August 2015 Update

Baseball is well under way and it is a blessing to see all the hard work that has been put in start to pay off. We now have three Saturdays of baseball exhibitions under our belt. The first Saturday was for the oldest group and we had 4 communities participate: Candelaria, Nuevo Amanacer Santa Matilde, and Fe y Esperanza. Candelaria and Nuevo Amanacer faced off in a double header at the New Song fields. Candelaria won both of the tilts easily. It was clear to see, which team has put in the most practice. Luckily, there is plenty of time before January for everyone to improve. The other games took place in the community of Fe y Esperanza. Santa Matilde took the first game away from the home team, but Fe y Esperanza got revenge in the second winning comfortably although there were reports the home team snuck in some older kids in the second game. So an asterisk and a talking to were accompanied with that win. Needless to say, it was a successful first weekend.

The photo that broke the internet

Nidia showing that she can play with the big boys!

The second weekend featured the 9 and 10 year olds. There were three communities that took part: Candelaria, Santa Matilde, and Fe y Esperanza. It started off in typical Nicaraguan fashion with the bus transporting both Santa Matilde and Fe y Esperanza to the wrong location. After the miscommunication was resolved the first game between Candelaria and Santa Matilde kicked off at the New Song fields. Candelaria came out strong taking an early 2-0 lead, but Santa Matilde responded with 2 runs of their own in the 4^th. The pitchers on both teams showed real resolve when facing situations with runners in scoring positions and their defenses had their backs as well as the game ended in a 2-2 tie.  Due to starting later than expected, Santa Matilde had to get back and was not able to play against Fe y Esperanza. So Candelaria and Fe y Esperanza squared off for a game and it was a mismatch to start with. Although it was clearly communicated that the game was for the 9-10 year old age group, Fe y Esperanza decided to bring 12 year olds to the game. Being that they had made the long trip and seeing an opportunity for the Candelarian team to face an interesting challenge it was decided for the game to be played. Fe y Esperanza flexed their muscles by scoring 5 in the first. They continued in the second by adding 4 more for a 9-0 lead. Candelaria started to hold their ground and kept fighting against the steep competition and managed 2 runs in the third. Fe y Esperanza added 4 more runs in the next two innings and although Candelaria had the bases loaded in two consecutive innings they could not add any more runs and the game was called after the fifth for a 13-2 victiory for Fe y Esperanza.

Ole Wilson and that smile!

We definitely have beautiful background scenery!

It was the little ones turn to show their abilities this past weekend. Candelaria, Nuevo Amanacer, and Santa Matilde all squared off. The first game was between Candelaria and Nuevo Amancer. Nuevo Amanacer made a statement early with 2 runs in the first, but their optimism was short lived as Candelaria brought their big boy pants and absolutely exploded with 10+ runs of their own in the bottom half of the first. Candelaria exemplified surprisingly good defense with their first baseman catching any and all throws that came his way. Candelaria dominated the whole game much to the appreciation of the home crowd. Nuevo Amanacer had to quickly forget about their first game and turn their attention to Santa Matilde, and through the first three innings it looked like their game against Candelaria was just to shake off first game jitters and rust. They took a 10-6 lead heading into the fourth when they decided to trade baseball for hot potato. Santa Matilde took advantage and took a commanding lead that they did not surrender and won the game handely. So the final game featured the two winners, Candelaria and Santa Matilde. It was the game everyone wanted to see and boy it did not disappoint. The game started by Candelaria bringing in 3 runs, but the strong defense that they showed in their first game quickly disappearred as Santa Matilde answered with 2 runs. The two heavyweights went back and forth for the first three innings until Santa Matilde had a strong 4^th to take a 13-7 lead going into the fifth and final inning. Candelaria channeled their inner Rocky and Santa Matilde took a page out of the Nuevo Amanacer playbook by instilling the hot potato principles. Candelaria scratched out 7 runs to take a one run lead heading in to bottom of the fifth. Not wanting to succumb to defeat, Santa Matilde quickly found themselves with the bases loaded and no outs. They won the game on a 2 run liner to right field. It was a great way to end a great day and a great first couple of weekends.

The Candelarian "Bomb Squad"

Erwin does a great job of ministering and coaching the kids of Santa Matilde!

