The Quillen’s Nicaraguan News September 2008

EXPANSION!

Through your support, we have been able to train six new pastors who will start five new EFI International School of Ministry programs in areas outside of Managua. These new schools will then equip an additional one-hundred plus leaders and ministers helping the country of Nicaragua experience a new depth and knowledge in the Lord. In the month of October, we will have the opportunity to talk with a secular university and potentially a prison about their interest in the ISOM training program. These opportunities will impact many more.

Pastor Osvaldo Bonilla with his wife, Rossy, are pictured above with Mark. Osvaldo is an overseer of four churches and the president of the pastors’ association in the department of Chenandega. He has been very instrumental in helping us connect with pastors that are now partnering with us to set up ISOM Schools in his department.

Pictured to the right, Pastor Juan Pineda’s church which will serve as our ISOM location in the department of Leon. We have needs for video projectors, portable screens, blank DVDs and DVD players to use in our new locations.

SHARING GOD’S HEART THE CROSSROADS WAY
We recently had the privilege of working together with a mission team from Crossroads Church in Spartanburg, S.C. They provided quality ministry and brought many practical items as gifts for the people and places in which they ministered. They truly fulfilled the scriptures of Matthew 25 which says, “I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink…..I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me….” In Matthew 25, Jesus says that He identifies with those suffering and in need. Feeding and sharing love with orphans, preaching in a local Nicaraguan prison, (pictured to the right, pastor Dave from Crossroads preaching in a local Nicaraguan prison) ministering to over one-hundred children in the Velez Paiz Children’s Hospital, ministering to over eighty women at the House of Hope prostitute recovery home, hosting a women’s meeting at a local Nicaraguan church, sponsoring and hosting a time of ministry and lunch for close to one-hundred children in a poor barrio community, and installing plastic roof coverings for over fifteen homes in a local Nicaraguan community are some of the incredible expressions of the heart of God that the Crossroads Church mission team from Spartanburg, S.C. expressed to the people of Nicaragua this summer. They and their church have made a lasting impact in the country of Nicaragua.

Pictured below: Crossroads mission team members minister care, love, food, & Bible lessons to children and adults in barrio communities and at The House of Hope ministry session.

We Love The E.C. Youth
We had a wonderful time working alongside the E.C. youth this summer. Our children especially enjoyed spending time with their dearly missed buddies from home. Thank you for ministering to us and please know we surely love and miss you guys and hope to see you in the future! (below are a few pictures)

The Quillen’s Nicaraguan News June 2008

Together we are furthering the work of the Lord in Nicaragua! In April, we indicated our desire to expand the International School of Ministry into additional departments of Nicaragua and host more ministry teams to touch more lives for our Lord Jesus Christ. We feel that the times ahead are times of expansion into further ministry opportunities. Thank you for continued and new support that is propelling the work of God forward and making these things possible. Two new ISOM schools have recently started, and this summer we are working with three mission teams ministering in a number of places and sharing the heart of God and the message of Jesus through evangelistic events, in hospitals, poor barrio communities, orphanages, safe houses, and more. We so much appreciate all of your support, prayers, and encouragement as together we move forward!




In May, we opened a new school in Ciudad Sandino, a community outside the city of Managua, with 28 students from three different churches! The last week of June, in Juigalpa, a department two hours North of the capital, we will open a fourth ISOM School. The person we have trained to coordinate the school is Pastor Henry Martinez. It is exciting to be a part of helping pastors and leaders earn their Diploma of Biblical Studies and gain the knowledge and practical experience to progress and become more effective in their callings and ministries. As we move forward, we are targeting the departments of Leon, Chinandega, and Matagalpa as new locations. Our two schools in the capital of Managua are now more than half-way through the program and we continue to receive encouraging testimonies of the powerful impact of ISOM in their ministries.

We recently had the wonderful privilege of conducting an Upward Basketball Camp with Saint Andrews Episcopal Church from Mt. Pleasant, S.C. We coordinated the event through a school that operates in the city dump. That’s right, there are people that actually live in the dump seeking out an existence in conditions that are difficult to believe. The Saint Andrews team was the perfect group for these children who hardly know what it is like outside of the dump. We were able to bus a select group of children to a court several blocks outside of the dump’s entrance. The team ran skills and drills stations, scrimmaged and shared the Word of God at a devotion station. Best of all, they played with and loved on these children who rarely see that side of life. Each participant received an Upward shirt. Thank you St. Andrews and thank you Upward Unlimited for your help in making this possible. You continue to make a difference in the lives of children and young people around the World.



