The
last posting on our blog dealt with how God is working in lives of people in
the poverty stricken village of Guadalupe (La Chureca), Nicaragua, with
promises of a follow-up story of the mountain of Pochocuape. Today you
the reader will take a look at another miracle of how a young couple is helping
an entire village alleviate poverty.
People
can overcome poverty by learning to use their God given gifts if they really
have the will to do so. An old Chinese proverb says give a man a fish and you
feed him for a day. Teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
That has certainly become a truth, not just a proverb, in the community of
Pochocuape. This story is quite lengthy and one may need a little more
time to soak it in. Maybe you would prefer to read it in two sittings,
but by all means, please take the time to let the message speak to you.
I think it will certainly be worth your time to read in its
entirety. It is about the life of a young man who is sold out to Christ,
and is teaching an entire community how to step out of the grips of poverty,
towards a thriving fruitful life. There is so much poverty in the entire
world today, but for those who are willing, there is a way out.
Our
Church Mission team has placed a lot of emphasis of late in the studies coming
out of the Chalmers Center of Covenant College in Lookout Mountain,
Georgia. Many films documentaries and small group studies have
resulted from books they have produced.
When Helping Hurts…How to Alleviate Poverty without
Hurting the Poor...and Yourself!
When Helping Hurts / Small Group Experience
Helping Without Hurting in Short Term Missions
Helping Without Hurting in Church Benevolence
From Dependence to Dignity / How to Alleviate Poverty
Through Church-Centered Microfinance
It
is our prayer that more and more people will become involved in such studies
and find the part each of us can play to alleviate poverty. These studies
will help one to learn not to give hand outs so quickly and freely, thinking
they have done their good deed for God for the day. Instead, they can
truly learn to help people overcome and alleviate poverty by encouraging them
in ways that will help them learn to fish for themselves, with dignity.
After all, this is what God really prefers that we do. He would have us
take the time to build a relationship with our fellow man so we all can walk
hand in hand down the road toward eternal life together. That’s the kind
of relationships he wants us to build.
This
is a unique story of a young pastor by the name of Jorge Reyes and his wife,
Monica Vergara, who live in a quaint little village on the top of the mountain
of Pochocuape. This hard to reach
village is only a short distance from
downtown Managua, approximately eight or ten miles as the crow flies. But
that short distance from down town can sometimes take almost an hour to get
there. Once you turn off the one crowded highway leading west out of
Managua, you confront an unbelievable trek, the rest of the way up the
mountain. A couple of years ago, while living in Nicaragua, Norma and I
owned an old Toyota LandCruiser with four-wheel drive, and still it took
forever to reach the top. Chug holes, tree roots, old tires, tree trunks
and other rubbish must be dodged as you venture up the tattered obstacle course.
A two-wheel horse drawn cart or a yoke of oxen might hold you up on the
journey. And in most places, there is only space for one car to pass. So
one may have to sit and wait at times for whatever motorbike, three-wheel moto,
bus, car, ox cart, pigs or other live animals may be in the path.
At times, depending on the rain, the holes are washed out so deeply that
a normal car cannot make it to the top. And especially for a car, if it makes
it to the top it might end up with a punctured tire, or drag the ground so
violently that immediate repairs must be made. But that is only the entry
of the village. One still has a way to go to get to the top, and that is where
the story begins.
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| Jorge Reyes and Monica Vergara |
Both
Jorge and his wife are from the northern city of Leon Nicaragua. They
moved to Pochocuape originally to pastor a
church, which was built in the middle of the village. This was a mission
compound founded by a missionary who had a dining room and food program for
children in Pochocuape. He had built a
school and a building for a church, but he had no pastor. When he
realized he was not able to do all the work himself, he hired this young couple
to come in and assist. There were great dreams of a nice school, a
church, a place to feed children at least one good meal a day, and hopefully in
time, a medical clinic would be added.
When
I first met Jorge, he was 24 years old, and I immediately felt a deep love and
respect in my heart for him and his wife Monica. That was in 2009, and he
had just arrived at this community. On the particular day we met, I
discovered that this was the day he was going to be ordained and commissioned
as pastor for the new church inside the compound. Throughout the day, he
and I visited and he told me of his vision and plans as the new pastor. I
spent most of the day translating for him and before the day ended, he asked me
if I would be a part of his ordination in the service of “laying on of
hands.” I felt honored and quickly told him that I would be happy to do
so. Charles Stone, a pastor from Ginger Creek at that time, was going to
preach the evening message. It turned out to be a beautiful evening, and God’s
presence shook the building. Those who were present prayed for Jorge that God
would move in his life to do great things on that mountain. Little did we know
that God surely would answer that prayer, but not in the fashion and manner
that we in our selfish ambitions expected him to answer. This story took
a turn that only God and his infinite grace could understand.
