Pray, Pray, Pray.. Please pray..

Just got word from Carlos that Oscar is having problems. They did a special blood test and his Creatinine blood levels are too high.

Carlos was not sure what that meant exactly but stated the doctor is very upset and concerned and told the family that this is a possible sign of kidney failure.

They ordered a special medicine and he has been on it for two days and they will retest him again. The problem is of course the tests are expensive so the mom didn't ask me for any more money until now. She was hoping if they waited he would be fine but now it has gotten worse. She borrowed the money needed and got the test done and now the doctor needs to do the second test.

I sent Carlos to pay for the second test tomorrow.

We need to cover him in prayer now that when that blood is drawn from him it will be clean and will be pure and cleansed with God's healing power. No sickness, no high levels of anything that should not be high.

We have come so far, I refuse to give up now...

Pray for him with me, pray for his perfect healing. God's will for our lives is to be WHOLE. I claim that over little Oscar. Jesus already paid for all his sickness and BY JESUS's stripes Oscar IS HEALED.

Let's come together and stand in the gap for Oscar today.

I'll let you know when I have more to tell you.

Angie

Another community learning to grow a garden

While in Somotillo this trip I ask my assistant Evert to help us find a community that needed support but was willing to put in the work. He took us to one community and we met with them but the entire time I spoke to them I just did not feel led to work there. We let them know we would be praying about helping them but had other communities we were visiting and if God permitted we would be back, if not we knew that God had other plans for their community.

After leaving Evert went on a scouting trip. He visited four different communities and found Sa Bieta. It's about 20 minutes from Somotillo and right in the middle of two very popular communities. For several years both of those communities have had teams coming to them but they just pass by them. One lady told me she often wondered if there was something wrong with them and that's why no one wanted to help them. Needless to say they were very blessed to know that we had come and was in fact willing to help them.

The leader of the community is very open minded. Some leaders are set in their ways and feel they know everything and it's their way or else but not him. He was so grateful for our support. In the Somotillo area when a leader of a community gets people to help he is looked at as a power individual and it helps him to be more respected. This is to our advantage because then he is more willing to allow us to direct him.

He worked hard that day to get all the community together on a last minute notice to talk to Evert and get commitments from them. Instead of just showing up and giving out tools with no strings attached I am working with Evert who works with a national company that has taught him skills in getting communities to work together as a team. This program requires them to come to a bible study and hear about Jesus in order to receive additional help.

It sounds a little controlling but trust me it's working great in Coffradia. Now almost every household there has accepted Christ just through the weekly bible studies.

Sa Bieta is a very poor community like Coffradia and most of the men are out working each day and again the woman are responsible for the gardens. I think they actually like it because they are contributing in a different way and they can see how their contributions are affecting the household with each visit to the garden they make.

We purchased 10 hoes, 10 matics, 27 irrigation systems, seeds for each family (tomatoes, peppers, squash and cucumbers) fertilizers for all 27 families. They were excited to see the help. They only have a garden once a year because they have no way to irrigate them and the soil is just to bad for the crops to grow without water on a consistent basis.

During our distribution of the tools we also gave each family a set of clothes for their kids, a toy for each child, bracelets for each teenage girl and necklaces for the boys. After that distribution one of the team members Alisha, noticed we had enough gospel bracelets and recommended that we give them out. I had not considered talking to them specifically about salvation but felt if God was prompting Alisha maybe I should.

I took the bracelet and walked them through the gospel explaining that their decision needed to be based on their desire to live for eternity and not because they wanted my help. I would help them no matter what. I ask them to pray and to stand and show they made that commitment and over 50 people stood before each other confessing they had prayed to accept Christ. Way to Go Alisha for listening to the Holy Spirit..

Evert has been visiting each week and helping them get started with their gardens. I can't wait to get the first photos of this new communities gardens.

Check out the families of Sa Bieta in the photo gallery. Pray for their success.

Thanks again to all that has help with the garden projects.

A huge thank you goes out to Mechanicsville Baptist Church VBS kids. Their children raised $700 to help with this community.  It's great to see children working to help other children have a better life.

Stay tuned for more about Sa Bieta.

God Bless,

Angie

ps. Oscar and mom are still doing well. Keep praying over their immune systems.

Great things are happening..

In case you didn't get to read my email from last night, let me bring you up to speed. I got a call from Nicaragua yesterday and they are prepping Oscar for surgery on Monday.

His mom was put back in jail this month and I asked for you to pray for her today as she went before the judge.

IT WORKED....

No only did they let her out today but they have agreed to CANCEL her charges completely and let her out for good. Because they want to make sure she is telling the truth they need some paperwork from the hospital and once they receive that they will issue her a statement of freedom which will cancel her 3 years left for her sentence.

God is so faithful... Can you believe it? They are going to release her for good. That is just not heard of in our jail systems must less in Nicaragua. God heard your prayers and answered them in a mighty way.

Thank you so much for lifting Oscar and Francisca up in prayer. Look what it did.

I talked to Carlos (my translator, my life saver, my right hand man..) today and now the hospital is asking for crazy stuff. Towels for Oscar, 4 pairs of PJ's, distilled water, plastic cups.. Things we just assume are covered are not there. I have already had to pay for bed sheets for mom. We can complain about our medical payments here but just imagine if it was your responsibility to bring with you to the hospital, sheets, towels, soap for the doctor, bulbs for the lights, etc. That is the kind of list they were given.

I wired $200 more to Carlos tonight and I am hoping this will finally cover everything. If you think about it, this will be the cheapest kidney transplant you will ever hear of.

