JAMAICA - TEAMS AND TEAM MEMBERS NEEDED

A recent team from the NC Conference worked at the Content Gap Methodist Church in Jamaica. This team was lead by Rev Butch Huffman. The roof of this church was torn off during a hurricane in 2007. The team worked on the school attached to the church. They painted, installed windows, doors, floor tile, and built a table in the kitchen. All of this is now being used by the church's pre-school program. Following teams will replace the roof to the church. Once the church is ready for worship, teams will construct a medical clinic over the school.

Content Gap is a priority project of the NC Conference. Workteams are scheduled for this summer and need members. If you would like to join one of these teams, contact Butch at butchhuffman@netzero.com. If you would like to send a team from your church or district, Butch can provide you with necessary information and will be glad to schedule your group.

A Great Workteam Destination - Nicaragua

I recently returned from a visit with the Nicaraguan Methodist Church and thought that many of you might want to consider it as the destination for a future workteam. I attended the General Conference Meeting of the Evangelical Methodist Church of Nicaragua (IGLEMEN) and was very impressed with all that I saw and heard. These churches are very dedicated to ministering to both the physical and spiritual needs of the people in their churches and in their communities. IGLEMEN presently has 14 churches and 823 members. Six of these congregations are mission churches. They were planted by one of the 8 official churches and are in the process of becoming full-fledged members of IGLEMEN. Two of them do not yet have a minister. Several of these congregations do not have buildings and/or parsonages. They meet in homes.
Each of these 14 congregations, whether or not they have a church building and whether or not they have a minister, provide a great deal of outreach to the communities they serve. Each has a feeding program for the children in their neighborhoods. They feed about 1200 kids a day, 3-5 days a week. Several churches also have preschool programs, after school programs, music programs, and sports programs. All have a quarterly medical clinic. One is trying to open a community pharmacy, but has had trouble raising funds/medicines. These churches believe strongly in ministering to children. They believe that we are called by Christ to minister to the poor and to the children. They believe that by ministering to the children’s physical needs they will be given the opportunity to also minister to their spiritual needs. They believe that by ministering to the children they are also reaching their parents. They are doing amazing things with their limited resources.
IGLEMEN has several building projects and each needs help. The Nicaraguan Methodist Churches received only 10 building teams last year. They need more in 2009 and 2010. Please don’t have concerns about traveling to Nicaragua. While a very poor country (often ranked lower even than Haiti) it is a safe place to visit. Lonely Planet’s Guidebook states that Nicaragua is the safest country in Central America.
While the main purpose of my journey to Nicaragua was to attend the General Conference meeting, I was also making plans for a workteam in late fall. I looked at several food/lodging/transportation options in the Managua area and found it to be an economical location for a workteam. Lodging options varied from $10 per person/per day staying in a convenient group facility (individual rooms for 2-4, each with bath and shower) to staying in a nice hotel that charged about $20-$25 per person/per day in double rooms with a/c, hot water, TV, and internet access. Food options ranged from about $10 per day/per person in a group facility to $20 per day/per person eating in restaurants. Transportation would be about $900 per week for a large van and driver. Teams could also rent a 15 passenger van through Budget for something in the $8-900 range. Project costs would be in the $2000-$3000 range. Airfares from RDU to Managua are presently $505 and have been that way for the last month or two. All of these costs are subject to change and teams to destinations other than Managua might find different costs.
The Nicaraguan church recently hired a full-time coordinator for UMVIM teams. His name is Larry Hurtado and he can be reached at iglemenvim@yahoo.com. He speaks English and Spanish. Teams should be coordinated through Larry. He is also responsible for making all lodging, food, and transportation arrangements. Please don't hold me to the costs I listed above. Exact figures can be obtained from Larry. Talk to him about the options I have suggested and about others that he might prefer. I will be taking a team to work with IGLEMEN in November or December. As I learn more about taking a team there, I will be glad to share that info with anyone contemplating a team to Nicaragua. If you’d be interested in joining me on that team, drop me a note at jbenson23@embarqmail.com.

BY THE WAY -- If you are looking for an advance special to give to, the one that supports the Nicaraguan church's feeding programs is # 14854A. Any gifts to that Advance Special would be put to great use.

It has been a long time

Wow!! It has sure been a long time since I have posted anything to this blog. The hardest part of keeping it up is getting information from those of you who have been on workteams. I got a little discouraged from not receiving any trip reports or pictures. I promise to get over that and to be better in the future. I've been on a few recent trips that I will report on soon. Thank you for reading....... AND PLEASE SEND SOME PICTURES AND TRIP REPORTS TO NCVIM@EMBARQMAIL.COM.

St James UMC Greenville in Guatemala

St James UMC has sent an adult mission team to Guatemala each summer since 2004. The first four trips were primarily medical mission trips. On our trip in July 2007 we held a clinic in an old dilapidated building that had mildew problems, no electricity, nor any security for the storage of items like pharmaceuticals. We decided to bring a team in January 2008 to refurbish this clinic. In addition we have a doctor who has gone on each trip and he went again to perform 10 gynological surguries in a hospital in an adjacent village. We also had a few people to lead a bible school and have time with children.

St James UMC also sent money in the fall to purchase metal doors and window security that was installed by a local man. We had to scrub down the walls with clorox. Then we painted the clinic both inside and out. We also had an electrician who was able to wire the building so that all the outlets are now hot. We also built a few shelves.

The building is owned by the village of Xojola, which is located about an hours drive northeast of Mazatenango. They will now be able to use the building. Pharmaceuticals will be stored in the secure area and we plan to have our July team hold a medical clinic in the building. On the last day of our trip the leader of the village came to our group and thanked us and said the village would now be proud of this building and will make good use of it.

Our group was excited to be able to serve the Lord with our hands through the painting, the surgeries, and the helping of the children with bible study and fellowship. The trip was meaninful to both the Guatemalan people and the St James team members. The local people were appreciative that we came from so far away to help them. They gave us Christian love with their smiles and gratitude. Many of our team members plan to go back this summer on the next team.

If you would like to visit the website of the missionairies, Jim and Dianne Thompson, who hosted us, visit http://www.bocacostamm.org/.

Good Translation Site

I recently found what seems to be a good site for translating things from one language to another. I have been testing it a little from English to Spanish and it does a reasonably good job. Try it out and let me know what you think about it. Contact me at NCVIM@embarqmail.com.
The site is www.babelfish.altavista.com.

Have you heard about Kiva?

Kiva.org allows individuals to make $25 loans to low-income entrepreneurs in the developing world (microfinance). By doing so, individuals like you provide affordable working capital for the poor (money to buy a sewing machine, livestock, etc.), empowering them to earn their way out of poverty. It's a new, direct and sustainable way for people like us to fight global poverty and to make a difference in the would. Please check out the site: http://kiva.org/ for more information. Thanks for reading!

Rocky Mount District Medical Mission

Led by Rev David Haley from Winstead UMC in Wilson, a team of two doctors, three nurses, and two laymen spent six days (Oct 11-16) in El Salvador serving the Lord. Working with a doctor from the Methodist Clinic in Ahuachapan, three local pasotors, and two translators, they treated 365-375 patients in clinics that were held at Methodist churches in San Salvador, Ahuachapan, and Coatepeque. They worshipped at a new Methodist mission church in Coatepeque with the 15 adults and 20 children who make up this new congregation. They came home knowing that they had helped many persons and that they had also advanced the work of the church in the three poor communities they had served.