000.00 to make this house “livable” and God saw this need met very quickly, but our plans for the youth house have grown and the need as well. This house will still serve youth, but we are not limiting that to Nicaraguan youth. God is calling an unbelievable amount of young people from the States to come and serve with us here, and we need a place for them to live and work out of.

I will be finishing my room of this house with my own support, God willing, in the next 2 weeks, but the rest of the house has a way to go. We have somewhere between 30-50 youth and young adults with plans to serve here this summer. Some will be here for a week and others for 10 weeks. These high school and college students cannot afford hotels in the city for trips of this length, so we are making half of the house a dormitory.

We need to finish roofing this house, and add a ceiling. The walls and floors need to be completed as well. We still lack doors, windows, and lights in each bed room. The most expensive part will be finishing all of the bathrooms with a septic tank and flush toilets. Our best estimate at this point is $8,000.00, but building materials are more expensive each week. We are asking that you prayerfully consider helping our youth house make progress for the groups this summer; we know the economy is a disaster right now, but as little as $20.00 from each of us can keep the workers busy and this project can be just as successful as the education project.

We have some young Americans coming down alone for the entire summer, and others coming in groups as large as 20. Please, if you can, make a donation to the youth house so that God’s love can be shared and our community of youth can be served by American youth all summer long. The American youth start coming May 17th and go through August. Our goal is to build this youth house in 1 Month, so that we can build youth relationships for a lifetime.

Join our Facebook event: “Candelaria Youth House & Dorm: Build Youth House in 1 month, Build Youth Relationships for a Lifetime”Facebook Event Link: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=78735211386

Donate online at: https://www.newsongmissionnicaragua.com/mynewsong/ and choose Construction from the drop down menu

Send donations by mail, make checks out to New Song Mission Nicaragua and tag/memo to Construction or Youth House

Mail to: NewSong Mission Nicaragua, 3355 Old Jonesboro Road, Fairburn GA, 30213Many

Blessings in Christ,
Jim Bob “Diego” Norman
Make ‘em Smile
New Song Mission Nicaragua
John 15:13

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T15:04:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter to everyone, may this day bring you each of you great joy! We will be having a special service tonight celebrating Jesus Christ's Resurrection, and are really looking forward to it following our Wednesday night service of His crucifixion.

Hope each of you enjoy this video as well, http://vimeo.com/4109670

It sums up our last couple months mainly focusing on children discipleship and introducing our newest project: youth house/youth dormitory.

We have 4 young people from the states booked and ready to come serve along side us here this summer, and another 5-10 set on coming, just finalizing their dates. They want to live on the land and be with me here in the village building relationships and helping our mission in their own unique ways. Please pray for us to have this house ready at lastest the 1st of June, when our larger summer groups will be here needing a place serve from and rest in.

I love you all, and Happy Easter!!!
Jim Bob / Diego
John 15:13

Tommy and Linda's Easter Email:

May the Resurrection Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ live in us all in surprising ways. We are seeing the lives of many children and young people be the focus of Gods heart now.
This 4 minute photo Story update will fill you in: http://vimeo.com/4109670

It is interesting to see God preparing many young people to come and live in our community for extended periods of time. We are working on the youth house toward completion by June for our first team to stay in. We love to see how both, the children and teens here and the young people from the US experience life changing results as they spend time together.Tommy will be in the States the first 3 weeks of May. If you would like him to come and visit, speak or tell old jokes just let us know!!

We love you all!!!
Tommy and Linda

MakemSmile NSMN Spring 2009

2009-03-23T09:03:00.000-07:00

HAPPY SPRING 2009! Hope your weather is improving there, and if your not happy with it come down and visit us in Nicaragua where it's 75-95 24 hours a day!

Hello to everyone...and sorry i have been so out of touch...living on the land 6.5-7 days a week now has me pretty busy...I am hoping soon to put together some reports and videos to send back of a lot of the exciting things going on here right now. We are all extremely busy making a lot of changes in the mision right now, but know these changes will benefit God's kingdom in time. I love and miss you all and will be back in the states for the first week-10 days of August.

The biggest things I hope to share more with you all on ASAP, as they are things I have found myself doing mostly with the mission include:
6 members of my family and 4 members of FBC Boone spending the first 8 days of February here helping get kids in school, supplying sunday school materials, playing soccer/volleyball, medical clinic, visiting homes, holding finance meetings, praying, and much much more..and of course visiting with me!
Sending 250 children/youth to school with full uniforms, shoes, backpacks, notebooks, and other school supplies thanks to the 22Fifty Project and School Fund contributions throughout February...our goal of $7,000.00 was matched and then some with around $8,200.00 donated..The $1,200.00 is saved with our adopt-a-family fund. Thanks to everyone of you and Praise God!
Having 25 families adopted through adopt-a-family now, where families are being supported throughtout the whole school year, and excited to have contact with their US families
Having 10 youth sponsered to take University and Trade School classes for the entire 2009 School Year
Handing out over 1500 shoeboxes from Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child in the past 3 weekends to 6 communties
Seeing progress made to the youth house and my future bedroom on the church property
About 4 US teams/groups on short term missions changing lives, giving time, and donating in many unique ways who have already visited us in 2009, with April, June, July, and August filling up very fast!!!

I want to Thank God and all of you for your help in all these areas and for those of you wondering our missions current needs, or my specific project needs:

Youth House / my future bedroom / short term missions dorm construction...This project will need $10,000.00 which I have received $1,000.00 towards.
Adopt-a-Family....we have 25 families adopted, but still need sponsors for another 50 familes in Candelaria and 25 families in La Isla/Guanacastal

Please let me know anyways you would like to help us here, or anything you would like more details on what God has been doing here thus far in 2009...If nothing else, I'd love an email back simply saying hey from any of you who like me, feel like we haven't had any contact this year.

Love and miss you all, hope our paths cross in August...May God Bless you, your family, your church, and everything else this Spring!

In Christ's Love,
James "Jim Bob / Diego" Norman
Make 'em Smile
New Song Mission Nicaragua
John 15:13

This past Thursday we celebrated 7 years of the church and start of NSMN..Linda put together the following video and short message! What a blessing it has been to be a part of this for the past 13 months. Really hope to see more of you down here and involved when your time allows,
Hoping to make some videos of all the things I listed above as my time allows!!!

http://vimeo.com/3798219 to watch the Photostory

We invite you to celebrate with us all that God has done in 7th years in the community He has blessed us with. If you have been following us we are blessed by your love!!! Thank you all for joining with God and us to see His work increase here.

We love you, Tommy and Linda

http://vimeo.com/3568386 THE CLINIC BUILDING IS COMPLETE and we have had 2 clinics so far in 2009 in the beautiful building God has supplied!!!

Will Update SOON!

2009-02-25T15:23:00.004-08:00

I promise i will update what has happened here since mid January SOON!! The Barnums were here, my family and other FBC Boone friends, and the Cannons.

I have not had time to do any blogging as I have been super busy with this school fund project..which was a huge success and would love for you to read the pre-draft report below.

Once feb is fully over I'll update the numbers for a formal report and get it out to everyone.

Hope all is well with you and yours!
Jim Bob / Diego
John 15:13

PRAISE GOD for Education

2009-02-25T15:23:00.001-08:00

Coming towards the end of February, I have put together all of the adopt-a-family, school, and 22Fifty Project funds between December 1, 2008 and today (Feb. 25, 2009).

First and foremost, Thanks be to God, for seeing these children’s school needs met. In the past 3 months, we have been blessed with just under $8,000.00 designated to this specific need.
We had $1,430.00 given between December 1, 2008 and January 19, 2009, when I estimated that we would need another $5,000.00 to see over 200 children supplied with backpack, notebooks, pencils, uniforms, and shoes.

This is when I put together bulk emails and created an event on Facebook asking for people to adopt families and donate monthly, or send 1-time amounts for uniforms and supplies. We let the villagers know that we would meet whatever needs we could with the funds God would supply before the first day of classes, February 3, 2009. And ask for them to pray, for God to meet this need.

In the 10 days from January 21-30, we had $2,545.00 contributed and that amount, with the existing $1,430.00, allowed us to supply some needs before school started. On Sunday, February 1, 2009 we were able to bless 230 children with a backpack, 3 notebooks, a pen, and a pencil. Of these, 80 of our adopted children also received uniforms and shoes.

Feeling that God was not done here, I put together the 22Fifty Project in hopes to purchase every child a uniform and shoes. We estimated that buying uniforms and shoes in bulk for 150 students would cost about $22.50 per child. This was a 4 week project running from January 31-February 28, and it has seen a great response. This project was estimated at $22.50 x 150 students equaling a goal of $3,375.00. To date, the 22Fifty Project has brought in $3,971.10, and will run 3 more days to finish out February 2009.

In conclusion, the school fund promotion that started January 21, 2009 has been a great success, and proof of God’s faithfulness. Our goal of $5,000.00 was met and passed with Him supplying us a total of $6,516.10!

We are going to purchase the other 150 uniforms and shoes this week. Any money left after these purchases will be put into the adopt-a-family fund, to give it a solid 2 month base heading into 2009.

God Bless all of you that have prayed for and given to this effort. I will do a complete update (after Feb. 28), make a video/photo story, and send personal letters out in the first week of March. Thanks to each of you that were a part of making this a reality.

God Bless,
James “Jim Bob / Diego” Norman
Make ‘em Smile & New Song Mission Nicargaua
John 15:13

School Funds & Uniform Needs

2009-01-26T09:28:00.000-08:00

I have worked this weekend to see where we're at with Adopt-a-Family, and put together all of the contributions towards sending our Sunday school children to school February 3rd.

At this time we have the amount of money to send 70 children to school; this includes all of the children of adopted families, and children of our church servants including: pastors, garden workers, and prayer warriors.

Therefore, we are short 130 children that have been faithful all year long coming to Sunday school. In the past couple of days, people have made 1-time contributions towards sending children to school as February is the month with are most expenses for education. Some people are adopting families, but other have emailed saying they do not feel they can commit to a full year, and they have sent 1-time donations towards getting more kids uniforms, shoes, and school supplies.

I am asking you each to pray and pass this on to any other contacts who might be interested in helping send our villagers to school when we pass out supplies on Sunday, February 1, 2009. We cannot take money from any other funds, as the general fund is just even to pay the February payroll, so we are hurting to think how many children will be standing empty handed next Sunday.

Checks cannot make it to Atlanta in time for our upcoming wire, so I am asking you to please login to the website and make an online payment if God is touching your heart to help send our children to school. Any donation made before February 1, 2009 will be very helpful, but even better would be receiving them before Tuesday, January 27, 2009 so that they can make our next wire. You would be amazed what just $10.00 would do from 20 of you. All contributions are tax-exempt as New Song Mission Nicaragua is a recognized NGO in both the USA and Nicaragua.

You can follow this link, create an account, and mark your contribution for School Fund or Uniforms..if this option is not yet on the site make it for the General Fund then email me that it is for the school fund!

https://www.newsongmissionnicaragua.com/mynewsong

Thanks for your interest in partnering with us in 2009 to see God's Kingdom grow here in Northwest Nicaragua.

In Christ,
James "Jim Bob / Diego" Norman
Make 'em Smile & New Song Mission Nicaragua
John 15:13

Starting 2009

2009-01-19T11:17:00.000-08:00

SCROLL DOWN TO SEE LAST WEEKS POSTS!

Greetings from Nicaragua and Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a good holiday season with family and friends regardless of America's current financial situation. I had a different holiday season, but it was very enjoyable. I spent December 24th and 25th with families of my co-workers, and the 31st in the park with a lot of the youth group.

I missed not being able to spend this time with my family, but 5 members will be here the first week of February. 5 friends are coming with them making a group of 10, and room for 1000 pounds of donations. If you have anything that you think we can use here, please be in touch with me so that they can pack it and bring down January 31, 2009.

First I want to say thank God that we finished 2008 with some much needed and unexpected donations. With Christmas and America in such financial trouble, the mission was really struggling the last 10 weeks of the year, and we were afraid we would never catch up. But God is so faithful, and we want to praise him for providing everything we needed in literally the last 3 days of 2008 to get us even. We are ready to push-off that strong finish and accelerate through 2009, in a year that our mission team feels is going to be an amazing season of growth for our mission here and God’s Kingdom as a whole in Northwest Nicaragua.

I find it very hard to believe that tomorrow is the 1-year anniversary of when I put foot on this beautiful country for the first time, Jan. 10th, 2008, not knowing what God had ahead of me. In this year, I have learned a lot and hopefully taught something as well. I have made many new friends, of all ages and backgrounds, and would not want to be anywhere else.
In 2009, I am really focusing on serving New Song Mission Nicaragua with the youth, 15-25 year olds. I am also overseeing the Adopt-a-Family project, and the further education of the young people. School will start back here on February 3rd, for ages 3-18, and the trade school and college classes begin in March.

I am praying for, and asking for each of you to pray for, helping these people in their education. The Adopt-a-Family program is for helping children ages 3-18 in preschool-high school with their most basic school needs. For $35.00 a month you can help an entire family cover their uniform, shoes, school supplies, and any health issues that keep them out of classes. This can be paid monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or yearly; whatever is easiest for you. It can also be withdrawn online, so there is no pressure on you to remember each month. To learn more about this please view the promotion video here: http://vimeo.com/2436461 or see the families here: http://www.newsongmissionnicaragua.com/adoptafamily/

The further education program is for the kids that have graduated from high school and want to study in trade schools or universities. We currently have 5 young adults studying in areas including: Agricultural, Accounting, English, and Psychology. We have 10 others that are hoping to get sponsored with interests in Business, Computer Skills, English, Mechanics, and Welding.
Depending on which trade school or university sponsorship with transportation ranges from $30.00-$100.00 a month. To learn more about this please view the promotion video here: http://vimeo.com/2434042 or email me at: jimbobnorman@gmail.com

In these programs, as well as all of our programs, the sponsorship is much more than just sending money monthly. Building relationships with these children and their families, keeping contact with them thru emails, or even making visits are recommended. Keeping them motivated to become more than the generations behind them and helping them beat the oppression of poverty is our ultimate goal while teaching them real love and Christian community.

Other personal projects I have for the beginning of 2009, are raising money to complete the youth house, and the church building. I need internet on the land to keep contact with the states and to hopefully soon, allow adopted children to make more contact with their American sponsors. I want to see more groups making short term mission trips here to start building relationships with these people and seeing how they live. All of these goals can be seen in the promotion videos as well here: http://vimeo.com/user1005962/videos/sort:oldest/format:detail
There are 12 different chapters, with the mentioned goals above in the videos titled: Pastors, Youth, and US Teams.

If you are feeling led to help us in any way please visit us online at http://www.newsongmissionnicaragua.com/, you can login there and pay easily with credit card, or you can send a check to:
New Song Mission Nicaragua
3355 Old Jonesboro Road
Fairburn GA, 30213

Please memo your check, or choose from the pull down menu online, for how you want it to be used, and remember all donations are tax-exempt. If you are sending monthly towards a project or pastors salary, PLEASE get these in the mail by the 20th of each month or done online by the 24th of each month, as it takes a few days to go through Atlanta and wired to us in time to do payrolls the 1st of every month. We cannot distribute any money out that we do not have, and wait for the wire the following month, so getting things before the 1st is very important.

To keep up with things here on a day-to-day basis, please visit my blog at: http://makemsmile.blogspot.com/ ...as of now I usually update weekly, but God willing I will have internet this month in the village where I can update every night.

Thanks for your interest in partnering with us in 2009 to see God’s Kingdom grow here in Northwest Nicaragua. I hope to see some of you here this year. May God bless you and yours this year regardless of the hard times America is facing. I love and miss you all!

