Mission: Nagarote

noreply@blogger.com (Mission Team) — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 14:27:00 +0000

Our latest edition to the farm has been a tortilleria. We were inspired on a trip to Mexico to make one of these as our love for tacos is never ending.... We contacted our brick mason, Tio Andres. He and his helpers built this over a course of a week. The tortilleria is a wood-fired flat top grill complete with an outdoor sink and counter...

noreply@blogger.com (Mission Team) — Sat, 13 Mar 2021 00:43:00 +0000

Update March 2021.

For the past year the world has been dealing with the COVID-19 Virus.

Nicaragua has closed its borders and only allows foreigners to enter with a PCR Covid test within 72 hours of entry.

At the time of this update, Avianca and Copa are the only airlines flying to Nicaragua due to the regulations set forth by the Nicaraguan government in hopes of slowing the spread of the virus.

We are hoping by this summer the travel restrictions will be lifted but only the Lord knows.

2021 hasn't been all that bad... In February Steve retired and we are now free to host groups most of the year in Nicaragua.

At the farm we have added a fire pit as a place to gather each evening.

If you'd like to get more information on spending a week serving the beautiful people of Nicaragua you can email us at theriac1216@gmail.com

Cultural Day

noreply@blogger.com (Mission Team) — Mon, 09 Sep 2019 17:11:00 +0000

After a long week of serving, we always like to take our teams on a tour of the country on the last day. This time, we visited two markets, the mall, the overlook in the capital, and an active volcano.

Random photos of the week

noreply@blogger.com (Mission Team) — Mon, 09 Sep 2019 16:49:00 +0000

Church in the Street and Door-to-Door Evangelism

noreply@blogger.com (Mission Team) — Mon, 09 Sep 2019 16:37:00 +0000

We wrapped up our week by having Church in the Street. We went door-to-door in the community and prayed with each family, provided a care bag that included beans, rice, a Spanish Bible, and other miscellaneous items, and extended an invitation to attend our church in the street event.

Brick factory

noreply@blogger.com (Mission Team) — Mon, 09 Sep 2019 16:16:00 +0000

A few years ago, we decided it would be nice to take our groups to a local brick factory. We allow each team member to write whatever they want in the bricks. After the bricks are fired, we pick them up and use them in construction projects on our mission farm. This is special to Steve and I as we look back over the bricks and reminisce about previous teams.

Pastor's Training

noreply@blogger.com (Mission Team) — Mon, 12 Aug 2019 15:24:00 +0000

Several years ago we asked the local pastors in Nicaragua what THEY needed instead of us deciding what WE thought they needed. They ALL said, "TEACH US." The majority of ALL of the pastors we have ever worked with have had NO seminary training. This began a huge mission in our hearts to bring pastors and leaders from the states who had a heart for missions and training up other pastors. Our home church pastor, Bobby Maynard, is an amazing man for this job. I have never seen a pastor walk his talk like this man does. This is his third trip to Nicaragua to help train and equip local pastors and leaders with biblical knowledge to help them shepherd their own flock.

Pastor Bobby Maynard

Daughters of the KING

noreply@blogger.com (Mission Team) — Mon, 12 Aug 2019 15:12:00 +0000

DOTK....Nicaragua and USA. Our home church has an amazing women's group called, "Daughters of the King." Yvette, who leads our group at home, shared with this group of pastor's wives and leaders from the local churches. She shared Psalm 91 and Mark 12:30-31. We were able to share testimonies, complete arts and crafts, and break bread together. The elephant represents our "herd" of women that does life together. On this very special day, Yvette extended our herd.

Vacation Bible School

noreply@blogger.com (Mission Team) — Mon, 12 Aug 2019 15:04:00 +0000

Thrive Church hosted two VBS's during the week. The local public school was on a two week break, and all the students came to school during their time off to enjoy all of the fun games and activities. The second VBS was at a local church we support in our barrio. The children were able to participate in arts and crafts, play games, and broke a pinata at the conclusion. As always, each child received a Salvation bracelet as the Gospel was shared.

