Nicaragua here we come......

Recently, Wanda and I spent a week in Nicaragua.  If you can't remember your Central America geography, here it is.  And yes, we are talking about Central America, not Africa.

Anyway, we spent a week there with John and Jenny Pillar from the U.K., Brent and Michelle Ellingson from Canada, and John and Gala Dallmann from the U.S.  The Pillars and the Ellingsons are the couples that will be re-launching the eMi Latin America office with us. John Dallmann is the CEO of eMi.  We were all there in Nicaragua to seek God's direction on whether or not Nicaragua is the right place to re-launch the Latin America office.


It was a great week with a lot of really helpful and encouraging conversations.  We met with engineers, architects, missionaries, relief development agencies, ministries and businessmen.  At the end of the week the team all agreed that Managua, Nicaragua is the right spot.


As we think about the direction of eMi moving forward, one way to talk about it is thinking of three D's:

Design

Grandma and Grand kids in El Limonal

The United Nations uses a metric called the Human Development Index to rate all the countries in the world.  If you want to learn more about that, just Google HDI.  In the Western Hemiphere, Nicaragua is second to Haiti as the country with the worst HDI.  48% of the population lives on less than a US$1 a day and 76% on less US$2 daily.  The definition of poverty in a country like Nicaragua is a world away from the struggles of our lives.  There are many ministries that are working hard to share the Gospel of Christ and to help those who are trapped in extreme poverty.  To accomplish these goals, the ministries often have a need for infrastructure planning and design.  Yes, there is a need for design in Nicaragua.

Discipleship

Young Life Club in Matagalpa

As with most of Latin America, Catholicism has been the religious belief system for many years in
Nicaragua.  Recently more and more Catholics are joining Protestant churches as they seek a more personal relationship with Jesus.  Currently, about 50% of the country are Catholics, while about 40% are protestants.  As we met with ministries who are sharing the gospel and helping the poor, we heard over and again that "we have the Gospel, what we need is to learn how to live as Christians everyday".  In Nicaragua there is a real need for Discipleship.

Diversity

Out of the very small percentage of students that make it into and through the Engineering University in Nicaragua, only about 30% of those who graduate find jobs.  There is a gap for the engineering students between their studies at school and jobs that pay wages that would support a family.  One of eMi's five year goals is that 25% of our staff and interns would be local professionals.  There is a huge opportunity in Nicaragua to diversify the field office, to have an office where developed world professionals and interns are working with developing world professionals and interns; learning from one another, teaching one another, encouraging one another, and growing together in Christ.

Moving forward

Our family will be moving to Nicaragua in August of this year.  In some ways, that seems a long way off, but not in reality.  The month of July, our family will be at Missionary Training Institute.  From everything we have heard, that will be a rich time of learning and encouragement for our whole family.  In June, we are going to be visiting our family and friends in Oregon (If you are one of our family and friends in Oregon, we would love to see you!).  We will be moving out of our house here in Colorado Springs at the end of May, and May just isn't very far away!

How YOU can help!

Many of you are already covering us with your prayers, and partnering with us financially.  I am SO thankful for that covering that you have given us.  We are just over 80% of our monthly budget!  It has been amazing to see how God has provided.  Between now and when we leave for the field, we need to raise another $1,200 in monthly supporters, and another $10,000 in moving and start-up costs.  Please pray with us for God's provision.  If you have any questions or comments or thoughts or encouragement, please reach out to us.