In Christ,
James “Jim Bob / Diego” Norman
Make ‘em Smile & New Song Mission Nicaragua
John 15:13

Sending Larry, Running Errands, Receiving Linda

2009-01-14T21:40:00.000-08:00

Sergio, Brittany, and I went to Managua this morning around 11 to take Larry to the airport. He had a good 2 weeks here and got a lot of things done for the mission. He spoke 2 great sermons in the village, that I think were very well received, and I really enjoyed. He got a lot of things on the truck fixed including: insurance updated, permanent bars on the back, tires, steering, and lights fixed. Spiritually, he led pastor Jose's brother to Christ in what looks to be his final days here on earth, and has raised some interest for Christianity in our money changer. Of course, he kept us all laughing with many jokes, treated us to eat more than enough times, and held down the Gables house/mission office as well.

After dropping Larry at the airport, we got lunch and started on some of our errands. I found out it will be at least another week before I can get internet in the village, but we think we're making progress. I purchased a ceiling fan and light for my room in the youth house, and we got some prices for some lights, fans, tile etc for the bakery. We went and let Brittany see the lagoon behind a nice restuarant in Managua and with a few hours left to spend before Linda's flight came in we went to the mall. We went and saw the newest Jim Carrey movie, Yes Man, which was very entertaining.

We got Linda from the airport a little after 9 and made it back to Leon safely around 11. She was very excited to be back, and also very excited to share with us about her time in the states.

Beach & Birthday Party

2009-01-13T21:35:00.000-08:00

We had Bible Study in the morning, and then there were no other real plans on the day, so I told Brittany we could bus to the beach and then we had been invited to a birthday party in Leon.

With only 3 days left in her trip and Wednesday already being scheduled as a day in Managua, she was happy to take a beach day.

We got there around noon, and had lunch, played some more cards, and visited. We hungout for the afternoon and after sunset bussed back into Leon.

Eveling, the 13 year old daughter of Oneda, and grand-daughter of Viky, from my favorite Leon comedor had invited us to their house for the night for her party. When I was living in Leon, I would go and visit them almsot weekly at their house some nights and really love this family. It was fun to see some of the same friends I had met from Alejandra's birthday back in July, and the food and cake was good of course.

Monday, Monday, Monday

2009-01-12T21:29:00.000-08:00

We had breakfast at Consuelo's house late Monday morning, as there are no Monday morning plans and had planned to sleep in. Consuelo's goat had 2 baby girls Sunday afternoon and they were trying to learn how to walk in the morning.

We spent some time up until lunch just visiting in the clinic and listening to music. We returned to Conseulo's for lunch, and Brittany brought her hair straightener to play with the grand daughters. After lunch she stayed around a few hours with them, and took more pictures.

Carlos came out and had drama practice in the afternoon while I did some undistured computer work in the clinic. Anthony hungout with Brittany and taught her how to make bracelets.

We went to the park in ChiChiGalpa for the night and had dinner, played cards, and just hung out, before returning to the property and bringing Itzel down to stay in the clinic with Brittany.

Larry Preaches Another Great Service

2009-01-11T21:20:00.000-08:00

Marvin and Anthony came into Leon in the morning by bus to see if Brittany was feeling better. They hung out with us until we headed out in the afternoon for evening service.

Larry prached his sermon titled "One Bath, Many Footwashings" with scripture from John 13:3-15. He preached about how we do not need to be baptized over and over, and that after we become Christians we will still sin, but we do not have to be re-baptized. This message is very important here as so many people think that they earn God's love, or earn their way into heaven with good deeds. They feel like God loves them today because of all the non-worldly things they did, but tomorrow he won't love them if they have faults. Church attendance was very good, with probably around 100 total in attendance, 70 or so over 13 years old.

Brittany stayed with Itzel over night as she thinks her cough has passed, and wants to finish out her trip spending as much time as possible in the village.

Some Weekend Rest

2009-01-10T21:13:00.000-08:00

Brittany had planned to share with the youth in the Friday night youth service, but she has had a cough bothering her some, and it got a lot worse today. She decided to stay back in Leon, and I went out for youth with a DVD copy of Alex Campos' testimony that Carlos let me borrow. The youth really enjoyed hearing this after seeing him in concert just a couple months back, and it was a nice change in pace for a Friday night.

Saturday morning I went with Eduardo, Daniel, Jairo, and Rigoberto to Nuevo Amanecer for a special kids service. They had praise music, a clown, and a few pinatas as a kickoff to 2009. It was a lot of fun being there to see how much that community is growing with some of the local men in Candelaria reaching out to minister there.

I headed back to Leon for the afternoon as Brittany was still not feeling well enough to be in the village, nor wanting to spread anything to anyone else. We watched the NFL games and took some time to relax.

Hanging Out & Straightening Hair

2009-01-08T21:08:00.000-08:00

Thursday morning we had Bible Study and Erick, who is one of our male leaders and youth Sunday school teachers came down to help lead. We had about 10 kids there and afterwards we had a pretty chill day.

Brittany brought her hair straightener so the girls all took turns letting her straighten their hair and then take a lot of pictures. We also spent a couple hours visiting with Conseulo and her family in the afternoon.

We came back to Leon for the night and had a good dinner at Hollywood Pizza and had shared some great conversation on the attitudes and things we notice in the youth, and how much we really want to get them to grow out of that.

Leon, La Isla, Bethel, and Candelaria

2009-01-07T10:12:00.000-08:00

Wednesday morning we had staff meeting and then Oscar and I worked more on finances. I also took some time to do more internet work. Brittany went with Yahaira, her sister, and other friend to their English school that Oscar's brother, Alvaro teaches. She had a lot of fun with them and has plans to go back Friday and teach again.

After class, she hung out with them and gave them each gifts that she had brought to donate. They practiced more English phrases and had girl time. They did some dances and straightened each others hair, did make-up etc. etc. We had lunch together at Viky's and then all headed out to the village.

Oscar, Larry, and us went to visit Pastor Pablo in La Isla and started gathering information about getting insurance and a driver's licsense for his motorcycle. Larry prayed for his work and family this coming year, as his church, Pinnacle is the support for La Isla.

Then we went to visit Pastor Jose in Bethel, as he has a brother that is very sick. We visited with the family and Larry led Pastor Jose's brother to the Lord. His kidneys are failing and he will probably pass away in the next week, but praise God as he became a Christian today.

Brittany, Deyaniara, and I went back to Candelaria for the evening service. All of the youth were very happy to see Brittany back. Service went well, and was pretty full, with around 70 children, youth, and adults. Brittany ate with me at Consuelo's and then Deyaniara stayed with her in the clinic for the night.

Brittany Makes It (Finally)

2009-01-06T10:01:00.000-08:00

We had our first Bible Study in a while this morning, with Yahaira's exam schedule and the holidays throwing some of us off schedule we didn't meet for a couple Tuesday or Thursdays. I combined Saul's verses and message from Friday night with Larry's from Sunday and we talked about them deeper.

Each person defined what each word of the 9 fruits of the spirit meant to them and shared how they are important. We also talked about things that we should forget and never forget in our Christian walks. Each person had time to share things they have trouble forgetting and remembering that they are hoping to improve this year.

After bible study I bussed to Managua to get Brittany, and this time she made it, but the flight was an hour late. I am just glad she made it, after the trouble Saturday. We got back to Leon, had dinner with Oscar, and enjoyed fellowship.

Half Workday Monday

2009-01-05T09:50:00.000-08:00

I worked with Oscar, and on the phone to Atlanta in the morning to get a grip on our final donations of 2008. Thank God we had some much needed prayers answered financially to close out 2008 even, and ready to move foward in 2009.

I went out with Yahaira and Carlos in the afternoon for drama practice, and I took some time to straighten up the clinic and rest in the afternoon. For the night, there was nothing planned but some of the youth came and we looked at some of the newest pictures and videos of things we have done in past month.

It was a very peaceful night, visting with 4-5 youth and then spending some time with Consuelo's family as well.

Larry Visits & Preaches

2009-01-04T09:36:00.000-08:00

I spent the morning doing a lot of computer and internet things, and got to watch 1.5 more of the Wild Card NFL games before Sergio, Larry, and I headed out.

Larry got sometime before service started to visit with some old friends and see how some of the projects are progressing on the land since his last trip here in May. He took a lot of pictures of the goats project his son supports, and some of the clinic, bakery, house, etc.

In the evening Pastor Walter led service with Daniel and Rigo leading worship. Rigoberto also took the kids out and Larry preached. He shared a message based from verses 43:18 & 46:9 in Isaiah; where we are told to forget the former things and then 3 chapters later remember the former things. He went on, with a lot of scripture support of what things God wishes we would forget, and not continually dwell on, and then on the other side what things God wants us to never forget, and how He is God.

The service was very well attended as they have been in the past week or so. We have 70-80 people in the weekday services and right at 100 or a little more on Saturday and Sunday night services. I came back for the night with plans to work with Oscar on our year-ending finances tomorrow.

Brittany's Overbooked Flight

2009-01-03T09:32:00.000-08:00

I woke-up and did a few things in the village before heading into Leon mid-day to head on to Managua and pick up my friend Brittany McManus from the airport, who was set to arrive at 3:00 PM. Luckily before I got on the local transportation for Managua, Larry called me and let me know that Brittany had told him that there was a problem with her flight and she would not be coming in today so I did not make a pointless trip. Thank God for looking out for me and getting me that message, literally 15 minutes before I wasted 4-5 hours this afternoon.

I got in touch with Brittany, and found out that all the flights from Miami-Managua are overbooked with people returning after the holidays, and she will have to wait until Tuesday to fly down. We are both pretty upset as her original trip was going to be 5 weeks, but with a new job her trip was shortened to 2 weeks and now 10 days.

In the afternoon, I did some catching up with Leon-side mission work and got to watch the 2 Wild Card NFL games, which were both very entertaining. I will be here for the night and head out for service tomorrow with Sergio and Larry, as he is preaching the next two Sunday night services.

Leadership Meeting & 4th Youth Service

2009-01-02T09:20:00.000-08:00

With Larry getting work done to the truck in Leon, Sergio couldn't come out until later in the afternoon so I did my best talking with the Candelaria leadership about our plans for 2009. We shared our goals for starting a new year, and I took time to explain how things work as far as only able to do projects and make payrolls when the money comes in, and can only pay out to where donations are designated, for example which pastor or project is tagged.

We spoke about how we will be only meeting the needs of the church community this year,and want to encourage more people to be apart of everything we are doing, especially the services, not just receiving when someone is here distributing goods. We spent time praying for the spiritual side of the mission and the physical side of projects for 2009. Each pastor picked different parts of our fund raising to pray about as well to close our meeting.

We had another good youth service of the 15-20 serious young people. Kervin and 2 of his friends shared Christian Reggaeton specials along with our videos and Daniel's worship in the first 45 mintues. Then Saul shared a message on living in the light and fully becoming a Christian with the 9 fruits of the spirit from Galations chapter 5.

I challenged each of the youth to pray for God to make them a 100% Christian in 2009, and not a lukewamr Christian with daily ups and downs for how interested they are in the Bible and church. Yahaira closed the service with a very powerful prayer, and Joel rejoined the youth group and church.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T09:14:00.000-08:00

Last night some of the youth and I went to the park to bring in New Years, it was really packed with some ferris wheels, photo booths, and other attractions brought in for the night. At 12:00 AM everyone lights a tube sock and newspaper stuffed dummy in front of their houses to say goodbye to the past year. Very different for me, but fun to watch I guess.

We did not have Bible study this morning with everyone staying up late last night, but we hung out later in the morning and in afternoon made a trip to the swimming pool.

At night, I took Nubia out to eat in Chichigalpa and we got ice cream afterwards. Her birthday passed on the 28th, so I was a few days late, but it was fun to thank her for all the translation help she has given me over past couple months when I've needed it.

Where Did 2008 Go?

2008-12-31T11:15:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe a whole year has passed since I finished college, and almost a full year has passed since my first trip here.

Andres, Anthony, and I are hanging in Leon until Sergio gets done working with Oscar. We will head out to take these guys back and check on everything at the house and bakery soon.

Larry, Oscar, and Sergio are going to get dinner and pass some time for New Years in Leon, but I have plans to hang with the youth and stay the night in Candelaria. I think we will go to the park then maybe come back and hang together as midnight passes. Not sure how many will actually make it til midnight including myself, but we will see.

Hope each of you has a great time, and safe time, tonight bringing in 2009. I'll hope to update again when I get back to Leon next week, and hopefully soon I'll be online in the village.

In Christ,
Jim Bob / Diego
John 15:13

Working to Finish Out the Year

2008-12-30T11:03:00.000-08:00

Scarleth, Oscar, Sergio, and I got together at the Gables house this morning with the money changers and got payroll ready as soon as possible. Every year they like to get people paid before the 31st, because New Years is a time to have a special time at the park or with family.

We got things done and everyone paid in the afternoon, only a few hours after we said we would be there, but at least it was taken care of. Larry stayed behind in Leon and spent time with Marcela. As Oscar got everyone paid and signed off, Sergio and I had meetings with some of the pastors and leadership in the clinic waiting room.

We came back into Leon in the afternoon, and I brought Andres and Anthony along for a video/chat Skype date with the World Race girls in London. They enjoyed that and then we had dinner and visited Sergio and Scarleth's houses.

We had hoped to play video games, but the PlayStation I think because of dust, is not reading discs...we watched Liar Liar and played on the internet instead.

Manauga Errands & Larry Sellers

2008-12-29T10:49:00.000-08:00

Sergio, Scarleth, and I spent Monday morning getting things done in the village and came back to Leon early afternoon. Sergio and I went on to Managua to run errands in the afternoon before Larry Sellers flight came in at 8:30.

We went to Claro to see about a new USB hookup that has come out for a good price to maybe get internet at the church at Candelaria, but it is was sold out. We went to 3 other stores and they are sold out too, but we did enough research on the modem to think it will work for me to have internet from the village, so I am hoping to buy one in the first week of the new year once more stores have them in stock.

We also went to compare prices and sizes of freezers for the bakery that is going to be opening when school starts back in February. The Gables air conditioner has been acting up for the last couple weeks, and they dont have the fix for it in Leon, so we took the control part of it to a guy Sergio knows in Managua that can hopefully get it fixed soon.

I also went and talked with the international phone company, about the Barnums phone ringing busy or having no dial tone in and out for the past couple weeks.

To pass our last couple hours we spent time walking around the mall and visiting a couple more Claro stores. We ate at the food court, and I had Quizno's for the first time I think in 2008. It was the highlight of my holidays. Larry made it in on time and got all of his luggage through. We all got back to Leon around 11:00 ready for bed.

Cooking Buñuelos

2008-12-28T10:35:00.000-08:00

We had a full crowd for Sunday school, and the new chairs that Julia bought are being put to good use. We have 3 new Sunday school teachers from the youth group. Kenia and Jessica are helping with the girls ages 6-8, and Bianca is helping Rigoberto with the boys ages 3-8.

In the afternoon, I learned to cook buñuelos with Katherine, Itzel, and their mom. Buñuelos are fritters of a mainly Spanish origin. They are a popular snack in man Latin American countries, and are made differently across the world. In Nicaragua, they are made by deep frying yucca and cheese, then covered in honey/syrup.

I bought yucca from the garden and got cheese, oil, and cheese from a little store just up the street from their house. For a couple hours in the afternoon we prepared and cooked them, spending time joking and playing. We made way more than the four of us could "healthily" eat so we shared them with some neighbors and Consuelo's family.

Pastrana led evening service and Pastor Walter preached from 2 Timothy. Daniel and Rigoberto led worship on keyboard and drums. Yorlene and 2 of the older church members each sang a special. There was a baby dedication to close the service. We had all 100 chairs out of the bodega and a few benches in the back of the church setup for service, and almost all were filled with kids, youth, and adults.