WE FINALLY DID IT!!!! THRIVE CHURCH - JULY 2019

noreply@blogger.com (Mission Team) — Mon, 12 Aug 2019 14:31:00 +0000

After ten years of construction, we were finally able to host our mission team ON OUR MISSION FARM. Over the past ten years, teams stayed at the local hotel in town. It was always our dream to be able to host teams on our own property, and this year our labor of love came to fruition. We always knew that our HOME church should be the first team to stay with us, and in July that happened. Here are some pictures of the amazing team from THRIVE CHURCH, Winter Haven, Florida.

It's been a long time...

noreply@blogger.com (Mission Team) — Fri, 01 Feb 2019 17:00:00 +0000

It has been quite awhile since I posted. 2018 brought numerous challenges and heartbreaks. I lost both my mother and oldest brother, had two foot surgeries, then Steve had a close call and ultimately ended up with a defibrillator pacemaker. 2018 also brought civil unrest to Nicaragua, which forced us to cancel our mission teams. Through it all, the anchor holds.

Without having groups, we were able to do more construction than ever before. We are very excited to announce that for the first time, we can start hosting the mission groups ON OUR MISSION FARM instead of the local hotel. It has been a labor of love for the past ten years, as we have watched our dream come to fruition. Being self-funded missionaries we had to go through a lot of trial and error, but in the end, we are ready!

This July, we will be hosting our HOME church. It was always my desire to have my home church to be the FIRST group to stay on site. (partly because if something goes wrong, they will be likely to extend more GRACE...hee hee) Stay tuned for more details and photos...

Hebrews 6:18-19 (NIV)

18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain...

Summer Missions 2018

noreply@blogger.com (Mission Team) — Thu, 05 Apr 2018 23:22:00 +0000

It's that time! The time to announce this summer's mission teams. Our first group is coming from Davie, Florida. This will be their third time doing missions in our little town of Nagarote, Nicaragua. We are so excited to have this amazing group return once again. As one of their profile pics claim, Jesus Changes Everything! We couldn't agree more!

The second group and first time visitors to Nagarote is Iglesia de Dios Pentacostal from South Lake Wales, Florida. The exciting thing about this group is it is a Latino church. That means fluent Spanish for everyone. We are really looking forward to hosting Pastors Wilfredo and Diana Perez and their mission team.

For the love of God...and music!

noreply@blogger.com (Mission Team) — Sun, 07 Jan 2018 12:28:00 +0000

Steve has always had a desire to better equip each church with music. Often we have gone to a local service where they were singing without any instruments or very little. Over the years, he has outfitted some churches from everything from the microphones to drum sets. On this trip, we attended a service where singing and clapping was the way of worship. By the end of the service, the pastor was literally hoarse and almost without a voice from singing and preaching without a microphone. Both Larry and Steve donated their guitars to Pastor Wilmer's church, and Thrive Church donated a keyboard, microphones, and cords to support this church in their music ministry.

Womens' Conference - July 2017

noreply@blogger.com (Mission Team) — Sun, 07 Jan 2018 12:18:00 +0000

While the men are away leading the pastors' conference, the women on the mission team are leading a women's event. During this conference, Yvette Maynard, our home church pastor's wife, shared her heart and created a beautiful day for these women. The focus was loving ourselves and seeing ourselves as God sees us. The workshop included a Bible devotion, several arts and crafts, a time to share, and a meal. (the one male in the photo was the interpreter)

Preaching and Teaching - July 2017

noreply@blogger.com (Mission Team) — Sun, 07 Jan 2018 12:08:00 +0000

After the first few times we hosted mission teams in Nicaragua, I turned to the local pastors and asked them what our teams should and could do to help them and the people of Nicaragua. Often, as North Americans, we go to a third world country and decide what WE think they need. After speaking with several pastors, they ALL said they would like to receive more training to better serve their own churches. Out of the seven pastors we spoke with, only one had received any formal training and seminary. We decided that pastor trainings and conferences should be at the center of all of our mission team agendas. On this trip, our own home church pastor, Bobby Maynard, conducted a few day training with a group of local pastors and leaders. The picture below is from the night he went on to preach at a local service.

Cooking Lessons

noreply@blogger.com (Mission Team) — Sun, 07 Jan 2018 11:58:00 +0000

The summer of 2017 was our 9th year of hosting teams in Nicaragua, and we are growing very close to many locals. This trip, we invited some of our church family into our home, and they gave us a cooking lesson of Nicaraguan foods. It was a great time of fellowship and the food was fantastic.

