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!