It has been an exciting time over the past couple of weeks, but even though the games are “exhibitions” there has been a few times where fans have gotten mad on a call an ump made or that the players have gotten away from cheering on their own team to say something to the other team. It is amazing how a little competition can change people into someone different. I am sure all of us have seen our fair share of ridiculousness at games throughout the years. It can be easy to forget that we can be getting so mad and angry at another brother or sister in Christ over a 7 year old’s game. In the new covenant there are two commands, love God and love your neighbor. In our weekly New Song staff devotionals we looked at 1 John 4. In the tenth verse of the chapter the author describes what love is, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” The word for atoning sacrifice in Greek is hilasmos, and this word is only used twice in the whole Bible with both being in 1 John. The definition of hilasmos is an offering to appease an angry, offended party (God). Jesus’s sacrifice was the sacrifice that appeased God’s wrath. It was humbling to understand what atoning sacrifice really meant and the powerfulness of it. After explaining the magnitude of God’s love the author pleads to his audience, “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.” We have brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world and we are called to love each and every one of them. It is understood that one person can only share love with so many people but we have definitely felt you all’s love here in Nicaragua. Be it through prayers, giving, or physically coming down to be here with us, it has been amazing and we are extremely grateful for it. I ask that you keep a few things in your prayers in this next coming month: that we will receive rain daily (Nicaragua has had a severe drought this rainy season), that the right people for chaplains will begin to come to the forefront, that we will fill our last coaching void in Candelaria, and that the games will continue to go well. Thanks so much and God bless!

Oh the joys of scoring a run!

Little Natalie decided to give the boys a lesson on how to hit!

Don't know if this was an out or the beginning of a game of hot potato

The bad news bears of Candelaria

So who's on first?

July 2015 Update

The month of July was highlighted by another group visit in the last week of the month. We hosted a group from Hope Church which is located in Monroe, NC. It was their first mission trip as a church and they made the most out of it. They were able to add two more sprinklers to the irrigation system, place the bases and home plate on both fields, visit and share the Gospel with four of the five communities we are working in, and provided laughter, joy and love to the people of Nicaragua. After months and months of work it is rewarding to see the baseball field taking shape. Now with the bases in place, and thank you Hope Church for your long day of work in the blistering heat, we just need for the rains to really start coming so that the grass will grow in well all over the field. It is always a pleasure to have groups come down and work along side of us to help with the vision and plan that we have. Groups always bring excitement to the kids and the community as a whole. They also bring manpower and can get a project done in a couple of days that otherwise would take a lot longer. So we are definitely grateful for the two teams that come down this past month but we are also excited to turn our focus to working hand in hand with the Nicaraguans to bring about a ministry that is going to be effective in the communities we are based in.

A devotional that one of the team members shared at the beginning of a practice touched on a simple thing that can easily be forgotten by many of us. In short, a story was told about how a baseball player thought he had hit his first collegiate home run by way of an in the inside the park homerun. Unfortunately the player had forgotten to touch first base and his excitement quickly turned to dissapointment as the opposing team threw the ball to first base and the ump signalled that he was indeed out. The analogy was made how Jesus is first base and if we forget to touch first base all the other bases are meaningless. How many times can we forget this in our own lives. We can get so caught up on going to second, third, and even home that we sometimes will "miss first base". Be it career aspirations, personal goals, family matters, or even our daily lives if we forget about the most important "base",  Jesus, all of those other things are meaningless. Even though the world will not call us out, heck they might even be cheering us on and patting us on our backs, our Heavenly Father will know that we missed the mark. Jesus himself challenged us on this in Matthew, "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet loses his own soul?" We can put together the most amazing baseball little league Nicaragua has ever seen with the best fields and the best equipment, and subsequently we would be praised by many for giving kids who have nothing something to be apart of. But, if we are missing first base as we round the bases then it is pointless. In Galatians 1:10 Paul sets clearly were his priorities are, "Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ." In a society of what have you done for me lately and doing what makes yourself happy, it is easy to get caught up in winning the approval of others and even yourself. Yet, the only approval that means anything is God's and it starts by us touching first base.

Leading songs at Sunday School

Water balloon fight gone crazy!