Tostones - fried plantains

No Nicaragua meal is complete without rice!

The final plate!

Cooking on the grill Nica style!

Thrive Church - 2017

noreply@blogger.com (Mission Team) — Sun, 07 Jan 2018 11:47:00 +0000

There is nothing more special to us when our HOME church

joins us on mission in Nicaragua. We love our church family!

Crossway Church, Davie, Florida

noreply@blogger.com (Mission Team) — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 19:29:00 +0000

In June, Crossway Church of Davie, Florida, came to serve in Nagarote. We partnered with Team Elswick, missionaries who serve in Managua, Nicaragua. The group had a busy week. They spent three days encouraging the children of Second Baptist-Jesus is My Pastor Church through VBS. They also painted the church, erected a wall that fell from the earthquake three years ago, and repaired the roof.

Crossway Church

Team Elswick. Here Tony Elswick presents the pastors of Nagarote a certificate for New Testament training. We enjoyed a night of food and fellowship as they were presented with their certificates of completion.

Our Story Continues

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 13 Feb 2017 16:14:00 +0000

Our Story

In 2009 we were given the opportunity to be part of a short term mission trip to Nagarote, Nicaragua. At first, we felt reluctant, but God quickly changed our hearts and minds. We discovered some statistics about Nicaragua, and knew it was the right place for us to go.

Nicaragua is the second poorest country in Latin America after Haiti. Poverty is largely a rural problem in Nicaragua, although there are pockets of poverty in the capital, Managua, and in other urban areas. Close to half (43 percent) of the people in Nicaragua live in rural areas. Two out of three of them (68 percent) struggle to survive on little more than US$1 per day. We quickly learned how friendly the people of Nicaragua are, and how content they seem to be with life in general. To Americans, they seem to have so little, but to us they seem to have so much more. This drew us in even further.

After returning from our first trip, we felt an intense call to return. We became the new mission trip leaders for our church and started planning more trips to Nicaragua. We fell in love with the town and its people, and knew that it was the place God wanted us to make a difference. Over the next few years we continued planning trips with various church groups.

While on mission, our groups conducted back-yard Bible camps and Vacation Bible Schools. We held several revivals and pastor training conferences. Some groups chose to tackle construction that included building a new home for a family in need and a stem wall for a local church that had access issues. Every trip included tract distribution along with some basic necessities like clothing, beans, rice, and toiletry items. Providing Spanish Bibles was also high on each groups' list.

Making connections with the local churches and its members has really helped us find out the greatest needs in the area. Even though we were serving by organizing and participating in these trips, we wanted to do more. The next step was to purchase some land. We sold our dream house in the US and bought a farm in the town of Nagarote. We are currently building a home and common area where groups can stay when they come on mission. This is a work in progress and we know God will lead us on the right path. We will continue to share the love of Jesus as the people of Nagarote share their lives with us.

Prayer for our casa!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 01:05:00 +0000

It was such an honor to have the Thrive Mission Team write scripture on our walls before we paint. It was such a blessing to have this group pray over our house. AS for me and my house, we WILL Serve the LORD! Joshua 24:15

The Smile Community

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 03 Jul 2016 02:38:00 +0000

The group delivered care packages that included rice, beans, sugar, hygiene items, and a Bible to the Smile Community. The team delivered about 125 care packages and showered the children with toys.

Dream of Louisa VBS

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 03 Jul 2016 02:15:00 +0000

BRICKS BRICKS BRICKS

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 03:56:00 +0000

Each town in Nicaragua is known for a different product they make and sell. The next town away from Nagarote is La Paz Centro. The town is known for bricks and tiles made from a special clay that they harvest from local farm land. The group was able to take a tour of how these bricks are made. They each decorated a brick that will eventually be used on our mission farm in our building process.

Pastor's Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 03:06:00 +0000

Pastor Bobby Maynard from Thrive Church in Winter Haven, Florida, led a two day men's conference. Pastors here have not had the opportunity to attend seminary, and they are hungry for theology. I was only able to catch the tail end of the conference, but everyone that attended said it was a powerful training and experience.

Women's Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 02:12:00 +0000

Today Yvette lead a women's conference. She was able to share with the pastor's wives how God sees us and all that we do. We are all truly Daughters of the King!