Ana's Food Distribution

2008-12-27T10:20:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning Ana Saravia, and the Leon team came out to distribute the food that she and her friends in Miami donated. 133 familes from 6 different communities received a bag of rice, beans, oil, and salt. It was done very orderly with the pastors calling the names of each person from their community that were put on lists earlier in the week. Each person dropped their ticket with the pastors as their name was called and crossed off. We had a table across the clinic entrance with 3 people working inside and 3 more outside. Walter opened the event with a prayer and Ana had some closing words. It was great to see the pastors and leadership put together such an orderly way for distributing.

In the evening service, Pastrana led church and Erick preached. Church attendance was around 40 people, with half of the congregation age 20 or under, which is normal numbers for about all non-Sunday services. Kervin led worship, as Daniel had a night off, after being in the village almost every day this week.

3rd Youth Service

2008-12-26T10:09:00.000-08:00

We got out to Candelaria in the afternoon and I had a meeting with the youth leaders before starting our third night of Friday services. We all agreed that we are enjoying the small number, with interested and involved young people. Every week a few are sharing music, drama, or bible veres and we are rotating who shares the message.

We started with around 30, but dropped to around 20 once we got to worship and the message, which has been normal since changing to a more serious service. Daniel led worship with Kenia singing. Kervin, and 2 of his friends from Chichigalpa shared 3 Chrisitan rap specials.

Itzel shared a message on God as our father. With emphasis on how many of our young people have been abandoned by their fathers, and some by both parents , but once they accept God as their father he will be with them forever. She shared verses from Psalms and Romans. She also had a music video with scenes from Passion of the Christ, that was very moving. Yahaira closed the service with prayer.

Nicaraguan Christmas

2008-12-25T22:00:00.000-08:00

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I spent time in Leon hanging out with Ana, Scarleth, Leo, Oscar, Sergio, and Francis. I have called a lot of friends and family and also done a lot of cath-up work here that I can't do from the village without internet.

I spent Christmas Eve with Sergio's family and we had dinner at his uncles house. It was a large family gathering and it felt great passing time with a family, even though mine is far away.

On Christmas day, we spent a full day at the beach. Sergio, and a lot of his cousins, Francis - Oscar, Jennifer, and Yairo - Scarleth, Leo, and 2 of their friends - and myself all packed a lunch and went to Poneloya. We stayed all afternoon and enjoyed a lot of time in the water. It wasn't very crowded and the weather was great.

Tomorrow I'll be back in the village for the first time in 5 days, it has been a good break, but I can't wait to get back. I hope each of you had a great Christmas as well.

God Bless and enjoy the last few days of 2008 with your families.
Jim Bob / Diego
John 15:13

Children's Christmas Party

2008-12-21T13:08:00.000-08:00

On Sunday morning, the youth and I finished getting things setup for the childrens Christmas party joint Sunday school activity. Quitanka and Nuevo Amanecer came with almost 300 kids and then 250 or so were there from Candelaria.

Yahaira, Saul, Rigoberto, and Daniel led the activity with games, contests, and singing. The other youth helped us trying to keep kids back and organized. There was a Little Miss Christmas Pagent with each Sunday school teacher having 1 student in the contest. This made for a field of about 10, with the top 3 receiving teddy bears and shampoo, soap products.

After these games and contests all the kids got a flavored milk, either chocolate or strawberry and then we had 4 pinatas. The first pinata was for children under 5 and the 2nd for children 6-8. The 9-10 year olds had their own pinata, and the last one was for kids 11-13. We had all the youth trying to make sure only the righrt age groups participated in each pinata and entertained the others when it wasn't their turn. We also did our best to keep people from getting hurt when the rush for the candy took place. I saw as many youth getting knocked over and run over, as kids.

Afterwards we delivered 2 pinatas to La Isla for their afternoon party and headed back to Leon. I was excited to get back and see the Steelers game and Panthers game in hopes they could each win and clinch first place and homefield. They both let me down, but I was glad to see the games.

Saturday Preparations

2008-12-20T12:47:00.000-08:00

Water is still out here, and Rigoberto and Alfredo had plans to visit in Quitanka, so I spent sometime this morning biking water to Consuelo’s house. Then I took time for myself in the clinic and got some things done on the computer.

In the afternoon, Scarleth and Sergio brought out the things we needed for the Sunday school Christmas party and we had soup at Consuelo’s house. We visited with their family for a while and then Scarleth and Sergio went to run some errands in Chinadega.

I spent some time at Itzel’s house and talked with her about how she feels with our smaller numbers in Friday night youth service. She said that she had heard some people thinking it was boring, or more like a church service so that’s why they had not come. She and Jose both agreed that it is more like a service, how we want it to be, and for the ones that are serious it is not boring. They loved the worship and the drama, dance, rap specials we have. We are thinking that it is moving in a positive direction with small numbers and it is the start to something.

Jairo preached in the night service, and afterwards about six of the youth helped decorate the church with curtains and balloons for tomorrow’s Christmas party. They are planning to lead different games and contests and then keep order in the piñatas. We are expecting around 500 kids from age 2-13, with anyone over 13 helping keep order and leading the activity.

Friday Thoughts & Youth Night

2008-12-19T12:46:00.000-08:00

I spent Friday morning visiting with Itzel, Katherine, Jose, Kenia, and Jessica about the jealousy problems in our youth group. Some issues from the past, and then again last night at service, have caused our youth group to have little clichés of friendships that do not and will not talk with each other or even be near each other in service. The people here think of friends as possessions and then when you put time into other people they get their feelings hurt. Other girls, and sometimes the boys, specifically say that when they want to talk or hangout with Sergio, Tommy, Daniel, or I people in other groups of friends tell them they are only their friends, or they don’t like you like they do us, etc. etc. The problem is usually between one person and another person, but they get their whole group involved so that it becomes 10 people that won’t associate with anyone from the other 10 people. Please pray for us, as they try and tell us it is our own fault for doing things with someone to bless them, or being closer with someone means that you don’t love anyone else. This all goes back to the kids coming from such broken homes and never being loved, so they cannot understand real love and friendships. They are so quick to get their feelings hurt and show bad attitudes toward us and even more towards each other.

Sergio and I met with the leadership in the afternoon and they seem to be doing pretty well. They are also dealing with some jealousy issues not between each other, but by other church members who all have their own opinions about the leadership. We let them know what things Tommy and Linda passed on to Sergio to share with them, and our schedule for the upcoming week.

We had our second youth service Friday night and only around twenty people were there. At first, we all felt kind of down by how empty things looked, but as the service continued we found out what a blessing it was to have a service with 20 people who really care about worshipping and listening to the word, with prayer and interactive discussion. Everyone was well behaved and you could feel God’s presence throughout the service. I think that this smaller number with 15 serious and interested youth out of the total 20 is where we can really get stronger and grow, compared to having 40 there with 25 being distractions.

Yucca & Quitanka Service

2008-12-18T12:45:00.000-08:00

Thursday morning I led bible study, challenging the youth to really start reading their bibles other than just when in Bible study and church services. I want them to spend time reading, thinking about what they read, and then in time applying it to their lives. We are trying to concentrate right now on Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” At their ages, they are so easy to just make quick decisions for their own wants, and not taking time to pray about them or think how a decision today can affect them next week, or the rest of their life.

In the afternoon, I got some more things sold of the clothes in the clinic and spent time visiting with the garden workers. I made this video of the yucca harvest, and the workers have really pleased Scarleth and Linda by keeping records of all their sales.

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Pastrana planned a joint service for the evening in Quitanka, the community he serves behind Candelaria. They trucked in around forty people from Candelaria and another twenty from Nuevo Amanecer. The service went from 6:00-10:30 with a lot of music and drama participation by young people from each village. Pastor Walter preached from 2 Peter, and Daniel shared testimony on having faith in God, when his daughter almost drowned. There were five new decisions for Christ including 3 people under 20 years old.

Seeing Gables Off

2008-12-17T12:44:00.000-08:00

In the morning, we went to Viky’s and got breakfast and did a few other errands in Leon. Kenia and Itzel went with Sergio and I to get the food for Consuelo’s for the week while Oscar, Tommy, and Linda met at the office.

In the afternoon, we had our staff meeting to make sure that we are clear on everything to take care of while the Gables are in the states. We also discussed things for how we hope to better the mission in 2009. The girls had some time to hangout with Tommy, Linda and Julia for their last day here.

Julia, Yahaira, and the other girls rode out with Sergio and I around 5:00 PM. Julia said bye for the last time, and they headed back to Leon. Pastrana led the Wednesday night service with Daniel and Rigoberto leading music. Erick, who teaches the youth Sunday school class and has been attending Tommy’s leadership, preached for the first time.

Tuesday Trip to Leon

2008-12-16T12:43:00.000-08:00

Yahaira led bible study and then went with Julia and I for lunch at Consuelo’s. Kenia and Itzel wanted to see Tommy and Linda again before their trip to the States and Tommy said they could come in for the night in Leon so they bussed back with me in the afternoon. When we got to Leon, they walked around with me to pay all the bills for the Barnum’s house and enjoyed ice cream.

In the afternoon we were able to skype with the girls from world race in London. They had a webcam so we could see and hear them, they could only hear us, but Itzel and Kenia loved it, for about two hours. They also took naps, so I got to do some internet work while waiting and Tommy and Linda to get back from Granada and be with the girls. We went with Sergio and Francis to eat at Solera, and the girls enjoyed the live music.

Monday Drama & Rest

2008-12-15T12:42:00.000-08:00

Water is out here so the land is packed with people coming down to use the public well. All morning people have been getting what they need for their morning and afternoon cooking, bathing, and washing needs.

Carlos, Julia, and Yahaira came out for the afternoon and Carlos led drama and dance. They have a new dance and drama they’re getting ready for this coming Friday night. During the time they were practicing I spent some time lying in my hammock and actually feel asleep for a little while. It has been a great addition to my room in the clinic.

Julia stayed out for the night with plans to do bible study with Yahaira in the morning. She made brownies for the guys that stay at the church and a few of the other youth that were hanging out. Itzel and Kenia stayed with Julia in the clinic for the night.

Hammock and God's Must be Crazy

2008-12-14T12:40:00.000-08:00

I grabbed breakfast and spent some time visiting with Consuelo and her family, as I usually do after meals, but think I failed to mention until now. She is one of our church servants, and the grandmother of Eddy Garcia, who passed away 3 weeks ago. She cooks for the boys that stay and guard the church every night, and once I moved out here, I have been eating 3 meals a day with them and her family. She is a great cook, and I love spending time with her kids and grandkids whom are always around.

I went back to the church property and Sunday School had started, so I slipped into the clinic to have some time alone, use the computer, and organize the room some more. I hung my hammock up diagonally across the room so I’ll have a place to rest some afternoons. I plan to still sleep under the church with the guys, but it will be a nice place to sit or lay and rest when I need some me time.

I went to Itzel’s house in the afternoon and spent time with her and her mom. The God’s Must Be Crazy was on TV so we enjoyed that. I even got an hour nap in the guest room of their house before going back down for evening service.

Tommy preached on being Godly and not religious with scriptures in Luke chapters 11 & 12, and Matthew chapter 6. It will be his last message of 2008, as they get ready for a month in the States. We took communion and had a time for prayer and goodbyes for the Gables to close the service.

Clothes Sale & Leadership

2008-12-13T06:04:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning we got all the clothes organized in different rooms of the clinic and started a clothing sale at 9:00 AM. We started by blessing each of our church servants and workers with an outfit and then sold clothes for very cheap to the church community. In the final hours we opened the sale to everyone else. It ran for a little over 4 hours and we raised a little under $100.00. For the rest of the week we are selling everything else for 50 cents in hope to clean out our trunks and get more space in the clinic bodega. All of the money will be used next Sunday, December 21 for a church Christmas party where we will decorate, bust piñatas, and serve refreshments. We want to bless our church body especially the children this holiday season.

Because we missed pastors’ class and leadership training Thursday, Tommy and Linda held a meeting this afternoon for our Candelaria leadership and outreach pastors. We are hoping that everything will run as smooth as possible during the Gables time away with friends and family. Tommy let the men know their roles as leaders and had each of them come up front in the night service.

Tommy shared the importance of male leadership in the home and church with scripture from Acts 20. He let the church know his heart for really outreaching out and building up strong men in our church starting when he gets back in January 2009. Rosa Lara prayed over the leadership Tommy is training and the church seemed to receive the message in a good way. Please pray for all of these men, Sergio, and myself as we work to make this church and community stick together and grow while the Gables are in the States.

Youth Service

2008-12-12T06:03:00.000-08:00

I spent Friday getting things ready for our youth service. Itzel and Jose met with me in the clinic to go over the schedule and assign people to different verses. They also helped me get the clinic clean and ready for tomorrow’s clothing sale.

I spent the afternoon preparing my message and putting together some videos and pictures of some previous youth trips, graduations, and candid photos. Sergio and Tommy had a meeting with some of the Candelaria men that Tommy needs to help serve as leaders in his absence. Carlos and the drama team warmed up and got their final practice in as well.

At 6:30 PM Jose and Itzel welcomed everyone and Yahaira opened in prayer. Julia shared Proverbs 3:4-5 and I challenged everyone to memorize and start living those verses. We had a drama, faith test activity, and praise music led by Daniel, Kervin and Rigoberto. The drama team then shared a dance, followed by videos and more praise and worship.

At 8:00 PM the drama team shared a very touching drama about putting trust in Jesus and Yahaira shared its message, before I preached. I had about 10 of the youth divide up reading the book of Jonah with me sharing after each chapter. I taught on putting all of our trust in God, no matter how crazy we think his request is. We are hoping to see more people reached in Candelaria, even though we see people every day that we don’t think will ever be a part of the church. In May, about 15 of the 30 young people involved in our church were those exact same persons. They have shared in Bible Study’s that they cannot believe some of their friends that are now a part of the church, including themselves. I let them know how different I am from a year ago today and Rigoberto closed us with in powerful prayer. For next week, I am hoping to have others come up front and share their own testimonies in times they made their own choices with results. Then share times they put their trust in God and how he has taken care of them.

Chinadega Teacher Training

2008-12-11T06:02:00.000-08:00

This morning a truck bed full of teachers and leaders were taken to Chinadega for classes and training by Samaritan’s Purse. For the youth that did not go, we had an open discussion Bible Study about making good decisions from Tuesday and Tommy’s Wednesday night message of keeping secrets and hiding from God and each other. I also used this time to get 6 youth that will help Scarleth and I with a clothing sale on Saturday.

Most of Tommy’s pastors and key men were in Chinadega so we did not have class this morning. In the afternoon, the Gables, Julia, and I visited in Santa Matilde. I think it has been almost 3 months since I was last there, and without Friday night youth I haven’t seen any of the kids in a long time either. We visited with Carmen, Griselda, and Margarita for most of the time and then walked around seeing some other friends.

Kervin and Andres lost their grandmother this morning. The wake was at their aunt’s house and started at 7:00 PM. Pastrana and Eduardo led the service with Daniel, Rigoberto, and Kervin sharing music. It was very well attended and I was happy to see all of our youth their supporting Andres and Kervin. The funeral will be tomorrow.

Wednesday Meetings in Leon

2008-12-10T06:02:00.000-08:00

I woke up refreshed and ran a few errands in Leon before heading to the Gables house. I spent some time talking with Tommy and Linda just the 3 of us before staff meeting began. We have been facing some trust issues with some of our leaders and needed some time to share different things we have seen and heard this past week. We really want to get things cleared up before next Wednesday when the Gables will be gone to the states for a month.

We had an extended Bible Study discussing our mission needs and priorities. We got things clear for the time we will be here without the Gables, and began looking into our focus for 2009. Tommy shared a lot of his vision and goals with open discussion for the Leon staff and our Candelaria staff. Linda then shared our schedule for closing out 2008. We are asking everyone to pray with us to get our finances up and even to close out this year. America’s economy has really affected giving towards all missions, including NewSong. For the last 2 months payrolls have been cut short, and some projects put on hold. We are trusting God to provide what is needed to end out this calendar year.