Prayer Requests

· In June, we will be hosting Crossroads Baptist Church from Spartanburg, SC. Please pray for them as they will be serving and ministering in Managua.
· In July, the EC Youth will be in Nicaragua. Please pray for a fruitful time of ministry and fun for them.
· We are in need of three LCD projectors and three screens to be used for ISOM School sites. Please pray that these be provided.
· Nicaragua is truly a third World country. Most of the population is undernourished and underemployed and most do not have a Godly example of family life. Please pray that God continues to move on the hearts of men and leaders to establish His ways and principles in this country.

The Potter is at Work

In Isaiah 64:8, we are reminded that “God is the potter and we are the clay.” He is at work in our lives. You are a vessel of purpose and care and He is not, at all, finished with you. He is developing your character, your heart, your life to be positioned for the next step in your calling. Determine to keep your life, “the clay” spinning on the wheel as He takes the moisture in His hands and smoothes what is rough and shapes our lives for His purposes. As He does so, be ready and open to the Holy Spirit as He speaks to your heart in His gentle and clear way. For Jeremiah 18:2 says, “Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.” Be encouraged, God is speaking, leading and developing great purpose in you!

If you have not yet received in the mail a hardcopy of our news letter you can read it below. We have posted the content. We have also posted some of the pictures that are in the newsletter. God Bless!

We Need Your Help

So many of you have been so gracious in the giving of financial support, and we are humbled and honored. Yet, over the past several months, we have met only half of our budget. In order to continue to live and work in Nicaragua, we need an additional $2000 a month in support. We would like to continue to support and establish the ISOM Bible Schools while at the same time work to transition this work with capable Nicaraguans that can continue the work once we leave. Our goal is to make this happen by June of 2009 and at then return to the U.S. Please help us complete this task by partnering with us with your support. It may be that you would like to give a one-time gift of $5000, $1000, $500 or $100 or it may be that you would prefer to support us on a monthly basis. We would be grateful for any amount you could give. Support can be mailed to:

Evangel Fellowship International
200 Evangel Road
Spartanburg, SC 29301
(in the memo line of your check write: Mark and Cindy Quillen)

Thank you so much for your help during this time. We also covet your prayers as we continue to serve in Nicaragua.

You Make it Possible!

You are impacting the Nation of Nicaragua in more ways than you may know. Through your support, we are targeting four new International Schools of Ministry to be started this year in 3 new departments. (Nicaragua is divided into 13 different departments just like the U.S. is divided into states.) On April 17, Mark will be hosting a training in Managua for Pastors who will function as coordinators of four new sites (Ciudad Sandino, Chinandega, Leon, and Juigalpa). Following the training, they will be prepared to begin to promote, administer, and lead an EFI ISOM school in their local church in their specific departments. Pastor Isaac Moraga and his wife Norma, who are students in our Managua school, recently shared that the teaching in the school has transformed their faith when it comes to praying for the sick. The two classes in particular are: Two classes in particular; Supernatural Living and Jesus Our Healer Today. They explained that a young man of 30 years old who is an attender of one of their churches was crippled with Parkinson’s disease. They said that recently they went to pray for this young man and prior to laying hands on him they encouraged his faith by reinforcing from what they had been taught on how God is willing and able to heal today and that God responds to our faith. They then challenged him to believe for healing from the Parkinson’s. As they laid hands on him, he was delivered from the Parkinson’s and immediately began to run and move around freely with no signs of the disease. They even said that the last time they saw him he was playing soccer and had no sign of the Parkinson’s!