Setting home plate

Sunday school in Nuevo Amanacer

June 2015 Update

In June we had the privilege of having Stan Dobner and a group from Idlewild Baptist Church help us out for 10 days. It was a jam-packed schedule and we were able to get a lot accomplished. They led a fruit of the spirit teaching at two different Sunday schools, visited and prayed with multiple families in various communities, helped with maintenance on the field and around the mission property, installed an underground irrigation system, led baseball practices, held a field day event which was an all day event, and as always loved on those whom they came in contact with. It was an incredibly productive and successful trip. Stan felt that this was his best trip yet to Nicaragua and below are some of the reasons why.

One of the main objectives for the team was to install an underground irrigation system so that there would be no need to remove any piping every time that there was a practice or game. Thanks to the hard work of both Americans and Nicaraguans, they were able to get everything done in under three days! Words cannot express how much of an incredible blessing it is to have such an effective and efficient system. We are definitely the envy of the town!

Look at all that water!

During, the previous trip that this group made in January we did a mini baseball day camp. It was such a success that it was decided to do another one but bigger and better. So that is what we did and it turned out to be fantastic! In January only the kids from the community of Candelaria participated but this time we brought in all the kids from all five communities. We had two micro-buses running all day picking up and dropping off kids. In the morning we did the baseball camp holding three different sessions for the age groups of 11-12, 9-10, and 6-8. Then, in the afternoon we brought all the kids down to the mission property where we treated them to hot dogs and chips, a slip and slide, face-painting and games. We had over 200 kids come to both the camp and the afternoon event. It was a total team effort by everybody and by Nicaraguan standards it went as smooth as one could hope for. Also, before we started with the games at the mission property we had a time for the Gospel to be shared with the kids. A Nicaraguan who has been a huge help so far with this sports ministry shared a message with the kids and after five kids made decisions to accept Jesus! It was definitely a great day!

Getting some groups organized!

How many kids can you pack into a 15 passenger van?

But by far the coolest moment on the trip was when we were able to go visit the newest community that New Song has become apart of. The community is called Fe y Esperanza, which in English means Faith and Hope. The pastor of the community is named Daniel Campos and he has been the one leading the devotionals with the kids at every baseball practice. On the way to the community Pastor Daniel shared the story of how he and his wife decided to become involved with this specific community.  He described how he was struggling to find the best way to reach the community and begin a church in a place where he did not know many of the people. When he heard of the plan to begin the sports ministry and have a baseball league he said, “This is it. This is the opportunity that I have been waiting for.” He has capitalized on providing this ministry to his community and at the moment about half of his congregation consists of kids that have been going to the practices along with some of their family members. We were able to attend the Friday night service and Pastor Daniel asked Stan to share. Stan gave his testimony about how he was saved through baseball. After sharing, an alter call was given and over 10 kids decided to accept Jesus, most of whom had been participating in the practices and have heard the devotions that are shared at each one. It was an awesome time and definitely an encouragement to see how God is already using this ministry!

As far as an update on the start of the baseball league, it was decided to move the opening to January 2016. This will give plenty of time for the grass to grow in and to build a solid foundation for the league with finding the right people who will be coaches, chaplains, and apart of the committee. In the meantime to keep the kids encouraged and excited we will be having exhibition games starting in August. We are very excited to finally be focusing on what this ministry is about instead of worrying about fields, grass, and wells. As always we are thankful for your support and prayers. God bless!

Sunday School in Candelaria!

Visiting home and passing out baseballs!

Getting ready for some drills and yes those are goats in the back

April and May 2015 Update

We have entered “winter” here in Nicaragua, which really means we are now in rainy season and we are so thankful that God is now the one providing the water we need for our grass to grow! During April and May we were able to complete the well and have grass planted on the whole field!

We are so relieved to have a well that will serve us during the 6-month dry season. Even during the driest month of April the well was producing plenty of water! Although we had a bump in the road when we had to terminate our relationship with the person we first hired out for the job, we were able to find a non profit organization called Amigos por Cristo who came and finished the well for free! It was a huge blessing to say the least! Once the well was completed we were able to start planting grass again. They were able to finish planting the grass in about the middle of May. 

Our new well!

Other parts may not be so good but the infield is coming in nicely!