In
only two short years after the ordination, because of some unfortunate
situations, this young man had to leave the compound. He had no place to
go, but fortunately he had made some friends in Pochocuape who permitted them
to move into a small rental house that was empty at the time.
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| Jorge and Monica's home for six years
The owner
let them move in, rent-free. This gave him and his wife time to
sort things out and see what God had in store for them. During this time,
our church continued to visit the mountain. We prayed for them and tried
to encourage them in every way possible to keep them on track and to continue
his education. He decided to continue his schooling, picked himself up by
the bootstraps and started to work in the community. We saw real
value and potential in this young man, and we knew God had his hand on Jorge
for a very special reason. He possessed a drive within, and had
this deep passion to transform the area in which he now lived. Not only
did he continue his classes, but also started shepherding people in the area,
and soon had a humble little following to begin another church. Above and
beyond the church work and school, he was conjuring up some other ideas that
you will not see in many pastors, and especially for someone as young as
him. He felt a real need not only to feed the flock spiritually, but he
began in depth studies on how he with God’s help could transform the community
of Pochocuape in a sustainable fashion. He spoke with Norma and me about
ways that he and his people could become debt free and have a new way of
life.
|
He
asked us questions of how he could get out of debt, not only for himself, but
to teach people in the community as well, who were heavily in debt. We
gave him Dave Ramsey’s book and videos in Spanish on FPU (Financial Peace University)
and one of our church’s trip teams took him more books. He digested these books
almost immediately, and started putting these principles into practice.
He went on to study ecology, and what he could do to improve and clean up all
the trash and garbage that lay around their community. He started
engaging the youth of his church to go around the village, removing trash and
collecting anything that might sell to make money.
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| old tires used in the gardens and hotbeds |
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| banana orchard |
The government saw his good works and ideas, and offered him a pig and a few chickens if he would be totally responsible for them. The Fabretto Foundation gave him seeds and tools, and sent workers out to help in planting and give him ideas of how to improve the land ecologically. Gardens and little hot beds began to pop up everywhere around the area close to the church.
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| vegetable gardens |
Gradually the whole community began to wake up and see what this young man was doing, and it gradually sparked a huge interest in others to join in and help. More adults came into the church, and they started little businesses. One teenage lady began a business of selling chocolate covered bananas to help her get into college. Jorge has a little business of making printed copies for the community and Monica makes jewelry to sell.
Suddenly, Jorge had the idea that he could raise more pigs, and give them to young students if they would promise to take care of them, and then later go on to the University.
They would then breed those pigs and raise even more, for those who would make a commitment of educating themselves in some way. They were given an opportunity in exchange for the promise to go on to school, start a business, or help the church in some way as a community resource. Some of these pigs would ultimately be headed to the slaughter to provide meat for the aged of the community. These same business ventures are repeated with rabbits, chickens that produce eggs, and another type of chicken, which is used for food.
Now
he is leading the church family in programs of going into the community and
delivering meals to sick people and seniors who are bed-ridden or not able to
get around. Several times each week the church bands together to take food to
the local school to nurture some of the underprivileged children during the
day. These programs are striking a live cord with the entire community, and God
is awakening these people through this one young man and his wife.
As progress was being made, the people gradually realized that garden tools, food from the garden and even animals were beginning to disappear. They came together and decided the best move they could make would be to build a home for their pastor. It was to be considered a parsonage so that if Jorge and Monica should leave the Church, the next pastor would have a place to live. The new structure was placed strategically between the church and the barns so that Jorge could keep a close eye on all of the property and resources. This was a real asset for the church and the community, and is a real blessing for Jorge and Monica. Although it is not 100% completed, they are already moved in and love it dearly as if it were a million dollar mansion. In their eyes, it is. They are praising God daily for his blessings and protection over them. The house is also placed on a little higher elevation, so that they are able to get fresh air during the dry periods.
I
can assure you that as we prayed there that night on the mountain at this young
man’s ordination, that no one would have believed what was about to happen in
the lives of this couple, and especially in such a short period of time. But too often we forget the resources that are
available in these poverty-stricken communities, such as rich fertile soil and
hands to till it. But the richest of all resources and assets that any
man can possess is the God-given gifts that are placed into hearts of each of
his beloved children – creativity, dreams and the desire to thrive. That
is the part we often miss, when we step in and quickly give handouts. We
sometimes block what God is trying to do in the lives of his people by giving a
hand out instead of lifting them up as they learn to fish for themselves with
dignity.
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| Their new home, in the summer of 2015. |
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