What's Been Happening in 2008

In January, it was our pleasure to help with the EFI Nicaragua Pastors’ Conference that was hosted by our home church, Evangel Cathedral, from Spartanburg, SC. The conference was a tremendous success as approximately 280 people from many different departments of Nicaragua attended and received ministry. In February and March, we spoke in Ciudad Sandino, Chinandega, and Juigalpa sharing the vision, purpose, and practicalities of establishing an ISOM Bible training program. Mark preached in Ciudad Sandino at Iglesia Ciudad Shalom. It was a wonderful experience for Mark. It was like he was a part of the Evangel Life Changing Ministries Team as many people from the church came forward for an extended time of ministry and prayer. In March, we moved to a different home. We like our new home as it is more economical, and suits our needs. In March, we also hosted two short term mission teams that
were a delight to spend time with. One was from Cokesbury UMC in Chattanooga, TN. Their work consisted of hosting a women’s luncheon at Abundant Life Church, a special time of sharing for the women, and a time of foot washing and pedicures for all the women in attendance! Each woman also received a gift bag at the close of the meeting. The women are now asking for more meetings of this nature because they were able to share with each other on a level that they had not known before. The next day this team took their “traveling foot washing and pedicure ministry” to a local maternity hospital and ministered to new moms. Each mom received a pedicure, a New Testament and a nice snack. This team also painted the office area and nursery at one of our church here in Managua, built a petition to help create an area for our prayer room, and ministered at New Life Orphanage. Our second team in March was from Oakbrook Preparatory School. They ministered to children at a school in the dump of Managua, conducted Vacation Bible Schools at New Life Orphanage and House of Hope, and conducted an Upward Basketball Camp. They also painted the children’s church at Abundant Life Managua, helped fund the petition that the Cokesbury team had built, and installed paper towel, soap, and toilet paper dispensers at the church. The team also provided 3 car seats and suit cases full of diapers for New Life Orphanage. These two teams made a huge impact and were true ministers of God’s love and character.


Our Plans Moving Forward


As we continue on into 2008 and into the first half of 2009, we would like to focus on three areas: 1) Further development of the ISOM Program, 2) Continued work with the EFI church, Abundant Life Managua and 3) Hosting Short Term Mission Teams.

1) The ISOM Program: It is our desire to develop a Nicaraguan pastor or leader who can eventually take this program as their ministry. This person would function as director of the schools that operate throughout the country. Ultimately, they will be most effective as they can best relate and understand the culture and life of their native people and country.

2) Abundant Life Managua Church: We see our role at Abundant Life Managua as supportive to the pastor and staff and one of love to the local church family. We are currently serving as Associates with the responsibility of Mission Team Services. We hope that our work there will help others develop a heart to honor and serve their local pastor and church, to pursue the life and purposes of God for their personal lives, and to reach out and share their lives with the lost and see them come to Christ as a result.

3) Hosting Short Term Mission Teams: We feel it is important to host teams when possible. Short term mission trips give people a first hand look and experience of what our work and their support is doing in this country. It has been our experience that the lives of the people who come here to serve are touched and changed as much as the people of Nicaragua! It is definitely a win-win situation!


Our Family

Cindy and I celebrated our 18Th wedding anniversary on March 3! We did not know 18 years ago that we would be serving the Lord in Nicaragua, but we are thrilled with this opportunity. Our children are doing well and have grown to love it here. Here is a brief update: Stephen and Luke just completed their basketball season. Both played for the school on the varsity High School team. It’s quite different here as the courts are outdoors and designed for international play and the games are conducted with International rules. The team finished with a 7-3 record. The best in the schools’ 16 year history. Markie is doing great. She is enjoying her new group of friends and continues to do well in school. As far as Philip is concerned, he still is a man of few words, but he has developed a couple of friends:. Udrime, who is Korean and Santiago, who is Nicaraguan. Udrime, who knows 3 languages, likes to come to “the house of Philip” (Philip’s house).


We Need Each Other

I am convinced that we will not reach our full potential in God nor our full potential as the body of Christ without developing genuine safe relationships with each other. Through the years, I have had some close friends, but have always been hesitant to open up and be completely vulnerable in sharing my thoughts, troubles, ideas, joys, and dreams for fear that I might be exposed or that I wouldn’t be understood. But ,I am finding the opposite to be true. The enemy would like to keep us isolated and disconnected because when we are alone, we are an easy target for discouragement, confusion, and loneliness. When we are walking with God in openness, we are able to protect, encourage, and support one another. Relationships give us a place to express the grace, mercy, and compassion of the Lord to one another.
Please know that I certainly am not the expert on this matter, but I am asking the Holy Spirit to help me be a safe friend and to help me be open with those the Lord has put in my life.
James 5:16 “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”
Proverbs 18:24: There are “friends” who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.