We all went out for Wednesday night service, with Tommy speaking on living in the light. He is challenging us to not hide things from God or each other in the darkness. For two weeks church attendance has been down, when Tommy has had very important messages. Please pray for the people here to have a heart to learn the scriptures and be a part of a loving Christian community.

Tuesday

2008-12-09T06:02:00.000-08:00

Tuesday morning Yahaira and Julia led a great Bible Study on making good decisions. They talked about the process of making decisions, and how to ask God’s help when we need to do the right things. The youth really listened and interacted for some good discussion and examples.

Carlos came out in the afternoon to lead dance and drama practice. They have a dance and 2 dramas planned for this coming Friday night. Sergio was in Candelaria most of the day seeing over the house construction and clinic progress. Sergio, Julia, and myself all rode back to Leon with Carlos for the night.

I got some emails caught up and had time to talk to my mom on the phone, before falling asleep. I can’t remember the last time I was that tired by 8:00 at night.

Swimming & Friendly Dinner

2008-12-08T06:01:00.000-08:00

Following December 7, Monday is a work-free holiday nationwide so only a few people were even around the church today. A few garden workers came and worked a couple hours, and some of the grounds people showed up in the morning. The girls went home and brought down breakfast, while we sat guard at the property. In the afternoon we planned to go swimming, about 20 of the youth, but people kept changing their mind until it was late afternoon when no one wanted to go. Itzel, Jose, Rigoberto, and I went anyways.

Making a decision here takes forever, and then people change their mind based on what their best friend or cousin wants, so they sit the fence and wait for you to beg them to join. Instead of wasting more time with this, I am working to just inviting everyone and whoever wants to do something joins in.

We had a youth dinner together at Cony and Jessica’s house. The two of them and Daniel planned for about 10 of us to pitch in some money and have a meal together. We had grilled chicken, salad, and tortillas then had a napkin fight, and played some games.

Some of us left early to meet some policemen at the church to talk more about catching the stealing problem that continues at the land. With all the construction going on, more people are at the land and ladders, tools, and cement are tempting people to make some money stealing and reselling the churches things. We are afraid some of the same people hired, being fed and paid are assisting friends in this. We had an extension cord, 2 bags of cement, and an expensive electric saw stolen last week. We are trying to teach responsibility to the people who lock-up the bodegas, and also end the stealing problems here.

Sunday: day of rest

2008-12-07T06:01:00.000-08:00

I slept the best I have slept in a long time last night and after breakfast, while the kids were busy with Sunday school I escaped into the clinic for a very productive morning. I got things unpacked and setup more of a room atmosphere in the back room of the clinic, where I’ll be staying until the house is complete.

I ran some errands in the early afternoon, for some last second shopping for our youth Secret Santa, gift trade planned for 4:00 PM. We had about 20 youth plus our Leon team playing in a gift exchange. I got Gloria a dress shirt and some candy, and Kenia got me some new, much needed, flip flops. We had cake and soft drinks to close out the afternoon.

December 7, is a holiday in Nicaragua for the Virgin Mary that is probably bigger than Christmas, due to the number of Catholics here. There are parades and lots of partying all night, so we didn’t have service. I slept under the church building with Kervin, Rigoberto, and Alfredo. Julia had a sleep over in the clinic with Itzel, Kenia, and Mauren.

Saturday Graduations

2008-12-06T06:00:00.000-08:00

Some of the youth and I spent Saturday morning getting things ready, and decorated, for a big church event. In the afternoon we had graduations and a time to honor our church servants. 11 women graduated from their 2nd year of sewing school, and 4 other women completed bakery school. The sewing ladies were all dressed in brand new clothing they had made for themselves, and also had time to model their outfit, and 1 other outfit they had made for a child or friend. Esther had Itzel model her dress. The teacher shared some brief words and then gave each woman a diploma.

Linda preached on all of the great things God has done here in 5 years. How the land used to just be weeds and how far our faith, trust, and prayers have allowed Him to help us here. She challenged more people to get involved here, and see how much more God can bless us in the future.

Then 5 women were recognized and received diplomas for finishing bakery school. Their teacher shared some words, and let everyone know that these women will be qualified and ready to take over the bakery that is going to be done in the next month, and open for the 2009 school year. These women each made cakes and other sweet breads and treats to share with the congregation once they received their diplomas.

Linda closed the service by calling forward all of our current church servants. She honored each pastor, prayer warrior, Sunday school teacher, and grounds worker. She brought forward every garden worker and volunteer along with everyone who has been helping in the construction. We honored everyone that takes care of a goat or other small animal, and every member of the Leon team. These people stood upfront together, received applause, and got to be first in line for the refreshments.

In the afternoon we went to 5-year old, Marilaysi Vegas, preschool graduation party. She had music, a piñata, and a snack dinner. It has been a lot of fun, but really busy the past 10 days in and out of many gradations of all ages. About 6-7 of the youth came to the church shelter and spent time talking and hanging out before bedtime. They had some jump rope, pushup, situp and other silly competitions to pass time. I got my computer setup in the clinic and updated some blogs before falling asleep.

Friday

2008-12-05T05:59:00.000-08:00

Friday morning in Leon, I got our fund raising DVD put onto Vimeo divided into chapters. We are hoping they will be on the NewSong website soon. I worked more on emails and ran some errands in Leon before our staff meeting at 10:00 AM. We talked about our upcoming week schedule and divided our work for who sees over each project when the Gables are gone to the states from mid December – mid January.

Sergio, Tommy, and I went out to Candelaria for the afternoon. I packed the entire truck bed with the rest of my stuff and put it all into 1 room of the clinic. We had planned to start Friday night youth services today, being the first Friday in December, but some of the youth thought it’d be better for us to have a pre-start back meeting to share their hearts with each other and get any problems they have had between each other settled.

Tommy and I shared our vision for a new, more impacting Friday Night Youth Service, not just babysitting, then Darling and Itzel led the meeting representing their groups. Carlos shared with them about his drama and dance goals. Two of the young men got in an argument and left the church building to fight, but we got settled down and Carlos helped our group understand that we must get along. He led a time of us praying for each other as a group and individually to close out the meeting.

Friday night I visited with Nubia and Kenia. We did not have any plans, just shared stories and talked. It was a good time to be relational and talk about serious things and also just joke around and laugh with each other, enjoying friendship. I laid a mattress on the floor of the clinic and slept in the back room.

Thursday

2008-12-04T05:59:00.000-08:00

Thursday morning I led Youth Bible Study in the waiting room of the clinic. It was decently attended nad we shared more on having faith in God no matter what. We are also talking about bringing information forward when people know about the stealing problem we have here, and having fear of knowing something and not sharing it, compared to fear of being a tattletale.

Tommy led Pastors class continuing in Philippians for the second week, and also shared verses and conversation on keeping order in the church. We did some other errands in the village and Chichigalpa before heading back to Leon for the night.

I used internet and the international phone to catch-up some emails and contact with family. I have also been working to add some more videos online, that I hope will soon be on the NewSong website. I stayed the night in Leon, with our Leon Bible Study and staff meeting the following morning.

Wednesday

2008-12-03T05:59:00.000-08:00

Wednesday I spent time doing the finances with Linda's laptop in the morning. I found a halfway quiet place in the clinic and got a couple of hours of work in before lunch. The men were putting in all of the drop ceiling and cabinets. Next week they will add lights. In the afternoon, I spent time visiting with Eddy's family, his little sister turned 9 today. I also spent some time with Kenia in the afternoon before getting back to the church and setting up for evening service.
Tommy, Linda, and the Hunters met a family of 4 from Washington state during their trip to Matagalpa that also came out for service. Tommy shared on having faith in Jesus, sharing the stories of Jesus taking the disciples on boat rides in Matthew and Luke. The two teenage boys kept the kids in the clinic with Rigoberto and Nubia translated. They sang songs, shared some bible stories, made balloon animals, and painted faces.

Tuesday

2008-12-02T05:58:00.000-08:00

Tuesday morning we had our Youth Bible Study, and Itzel brought soft drinks and bread. She said she just wanted to bless the group, and it really made me happy. I wish so badly others of the youth could see her example and follow it, rather than be jealous of her when she gets blessed for walking out her Christianity. In the afternoon about 20 of us biked 20-30 minutes back behind the church property and Quitanka to a place called La Presa. It is a river with a dam that allows for about a 30-foot deep swimming hole. We swam for about 2 hours in very cold water, which helped us beat the afternoon heat. We came back and I helped Bismark, Wilmor, and Ernesto finish digging the septic tank for the house and future public/church bathrooms. I spent time Tuesday night visiting with Cony and Jessica and watched Jurassic Park at their house. I got a mattress on the floor of one of the clinic rooms to sleep without mosquitoes now.

Monday

2008-12-01T17:58:00.000-08:00

Jessalyn and Susan left this morning before the rest of us woke. Tommy, Linda, and Ben and Jennifer Hunter left this morning for a 2.5 day trip to the mountains in Matagalpa. Carlos and I bussed out with as much of my belongings the two of us could carry in the afternoon. I put away clothes and other personal, items into the clinic bodega, while Carlos started drama/dance practice. I biked to La Isla/Guanacastal to Rosa’s house and visited with her 4 youth aged kids. I talked with Maria about her college classes, and plans for next year. Yasmina and Glenda will both graduate from high school on Friday, and we talked about their future education plans. Monday night I spent time visiting with Franklin, Katherine, and Itzel in their house and then went back to sleep at the church with the 6 boys.

Moving Out, Moving In

2008-12-01T06:52:00.000-08:00

Sunday morning after taking the kids to the bus stop at 7 AM and still half asleep from only getting 3 hours of sleep I went back to my place and began finished packing up my room. I let Dona Lutrecia that I would be out on Dec. 1 to move to Candelaria to keep from paying rent for December, and with Sunday night service this was my only time. I really wanted to sleep, but instead I got everything I've collected in 10 months of living there into 4 trunks, 3 moving boxes, and 3 suitcases. Sergio used the mission truck and helped me load the bed and back seat of it completely full and drive my stuff 2 blocks to the Barnum's house.

Tommy shared from Hebrews about faith in God in Sunday night service, and Jennifer Hunter sang How Great Thou Art acapella dueting with Ben on the refrain. We closed the service with Susan and Jessalyn saying their goodbyes and Jessalyn praying over the youth group. It was a well attended service and Daniel shared some new worship songs too.

We came back and had dinner together and said our goodbyes to Susan and Jessalyn with them leaving at 5:00 AM Monday morning for the airport. It was great to see the friendships and fun they brought to the village and the software training for our NewSong staff.

The Gables left Monday morning with the Hunters for a 3 day vacation/trip to the mountains, so without the truck I only took as much as Carlos and I could get in the taxi and bus of my stuff to Candelaria. Carlos will went back to Leon at 6:00 after drama/dance practice and I will be staying out here until Thursday evening. The house is not done, but I can lockup my belongings in the bodega and shower in the clinic.

