December is my favorite time of the year. Its the time I get to see all my family in one month. My Nicaraguan family, my blood family and Terry's family. Living in North Carolina and having no family here means traveling is the only option if I want to see them.
Terry and I will be leaving on December 9th to Nicaragua to see my Nic family. I am so excited I can hardly control myself. We will be having the wedding this trip with 14 couples and we will be attending the graduations of the Operation Education preschoolers, middle and high schoolers. It will be my first time getting to attend the ceremonies. I can't wait to see them in their cap and gowns. They are so excited and proud of themselves and so are we.
We will return on the 17th and shortly after travel to Virginia to see the rest of my family. We only see my mom and Terry's mom once a year.
I have been extremely busy this month getting all the stuff ready for the wedding. We have had to pay for not only the licenses but for the legal paperwork that each couple has to have. It has made me realize just how poor these people are. For example, here in the US we have a birth certificate and a SSN # that we use as a proof of citizenship, in Nicaragua they have the same type of information. Not one couple of the 14 had in their possession this type of paperwork. In their entire lives they have not had the money to pay the office holding this information until now. We were able to pay to get their marriage license, birth certificates and their ID so they can all be legal in the countries eyes and in God's eyes. This is a huge blessing to them. Now they can use these documents to register for other benefits they have not been able to in the past. From time to time the government will give out free stuff to people but you have to have proof of identification to receive it so now these families will be able to. Praise God for a dual blessing.
Pastor Arturo is preparing the couples with a marriage class this coming week. Pray that any of the people participating who do not know Jesus will see the need to not only get married and make a commitment to their wife but they will make a commitment to Christ.
During our week in Nicaragua we will be joined by two other ladies from Michigan. Our hopes are to bless the families with many things but especially with the Word. Pray we are able to speak to the families in a way that speaks to their hearts. The wedding will be a great opportunity to speak to the entire community at once. I have not had that privilege before.
In addition to the wedding and the graduations we will be blessing our Operation Education kids with their uniforms, backpacks and school supplies. Its an exciting time every year. The kids last day of school is this week and they will start again in February. Thanks to all the sponsors who helped to make this possible.
OPERATION EDUCATION SPONSORS - if you are sending your child a letter I need it ASAP. Please send it in as soon as you can. If you are sending a financial blessing toward food for Christmas I need to quickly. I will have to deposit it so I can take it out of the bank by Friday of this week. If you are late getting it to me I will only be able to except cash after Thursday so please get it in the mail quickly.
I appreciate another great year on the mission field. Many lives have been affected and none of this could have been done without your support.
**** I have 3 more kids that need sponsors. I don't have pictures of them yet but have their names. If you wanted to sponsor a child and didn't get to me in time now is your chance. I have two teen girls and a 10 year old boy. If you are interested please email me. *****
Here are the prayers needs for this trip. I would appreciate you lifting them up on our behalf.
1. Pray for the hearts of my community to be open. This will be my first visit since the boy was killed by lightening. I hope to talk to them about that also.
2. Pray all the pieces come together to make the wedding the best ever. I want them to have the best day ever.
3. Pray for the fiances needed to cover all the wedding needs and other ministry needs will be provided. God has already blessed me beyond my dreams but there are some other needs that have not been met as of this time.
4. Pray for the hearts of the men getting married to be opened to hearing the Gospel. Most of the women are believers but hardly any of the men are.
5. Pray for safety and protection over our team as well as our families we are leaving behind.
I hope each of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and will have a Blessed Christmas. Remember Jesus is the reason for the season.
God Bless each of you,
Angie, Terry and family
The Power of One Ministry
198 Mellwood Drive
Charlotte, NC 28214
