May. 09, 2024

April May 2024 Concnshell Chronicles

Young Life- Seek The Lamb Ministry.

In 2002 we met Jim and Sarah Hornsby, who founded the Young Life Ministry in Nicaragua in the 1980’s- a little before we began our project with the Nicaraguan refugees on the other side of the country. From 2003 to 2009 we often visited the Young Life (Vida Joven) camp in the mountains above Matagalpa with our Deep Water Discipleship groups. They also grown delicious coffee at the camp and in 2010 we began helping them roast and ship their coffee from Vero Beach to their supporters in the U.S. We have a long history with Young Life.

The Vida Joven camp is high in the mountains of northern Nicaragua. Here is our Deep Water Discipleship team of 2007.

We have been at the camp for the coffee harvest, helping out picking and sorting. Laura is chatting with some of the pickers.

The Vida Joven coffee is among the best in the world

Two years ago, Young Life leader Jhonilin Suarez and his family moved to Puerto Cabeza, the principal city on the Caribbean side of Nicaragua, to start a Bible Club. There are many Young Life Bible Clubs in the United States as well as in Nicaragua. They are very effective in reaching young adults outside of the churches. Now one of their leaders, a young man named Bency from the Rio Coco, is leading an effort to start a Bible Club in our town of Waspam on the Coco River.

When they started the club in Puerto Cabeza two years ago, they walked the streets inviting the kids hanging out on the streets to the club, which began meeting in the front yard of a church. They played games with the kids, played music, and then had a Bible study. Their target audience is not kids in church but in the street. After a few weeks of meeting, with the group growing each week, the pastor told Jhonlin that they could not meet on the church property anymore because the music they were playing was not “Christian music.” One of their friends volunteered their property, and now there are two Bible Clubs in Puerto Cabeza!

Vida Joven Bible Club in Puerto Cabeza Nicaragua just s few weeks ago. Our Seek The Lamb Directors Nutie and Tom joined them (at the left).

Sadly, many of the churches are stuck in a religious structure, where the young adults are not ministered to, nor given opportunities for deep spiritual growth. Remember, Christianity is relatively new to the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua, only coming in the early 1900’s. The first church on the Coco River was established in 1928 by Riker Watson the father of our dear friend Barry Watson.

We have all the housing and transportation support to help Jhonilin and Bency to start a club in Waspam, and this month they will begin holding meetings in Waspam, which will continue each month forward. They will select 12 young adults to send to the Young Life camp in July, and again in September and November. These sessions at the Vida Joven Camp/Farm above Matagalpa will provide the atmosphere for a spiritual encounter for these young people. Jhonilin and Bency, along with us, believe that this is the start for many Bible Clubs along the Coco River.

Modern Technology! Bency and Jhonilin spent over an hour talking with Tom, Michael and Nutie about the Bible Club in Waspam (we are in the lower corner)

This is something we have been praying for for years! Pray with us this month as Jhonilin and Bency begin the work in Waspam.

Lamb Bleatings

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I appreciate any time given to me and my thoughts and so it means a lot to me that you would take time out of your day to be a part of my life. I am also exceedingly thankful to all of you who have not only read our writings but have responded in some tangible way to the needs we are burdened to fulfill. So many of you have sacrificed to be a part of God’s wondrous plan of helping those less fortunate than yourselves and we are grateful for you. You are full of ALOHA and 100% HUMANIC. You choose to better the quality of Human Life all over the world.

My four children posed with me at the Airport Cafe last week in their work shirts. I am so proud of these adults who represent us all so very well.

Arielle, Mikaela, Laura, Moselle & Lukas

We are thankful for the extra space we are provided with to be able to serve our community better and more. Expansion seems to come with the territory of healthy growth and the faithful plowing of groups of people. We are thankful for our loving capable family and team mates that are attempting to live Life to the fullest and the ability to serve and offer hospitality, charity and love to the world around us. We are thankful to all of you who are coming alongside of us to care.

We are thankful for the expansion of our Project Ezra School Project which will have greater focus now on Discipleship and Bible Training on the Rio Coco. We have aimed toward greater influence for things of eternal value among our Miskito Cultural . We are excited about this.

On the international level, we are preparing a more efficient Rio Coco Café Ministry on the island of Utila and we are asking Jesus to provide us with Ministry Leaders who can help us lead and reach people from all over the world that frequent our Café on this little Dive/Party place called Utila in the Bay Islands and a part of Honduras. We have history and friendships that span 3 decades with the local Utilians and also the many we have come into relationships from all over the world due to us being there to serve up a quality cup of Joe. The advantage of ministering on Utila is that English is the language most spoken so no language barriers to overcome.