Article from The Tico Times

2008-12-01T01:29:00.000-08:00

Sugarcane Worker Illness Investigated
Blake Schmidt - November 07 2008

CHICHIGALPA – One of thousands of sugarcane workers whose kidneys have stopped working in what has become a health epidemic in this agricultural region of Chinandega, Necdaly Peña lies on a rusty bed frame with no mattress, a sheet barely hiding his frail body and twiggy limbs. “You give your life to the sugar mill,” he said, referring to San Antonio, a sugar mill owned by sugar export giant Nicaragua Sugar Estates Limited, a holding of the powerful Grupo Pellas. After working 14 years in the cane fields, Peña was let go in 2000 when the company’s annual blood exam showed he had signs of chronic renal disease. The company, one of Central America’s leading sugar producers with 11,000 hectares of sugarcane fields, hires workers for six-month terms and contract renewal is contingent upon test results for creatinine – a waste product in the urine that indicates kidney disease. The company doesn’t renew contracts for workers whose levels exceed 1.4 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl), according to a complaint cane workers filed with the World Bank, which recently gave the company a $55 million loan to invest in alternative energy. Normal creatinine levels are between 0.6 and 1.2 mg/dl. Peña’s father worked for San Antonio Mill his whole life and died of the same disease that Peña suffers from today. Like many of the sick workers who developed the occupational illness while working for the San Antonio Mill, Peña, whose creatinine level is 3.8, no longer receives compensation from the company, and survives from the modest widow’s pension the company pays his mother.
“Tell the company to help me. I need to buy things but I can’t move,” he said, avoiding eye contact and glowing with sweat because the electricity that powers his fan had been cut. Over the past eight years, his kidneys have been slowly giving up on him. The five-stage disease begins with an increase in creatinine and a few other symptoms. Treatment can slow the deterioration of kidney malfunction, but over time, the kidneys – the body’s filters of toxins – begin to lose function, leading to myriad other diseases that range from malaise to anemia. In the fifth and final stage of the disease, patients must be hooked up to a dialysis machine or receive a kidney transplant to stay alive. “Life is hard,” Peña said, “I need help to survive.”
Chronic renal syndrome has become a defining fact of life in Chichigalpa and the surrounding communities, where the 118-year-old San Antonio Sugar Mill is the main employer. Widows of sugarcane workers dominate entire communities. Yet young boys continue to head out into the cane fields each season, despite the grim odds against them – as many as 3,500 cane workers have died of kidney disease here in the past decade, according to local cane worker unions. “A cycle of death is happening,” said Jason Glaser, a New York resident who is filming a documentary on cane worker deaths and is helping to support their families through a non-governmental organization in León. Chronic kidney disease is the seventh leading cause of death in Nicaragua. A 2005 Pan American Health Organization report on the growing kidney-disease “epidemic” in Nicaragua estimated there were as many as 1,000 sugarcane workers with the disease in Chinandega, concentrated in neighborhoods of sugarcane worker families. Between 1990 and 2003, mortality rates among those with the disease increased by 2.5 percent, mainly among male farmers between 35 and 49 in León, Chinandega, Granada and Rivas, with the highest death rates in Chinandega. The report estimates that 100,000 farmers exposed to occupational and environmental hazards have the disease. Even younger cane workers stoically accept bad results from the sugar mill’s seasonal blood exams as an announced visit from the grim reaper.
“I’m waiting for death” said 25-year-old Nelson Martínez, whose creatinine level is at 6.0, well above the 1.4 mg/dl limit. A mix of heavy farming chemical use, extreme poverty and extreme weather conditions are the main culprits of the disease, with some studies suggesting the presence of heavy metals in rural drinking wells. Contamination associated with aerial fumigation and irrigation runoff from manually-sprayed crops are widely suspected, according to Kristen Genovese, staff attorney of the U.S.-based Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL). Chinandega is also one of the driest parts of the country, and dehydration can also be a cause of chronic renal syndrome. Over the past three decades, Chinandega has become increasingly dry due to climate change, according to climatologist Jose Milan, with rainfall decreasing by 10 percent across the region. And it’s doesn’t seem to be getting any better (see separate story, N3). The way things are going, rain will continue to decrease, and temperatures here could increase by up to 5 degrees Celsius by 2090, according to climate experts. “Temperatures in Chinandega could reach 45 degrees, like the desert of Arizona,” Milan predicts. Yet the health epidemic may not be limited exclusively to cane workers, as was once thought. Epidemiologists at the National Autonomous University in León have found high prevalence of the disease in a Chinandega mining community as well. But in a country where there is no government-certified water testing lab, the cause of the epidemic has largely remained a mystery. Cane workers allege the company’s environmental impact studies have been kept a secret from the larger public. “You see a lot of ex-sugarcane workers who are sick. You start to ask the question: what is in the sugar cane?” said Genovese, one of several U.S. activists who have converged on Nicaragua in recent years to help cane workers seek solutions to the epidemic.
Deaf Ears
Part of what makes the sugarcane worker struggle in Nicaragua a unique endeavor is the convergence of an array of U.S. activists who have gotten behind their cause over the past few years, from Yale University forestry students to sister city project volunteers to film producers. In March of this year, Genovese’s CIEL and a Yale forestry student Olivia Kaplan helped a group of Chichigalpa cane workers file a complaint with the Ombudsman’s office of the International Financial Corporation (IFC), the financial arm of the World Bank that in 2006 approved a $55 million loan to increase Nicaragua Sugar Estates Limited (NSEL) sugarcane production and fund construction of an ethanol plant. The workers filed a complaint after a lack of results in dealing with local authorities. “All the institutions act like they’re deaf,” said ex-cane worker Juan Salgado. In the IFC complaint, cane workers allege the sugar company is not in compliance with Nicaraguan law, and that the IFC has failed to meet its own environmental and social standards in its relationship with the company.
The 29-page complaint alleges that Nicaraguan Sugar Estates workers and community members who live next to its sugar fields are experiencing an epidemic of chronic kidney failure. The complaint alleges the company has interfered in the creation of independent cane-worker unions; pesticides have impacted indigenous lands; residents living near sugar cane fields suffer from respiratory illnesses related to burning practices at the harvest; company irrigation practices have depleted ground water; pesticides and runoff waters have contaminated local drinking water supplies; and former employees and community members who complain against the company have been harassed, persecuted and even jailed. Over the course of a month, The Nica Times tried unsuccessfully to coordinate a visit to the Sugar Mill’s clinic with company spokesman Ariel Granera. “Some people presented a complaint that the World Bank is contemplating within the framework that exists between the IFC and companies with which it works. Any time there’s a complaint – well-founded or not by people that represent the community or not – they follow up on it and come meet with us,” Granera told The Nica Times.
Amar Inamdar, of the IFC ombudsman’s office said that the World Bank entity is “currently assessing these issues with the cooperation of all parties.” The complaint says that as the company has grown, it “involuntarily” resettled workers living on its property to the community of La Candelaria, allegedly because the worker’s drinking water source on the property had been contaminated.
In the complaint, workers demand that Nicaraguan Sugar Estate Limited pay adequate pensions to ex-employees who suffer from occupational illnesses. Despite the long list of health and social concerns at the mill, the sugar company failed to make public its social and environmental assessment that the IFC required for its ethanol plant production to begin, according to the complaint. Genovese said the company has responded positively to the complaint and is cooperating with IFC compliance officers.
“It’s a pretty good case. I just can’t say with any certainty what’s going to come of it. It’s not a perfect process. We don’t have a lot of power to force them to do anything really. There’s a huge power imbalance here and the (ombudsman’s) office is meant to somewhat balance that. I really hope we can get some remedies for the victims and the families affected by the operations in the mill,” she said.
The Sandinista government is also promising to help cane workers at the country’s largest mills, including San Antonio. Nicaragua’s Ombudsman’s office announced last month it will sit down with cane worker leaders to negotiate pay that they are owed from when the government of President Violeta Chamorro (1990-1996) agreed to pay cane workers 25 percent of their assets after privatizing cane fields and mills that the Sandinista government had nationalized in the 1980s.
“Those sugar mills were state-owned in the ’80s. When Violeta won, we were stripped of that,” said Marco Sandino, head of the San Antonio Sugar Mill cane worker union. It’s not yet clear where the Sandinista government will find the money to compensate the workers.
Life in the Cane Fields
In the community of La Isla, which borders sugarcane fields and a stream that is potentially contaminated, Ursula Aguilar, 42, sits rocking in her chair in a dirt yard shared with a pig. “Once they turn up sick, they’re treated like a piece of scrap,” she says of cane workers such as her late husband. Aguilar is one of some 80 widows of cane workers in this tiny community. Her husband died of chronic renal disease after cutting cane for 17 years. “Doctors gave him two months to live, but he lasted eight,” she recalls with pride. As a mother of eight, the San Antonio mill paid her a widow’s pension of about $80 a month after her husband died. Because two of her kids dropped out of school to cut cane, the pension was cut in half. She now makes tortillas, raises pigs and washes clothes to get by. “We’re just surviving, sort of,” says Aguilar, as seemingly endless rows of sugarcane tremble in the breeze across the stream behind her. She fears all her kids will end up working in the cane fields because “that’s all there is.” Two of her sons who worked in sugarcane now suffer from the disease that took her husband and her grandmother. She is aware solutions exist for chronic renal disease victims, but they’re beyond her income level. “Dialysis costs $200 a day. We can’t afford it, so instead we’re waiting for the will of God. Out here we’re dying due to a lack of money,” she says.
________________________________________
The Tico Times is Central America’s Leading English-Language Newspaper, covering news, business, tourism and cultural developments in Costa Rica and Central America.The award-winning weekly has been reporting on the region from San Jose, Costa Rica, since 1971 and became a member of the Inter-American Press Association in 1989.TT’s Online Edition provides a brief capsule of stories appearing every Friday in our PRINT EDITION. And in response to reader demands, we now offer a complete DATABASE of back issues and online CLASSIFIEDS. Call us at 258-1558 inside Costa Rica or from the U.S. 011 (506) 258-1558 or fax us at 233-6378 inside Costa Rica or from the U.S. 011 (506) 233-6378, email: info@ticotimes.net

Concert in Leon

2008-11-30T05:55:00.000-08:00

Last night Scarleth and I brought 30 of of youth into Leon and kept them overnight. We went to a Christian concert at the baseball stadium in Leon. Oscar and his wife, Scarleth's sister and son, Sergio and Francis, Tommy and Linda, and Susan and Jessalyn were all with us, so we filled up a decent section of the stadium.

Redimi2 (red-e-me-dos), a hip-hop/reggaeton Christian rapper opened for Alex Campos. Both artists were very different but our youth group and the packed baseball field and stadium loved both parts of the evening. We got there just after 7:00 PM to hear Redimi2's first song and stayed through Alex Campos encore. We got out of the stadium at 11:00 PM and walked a 6-8 blocks to the places we had to sleep. Scarleth kept the 18 girls, and Daniel and I were with the 12 boys.

The kids would not go to sleep, even though we made it very clear we were leaving at 7:00 AM Sunday morning. I think the boys finally feel asleep about 3:00 AM, but were awake at 5:30, and I heard the girls did about the same.

The concert was a great blessing, and all the kids enjoyed their time there. Scarleth and I did have to deal with some attitudes and younger kids not listening, so please pray for our youth to grow up. I love doing things with them outside of the village, but it is hard to stay patient with them all the time. Pray for these kids to grow up, and also for Scarleth and I to practice patience with each of them.

Nicaragua Thanksgiving

2008-11-29T05:50:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all...sorry this is a day late, I have been busy getting things ready for my move to the village...I had planned to move as soon as I got back but not everything was ready at the house...it is really coming along now and will be ready very soon...I am moving out of Leon Sunday and will start Dec 1 being on the land full time.

I hope each of you are having a great time with your family this holiday weekend, and have plenty to be thankful for.

Things I am thankful for happening here this holiday season are:

Thursday 27: Jose Ramon Rodriguez, one of the leaders in my youth group, had his high school graduation yesterday, he invited Tommy, Linda, Julia, and I to be there with him and his mom and then to the graduating class after graudation celebration.

Friday 28: We are heading out at 2 with Carlos Zapato, a 19 -year old from Leon, who has been helping me with the youth the past 2 weeks...He leads drama, dance, and enjoys the time with the youth. He has a heart to serve by ourside in our youth ministry totally volunteer. He is my most recent blessing, and I thank God for him.

Saturday 29: I am using youth funds to bring 35-40 of our 14-22 year olds in for a Alex Campos and Remini2 concert at the baseball stadium in Leon. Both artists are well known Spanish Contemporary/Reggaeton Christian groups, they wil spend the night in Leon and head back Sunday morning for Sunday school. Pray that this event will touch our youth in a special way and that the Holy Spirit will get them on fire for our new weekly youth service beginning next Friday!

Sunday 30: I will be packing everything and moving out of the place I have stayed 9 months, to be with my youth group full time. I am thankful for the place I have had in Leon, and also for the great opportunity ahead being an influence and friend living with the people I have been sent here to serve.

Happy Thanksgiving, I love you, May God bless your family and give you safe travel this weekend.

Thanks for all your love, prayers, and support.
Jim Bob "Diego" Norman
John 15:13

Summer Break Begins

2008-11-27T05:12:00.000-08:00

Summer break has begun for the kids and the past week has been fun, but tiring. The bible study Tuesday and Thursday mornings numbers are up, with no one missing for morning classes. Lots of people are around the land helping with our projects. We are hoping to have the youth house complete and the clinic completely finished by the end of the year. The men are working everyday on the clinic, and the boys on the youth house.

Tommy finished his mini-series on Forgiveness Sunday night and started a new series on Faith & Trust this past Wednesday. His longtime newlywed, friend, Ben Hunter, came in this past Saturday with his wife Jennifer. Ben, Mincho here, has been an awesome part of God's work here. He is the main reason we have a church shelter in Candelaria, and helped us with our last youth retreat. They have enjoyed visiting with some of the youth he met and has kept up with since his first trip here 6 years ago.

Susan Hall and Jessalyn Moore are also with us this week from Atlanta City Church in Georgia. Jessalyn came with the group of 6 doing dramas this past summer and has adopted Marylaysi Vega. She came to see her and help her family with her preschool gradution coming up next Friday. Susan does our accounting work from ACC and is here to serve and visit in the community as well as help explain PowerChurch software better to Oscar and myself. We have taken time this week to work on finances with her, and will practice more as the week continues. The kids absolutely love playing with both of these young ladies.

We are also staying busy with graduations this week. There are graduations for children after preschool, 6th grade, and 5th year high school. Carlos is having dance and drama practice twice a week, as we are getting ready to start a weekly youth service Friday nights with more of a church service feeling.

Yo te Extranare

2008-11-25T15:38:00.000-08:00

here is the video I made and showed at Sunday service to honor Eddy's family

double click the video to view in full screen
Watch All Videos Here

below are the lyrics to the song used for the video
Tercer Cielo-Yo Te Extranare

I will miss you, take it as insurance
They were beautiful, so many people and the moments that I lived with you
The details, the small ones, things that seemed not so important for you
They are those who invade my mind the most when I remember you

I hope he could return for some time
To meet again
To give you a hug
And to never come undone

I understand that your time has come
That God has called you, to be next to you
This is the way he wanted it, but I never thought
That it would hurt so much

Do not cry for me
I am in a place full of light
Where peace exists, where there is no wickedness
Where I can rest

Do not cry for me
It is beautiful here like I never imagined
I want you to be happy, and know that you are fine
And when it is time for you to divide, I hope to see you here

I will miss you, take it as insurance
Now knowing that the life can end in a second
That life is as dust; it can scatter in a moment
Nothing can be brought here only what exists inside yourself.

I hope he could return the time
To meet again
To give you a hug
And to never come undone

More I understand that your time comes
That god has called you, to be next to you
This way he wanted it, but I never thought
That was hurting so much

Do not cry already for me
I am in a place full of light
Where peace exists, where there is no nastiness
Where I can rest

Do not cry for me
They are beautiful here never imagine
I want that you are happy, that you are fine
And when I had you to divide, I hope to see you here

I WILL MISS YOU TAKE IT AS INSURANCE...

Linda Returns & Weekend Plans

2008-11-22T09:20:00.000-08:00

Tommy and Joanna Sellers left late Thursday night after the funeral to go and get Linda at the aiport. They are spending a few days in Granada over the weekend, and then picking up their friend Ben Hunter, and his wife from the airport Saturday. They got to Granada very early Friday morning and Linda emailled me that she is happy to be back and will see the rest of us Sunday.

Yesterday afternoon, Julia, Carlos, and I went out on the bus to be with the youth. Julia is a Davidson graduate that has been down here since October 1st helping us with the mission and enjoying her time visiting the country. She will be leaving December 17. I can't remember if I had mentioned her in earlier posts. Carlos is a 20 year old from Leon that is going to be helping us with the youth. He knows Oscar's brother and others that have helped with drama. He wants to teach dance and drama and see our Friday night activities have a stronger impact when we start them back up in December.

All of the high school aged students finished their school year these past 3 days, and the preschool-6th grade students will be out by next Friday. We went out for the afternoon and had a meeting with our future youth event planning team, and Carlos shared a dance and drama with them that we think we will use in our first activity. Daniel and Yahaira also came over from Bethel, as they will be helping me in the youth ministry.

I brought Marvin Vega back with us to stay the night and Saturday in Leon, because when i got my hair braided just before leaving for the states I promised him I'd take him to have his braided the next time I went. When we got into Leon, 2 other youth aged boys that help in the garden were here. Angel and Ceaser had been with the agricultural engineer at a large farm and decided to stay the night with Marvin and I. We went and got our hair done then played some video games. Today we walked around Leon because none of them have ever visted the city.

Yahaira, Julia, the boys, and I will all be leaving aorund 2 in the afternoon for the village. We will pass time with more of the youth and then have evening service. Julia is going to to spend her first night in the village with plans to sleep at Itzel's house. We will come back to Leon in the morning to see Tommy and Linda, and meet Mr. and Mrs. Ben Hunter. Then our whole team will be going out for Tommy to finish preaching his third night on the mini-series of forgiveness.

Hope you all have a great weekend and special Thanksgiving next week. For my family members, sorry I will miss you Thursday but know that I love each of you and I'm very thankful for all of your support and love for my mission here!

In Christ,
Jim Bob / Diego
John 15:13

Eddy Garcia's Funeral

2008-11-21T11:22:00.001-08:00

Church numbers were down during Wednesday night service, with most people at the Garcia house. Daniel led worship and Tommy preached, then we all went to see Eddy. He passed away around 8 pm Wednesday, November 19. Over a hundred people from his family, church, and community attended the wake. The guys that I sleep with at the church and I left around midnight, but some people stayed until 4 and 5 the next morning.

I went along with some of the working boys and key men of the church to the cemetary a few hundred yards behind the church property at 8 am to help dig his grave and lay the block for the casket. Tommy. Scarleth, and Sergio helped get a casket from Leon and run other errands for the family.

Tommy led a funeral service at 3 in the afternoon that was very much attended. Our need for more plastic chairs was very evident. Friends and family alike shared there thoughts of Eddy and grief for his younger sisters and family. It was sad to see him go at such a young age, but I think everyone feels that it was time, and are happy to know that he will no longer be suffering here.

His neighbor, and one of our prayer leaders in the chuch, Jairo Salvari, shared some scripture and words at the grave side service. We love him and will surely miss him. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers as they cope with this loss.

Cony's 15th Birthday

2008-11-19T11:20:00.000-08:00

This is the photostory I shared during Cony's Birthday Celebration and below you can see pictures and read about the event.

double click the video to view in full screen
Watch All Videos Here

I used some youth group money I had saved since we have held off on our Friday night activites to host a great celebration for Cony Vasquez last night, Tuesday, November 18. In Latin American culture, a girl's 15th birthday, or quinceanera, is recognized as the day she becomes a woman, and is a bigger celebration than weddings, or almost any other life milestone.

Over the weekend, I spoke with her family and friends to see if they had any plans, and they said they hadn't planned anything, and didn't think they could do anything financially. They helped give me some ideas, and together we put together an activity that we feeled honored Cony.

Her family rented the pink dress, common for a quinceanera, and her friends helped us decorate the church. We had curtains, balloons, and crepe paper attached to the perlinies. Tommy picked her family up in the truck and brought them down where all the friends were waiting. Tommy, Daniel, and I all danced with her, and then invited others to join in. Friends shared special words and songs with Cony, and I showed a video of pictures and video clips gathered of Cony.