I really appreciate those of you who purchased raffle tickets to help Oscar. That money paid for all the tests needed to get him to this point. God will bless you more than I can imagine. A couple of you have sent in money specifically for Oscar and that money went toward the test also. I still need to cover the last $200 I just wired. If those of you who have not been able to help so far feel led to, please just let me know so I can account for it.

If your family can't help financially, trust me YOUR PRAYERS are worth more. Pray those who can will be willing.

On Monday my little buddy will have a new kidney and a chance at life, all because people like YOU cared for him. What an act of love you have shown. Teach your children about Oscar and what God is doing in his life. Show them his pictures so together you can pray for him.

I'll keep you posted as I know more. Again, thanks so much for your prayers.

Angie

Garden Project a huge success...

Every time I go to Nicaragua I come home wondering if what I just did mattered to anyone other than me. It is really hard to tell sometimes and the best intentions can be great in your mind and not be for those you are trying to reach.

This trip to Coffradia was amazing. God used those wonderful families to truly bless me instead of me blessing them.

I arrived to the entrance of the community to a "Rolling of the Red Carpet". They had used left over fertilizer and rocks to make a "red carpet" effect. On the side of the entrance is a brick wall they had cleaned and painted "Welcome Ally" on it . (ll says "G" in Spanish). They even wrote it on the big rocks that are at the corner of the school.

The leader of the community and some of the key people were waiting for me with homemade signs. This was a huge sacrifice for them. I am sure it cost them a days wages to buy the paper. I am hanging those signs in my house as a reminder of why I do what I do. Each sign basically said, "we the community of Coffradia want to say thank you for all that you are doing here in our community and for all the people who have helped you help us, we say thank you. Please continue to work in our community. We will pray that you are blessed for what you do and that you will always come back soon. We all love you very much."

Their kindness will forever be in my heart. For all of you who were the original ones that helped sponsor these families., those words are for you more than me. I have told them all about your kindness and your willingness to bless them. They are truly thankful. I have never seen or heard of a community doing anything like this before.

The school teacher allowed the students to have the morning off so we could have a meeting in the school. The kids were dressed in their best and had decorated the school. I am sure all the supplies were purchased by the teachers own personal money. I have visited the school many times and it always looked really bad. I often wondered why until the teacher shared with me that people are breaking into the school and damaging things all the time and the roof leaks really bad so during the school year it is hard for them to keep the school decorated and an exciting place to learn. Our kids are so blessed they have a comfortable place everyday to learn in.

As I talked to the families about their gardens I soon realized they were so proud of them. They were happy to show off their work and let me know they had been working hard. I keep asking if they want to stop and they keep telling me NO WAY. Some of them are on their 3rd or 4th gardens already. Others are having some problems with their soil that we hope will soon be resolved.

I was told again while I was there that this garden project should have never been a success. The soil is just not made to grow things. I continue to tell them that with God's assistance they can grow food in the worse conditions ever. God is showing off in Coffradia. He is showing them that He will provide for them. I don't have to be there to give God's testimony to them about His love for them, He's doing it every day all by Himself.

Check out the pictures of the Welcome, the School and the Gardens on my website by clicking here.

I can not thank all of you enough for what you are doing in this community. I also can't express to you the thankfulness of this community. They are working hard trying to learn the correct way to keep their gardens growing. They are meeting every week with the trainer who is not only teaching them about their gardens but about God and His love for them. Only because of YOU... this can be done.

Let me know what you think about this project.

God Bless,

Angie

The drama is calm for now..

I just realized I have not written since I got home. Now that all the major drama in my life has calmed down, I'm just living my normal boring life. We finally made it home on Wednesday afternoon. Thank goodness the airlines put us up in a room and fed us breakfast. That additional expense was not one I wanted to have to pay.

I had to go to work first thing Thursday morning and worked all day and the same on Friday. That's the first time I have had to do that and my body is freaking out today. I am so tired and now I am finally getting sick like Terry. I had to go to the doctor today and get a ZPack because my ears and head are a mess but already I am feeling better. I love that man who made a ZPack. That stuff is great.

I am happy to say as far as I know the other two girls are finally doing much better.

I have had a lot of questions about the "swine flu" comment that I wrote about. It has caused some fear in others and I want to give you some comfort I hope.

The girl who I wrote about went to the doctor and was diagnosed with the "FLU". Since she had already had a flu shot and now had the flu the doctor stated it could be "swine". There was never a test to actually determine it was or was not. It is flu season this time of year in Nicaragua and many people are sick with upper respiratory infections. It is rainy season there and just like here in January our germs come out in full force so do they in Nicaragua. Praise God she was not sick enough to be hospitalized so the doctor wanted to make sure so she prescribed Tamiflu for her and her family. It is always best to be safe than sorry.

I say this to say that there is no proof either way we caught Swine in Nicaragua and when you are working for the Lord you can expect warfare to happen. Don't let this scare you or worry you. If God has called you to go on a mission trip you must go with the attitude that anything could happen. I have been so blessed in the 15 times I have gone I have never gotten sick and never came home with anything until now. I would say those are really good odds.

Our driver's son was sick while we were there and it is very possible that he was the carrier of the flu germs. I have since checked on him and they are both doing fine.

Let me encouarge those of you with concern that I do all I can to make sure each team member is well taken care of while they are in Nicaragua but there is no 100 percent guarantee just like here. You can get sick in your own house just as easy as you can on a Mission trip. Don't let this scare you away.

Great things happen during our trip, I am sure the devil is ticked off to no end. He is not happy that all those people accepted Christ. He is not happy with the seed that we sewed and the lives we changed.

I am working on the pictures and will post them soon.

Until then... God Bless,

If you have any other questions about this let me know.

Angie