Enjoy a great Nicaraguan dinner, learn about upcoming trips, hear about future ministry plans, and even pick up some Nicaraguan art pieces!

If you have any question or need more information on this trip, please contact Kerri Fredrickson at  kerritoddf@hotmail.com.

The home-building project was for Reyna, a woman of long standing and
excellent repute in the community who leads a new church fellowship in Reyes Norte. Reyna has six children, two of whom live with her, and she lost her house last fall. Her family has a small piece of land directly across the street from Escuela Cristiana Havila, and our team helped build a house on that land.

The site was prepared before our arrival by a crew of local men, who leveled the
site and laid the stone foundation. We worked for three days putting up walls and a roof.
We did not quite finish the house, but we were able to leave behind enough money to buy
the remaining needed materials and pay for local labor to finish the job.

One of the wonderful parts of working on Reyna’s house was that we were joined
in the labor by Jose and two other men, Marvin and Juan. Jose was there because it
was his mother’s house. Marvin and Juan are men whose houses were remodeled last November by another short-term team. They were eager to pay it forward and join us in laboring on somebody else’s house, and it was sweet to be part of that process.

The second half of our time was devoted to a men’s conference, which was held
at the school. We started Friday night with dinner, some icebreaker games, life stories from two of our team members, and a lot of opportunities to visit and get to know each other.

Saturday was a full day at the conference. Three team members delivered
lessons, one on being a son, one on being a husband, and one on being a father, and four
other team members shared life stories around those topics. In addition, four local men
asked for opportunities to share their life stories in response, and we heard those as well.

In between all that, we had lunch and dinner together, played baseball, and generally got to know each other as men at a level that few team members had previously experienced. Altogether, 57 Nicaraguan men attended the conference, and many of them shared openly with us that it had a profound impact upon them.

It’s that time again to write to your sponsored student at Colegio Cristiano Havilah. You may already be keeping in regular contact with your student. If so, that is great. If not, we would like to encourage you to send your student a note to encourage them. This can be done very easily by using the form found on the website.

Simply follow this link http://unidosnicaragua.org/sponsor-a-student/write-to-your-student/

We will be translating and sending down all of the messages we receive on “    “. So please have your message sent no later than “    “.

These letters mean a great deal to the students. Your student will love to know about your life and about what is happening in the world around you. We will be sending letters back from you students as well. So ask questions about your students. The would love to fill you in.

Please let your student know how much they mean to you today!

My name is Lillian Rodriguez Flores. I am 5 years old, living in the United States because of one man’s decision to follow God’s calling to serve His people in Nicaragua. I call this man, Papa Lee. He came to Nicaragua in June of 2005 to work with the first construction team from Northshore Baptist Church, establishing a school in Los Cedros with Eben Ezer Church pastured by Pastor Manuel and his wife Pastora. Little did he know God’s larger plan as he served in Nicaragua, was to care for me. I was 18 months old living on the outskirts of the Managua dump and malnourished when Melisa Buzbee agreed to take me to her home by the request of my Mother, to nourish me back to health. During my stay at Melissa’s home I was provided care and nourishment and spent time with the team of men from Northshore Baptist Church, one of which was Papa Lee.

God has had His hands all over me, taking care of my every need. I received much care from the Buzbee family, spending time living with my parents, in an orphanage, and in the Buzbee’s Open Hearts Ministry’s rescue home called, Casa Havilah. I spent time with Papa Lee’s family when they traveled to Nicaragua on many occasions and during the time they were living here. None of us knew at that time exactly what God’s plan was, we just cherished our time together. While my life hasn’t always been easy, I know God has paved the way for me to be where I am today. Many have prayed over and for me and I give thanks to all of them.

Papa Lee and Mama Becky built a relationship of trust with my parents who agreed to give them legal guardianship of me in the hopes of educating me in the United States. This task seemed impossible to us as the U.S. embassy doesn’t usually grant this type of visa. Of course God can open any door, and He did. By the Grace of God, the U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua agreed to grant me a student visa so I could live here with my new family, the Lockridge’s. I know that this new life I have been granted is one that many children in Nicaragua will never know. I am fortunate for God’s Love and all that He has in store for me. I enjoy having my own bedroom, consistent meals, a school that accepted me, for Ms. Elyse, my speech pathologist and the many who pray for me daily. I know this is an opportunity for me to learn and grow into the women God has intended me to be.

I pray for the many people God is calling into the Mission field and that those called will follow, receiving all the Blessings God has for them. This may be you, if so, think of what you can do, spreading God’s love throughout the world, if only you will submit to Him and go where He calls you. You too can make a difference!

I Love you, Papa Lee, Mama Becky, Jeremy, Kashara, Zach and Sadie. My family forever!

-Lillian

and Nancy on discipline. Each one of their talks resonated with different cultural issues – so much so, the next day Pastora, the school director, informed us of the town chatter. Charise shared how she gave up coca-cola in order to save money – and the women were chattering about what that could mean for their lives.
The conference lasted from Thursday night till Saturday. Through testimonies, crafts, and extensive times in prayer – we saw the move of the Holy Spirit as he softened hearts towards Jesus Christ and the conference grew in numbers daily. Judy Hystad and Bianca Simineaux shared powerful testimonies, followed up by prayer ministry. Loretta Trainor led crafts and each lady creatively enjoyed make something new. Patrice, and Charise were our ‘Joy Bag’ ladies and brought the Nicaraguan women to laughter. Linda Wright and Katie Higgins and many others took care of the children and loved each one of them with a Jesus tenderness.
A woman named Maria Virginia gave me her best dress as an offering of gratitude and shared how Jesus spoke to her about her value and significance in Him rather than in what men think of her. The next day, I wore her dress with pride and she smiled at me with tears in her eyes.
The final day was the culmination of everything when the ladies shopped free of charge through a Northshore sponsored boutique and “bought” clothes, and purses. We laughed in delight as we watched Nicaraguans come out with Coach bags, and silk scarves.
At the end of the conference the Los Cedros women lined up to give Northshore an offerning. In the midst of their own poverty they thanked us for our presence in their community. We were humbled as we watched the poorest people we know give with such nobility.
Katie Day and Kerri Fredrickson led the Northshore women’s team into a new place, both physically and spiritually – and we are so thankful.

Luisa soon proved to be a very entrepreneurial, and we began working with her to sell clothing for the community. Every time that a team came to Nicaragua they brought bags of clothes that had been donated. From the profits a portion went to her and other portion went to support the school feeding program.

During that time Luisa and her husband German where taking some business classes at Eben Ezer church; after the class the teacher told us that she was a very smart business women and had some great ideas. Within a short period of time Luisa had developed a business plan for a “pulperia” (small convenience store) and presented it to us for consideration.

UNIDOS had been working to start a micro-finance fund, and through this process Luisa became our first borrower. Today Luisa is faithfully paying back her loan and running the successful pulperia. She knows very well that her repayment is helping enable other loans for people in her community. She still cooks for our teams and remains a very loving and welcoming person.