While some parts are coming in great, like the infield, there seems to be more weeds growing the grass in other parts. They used weed killers before they planted the grass because there was quite a bit of weeds that were on the field, but the weeds have come back and the battle against the weeds has begun! Although it is frustrating we recognize that this is a common struggle that anyone has when beginning to plant grass for the first time. While being out on the field pulling weed after weed and spraying weed killer all over the place it is easy to remember the parable that Jesus told of the sower that can be found in Matthew 13. To paraphrase the parable a farmer scattered his seed in multiple places including along a path, which was eaten by birds; in rocky places, which did not have soil; in thorns, which choked the plants; and finally in good soil, which produced a crop of a hundred, sixty or thirty times more than what was sown. Jesus goes on to explain that the places where the seed was sown are equivalent to people who hear the message about the Kingdom. This is a very well known parable that unlike others Jesus clearly explains the meaning, but recently I heard an interesting commentary about this parable that really made me think. Although Jesus knew very well that scattering the seeds along the path, in the rocks and amongst the thorns was not going to provide any sort of good harvest He still took the time to sow there. Be it out of His unsurpassing love for us or just out of the fact that everyone deserves to hear the Gospel, the seeds were scattered. It is not our job to decide for God who deserves to hear the Gospel and who does not. On the contrary Jesus says, “Go and make disciples of all nations”. It is true not everyone who hears will believe, but the important part is that they hear. The Spirit could very well prompt us to share the Good News with someone who would qualify as a path, rock or thorn. It is up to us to be obedient, and not to play the judge and the jury.

Another way we can relate to this parable is with how the practices are going. Due to the setbacks we have faced and also to the fact that we are working with communities where sometimes characteristics such as discipline, responsibility, and faithfulness seem to be non-existent there has been a steep fallen off amongst the children and coaches. We definitely scattered a lot of seeds and we have seen examples of each “place” mentioned in the parable with the kids. Some never showed up from the beginning, some showed up once or twice, some were faithful at the beginning and once they realized the league would have to be starting later stopped coming, and then we have the few, the proud and the faithful. And how we love the latter bunch! It has been a joy to see kids that did not really know each other too well develop friendships. While walking back from one practice there were 4 kids, who did not get along at the beginning, walking back with their arms around each other as if they were best buds. It was definitely what you would call a “kodak moment” but unfortunately there was no camera in sight. Yet that is an image engrained in my memory that makes one realize the reason you are here and the potential that is in this ministry. Working on their attitudes is definitely a work in of itself but through devotionals and discipline you can notice the subtle difference that is beginning to take place in the kids. 

Nothing like a practice on a hot day!

Pastor Daniel Campos does a great job doing devotionals in his community

As always, we ask that you continue to pray for the ministry, the people working in it and those that it is reaching, and for the fields specifically that the grass will grow abundantly and that the weeds will die off. Also, Stan will be bringing a team of 13 down here to Nicaragua from June 20^th – June 30^th. During this time they are planning to do house visits with the families whose kids are participating in the league for a time of fellowship, prayer and evangelism; install a new underground irrigation system; and “scatter more seeds” among the children by holding another field day and nailing down a plan to start the league in the most effective way. Please keep them in your prayers!

February and March 2015 Update

 

We are entering the hottest and driest month of the year here in Nicaragua, April, and things are beginning to heat up with the sports ministry at New Song. We received a large shipment of equipment about two weeks ago and have started up with practices. So far there seems to be a good mixture of kids who have not played very much, most are in the intermediate level, and there are a handful of kids who have some serious ability. Although we are looking to add one or two more, we already have a solid group of coaches who are passionate about baseball and are eager to teach the kids the skills of the game. Little by little things are starting to come together but there are some interesting obstacles that one has to deal with here in Nicaragua. For example, to let the kids know about practices it is not as easy as sending an email or even calling families to notify them rather you have to go searching for the children, and it can almost feel like a scavenger hunt. There are no addresses here instead they have a “direction”.  So one kid’s direction might be, from the bridge 2 ½ blocks down and 25 yards to the west. After you get close to this point you begin asking people if they know where “Little Luiz or Maria” lives and depending on whether or not you are in the right area affects how many people you have to ask to find Luiz or Maria. This is just one example of how things are a little bit trickier here in Nicaragua than in the United States, but it is a joy nonetheless.

