miércoles, 16 de marzo de 2016

Final Reflection

Dear Grace Lutheran
friends and family,

Thank you for your support of the 2016 Medical Mission Team to Nicaragua. The mission trip was fantastic! We started our time in Nicaragua with a visit with a very small Lutheran Church in a village called Bhatola Sur in Managua. We have seen many changes to this little church over the past several years. We started coming here when there was no roof and they only had a dirt floor. The church now has walls, a roof, and a tile floor! This is our fifth visit with this church over the last seven years, and it is awesome to see how far they have come! We enjoyed lunch in the home of one of the church members.

During our week, we were able to provide care to people in the Managua and Jinotega region. We spent two nights in the Los Cedros children's home in the Managua region. The rest of our stay we were based out of the children's home in the hills of Jinotega, about three hours from Managua. The children prefer that we do not call it an orphanage, but rather a “children’s home.”  
At our medical clinics there was always a long line, and we tried our best to provide care to as many people as possible. The Ministry of Health worked with on-the-ground missionary, Joy Pulsifer. She visited each community the week before we arrived.  Joy was a fantastic hostess to us at the children’s home in Jinotega. We were delighted to meet many new children and join them in games and art projects. They also sang some songs when one of our team members had a birthday. Our translators this year were especially helpful, and we enjoyed getting to know them. A large part of our ministry this year was handing out the prayer shawls. Thank you to the Knit Wits and other friends who made  prayer shawls! We were also able to take Bibles with us again this year. 

We thank you again Grace Lutheran Church for your outreach to the underserved, and your commitment to provide care and hope to others. Special thanks to Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and all who helped with and supported the spaghetti dinner. The proceeds allowed us to purchase the needed medications we distributed during the mission trip. If you wish to see pictures of the trip we invite you to visit the Grace Litheran web site.

On behalf of the 2016 Medical Mission Team, 

Celeste and Brian Newcomb
Team Leaders

“and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”  - Isaiah 58:10

lunes, 14 de marzo de 2016

Prayer Shawl pictures

Here are pictures of all of the prayer shawls that were handed out throughout the week. A special thanks to the members of Grace who put time and love into making them.













sábado, 12 de marzo de 2016

Day 6

As we prepare to go home,
Top 10 Things We Are Thankful For
(although this could easily be the Top 100 or maybe the Top 1,000.)

# 10. The opportunity to visit such a beautiful country of mountains, lakes, volcanoes, and beaches.

# 9. The rice, beans, fruit, and other delicious food prepared lovingly by Martha and the other wonderful ladies at the children's homes we stayed in.
 

# 8. Our "retired" school bus and most excellent driver, Oscar, for getting us where we needed to go, always with a smile.

# 7. Our fearless leaders, Brian and Celeste.  And the whole team -- it was wonderful to connect with some old friends and also to see the trip through the eyes of the "newbies."
   

# 6. Pastor Scott Schul and the spiritual leadership he provided the team through devotions, and for the many prayers offered throughout our clinics, for and with the people we served. 

# 5. Our interpreters -- they are not only translators, but also patient teachers, friends and caregivers themselves.
 
# 4. All the many supporters at home -- especially the people involved in the Spaghetti dinner! That event specifically raised money to help purchase medicine for the patients that we served. Thank you to all of the supporters for your prayers, and for the many other items you sent with us -- you are truly making a difference for the people in Nicaragua. Special thanks to the many hands that created the prayer shawls! Also thank you to the high school students involved with Rotary and participate in the Interact Club. The bags with tooth paste, tooth brushes, hair supplies and English booklets were well received by the kids residing in the children's home in Jinotega. 

# 3. Joy Pulsifer and the staff of Globe International -- they are serving needs, saving lives, and empowering children to make a difference in the world.

# 2. The beautiful people of Nicaragua.
  

# 1. Mostly, thanks to God, who was here long before we came, and who we see in the eyes and smiles of the people we serve.
 



   
Joanne and Paul Steindorf