Love and Blessings,
Mark Quillen

Time is flying




This update is long overdue so let us get you caught up on how your support and prayers are making a difference in Nicaragua! Before we do, though, let us express how overwhelmingly wonderful it was to see so many of our friends and family during our visit at Christmas. We also want you to know that our internet and vonage phone have been painfully sporadic during the past two months. For a few minutes they will operate OK and then for the next bit of time connections will drop. This has literally been the case since returning at the beginning of January. We have been frequent visitors to the telephone company that supplies our internet and we have been frequent callers to vonage, but these problems have perisisted (extremely frustrating!) While things seem to be clearing up a bit this week, I am taking advantge and preparing this blog report.



Relationships



There is nothing that compares to the specialness of relationships and time with people you love and share a common purpose with. That is what we miss the most and that is what we cherished the most as we spent time with you while we were home. The time spent with our families, our friends, and our home church, Evangel Cathedral, was extremely special. We also enjoyed our time visiting with our former employers, Upward Unlimited, Spartanburg Regional and the Urology Surgicenter and our visit to Legacy Cathedral reconnecting with Pastor's Kevin and Tracie Baird. During our time in Spartanburg we hardly saw our children as they eagerly spent as much time as possible with family and friends. It was a wonderful time and now that we've been back we are missing you all more than ever! We would like to give a special thanks to our family and friends that gave us the wonderful reception at The Hanger at First Baptist Church on January 3rd. It was a perfect way for us and our children to visit with those that we were not able to see one on one while we were home. It meant more to us than you will ever know!


Please know that we continue to appreciate the financial sacrifices you all are making in supporting us. We do not take it for granted. By way of information, we experienced a drop in our support for the month of February. We received approximately 50% of our monthly budget so needless to say we are trusting that March will bring us through. If by chance you forgot to drop your support in the mail for February or if you would like to send a one time gift or a monthly gift you may send your tax deductible donation to the following address:

Evangel Fellowship International Attention: Mark and Cindy Quillen 200 Evangel Road Spartanburg, S.C. 29301

Highlighting January and February

In January we resumed the EFI ISOM Bible College classes, our work and support with Abundant Life Managua Church (our local church), and we worked, along with the other three EFI missionary families here, in preparing for the EFI Pastors Conference that was hosted here in Managua on January 25-26. Bishop Miles, Matt Lutz, from Raliegh, NC, and a team lead by Jan King from our home church, Evangel Cathedral, participated in the conference. The conference was attended by approximately 280 people from different departments of Nicaragua. We even had a small group from the Rio Coco. The Rio Coco area is extremely primitive with few roads. They traveled 1/2 day by boat and on foot, then a whole day by bus (the buses here are old beat-up school buses) on terrible roads to get to the conference. The conference was a tremendous success. At the conference, we had an ISOM Bible College information table set up. There was strong interest from many senior pastors and, as a result, we have attended meetings in several areas and have more meetings scheduled as part of a plan to help these pastors get schools started in their areas. Following is a quick look at these new opportunities.

1) Cuidad Sandino, Pastor Rolando Chamorrio, Church name: Iglesia Comunidad Shalom. Mark met with the pastor and reviewed the entire structure and purpose of the program. The pastor has a background as a Bible proffesor and pastor. Of the members and attenders of this church there are approximately 20 people ready to enroll They will also accept additional enrollments from other leaders and churches in their community. Cuidad Sandino is a large lower class community on the outskirts of Managua. This church and pastor are strong and are doing well. He wants to provide oppportunity and development for his people and sees the college as a great start to this.

