History

Through every stage of our preparation for Mission Nicaragua we have seen God's hand working in our lives, guiding and directing us through His divine providence.

How the Dream Began

When David and I decided we wanted to do mission work, we wanted to develop a plan for making the work self-supporting. We planned to start off with the help of a U.S. congregation, but give that congregation the opportunity to stop supporting us in 3-5 years so they could begin another mission work in a new area. Nicaragua is a very poor country, so the idea of supporting the work through the local congregation’s regular offering was just not realistic.

In 2000, when a member of the church donated the funds to David’s dad, a longtime missionary to Central America, with the idea of purchasing a farm where the members of the church could “help themselves,” we were hooked. This Christian brother knew that there were many physical and spiritual needs of the people of Nicaragua that were not being fulfilled. With a 70% unemployment rate, most people live day to day on what little they can make doing odd jobs like making and selling tortillas or selling flowers or fruit. This supporter worked with David's dad to determine what could be done to help the most people. They decided to purchase land which could be used to grow food for the poor as well as produce a crop that could be sold to purchase other necessities. They decided on a 120 acre coffee farm in San Marcos, Nicaragua. To read more about the farm, click here.

David and I began to prepare. David attended a 2 year program at the Brown Trail School of Preaching. I attended one year at the same school. In 2001, we moved to Edmond to attend Oklahoma Christian University, where David would receive his Bachelors of Arts in Missions, and I would receive my Bachelors of Business Administration in Accounting and Vocational Ministry. Upon graduation, we were blessed to have the Edmond church of Christ agree to be our sponsoring congregation and partners in our Nicaraguan mission work. In July of 2005, after working for 6 months with the Edmond congregation we were ready to make our move, and we haven’t looked back since.

In the past year, a lot has been accomplished. We have had 24 people decide to devote their lives to Christ. Our church attendance has increased from 75 back in October of 2005 to 95 in June of 2006! We have over 40 kids who come to Bible class every Sunday, many without their parents. In addition to our regular weekly services, which take place every day except Monday, we have held seminars on marriage, preaching, teaching effective children’s classes, and more. Under benevolence, we have purchased medicine and food (including giving a two to three week supply of food to the entire congregation 3 times), paid for hospital exams, repaired homes, and the list goes on. If the last year is any guide, the future should be bright, full of hard work and results.

History of the Nicaraguan Church

The evangelistic work is not something new in Nicaragua. It began back in 1969 when two El Salvadorian preachers traveled to Nicaragua to sow the seeds of the gospel. David’s parents, Joe and Augustina Romero, began working with the church in Nicaragua over 15 years ago. The methods that are being used in Nicaragua are the same methods that were used to start the first congregations in the first century. “And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:42, also 20:20). In a combined evangelistic effort of the churches of Christ in Nicaragua called “Plan Managua,” evangelists went from house to house teaching the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ. There were 10 congregations, 30 preachers, and 10 teams that totaled 300 members evangelizing. Plan Managua was completed from 1999 to 2004. This work was successful because God is with the church and the members were and are willing to put the time and effort into evangelism. After the church completed Plan Managua, they expanded to a country-wide effort. The church on the farm was established by the united evangelistic effort in 2004. The church in Nicaragua is greatly strengthened by its many young people and the large number of members ready and able to work for the Lord.

The best thing about the work of the Lord in Nicaragua is that it has been tried and it has been proven. Christ mentions the principle of being able to know someone or something by its fruit, and the fruits of this work in Nicaragua speak for themselves.