AMIGOS FOR CHRIST

I became acquainted with Amigos for Christ when I led a mission group to work with them in Nicaragua in July 2003. It was a life-changing experience, as I will explain in the last paragraph. Two years ago I returned there to work with a youth and sports camp.

Amigos for Christ is an organization that works in and around Chinandega, Nicaragua. The mission of Amigos for Christ is to serve the Lord by serving His poor. They accomplish this by providing food, healthcare, education, spirituality, and economic development to the poor.

On September 25 and 26, 2009, Amigos is sponsoring “The Celebrate Service Music Festival Weekend.” The purpose is to benefit ministries, nonprofits, and service organizations. Most of the activities on Friday and Saturday will be at Suwanee Town Center Park in Suwanee, Georgia.

Friday, Sept. 25, there will be competition in golf, “strides for strength”
(5K race), “pedal for the poor” bike ride, “hoops for the hungry” (3 on 3 basketball), and a “salsa showdown” for best recipe.

Saturday, Sept. 26, from noon till 10 pm, will be a free music festival featuring Fee, Matt Maher, 12 Stone, Shae Laurel, and much more. The scriptural call for the event is "to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up...." (Ephesians 4:12)

Not only do I highly value Amigos for Christ for their great work in Nicaragua, but also because the mission trip gave me the inspiration to ask Cissy to marry me. The end of the video shows the romantic moment at sunset on the beach in Nicaragua, where Cissy carefully said “yes” to my proposal.

NICARAGUA

I have not blogged in a few months so I want to make a few updated posts. The first of June I went to Nicaragua with a wonderful bunch of folks to work with Amigos for Christ. www.amigosforchrist.org

Four years ago on a mission trip in Nicaragua I saw a large field that had been bought to build a community. At that time, I saw the atrocious conditions of these people by a garbage dump and sewage treatment facility.

What a delight to visit that field now filled with approximately 120 homes with school and library buildings, farm cooperative, and athletic fields. A concrete slab for basketball and volleyball and soccer was completed just as we arrived. A medical clinic was under construction with plans for a community building and church to be completed this summer.

Our mission for the week was two-fold. In the morning and afternoon we held sports clinics (basketball, soccer, baseball, and even ultimate frisbee). Then in the early evening we helped start a Young Life ministry for middle and high school age students. The purpose in both areas was to meet kids and build relationships of friendship in Christ.

As typical for such endeavors there were lots of serendipity surprises. We had delightful and powerful times of devotion and worship and fellowship as a team. Playing in the strong surf at the beach and climbing an active volcano were neat sidelights.

A big bonanza for me was to have one of my sons and his wife on the trip. It is a joy to partner with God and His children to make this world a better place and help build the kingdom of God.

Below are some photos. Click on first video to see descent from the volcano and the second video to see a cultural dance and the third video to see ocean waves at the beach.

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GOOD TIMES

My wife Cissy and I have some good times. I mean really good times. Yes, there are everyday delights and serendipity moments. But the really special and good times seem to be planned and anticipated vacations during the less than four years we have known each other.

One of the first trips we made was a week in Oregon while we visited her brother and his family. We traveled down the coast, then over to Crater Lake and up to Mount Hood. I was constantly awed by the awesome sights, gracious hospitality everywhere, and delicious food.

We spent a week on the North Carolina coast with my brother and sister and their families. At the end of the week my sister gave Cissy a gift that certified her as approved and accepted to become a member of our family.

A mission trip to Nicaragua was an incredible and joyful experience. A highlight was watching Cissy teach childrens’ Bible school without knowing a word of Spanish. She did marvelously well adjusting on her first mission trip to all the demands to be flexible.

The biggest surprise for Cissy in Nicaragua was when we spent a day at the beach. Sitting on a rock at sunset I asked her to marry me. While the rest of the mission team watched from a distance, they finally got the word that Cissy said YES!

On our wedding weekend in the North Georgia mountains, Cissy and I rented a large home on the lake where we hosted all of our children, grandchildren, and my brother and sister and their spouses. Can you imagine spending your wedding night with all your family? They reciprocated by serenading us below our window.

There have been multiple other beach trips to destinations like Hilton Head, Amelia Island, and Costa Rica. One week on the Florida Gulf coast involved our children with spouses and all their children. We are going to repeat that trip next month.

Last year a week in the Swiss Alps was a delightful adventure. We learned how to ride a bobsled and luge … and survive. Next year we anticipate taking a cruise and land adventure to Alaska. ,

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I read in the Bible great heroes of the faith had adventures and experiences far greater than mine. The writer of Hebrews sums up their lives:

“All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.”

I have so many other places on this earth I want to visit. But I am heaven bound, and realize I am a pilgrim passing through this world on my way to my eternal home.

Make sure you have your ticket so you can get on board and go with me!