As far as an update on the field, in the middle of February the water pump we had been using to water the fields broke. It was advised that a new well had to be dug and like every other thing so far, we have had hiccups with finishing the well but it seems to be on the homestretch as far as completing it. When the pump had initially broke we were in the process of planting grass and fortunately only about right field was planted so we have been able to maintain that grass by hand irrigating it daily with 1 inch pvc pipe connected together to a motorized pump that is taking water from a little creek close to the fields, it is Nicaraguan innovation at its finest. As you all may or may not know, getting the fields play ready has been quite a long and frustrating process, and it can be discouraging and one can begin to lose faith/hope that it will all come together eventually. It is easy to lose patience sometimes especially in the society that we live in. We are so accustomed to having things now. The Israelites wandering in the desert for 40 years is a very widely known story, but most of the time the emphasis and the focus is on the disobedience that put them in that position. But in the end the Israelites showed amazing obedience and patience and God kept His promises to them. One of the most powerful excerpts from the Bible is found in Joshua 14:6-14.

“Now the men of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jepunneh the Kenizzite said to him, ‘You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, but my brothers who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly. So on that day Moses swore to me,’ ‘ The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.’ ‘Now then, just as the Lord promised He has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this MOUNTAIN that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.’ Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jepunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly.”

There are so many things to take away from those verses that charactarize what it truly means to walk the Christian walk with faithfulness, boldness, obedience, zeal, patience, willingness and so much more. What an incredible level of patience Caleb showed by waiting 45 years to receive the inheritance God had promised and even then he still had to go in and drive people out of his land. We sure hope that we do not have to wait 45 years for the fields to be ready but it does put into perspective God’s timing verses our timing and how we need to continue living a life of patience accompanied with obedience. Six months seems like quite a long time now but six months compared to twenty years of blessings that these fields could produce is minuscule. With that we do encourage you all to continue to join us in prayer that the fields will be completed and that God will bless that land. We also ask that you pray for the seeds that will be planted through devotions with the children and coaches, and that God will bless those times. Thank you for your support and prayers. God bless!

January 2015 Update

The past couple of months have been a trial of patience in working cross culturally, thousands of miles away to try and complete the fields. As you may or may not know, things in Nicaragua tend to move slower than in the United States. At times it has been frustrating, but we hold firm to the promise found in Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Although we have had setbacks with almost everything involving the construction of the fields from leveling, fencing, painting, irrigation, grass, etc. we know that God’s timing is perfect.

Field Update

As of right now we have 4 dugouts, 2 backstops, and 4 fence lines finished. Thanks to the team Stan recently brought down we now have a professional irrigation system to water the fields. We are in the dry season here in Nicaragua, which lasts until the end of May. The installation of this irrigation system is going to allow us to sufficiently water our fields until the rain comes. Now that we do have such a good system in place we are going to be able to plant grass. Unfortunately, the grass will need about two months until it is ready to be played on. At first we thought we were going to be getting sod which would have allowed us to play on the fields in about 15 days after it was installed. This is again another example of how things have gone so far, a test of patience.

 

Ministry/League Update

Although it was disappointing to learn how long the grass was going to take to grow, the good news is these next two months are going to give us the time needed to lay down a solid foundation that is essential to have an awesome league for the kids. The idea of the league is to find the balance between developing kids spiritually and as baseball players. We believe we have a great plan in place to succeed in this. We are working with the pastors to find youth/young adults who will serve as chaplains for each team and we already have good group of coaches who are willing to serve. During the week Stan was here we were able to advance quite a bit. Like was previously said, they installed a professional irrigation system that works wonderfully. They also conducted two one-day camps, one in the community of Santa Matilde (our second biggest community) and one in our home community of Candelaria. We also did our first true sign-up in Candelaria and we had over 100 kids come and sign up! It looks like instead of starting out with 12 teams we might have 16 teams! Over the next few weeks we will be completing our sign-ups in our other communities of Santa Matilde, Nuevo Amanecer, La Isla, and Polsotega; along with picking teams; and beginning practices and discipleship. It is exciting but there is a lot of work to be done!

  Drills during the camp

 Baseball signups

Prayer Requests

We want to thank you again for the donations you have pledged and we also ask for continued prayer for the ministry down here. We know that prayer is a powerful tool and as you do pray we ask that you keep these requests in mind:

1)   That the grass will be planted and will grow without any further complications

2)   That we will find the right people (coaches, chaplains, helpers, etc.) to help create the foundation needed

3)   As we begin with practice devotions and discipleship, ears will be opened to hear and hearts softened to receive to what God has to say.

Thanks again and blessings!