Hard to believe, but it’s almost time for us to go back to Jinotepe for another visit to the Arms of Love children’s home. Our latest team consists of 15 people, with a mix of veterans and first time visitors.
We leave on January 21st and come back on the 29th, so please remember to pray for us, that God protects us and gives us His wisdom and love for the kids and staff, as well as the people in the town of Jinotepe.
Our main project is to set up a library for the children to supplement their school library and help those with learning disabilities by giving them a chance to read a lot and have access to specialized materials.
In addition to your prayers we are in need of donations of books in Spanish on just about any topic, suitable for children ages 5 to 18. If you have any books, just bring them to the church and place them under the tree in the coffee shop any time in December. You can also make donations of any amount to help with the expenses of the trip.
If you have questions or want to know more about how you can support us, contact Bradley Humbles at bradley.humbles@gmail.com.

by Allison Gale

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I sat in silence at God’s feet and listened to early morning silence. In my stillness and quietness, I became aware that there were only two sounds that broke the silence – one that marked it and one that decorated it. (more…)

Hola from Jinotepe!

We are all having a great time and have been blessed with good health so far…

While the kids have been at school we have been doing A LOT of painting… We have painted the railing on Casa Grande, the whole outside of Casa Dos, as well as the ninos study/dining room. We have also built some tables and bought some new furniture for the houses…

For the past few afternoons we have been doing crafts, dancing, and watching a few soccer games!

Tomorrow we are going to take the older kids to the top of a volcano and to lunch.

Thank you so much for praying for us and please continue to pray for good health as well as divine appointments with the children. We have also been able to minister to the staff, so please pray for the continuance of that!

This Saturday our group of 13 people will join Erin and Karen (who are already in Jinotepe, Nicaragua) to further minister to the orphans there. We will spend a week working and playing with the kids, holding Bible studies and crafting sessions, worshiping and praying in English and Spanish. Please pray for us, that we will keep healthy and hear from God continually about how to bless these kids and the workers who live with them and care for them daily.

We’ll send updates and photos as often as we can once we arrive, so check this site for news. Thanks to all who have supported us financially and in prayer!

We have a team preparing to return to Nicaragua to the Arms of Love children’s home in July. Our group of 14 has met twice now to plan our activities and learn more about ministry to the kids there. We expect to do some more construction work, painting and repairs as needed, and spend as much time as possible with the children. When they come home from school in the afternoons we usually engage in crafts, singing, dance lessons, sports and sometimes helping with homework–especially for the older ones who are studying English.

Once again we will have team members with expertise in education and inner healing counseling who will work with the house parents and other staff to enable them to be more effective after we leave. We may also take a short excursion with the kids to a nearby national park on top of a volcano that you can see from the compound. It’s a great, low-cost opportunity for the kids to get some time out and about, and the views from on top of the volcano are amazing! Nicaragua is a beautiful country.

Please pray for our team. We will need God’s protection as we travel and His wisdom as we minister to the children. Pray that we will have the power of the Holy Spirit to discern how to pray for the kids, how to meet their emotional needs, and how to minister the gospel to them despite the inability of most of us to speak Spanish.

If God leads you, feel free to support us financially as well. We will need about $18,000 for the week, including our air fare. We are trusting God to provide the funds, and if He lays it on your heart to give, just mark your donation to VCC as for the Nicaragua Missions team.

However you decide to support us, thank you, and stay tuned to this blog for updates as we prepare, and for more pics live from Nicaragua in July!

The team returned on Tuesday, January 27th, although for awhile there we wondered if JR would make it back with us! He was pretty sick, but God and a couple of Nicaraguan hospitals looked after him.

We were blessed by the children much more than we blessed them, as usual. The change in the atmosphere at the children’s home in Jinotepe was dramatic—God is reaching the kids’ hearts and drawing them to himself. They have devotions regularly, many read their Bibles frequently, and the new house father, Aldo, has instituted daily exercise (optional) and is teaching the boys to be good stewards of God’s gifts to them.  When some of team members were ill the children prayed for us and we were healed.

Some of the things that we accomplished were:

     – Prepped and painted the iron railings on one side of the Casa Grande
     – Built and painted four tables for the ninos to use for study and play
     – Purchased blankets, dishes and flatware for the kids to use
     – Provided a new laptop computer for Javier Sanchez, the director
     – Inner healing counseling and education training for the house parents and kids
     – Repair and restoration of the basketball goals and backboards

In addition we spent many hours playing with, talking to, and hugging the children. It was a joy to give them our attention and love, to talk with them, laugh, play Uno, sing worship songs and hike on the beautiful trails on the property. 

Thank you again to all who prayed for us and supported us financially. Look for more updates and phots from this trip, and for announcements about our plans to return to Nicaragua with a team in July!

Title: Skate Night
Location: Hot Wheels Skate Rink
Description: We’ve rented the whole place for the night! Come skate and eat for free, and you can totally invite family, friends, and neighbors to join the fun!
Start Time: 6:30
Date: 2009-02-15
End Time: 8:30

The chicas are in the internet cafe in Jinotepe for a bit while Bradley and Javier go “shopping” for hardware and supplies.

Last night we had a party for Christmas/New Years/January birthdays complete with dancing, cake, icecream and the most sugary soda you can imagine. Isabella did some traditional dances with the older girls, and Deborah led all of the little girls and older girls in ballet. The little ones were so precious in their outfits and crowns. At one point I looked at JR and remarked that God must be telling everyone in heaven “hold on a moment, my daughters are dancing and we need to watch…”

The children were truly precious, and just looking around the room I saw Beka cuddling with the little ones, JR snuggled with his constant shadow Fabian, Bradley holding Eliezar, Jason running amuck with Karla, Karen talking to Julia and Fracella, Sierra taking pictures of Gioconda and Valeria, Deborah coordinating the different groups of girls and me with Gloria on my arm with Meyling and Estrellita playing with my hair and I thought: this is God´s kingdom here on earth. This is it. This is the love of Christ redeeming relationships and healing hurts, the sounds of dancing and little kid laughter are truly the sounds of victory over the kingdom of darkness. Right here in Jinotepe, in the Arms of Love children´s home, Jesus is delighting over his beautiful bride.

I hope that we can get some pictures sent to you from the party. See you all soon!