On a local level many beautiful things are happening via our Café in Vero Beach Florida. Two Saturday’s ago, we did a community fund raiser to help buy School Supplies for Project Ezra. At the Airport Café we will had a plant sale and bake sale along with other vendors joining in on the fun which culminated with a little dance session with DJ Jerzi and Olivia Assaf calling some dances out for young and old, male and female. It is the new community fun thing to do….like pickleball where all can be involved for fun. Feel free to make a donation online by for their school supplies for this school year. We would appreciate you being involved to make this and many of the other projects happen. Here is a link to our giving page:

Help With School Supplies

Thank you for considering your involvement with us.

I thank God for His specific detail in Life and how He reaches out to my heart to gently move, tug and guide in such a still gentle voice full of Love and compassion. Many a moment in my relationship with Him, I need a slap awake from him usually coming in the form of incidences which wake me up to reality of who and what I am actually living for…not for myself, not for others, but for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. No other. When My Heavenly Father is in the center of my attention, my day goes much better and as the peace and wisdom of His Holy Spirit leads, teaches and guides me, I am at His calm and contentment. As Jesus my Savior takes precedence in my heart as the Sacrificial One that has given me freedom, hope and a future, I find my identity in Him serves me to serve others in compassion and grace and I am most joyful in this safe place of sacrifice and service. Because He Lives, I am alive forevermore. What greater measure of Hope! Jesus, the name above every Name….every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. To God be the glory for the great things He has done and is doing!

Michael went to the Vero Beach Air Show this weekend where the Blue Angels performed with our kids. I hope they appreciate their father more as they realized what he did for seven years in the Navy.

Of course Michael is wearing his broach (Navy Wings) as well as the socks he got at the Naval Aviation Museum last year !

Laura

Biblical Places Spiritual Spaces

Come to the Holy Land with us- on your phone or computer!

Explore our new webpage “Biblical Places Spiritual Spaces.”

Since we returned from Israel last May, we have been doing a virtual tour of the Biblical site at our Saturday morning studies at the Rio Coco Café in Vero Beach. We have gone to many of the sites in Israel, as well as in Greece and Turkey. We use the photographs to understand the geography, history and culture, then read the Biblical text that is associated with each site.

For example, a few weeks ago we went to Jericho. When you hear the word “Jericho,” like many, you think about the walls falling down. We saw the ancient walls, the 9000 year old tower, and discussed the history of “the Oldest and Lowest City in the World.” It sits near the Dead Sea at 867 feet BELOW sea level.

Lukas contemplating a 9000 year old city.

Here is the 9000 year old tower at the Tel a Sultan.

Then we looked at three Biblical people from Jericho, who had their walls of separation from God fall down. First Rahab, the inn keeper/prostitute who hid the Hebrew spies, was saved , and became the great great great great grandmother of King David. Next was the blind man “Son of Timaeus” (Bartimaeus) who cried out to Jesus, was healed, and upon gaining his sight, took out his cellphone, and read the past 20 years of his FB and Insta feed. No, he got us and followed Jesus down the road. Finally we have the notorious tax collector Zacchaeus, who was so interested in ‘seeing’ Jesus, that he climbed a tree. What surprised him was Jesus was more interested in seeing him, and called out to him that he ‘must be a guest’ in Zacchaeus’ home that day. The result of that meal together was the repentance and conversion of Zacchaeus, who became a true follower of Jesus.

Lukas, Mikaela and Laura at the ancient site of Jericho

Getting to know Jericho through the visuals helps us get to know the individuals who became part of our extended family, and how God moved in their lives.

Join us for about 7 to 15 minutes on one of our posted sites, walk with us and some of your friends through the site, sit with Laura and I and Randy and Dottie Smith as we learn what happened on the site, and let the Bible speak to your hearts. It’s Laura’s and my hope that our 27 years traveling and working with Randy and Dottie will provide some insight, inspiration, and encouragement to you all in what God is doing in our generation as we understand better Him, His ways, and His desires to use us all to reach those around us for eternity.

Click here:

Biblical Places Spiritual Spaces:

You will see a page with a photo of Mikaela and Lukas making shadows on the Jerusalem Old City Wall. Now select which site you want to visit.

We will be posting many more over this next month.