2) The department of Chinandega. Pastor Osvaldo Bonilla. Orgsnization name is ACRI. Pastor Bonilla's organization oversees 7 churches, several feeding programs, a medical clininc, a prison ministry, and other outreach ministries. He is also the president of a National Council of pastors in Chinandega. We met pastor Bonilla and his wife at the EFI conference in January. They invited us to come and speak to their pastors organization and we did so this February 20th. Jeannie Kellet, EFI's humanitarian aide director, was in Nicaragua, and Jeannie was able to go with us on that hot, two hour, bumpy ride to Chinandega. There were approximately 40 pastors in attendance and they were excited about the opportunity to host a Bible Institute that would serve all of them. Our goal is to set-up a school in Chinandega, with a coordinator that Mark can train and work with to run the school as an extension of Pastor Bonilla's ministry. Pastor Bonilla and his wife have been serving in Chinandega for 12 years and were sent out by Verbo Church Ministries in Managua. They project that they will have approximately 100 students from their area of Chinandega.



3) On March, 10 Mark traveled to the department of Juigalpa to present EFI ISOM to a pastor's organization. Pastors Henry Martinez and Manuel Romero hosted the meeting. They too want to host an EFI ISOM school that will serve the Juigalpa area and hope to begin as soon as possible.


4) In April, Mark will be traveling to the department of Matagalpa with pastor Pablo Lairos to meet with a group of pastors there to discuss a school for that area.


A pastor from the department of Leon and a pastor from the North side of Mangua have also requested meetings. There seems to be a strong interest for this curriculum and for using it to train and equip church pastors and church leaders.


What is it that pastors are drawn to about the EFI ISOM program:



1) The instruction is foundational, spirit filled, and practical.

2) The DVD quality of instruction is excellent. It is very professional, the set is very professional, and the instructors are some of the World's most recognized Christian leaders in the subjests they teach.

3) There is a real impartation of passion and annointing that comes through the teachings.

4) The classroom setting provides opportunity to put coursework into practice

5) The local facilitator can easily transition from the DVD to the actual class for discussion and ministry times.

6) The school offers a Diploma of Biblical Studies and an associates degree in Biblcal studies from Vision International and Christian Leadership University.

7) It is hosted at a local churches and is designed to strengthen and equip the local church.

8) The curriculum and course materials are provided, by us, at a resonable price, therefore the tuition is very affordable. (In the capital city it averages aprx. $10 per month. In other areas it ranges from $1 to $2 per month)


------- Each location that we are helping set-up is in need of a video projector and a screen. If you would like to donate one or more to these local churches please let us know. We have several teams coming in March and know other teams coming to work with missionaries throughout the year and can have them bring items like this to us.




Mark continues to operate 2 ISOM schools in Managua. Each class has approximately 20 active students. The students represent 15 different Evangelical churches in and around Managua. The students consist of 4 senior pastors, 6 to 8 associate pastors, and the remaining students are leaders in their repective churches.



In Februaury Mark preached at Iglesia Ciudad Shalom which is one of the churches that we will be starting an ISOM Bible school at. Also in February Mark did a Sunday morning service at Abundant Life Managua using ISOM material on the ministry of helps. Along with supporting Mark, Cindy continues to help in New Life Nicaragua Orphanage . In particular, she has been helping two children receive physical therapy and has made trips to the hospital with Nancy, a happy little 1 1/2 year old who has a condition called bilateral schizencephaly open lipped (for those of you who are not medical, it is a congenital brain malformation). With much physical therapy and lots of love Nancy can reach her potential.



Highlighting March



We are also preparing for two teams that will be coming in March. One is a small group from Cokesbury UMC located in Tennessee and the other is a team from Oakbrook Prepratory School in Spartanburg, SC. Both teams will do maintenance of the Abundant Life Church building including paitning etc. The Cokesbury team will be visiting and ministering at a local mothers and infant hospital and conduct a ladies luncheon at Abundant Life Managua Church. The Oakbrook team will be conducting a VBS at New Life Nicaragua orphange and at House of Hope (a ministry to moms who are former prostitutes and their children). This team will also be conducting an evangelistic Upward basketball camp in downtown Managua.



Our Children



They are doing well yet they also miss their family and friends back home. They have made friends with the children at the school they attend and that has helped. Currently both Stephen and Luke are on the high school basketball team which has a record of 5-2. Philip and Markie are enjoying school, but are not doing any extracurricular activities at this time.



Thank you so much for taking time to catch up with us and for your
prayers and support.



Love, The Quillens