We had a pinata, cake, soft drinks, and cookies at the church before loading the truck and heading into Chichigalpa. Cony had told us even if she wasn't having a party she just wanted to spend the evening in the parkl with her friends. So a group of a little over 20 went to Parque Ruben Dario and enjoyed ice cream and the new double decker Eskimo, and time together.

It was a fun night for Cony, her family, friends, and all of us from Leon. Please continue to keep the Garcia family in your prayers. Eddy is still in bed, with many friends around praying for him and supporting his family.

Pics of Cony's party coming soon!

Prayer Request

2008-11-17T08:42:00.000-08:00

PLEASE pray for Eddy Garcia, a 14 year old boy in our youth group who has been very sick for years. He has Aplastic Anemia, a condition where bone marrow does not produce sufficient new cells to replenish blood cells. It has kept him between hospitals in Managua, and the village for the past few years. It has been a real struggle for his grandmother, who takes care of him, his younger sister, and cousin. The transportation costs and medical bills are a constant struggle for his family, and he often cannot leave home.

A year ago he died in the hospital and came back to life. This past weekend he has been in a hospital in Managua and they sent him home to Candelaria after the doctors said there is nothing more they can do. His family, friends, and church are all praying for him and his family as it appears he will be going to be with the Lord soon.

Please join with us in praying for the Garcia family, and Eddy specifically.

Youth House/Bakery Coming Along

2008-11-15T11:14:00.000-08:00

Before leaving for the states, I left behind some donated money to get some of the youth house work done while I was gone. I was hoping to move into it as soon as it had electricity and secure windows, and doors the weekend that I got back from the states. I will actually be moving in sometime before Dec 1.

This week I have been out 4 days to see the progress they are making, and got some pictures in daylight. The secure windows are in place and 2 of the 5 door frames are complete. The walls have been built up and every room is secure with seperate/private entrances to each. All of the electric work is complete with the exception of faces on the light switches and power receptacles. This will be done as soon as all the walls are smoothed. About half of the walls are smoothed now, so I see myself moving in by November 30. I have packed my room in Leon and am ready to get out there as soon as possible.

Sergio has been overseeing the whole project, and has some of the church men and youth aged boys helping a friend of his from Leon lay the block and mix cement. The bakery is being built off the back of the house using what was the kitchen of the pastor's house to connect the youth house and the new structure that goes all the way to the border of the property. The walls of the bakery are about 16 feet tall and within the next week the metal purlinies should be in place to start attaching the roof.

Welcome Back Diego

2008-11-11T11:04:00.000-08:00

So Tommy, Julia, and the 3 youth girls all wanted to hang around Leon because they didn't have school with elections yesterday: then parades, celebrations, and riots on Monday. They said they would rather just sit around and hangout at Tommy's house than go back to the village early in the afternoon. So we finally left around 5, and asked me to go with them to see how much of the electric work, doors, windows, finished walls had been done to the youth house and bakery in my 2.5 weeks out of Candelaria.

The girls had a cake that they said was going with us to thank Sergio for all his work on the house, and said a few of the guys would meet us down there since I hadn't seen them in 2.5 weeks. When we got to the church all the lights were out and I assumed power was off so I couldn't see house progress or anyone, but then they flipped the lights on and the whole church had been decorated as a welcome back party youth service for me. They had to delay me in Leon to give the other youth time to decorate and plan activites.

Julia and Itzel MCed and other youth shared special songs and dances. They let me speak about being back and tell some of the things I did on my trip. We had a limbo contest, high jump contest, and other activites. It was very fun to be together and see about 40 people and I didn't expect anything so the youth were very happy. The cake of course turned out to be for me, and as I went to blow out the candles, Itzel smashed it in my face, all the kids ate it afterwards anyways and I got to see some of the house progress in the dark.

GREAT TO BE BACK

2008-11-10T10:53:00.000-08:00

I was so happy to get back home on Friday, November 7. I got into Leon between 5-6 and unpacked some things in my room. From here I went to find Tommy, Scarleth, Oscar, and Sergio of the NSMN staff. Tommy had also gone to pickup 3 of our youth to spend a weekend together in the city earlier in the afternoon. All of us went to eat at Hollywood Pizza and then walked around Leon. It was election weekend so there was a big crowd and live music at the central square.

Saturday we took a trip to Granada and Managua to bless Itzel, Cony, and Kenia from our youth group and bible study. We spent the afternoon at the lake and on top of Mombacho Volcano. In the evening we walked around the newest mall in Managua and the girls all got new dresses. We planned to watch a movie together at the nice theater, but the girls said they were to tired so we came back into Leon for the night.

With mayor elections Sunday, we couldn’t have church service, and schools were out Monday so we had more time getting to know the girls and building relationships. Sunday morning we had a bible study in Pastor Tommy’s living room, and asked the girls about there favorite parts of the weekend, what else they wanted to do with a day and a half left. We went to a swimming pool at a hotel in Leon for the afternoon, got dinner, and then watched a movie with popcorn at Tommy’s.

On Monday we hung around and had a lazy day until we went out for a “look at what they have done to the house, drop the girls off night” that turned out to be a welcome back Diego party.

IN THE STATES week 2

2008-11-07T10:52:00.000-08:00

My parents and I made a road trip Saturday to visit with my dad’s parents in Lincolnton, GA. We got there in time to suffer through the Bulldogs horrible game against the Gators and then watched an awesome Texas Tech win over Texas.

Sunday morning we went to Goshen Baptist Church and my grandmother led Sunday school. I shared about my mission work in the service, and then we all had a big lunch back home. My parents left to return to North Carolina and I rode with my grandparents down to see my cousins in Apopka, FL. Some friends came over from Orlando and took me into the city for the night.

Monday and Tuesday I enjoyed time with my Orlando friends in the day and enjoyed the Steelers game on MNF, but then sat bored through the election Tuesday night.

Brittany and I traveled to Miami mid morning Wednesday and hung out at the beach and pool for the afternoon. We visited with other Miami friends Wednesday night, and all day Thursday.

Friday I flew out of Miami and got to Managua, Nicaragua around 2. All my stuff made it fine, and I bussed into Leon for the night.

For those of you that I missed seeing, and for all that I got to pass time with, during the 2 weeks I was in the states I hope our paths cross again soon. I have no plans of coming back into the states until September 2009, and unless something changes it will just be another short visit. If you get a chance to come down for a visit or short term mission trip, I would love to see you down here in Nicaragua.

IN THE STATES week 1

2008-10-31T09:37:00.000-07:00

FIRST WEEKEND:
I flew back to the states for the first time since February 14, 2008 on Thursday, October 23. I flew into Raleigh and stayed the night with my sister. I came to Boone on Friday and spent time with the rest of my immediate family. I also had time to see my old roommates and stayed the night where I lived for the past 3 years before moving to Nicaragua.

I saw a lot of old teammates, college friends, my grandad, aunt and uncle at the ASU football game last Saturday, and we beat Furman! On Sunday, I spoke to the youth Sunday school class at FBC Boone, and shared for about 10 minutes in the morning service. It was great to see everyone from my home church, and know that they are always praying for NSMN and me. Sunday afternoon I got to spend time with my oldest sister, brother-in-law and nephew, while watching some NFL games.

FIRST WEEK:
On Monday, I met up with friends and got to play some pickup basketball; we took time catch-up on the past year as well. Tuesday morning, I spoke with Mrs. Shirley who will be putting an article in this years Journey magazine, coming out in the high country between mid Nov-mid Dec. I also had time Tuesday night to meet up with more friends.

Mom and I started some traveling on Wednesday. We went to Canten, NC in the afternoon to meet up with Heath, Big O, the Sellers family, and Pinnacles youth group at the Hub. I had a great time introducing my mom to all of my Pinnacle friends and then sharing somethings from my past 9 months with the youth. They are hoping to make a trip down this summer. We went on to Morganton, NC to spend the night with my mom's parents.

Thursday morning, I had some time to share with my grandparents, and some of Big Dad's friends. Mom and I left around noon for Greensboro to meet up with the rest of the family for my younger brother's last home soccer game. We got to meet up with Preston and Sandra Barnum for lunch in Winston-Salem, and enjoyed talking about future trips to Nicaragua this winter! I saw my dad's parents, and got more time with the family at the game and post game BBQ. We came back to Boone and I got to see a friend who came up from Charlotte.

Today, I will be packing as much as I can before more friends come into town from Asheville, and Charlotte for the ASU Wofford Halloween game tonight on ESPN2. I plan to have a great last day in North Carolina seeing as many more friends and family as possible, and hopefully a big ASU win!!!

COMING UP:
I'll finish packing tomorrow morning and ride with my parents to Lincolnton, GA where my dad's parents live. I'm speaking at their church Sunday morning and then riding down to Orlando, FL. I'll visit with friends in Orlando and Miami, until next Friday when I'll fly back home to Nicaragua!

By next weekend, I'll post "IN THE STATES week 2" for all that I have seen, thanks so much, it has been a blessing and for any I have missed I am truly sorry. I love you all and plan to be back sometime in September 2009. If you want to see me before that PLEASE come visit, I would love to see you, and the kids would too, but be careful IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE!!!

God Bless,
Jim Bob / Diego

October Update

2008-10-11T11:14:00.000-07:00

PHOTOSTORY VIDEO UPDATE - of our most interested youth

hello to all and im sorry for being out of touch for so long...for the past month i have been working my way into living in Candelaria full time...i have been staying in the village 4-5 nights a week the last month and this weekend i am fully moving out onto the land...pastor jose and his family moved to bethel after his retirement and we are working to turn his house into a youth house with all my things in 1 room, and another room for the 3 boys that watch over the land and sleep in the church every night as security...when i come into leon for spanish classes and staff meetings i will have a little bit of time online and hope to keep up with each of you

i am also making plans this next week for my first return to the US since feb 14...ill be flying into raleigh oct 23, and then spend a week in boone, NC..on nov 1-2 ill be heading to florida and fly back to Nicaragua nov 6...i have plans to speak at a few churches the last week of october, and if anyone else would like to try and setup a time for me to share what God is doing here I would love to get with your church or youth group

when i return in november i will be put in by New Song as the Youth Pastor...we want to then work on fixing up the house as a youth house, that will also serve as a small store for selling used clothes and meals, snacks, drinks...the other bed rooms we hope to setup as classrooms for our bible study and children during evening service

i am hoping to raise funds to secure all the windows and doors, as well as add electricity and a kitchen not only for myself and the 3 boys living with me, but to give the youth a safe place to come and hangout, watch movies, play games, fellowship, pray, study the bible, get a hot meal or snack, practice dance or drama, and run small businesses as alternatives to laying around their house or in the streets

i hope this update finds all of you doing well, and i hope we have a time to meet up during my trip to the states...once i get back in november i hope to have a better update and video plan for the youth house and adopt-a-family that i am currently heading up

God Bless,
Jim Bob "Diego" Norman
john 15:13
Make 'em Smile

LINDA'S UPDATE:
We have great news this month!!! Thanks to God and some dear friends, we will complete the Medical/ Dental clinic this year. Our administrator is getting busy preparing everything to comply with the government of Nicaragua and doing inventory this month. Once the clinic construction is completed we will build the kitchen and Bakery. We plan to begin our children's feeding project February 2009 when school resumes. We look forward to being able to serve the desperate needs of our community.
We are in a time of transition as our senior Pastor retired this week. He was 67 years old and in fragile health. We had a big celebration party for him to honor him and his family for 6 1/2 years of hard work for the Kingdom of God. Tommy is working with a team of local men and women to carry the many responsibilities of the community. Jim Bob Norman is going to live on the land and be our presence there.He is doing a great job with all of the new youth as they are growing in the Lord. They are really enjoying Tommy's discipleship classes!
It is exciting to see new life- spiritually and physically, seamless as a whole, transforming our community. Lives are being changed as people are finding their purpose in a framework of projects that give them a place to belong, be mentored, learn, and provide for themselves. Our Garden and our sewing group are finally self sustaining businesses, following a business plan that gives back into the community. We are harvesting fruits and vegetables now and have planted every square inch of our 5 acres possible to grow our own food so no one will be hungry.
I, Linda, am coming to the States November 7th-19th to present this mission to interested investors. Near the end of the year, charitable organizations may be interested in our work here and we would appreciate your help to locate or schedule presentations for me to come and share. This has been an incredible year and we stay in awe at how God has helped us during such times as we are in all over the world. Now that we are ready to open the clinic we need a broader funding base so we know that God will open that door. When He starts something He promises to finish it!
Please help us get our children adopted. Share this information with your friends to help us get the word out. For $35.00 per month you can choose your family on line, set up payments easily and we will personally take communications to the children for you. It is an opportunity to develop real relationships with families in another culture. It is a win-win for all!
We pray for you all, that God's blessings will outweigh the difficulties as you come to know Him in more of a reality than ever before.
We love you and feel thankful for your love!
Tommy and Linda

SEPTEMBER

2008-09-30T19:18:00.000-07:00

i am so sorry to those of you who have checked throughout the month hoping to get updates here...we are in a huge transition time and i just havent taken time to update those of you who arent in my bulk email list:

September has been a wild month and we are hoping it is all for the good! After the baptisms at the pool, the following weekend I baptized 4 youth at the ocean on the last day of the world race girls time in Nicaragua!

They were so awesome in really bringing our youth group along spiritually. They lived in the unfinished clinic and poured out love in a Bible study twice a week and thoughout each day. They helped bring out the most serious youth from our big Friday Night services and those are the ones who have most recently been baptized.

Since they left Tommy, Linda, Yaihaira, and I are continuing the Bible Study Tuesday and Thursday mornings and focusing all of our discipling into these interested baby Christians.

We are no longer doing the Friday Nights with 100-120 youth which seems to be just games for 100 nonChristians and headaches for all of us from NewSong. We have done an 18 person 3 day beach youth retreat, and a night out in Chichigalpa with our serious group the past 2 weeks. Tommy's Sunday sermons are more focused towards this group as well.

The Gables and I are taking Spanish classes 4 times a week with our newest NewSong employee, Sergio...he has been awesome in his first month helping us as an interpreter, disciple, teacher, and so much more!

Pastor Jose is retiring and his family and he will be moving to Bethel the last week of October. Tommy is praying and working towards who to put in as the Candelaria pastor in the future, but knows right now no one is ready to take that on. Daniel, Walter, and Eduardo will take on some of the load rotating we think to help in this transition.

I will be returing to the States for the first time since February 14th October 23. I will visit family and friends in North Carolina for 8-9 days. And then seeing some friends and family in Florida a couple days before returning to Nicaragua by November 7.

Upon return, Tommy and NewSong will be putting me in as Youth Pastor of Candelaria. I will be moving into the Pastor's house and living on the land 7 days a week. I am very excited for my time to visit in the states, but even more so moving to Candelaria to be with the youth as much as possible.

Sorry as always that I'm falling behind on updating here, but I am hoping to get internet in Candelaria in November and keep in touch with everyone from there.

Love and Miss you all!
DIEGO
john 15:13

EXCITING WEEKEND

2008-08-25T14:32:00.000-07:00

This weekend we took a group of 50-60 people about 45 minutes north of Candelaria and Chinadega to the springs for baptisms and and afternoon of swimming and fun

Of the 11 people baptized, 9 were between the ages of 13-23. It has been so exciting in the past couple of months to see the changes in young people.

The youth that were baptized: Andres-13, Anthony-14, Claudia-23, David-14, Elizabeth-16, Itzel-15, Joel-13, Jose-18, Kenia-17.

Pastor Jose and Tommy did the baptisms with me helping in the water, while Scarleth translated and Daniel played guitar. The world race girls got a lot of pictures and videos that we will use friday night and hope to put online sometime next week.

After the baptisms, the kids enjoyed whatever snack lunches they packed and then had 4 hours to swim and play. There were three different pools at depths for all ages. Children ages 4 to adults in their 40s all had a great day.

We returned to Candelaria around 5 and the youth had planned a night service, but strong rains took out power for the night, they are hoping to have the service next saturday.

On Sunday, the world race girls and I hung out with youth and children after Sunday school. Leo and Scarleth rode out with Preston and Sandra for baseball practice. The Barnums got to spend some time visiting with Kervin, Andres, and other villagers for the afternoon before evening service when we all returned to Leon.

6 Month Report

2008-08-14T09:49:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Nicaragua:

In my first 6 months serving here, I have stayed busy in many areas of ministry. I have devoted most of my time to serving the youth. I also support sports and activities for the community in Candelaria. I am overseeing Sunday school classes and the sponsorship program to keep kids in school. I am keeping myself available to assist New Song Mission Nicaragua with accounting, short term mission groups, video updates, and anything else I can help them with.

We have hosted Friday Night Youth Group in Candelaria twenty times now and this is the event
I put most of my time, energy, and support into. We started the event the first week I returned in February with just under one hundred young adults from ages 15-25 present. Of these, maybe twenty are Christians, but we are excited at the large number curious enough to always come back. We bring three communities together and enjoy two and a half hours of fellowship and fun. From around 6PM-7PM we have dance, games, and contests. Then we spend about 15 minutes watching videos of the week past and 20 minutes in praise in worship. Tommy, myself, or someone on a short term mission trip will share a Christian message and challenge our young adults to make the right decisions and build their character in ways pleasing to God. We close the service by having them circle in small groups to share testimonies and pray while we distribute soft drinks and snacks. For the past month, our numbers are closer to one hundred and fifty young adults with a lot of recent new believers. More of them are publicly professing their faith and eager to share a drama, dance, song, or testimony in the service. We have given them an open invitation to be more active in the service and we are seeing it evolve in the past couple weeks. I am in charge of this event: from setting the schedule, to making the first hour of fun and videos good enough to bring them back and new people coming, to running PowerPoint through worship, to getting people to share messages, and covering weekly costs of transportation and refreshments. I have great help in this event from God, Tommy, Linda, Scarleth and Oscar, with Daniel leading worship and know I could not take it on without them. We are seeing results, but have a long way to go, with more non-believers present each week. I believe this is why God has me here. It was the number one calling I heard when leaving in January, and is still the loudest voice I hear when He directs my mission. At least twenty youth, who in the past only came to church for Friday nights, are getting more involved in Saturday and Sunday services as well as bible studies and drama or sport teams in the past month.

As part of my outreach to get more children involved in Sunday School and young adults in youth group I support sports and activities in the community. New Song has a great piece of land available to the community and they keep it open to anyone, not just church members. Every day the land is filled with Christians and non-believers passing time on the courts or in the fields. Most of the competition and playing is unorganized but I have helped start a kickball team and kept a baseball team together by supporting a coach/trainer on monthly salary. I want to get volleyball, soccer, and basketball teams organized when time and support allow. We have a drama/dance team that practices with coaches on the weekends and I am looking to help them as well. By offering such activities, it builds relationships and raises interest in the people to get involved with other church events.

To assist with Sunday school I am currently helping the teachers by supplying attendance sheets and photocopies of curriculum materials. We support Sunday school classes in full in Candelaria with outreaches to four other communities. In Candelaria, there are five classes ranging from ages 3-20 with 150-200 children present weekly. I help these teachers with cost of some materials for crafts and photocopy bible stories and worksheets for each month’s curriculum. In the other outreaches, I am working to get teachers in place and divide children by age because right now they just meet as one class with children 3-20. La Isla/Guanacastal has around 40 children and there are about 60 in Quitanka. Nuevo Amanecer has over 70 and Santa Matilde brings around 100 a week. I keep up with attendance for all of these communities to help learn the names of the kids and to try and divide classes by age in the future. Candelaria’s Sunday school has become very well organized and with time I hope to model the others more like it.
Keeping up with Sunday school and learning about each kid also helps me with the Adopt-a-Family program that New Song has begun. For children active in Sunday school and good attendance in classes we are working to get those in school land keep them in school. Schools are public, and require only a little bit of money towards cost of uniforms and school material, but in these communities, most families cannot even afford these small costs. I am working to get the children/youth with the most service to the church and highest needs sponsored by families in America so that they can get an education. I am working to gather more information for each family to post online and hoping to have every family adopted/sponsored. Once linked with an American family, I stay busy keeping Nicaraguan and American families in touch communicating letters and reports.

Along with the four major projects I have listed above I use any other time I find serving Tommy, Linda, and New Song Mission Nicaragua with whatever needs come up. I often help Oscar with accounting and teaching him to run the computer software. When the groups come from the states on short term mission trips, I do my best to help them with their goals while trying to keep Tommy and Linda free to keep New Song running close to its schedule. When Linda gets time to send her updates of their mission projects back and wants a video or pictures to assist the report I get those made and online or put on DVD. There are many other things we do our best to tackle, when they come up as planning here can only get you so far. Staying flexible is extremely important and making decisions on the fly is daily practice.
The best things happening here recently that I want to praise God for are the young people who have decided to be baptized. Two girls were baptized about 2 weeks ago and this coming weekend we will have 3 guys and 5 more girls baptized. I am enjoying the personal friendships that I am making and helping with the sporting events, etc. but it is far more rewarding to see these people starting relationships with Jesus.

My short term future plans include taking Spanish classes and a 7-10 day return to the states. I am desperate to learn Spanish better and improve my communication with people here. I can understand and read Spanish decently, but I need to expand my vocabulary and work on speaking the language. I am hoping to start classes next week. I will be back in the states in 10 weeks to see two home football games at Appalachian, visit with friends and family, and work to raise more support for future goals.

I want to say thank you to everyone’s interest in my work here. I am building some great relationships and seeing some awesome changes here as God works in me and through me. I love and miss you all, and want to extend a special thank you to all who have supported me in prayer and finances. Although I may be far away in distance, I still feel your love and encouragement each day. I am anxious to see you when I am home the last week of October. I only see that visit lasting about a week as I have no plans of finishing what God has put in front of me here soon. Thanks again for your support through prayer and an extended thank you to those of you who have supported me financially.

In Christ,
Jim Bob “Diego” Norman
John 15:13

Heading for Costa Rica

2008-08-10T21:45:00.000-07:00

Our season for groups has come to an end and what a great 6 months it has been! Our most recent group from IHBC of Charlotte, NC was 2 weeks with about 20 people serving in many ways in Santa Matilde. They fed children and families, repaired and built houses, had medical and dental clinics, held Baptisms, did manicures and pedicures, along with many other activities for children and families.

They left this past Friday morning and Linda actually got a flight with them to Texas to spend some time with her daughter, Trisha. The only other group we have is 5 girls with World Race who are spending the rest of August in the dental clinic out in Candelaria and helping us in so many ways. They are building relationships and hosting a bible study two mornings a week mostly for the youth. They are very independent and a true blessing to us for the month.

I am leaving Leon for Costa Rica early tomorrow morning because my 90 days are currently up and I need to border cross. I think that I am only going to stay for a night or 2 and return to keep things going with our growing youth group and catch-up things I have not had time for with all the back to back groups. I do plan to visit Costa Rica another time, as well as the other Central American countries for more extended time, but for the next couple days I think I will only be traveling just south of the border, to Liberia at furtherest.

Busy Busy Busy

2008-07-30T10:05:00.000-07:00

Even though I have internet back, I am staying busy with all these groups here so the blog is still behind...

The group is spending almost all of their time in Santa Matilde and we are joing them there as well as trying to do all of our things in Candelaria.

For the next 2 weeks you can see what IHBC is doing by following Evan Dixon's blog:

http://www.evandixon.com

And to see our 2 month video report please right click below and "Save target as..." download, then watch our 13 minute update:

http://www.makemsmile.info/0722big.wmv

May God Bless You This Week!
Jim Bob "Diego" Norman
John 15:13

Big Youth Weekend

2008-07-26T08:30:00.000-07:00

7.18.08
I spent the morning getting everything ready for youth group tonight while the groups did some last day shopping and touring around Leon. We got to Candelaria around 1 this afternoon and the group visited homes and Morgan held his last first aid class. Tommy went to Chinadega and was successful in getting Pastor Pablo’s motorcycle. About half of the group went with Big O to a public high school in Chichigalpa beside the big baseball stadium and got to minister to 3 different classes. We all had dinner at the bloquera and returned for an amazing youth event.

We had some relay races in extra clothes and some water games. Daniel and Kervin played keyboard, with Tommy on drums and Joel on bass for our best worship time to date. The kids were extremely enthusiastic and it setup a great message from Big O. The kids gave him great attention and many kids were touched.

7.19.08
We all came back to Leon after the youth event near 10 pm and some of us stayed up until the bus left for the airport at 2:30. I rode along so that the driver, Pablo, would have someone riding home with him from 4:30-6:30. We got the group to the airport and they prepared for their flight out at 6 am. I went to sleep around 7 am and slept until mid afternoon. This evening I caught a bus out to Candelaria for their youth service and spend the night. About 7 of the youth guys stay in the church every night to make sure no one is stealing from the garden or bodega over night, and I wanted to stay a night. There is an all day youth event tomorrow with City of God church in Chichigalpa that starts at 6 am, so I needed to be out here anyways.

7.20.08
We woke up at 5 am and left Candelaria at 5:30 to meet City of God Church and bus out to the ranch for the all day event “My New Heart.” Pastor David and his wife invited 40 youth from Candelaria to join their 60 youth in full day together. The morning included verse memorization, dramas, and testimony and prayer in small groups. Then around 20 youth shared their testimonies in front of the entire group with a lot of forgiveness, hugs, and tears. It was a very powerful morning as so many of these young adults have a lot of stored hate in their hearts. We had a break for lunch and then had some dance time and a beauty pageant. 2 sister from Candelaria came in first and second place. The day at the ranch ended with some awards and prizes before the busses returned to City of God Church for an evening service. Some of the youth shared their testimonies in front of the whole church and their parents, and then Tommy shared some bible verses and a message about not caring what others think.

7.21.08
Scarleth, Leo, and I had the day off and bussed out to the beach for the afternoon. I spent most of the day napping in a hammock catching up from the long weekend and 10 days of the group being here. We have a group coming Friday from IHBC of Charlotte, NC so we will spend the next few days getting things ready for their arrival.

July 10-17 Pinnacle & Friends!

2008-07-22T20:25:00.000-07:00

07.10.08
Linda spent the day meeting with some dentists that might be able to help her once the clinic gets going. Tommy and I rode in the van to pickup Jennifer, her 2 sons, and Allison from Pinnacle Church of Waynesville, NC. My friend Brittany McManus from Miami also flew in to stay a week. 8 more people from Pinnacle will be coming Saturday. The 4 from Pinnacle made it on time, but arrived with none of their 8 checked luggage and Brittany arrived a few hours late but had no problems with luggage. We came back to Leon and met up with Linda for dinner at Solera.

07.11.08
The Gables and Jennifer spent the morning having a board meeting with 2 different people involved over phone. The youngsters of the group and myself planned for Friday Night Youth Group and had lunch together at Tip Top. We went out mid afternoon and had some fun playing volleyball and setting up for the night. Daniel and Allison did a lot with the first 30 minutes of games and entertainment, then I shared some videos. Joel played drums in place of Tommy who went back to Leon to meet a taxi driver with the luggage. Daniel led a good worship service and then Joel shared verses and a message on God’s love with Oscar interpreting. We got back late in taxi and met Tommy, who was successful in getting all of the luggage.

07.12.08
A college friend, Rebecca Adams, who is teaching English for the year of 2008 in Costa Rica emailed me last night saying she was in Leon and she met up with us this morning. Tommy took all of us to climb and sand board / run down Seiro Negro, while Jennifer and Linda spent some friend time. The volcano was a lot of fun and afterwards Rebecca decided she wanted to stay and hang with us a few more days before continuing her vacation days further north. We all went and had dinner at Hollywood Pizza and played cards and hung out at Hotel San Juan waiting on the rest of the Pinnacle team to fly in. I left in a taxi at 10 to meet Ben Rexroth at the airport and returned at 2 am.

07.13.08
This morning was a fully packed Sunday School service, with extra children there from Pastrana’s new reach out community, Quitanka and others from Nuevo Amanecer. Oscar used Lorencito to tell the miracle of the feeding the 5000 with bread and fish. Yaihaira and Rigoberto dressed as clowns and the kids loved it. In the afternoon, Pinnacle took our top 20 Candelaria youth members (hopefully soon to be leaders) to the Bloquera Bethel for lunch and an afternoon of games, dancing, and sharing with Big O. My friends joined Tommy, Oscar, and I in Guanacastal for a short message. We then had our Sunday night service with Tommy preaching from 1 John chapter 4.
07.14.08
The 4 of us from my house went out by bus this morning to the beach for a full Monday off from the mission, while Pinnacle did some tourist things in Leon. They also visited with children in the hospital. The rest of Pinnacle joined us early afternoon and gave the Gables some time alone. Many of the group rented surf boards and a few actually got up. We had a competitive afternoon of beach volleyball and time to just relax and visit, and just get to know each other better. We had a great seafood dinner at Suyapa and headed back to Leon.

07.15.08
Linda and Big O went to Chinadega this morning after dropping off Shawn, Jody, and Lee in Candelaria for their first of 3 days doing roof repairs. Big O started the process of getting a motorcycle for Pastor Pablo in Guanacastal. Ben, Leo, and I organized all of the trunks and luggage donations Pinnacle brought in the clinic and separated trunks for a big clothing sale tomorrow. Most of the Pinnacle group helped Linda get things ready for a medical clinic we have planned for tomorrow and playing with kids. Morgan, the nurse of the group, held his first of 3 planned first aid meetings teaching people from different villages. Big O had a late afternoon meeting with youth leaders of Candelaria and we all came back for dinner at Casa Vieja.

07.16.08
Oscar, Tommy, and Big O continued working in Chinadega to get Pastor Pablo’s motorcycle bought and are hoping to have it paid for and all paperwork compete Friday. Shawn and Jody roofed all day. Linda and the rest helped in the medical clinic. Scarleth, Leo, and I spent the entire day running the clothing sale of the trunks Pinnacle brought last trip and this trip. New clothes were sold for less than half price of market clothing and some used clothing and shoes were next to nothing. All of the money is going into more roof repair with the heavy rain season coming soon. Morgan had his 2nd session of first aid class and Jennifer met with her craft ladies. Dana and Jennifer also went to visit some of the new, smaller villages we have started working in with stuffed animals for the children. Big O had a youth service tonight for people in Candelaria with awesome results. 7 or 8 young adults came forward at the end to give their lives to Christ.

07.17.08
Today was the groups “fun day.” We left in a full 15-passenger van for Masaya and Granada this morning. We had a snack lunch in Masaya and did some shopping. I got a huge hammock and I’m very excited to put it up soon! We went out on the lake and to monkey island in the early afternoon and then went to the rain forest zip lines. The group really had a lot of fun with all fun things Granada offers. They continued some shopping just before dark in Granada’s central park and then we had dinner at the Roadhouse. We got back to Leon with enough energy to crawl in bed and sleep.

July 2-9

2008-07-08T19:44:00.000-07:00

i turned 24 wed, july 2...i feel the oldest and really wish i just turned 20...other things of this week include:

of my original to-do list of the week i feel most of them turned out well...youth group went well, the bodega is much more organized, and the things that need to be in the dental clinic have been cleaned and moved there...i very much enjoyed seeing the great things pastrana, eduardo, and rigo have started in the community behind candelaria...i have gotten a few of the big families broken down with full names and ages added to adopt-a-family...rigo has his bike and is currently investigating the best place to begin drum lessons thanks to God and Richard for helping with such a unique and willing young man...sunday i got new headshots for everyone that was present in sunday school (about 100 3-18 year olds) to help with IDs or other attendance sheets

the best things of this week i feel were the blessing of young people that helped me with the bodega organizing and moving supplies to clinic because without them this would have never happened in an afternoon

saturday was very refreshing as the gables and i went without translators and got many things accomplished in chinadega and just schedule-free fellowship and love with some of the best youth young men and seeing the santa matilde girls' parents house and how willing they are to share their fruits and have you visit with them

i also felt like tommy had terrific lessons on both friday and sunday night with great response

we have a team of 12 coming in from asheville, NC on starting this thursday for about a week...i also have a personal friend, Brittany McManus, coming from Miami and Ben Rexroth is making another 1-week trip down from Indiana.

should be a great week with a medical clinc and youth retreat planned along with other outreach fun and games

God Bless You all up north,
Diego
John 15:13

ADOPT A FAMILY

2008-07-01T23:40:00.000-07:00

Adopt-a-Family is offically online!
The project I have been gathering information for and getting online for the past couple months is now up and running!

Thanks so much for the help Kevin Howell and Evan Dixon!

Please take time to watch the video and visit the site.

VIDEO:
http://makemsmile.info/adoptfam.wmv

ADOPT SITE:
http://newsongmissionnicaragua.com/adoptafamily/

If you fill led to adopt-a-family and help with their school needs and basic living costs please do not hesitate to do so today!

Still No Internet...ACC trip posted

2008-07-01T23:38:00.000-07:00

After tropical storm Alma and some other thuderstorms I no longer have internet at my place...the times I can get on are limited right now and will only become less as we will be busy with teams from june 19 until august 9

i truly appreciate all the love, support, and interest from my readers and i will do my best to get updates up when i can...posts will not be as frequent, but when i post it will be a long time covered (like the 10 days below)

the short times i do have at cyber cafes or quick minutes we meet before heading out from the gables house are used to try and keep up with emails and work on newsongs adopt a family website

i am hoping to get back on more often soon...love you all and please continue to pray for the work here...

Jim Bob "Diego" Norman
John 15:13

ACC Trip

2008-07-01T17:38:00.000-07:00

Sat. 21
After a long day in the village yesterday and late night with youth group Scarleth and Linda both used today to try and recover from being sick. Tommy took the 6 from ACC to the beach for the afternoon. I did some work this morning from my house and then spent the whole afternoon and night celebrating Alejandra’s 5th birthday. It was a lot of fun meeting more of her friends and family. They had 2 piñatas and lots of dancing. Viky and Oneada stayed busy feeding around 60-people the entire night. I was very glad to be there to experience that day with Alejandra and her family.

Sun. 22
We went out to the village for the afternoon and ACC had an all afternoon drama workshop. A couple of different churches from Chichigalpa came to Candelaria and they worked with small groups on mimes and skits. We had planned to have an evening service as well, but Tommy started feeling bad mid afternoon and we came back to Leon after the drama workshop.

Mon. 23
June 23rd is Father’s Day in Nicaragua. Just like mother’s day it does not have to fall on a Sunday, but is celebrated on a date each year. We went to La Isla for an afternoon Father’s Day service. Pastor Daniel led some great worship, with help from Adam and Pastor Pablo’s wife. ACC did two different dramas and Jessalyn shared her testimony. The event was very well attended by many fathers from Guanacastal/La Isla, an area where nearly no men attend any church events. Pastor Pedro’s brother, Isaiah, has been doing some home visiting there and got a good turnout. He and Pastor Pablo both shared scripture and then we all had soft drinks and cookies.

Tues. 24
Tommy took the ACC team to climb and surf the volcano this morning, while Oscar and I worked on finances from the Gables office. In the afternoon, we went to the basketball arena in Chichigalpa to meet with some of the youth from Pastor David’s Church of God. They had been a big part of the drama workshop Sunday and were hosting a team from the states that had a basketball game planned for the evening. We watched the first half and then ACC did a halftime mime/drama.

Wed. 25
The Gables left with the ACC team to enjoy 4 days at Montilemar Beach this morning. Oscar and I did what we could to catch-up finances with Susan over the phone this morning. Leo and I took local transportation out for baseball practice in Candelaria, while Oscar stayed to work on getting the medical/dental container here later this week we hope. Scarleth is still taking time off to try and get better and has seen a few different doctors.

Thurs. 26
Today was a lot like yesterday, with Oscar and I working from the Gables this morning and then Leo and I going out for baseball practice. The garden is really looking great! The corn and papaya trees have gotten so tall and other plants are beginning to produce. Oscar worked hard again today getting things in line for delivery of the container to Candelaria. They told him today, that it should ship from Managua tomorrow afternoon and be unloaded in Candelaria tomorrow night.
Fri. 27
Scarleth went out with Leo and I for baseball and then we all ran the Friday Night Youth event. Daniel spoke in Tommy’s absence and everything went very well. Oscar did a lot of communication work from Leon and the container got to Candelaria around 6 this evening. While we had youth some of the men/youth boys in the church worked hard to unload everything and get it locked into the clinic by 8:30. Oscar and many other people in Manugua and the states did an unbelievable job to get this container here very fast and smoothly.

Sat. 28
I rode with Pablo, a co-worker of Freddy’s, to get the team at Montilemar in the van early this morning. We picked up the original 6 and two men that joined them Thursday night at the resort. Their senior pastor Rick Snow and Richard will be with us for the next 4 days before the whole team flies out July 1. We got back to Leon around noon and then headed to Candelaria for an afternoon service led by Pastor Snow on leadership. It was well attended by 5 different church pastors and many leaders of Candelaria. With Oscar busy in class, his brother, Alvaro, served as Rick’s interpreter and did a great job!

Sun. 29
We took a truck load and van load out for a great afternoon and evening! The ACC 8 plus our normal 5 and extra interpreters: Alvaro, Laura, and David spent time visiting Santa Matilde and La Isla in the afternoon, and then went to Candelaria for Pastor Rick to lead the evening service. We trucked in big groups from La Isla/Guanacastal and Santa Matilde to fill the church for an amazing night. Daniel led worship and Pastor Snow encouraged us all to become servant leaders. There were probably over 150 people and then 60 plus kids in the congregation. Tommy and Rick married a couple from Santa Matilde after the message and then ACC said their goodbyes and had an extended send off of hugs and goodbyes.

Mon. 30
Tommy, Linda, and I took ACC to visit some other parts of the country today before they head back for the states tomorrow morning. We left Leon in the morning and grabbed lunch in Granada. They spent time walking around, Nicaragua’s top tourism city buying souvenirs and getting massages until mid afternoon. We then took a boat ride for 90 minutes around the world’s largest lake and visited monkey island. The group really enjoyed feeding/petting the monkeys and then the girls decided to jump off the boat for a little swimming. We went to Masaya to let the group see one last city and buy their last gifts. We all ate dinner at a great Mexican restaurant in Managua’s newest mall and then took the team on to stay at the Best Western across the street from the airport. Tommy, Linda, and I rode back to Leon with Pablo driving, and ACC will fly out at 6 am tomorrow morning.

Tues. 1
I cannot believe that it is already July! I spent the day getting the rest of the biographies up for adopt a family and updating the past 10 days worth of the blog. We will have a full day staff retreat tomorrow to plan for the upcoming month and groups. Adopt-a-Family should also be launching tomorrow from NewSong’s website. Scarleth and I have been working a lot with the help of Kevin Howell and Evan Dixon to get this online and ready to go.
Please take time to watch our video and visit the site. If you fill led to adopt-a-family and help with their school needs and basic costs please do not hesitate to do so today!

VIDEO:
http://makemsmile.info/adoptfam.wmv

ADOPT SITE:
http://newsongmissionnicaragua.com/adoptafamily/

Past 2 Weeks

2008-06-21T13:36:00.000-07:00

Wed 11
We took 200 pineapples to be planted later this week. Pastor Jose bought a new keyboard for the church with the money raised through offering. The land at the end of the field down by the river has been plowed and ready for corn and beans to be planted. The Gables got back tonight from their week vacation and will be catching up in the village tomorrow.
Thurs 12
We went out today for the afternoon and Tommy and Oscar met with some pastors. Linda and Scarleth talked with the sewing ladies and garden workers. Leo ran baseball and I spent time visiting and letting the youth know about the big youth event at the baseball stadium in ChiChigalpa tomorrow that we would go to instead of hosting our usual Friday Night Youth Group. Linda and I met the 4 girls with World Race at the bus station in Leon and took them out to stay at the Bloquera Bethel for the night.
Fri 13
We went and got the girls from the Bloquera and made it to Candelaria around 2. Leo began baseball practice and Scarleth got the girls setup with some of the garden workers and other women in the church to plant corn. The church got the pineapple planted in the morning. Scarleth and Tommy held some pastor meetings and I visited La Isla. We went to the Chichigalpa baseball stadium for a big youth event put on by some people from Managua. There were probably 250 or more young adults in attendance. The first couple hours were drama and worship; we had to leave to get the World Race girls to dinner at the Bloquera and ourselves back to Leon.
Sat 14
We rode out to get the girls at the Bloquera and then drove back through Leon and out to Poneloya for an afternoon at the beach. We had time to talk to the girls about their 11-month Thailand-Central America World Race and make plans for them to lead Sunday School tomorrow. We had dinner at Suyapa and then drove them back to the Bloquera and back for bed in Leon.
Sun 15
Scarleth and I went out this morning on bus to meet the girls to lead Sunday School. They shared dances, songs, and stories from the different countries they have been visiting since September. Scarleth translated and I hung out with kids in the congregation. In the afternoon, Oscar’s brother, Freddy, led drama practice and the World Race girls and I played with some of the other kids. Tommy, Linda, and Oscar came out for evening service, but with both Tommy and Linda fighting some sickness we only stayed through worship.
Mon 16
On Monday, Scarleth and I went to watch some baseball at a University in Leon. A team called Athletes in Action, AIA, from the US was in Leon to play a double header. The teams is made up of different college baseball players through Campus Crusade for Christ and they are in Nicaragua for 3 weeks. They scheduled some mission work, baseball clinics, and 18 games with young men in Nicaragua. We watched them play a 7-inning game that ended in a 0-0 tie and then another game against Leo and some of his Dominican teammates that ended in a 7-7 tie.
Tues 17
Tuesday was a day off for the Gables to try and fully recover before a group of 6 from Atlanta City Church get here for 2 weeks. Oscar and I worked to answer some emails and settle some finances from San Juan de Leon all day. Scarleth is still sick on and off the past 2 weeks, so Oscar and I are trying to stay healthy and praying for the rest of the team to feel better before all the groups start coming for the rest of summer.
Wed 18
We had our first full staff meeting since the Gables return from the States. We spent some time checking up on each other and Tommy shared from 1Timothy 4. We went over our extremely full calendar for the next 3 months and Linda shared dates for upcoming staff retreats and meetings. We all went out for a typical Wednesday. Leo is staying busy with a growing baseball team. Tommy, Linda and Oscar held a Candelaria church and small business leaders meeting. Scarleth and I went to meet with Pastor Pablo and Rosa in La Isla to help them with Sunday school attendance and getting the right families ready for Adopt-a-Family to kickoff soon.
Thurs 19
Scarleth and I worked with Linda today in Leon to get almost all of the families online and ready for Adopt-a-Family to be ready online. Tommy and Oscar had a meeting with Pastor Jose and took Leo to run baseball practice. Freddy drove the Gables and me in his bus to get the ACC team from the airport. We left Leon at 6 pm and got back a little after 10. The team of 3 guys and 3 girls ages 17-27 will be here for 2 weeks helping with youth group, drama, and whatever else comes up. They will also be spending about 5 vacation days site-seeing the country.
Fri 20
We went out today with a very big group: Our team of 6, ACC team of 6, 2 extra translators and a 16-year old girl named Sarah from California visiting my neighbors. ACC spent time visiting homes and playing with kids in the afternoon, while Scarleth and I setup for youth group. ACC ran the youth event tonight with games and dancing for the first 45 minutes. Adam led worship singing 2 songs in English and 1 in Spanish. Daniel also sang 2 songs in Spanish before ACC shared some drama and testimonies. Jade shared first, and then the full team did a drama called “the gift.” Adam shared his testimony and we all enjoyed refreshments.

Sunday in Candelaria

2008-06-08T13:12:00.000-07:00

Scarleth went to Leo's baseball game in Leon, and Oscar took the day off. I took local transportation out this morning for Sunday School. Attendance was good in all 5 classes and they are starting to use the material Jennifer supplied for the appropriate age groups.

Around noon 2 guys with Living Water were working on cleaning the community well. They added clourine and flushed the entire pipes for the well that serves as cooking, cleaning, and drinking water. They will finish their work on it tomorrow and then some church members will pour new concrete around the base.

Freddy came out and 14/17 youth were there for drama practice. They are getting better and we are very excited for ACC to get here and help with drama. We are hoping to have them lead many different drama teams in the streets of Chichigalpa in late June.

I visited a few homes on my way out of Candelaria to the bus terminal and rode back to Leon in the evening.

Easy Saturday

2008-06-07T13:08:00.000-07:00

I woke up feeling much better today, but still no energy. Oscar had school and Scarleth and Leo spent time with thier visitors.

I did some computer work to get ready for Sunday School tomorrow and worked on some updated attendance sheets now that we're into June.

I spent most of the day resting off Friday's sickness and getting energy back for this coming week.

Friday in Leon

2008-06-06T13:01:00.000-07:00

With the Gables on vacation we decided to not have a Friday Night Youth Group meeting. Scarleth had some family come visit and I have been sick all day so it worked out that we took tonight off. It rained heavily Thursday night and Friday morning so the baseball field was still standing in water.

Oscar did work from the office communicating the meetings from the past few days over email and working on June's payroll until afternoon when he had a funeral to attend.

I watched 4 movies and tried to rest off what feels like the same 24-hour bug I had about 6 Fridays ago.

Gables on Vacation

2008-06-05T12:53:00.000-07:00

With all the groups coming up, and after a lot of traveling and visiting in the states the Gables have decided to take a week vacation and spend sometime just the 2 of them. They will be back in Leon on Wednesday night ready for our first group that comes in Thursday the 12th.

The rest of us took local transportation out for an afternoon of meetings and baseball practice. Leo had about 20 guys at practice, and they are enjoying the gloves and catchers equipment we got in Leon last week.

Scarleth and Oscar spent over 2 hours discussing upcoming projects with garden workers and the sewing classes. Pastor Walter and Oscar are setting up meetings for the land purchase in Santa Matilde for IHBC.

Pastor Daniel and I went to visit in La Isla and Guanacastal for the afternoon.

Full Wednesday

2008-06-04T12:41:00.000-07:00

We had a team meeting this morning about our plans over the next 3 months and the many groups coming all summer long. Afterwards we all went to the village for the afternoon and evening. Tommy, Linda, Oscar, and Scarleth met with sewing ladies, gardeners, and other church members while Leo ran baseball practice. I visited families in the villages until 6:00 service started.

Linda shared information from thier trip to the states and let the church know about the groups that will be coming for the next 3 months. Daniel and Bismark led worship and then Tommy spoke about community. I took the children in the pastors house for a movie.

Gables Return to Candelaria

2008-06-03T12:32:00.000-07:00

The Gables got time to visit in Candelaria this afternoon. It had been 5 weeks since they got to see the pastors family, garden workers, and the church members. Linda was very excited to see the progress of the garden and the medical/dental clinic.

Scarleth and Oscar stayed busy with the Gables in meetings with different small businesses and I spent time visiting homes of children and teenagers.