Pastor Frank at Faith Community Church Jinotega updates us on some amazing things that God is doing in his remote region of the Nicaraguan Highlands –
“God has always been faithful to the work of Faith Community Jinotega but especially in the past few weeks. We have many young people who are attending regularly because of invitations from our youth as they engage with them everyday. I’m grateful to the Lord for the boldness of our youth to reach out to friends, neighbors and schoolmates—not only sharing their faith but sharing their time and possessions.
God has shown His power and love by touching the lives of people who come to our church in search of emotional and spiritual refuge. Here are only three examples of young people who are determined to follow Christ and change their lives, however difficult it may seem –
– Melkin is 15 years old, and his family has been very traditional and religious. He has been part of a Catholic church since he was a baby. One day, while walking, he met another young man who invited him to a youth meeting in our church. Since that time, he’s been visiting Comunidad de Fe, but he must tell his parents that he is going to Mass in order to attend.
– Erling is 15 years old, and he started coming to church about eight months ago. He had to tell his Dad that he was going to do schoolwork in order to attend our church. He accepted Jesus Christ as personal savior, was baptized, and is now part of the praise and worship team. Now, his father asked us a week ago to start a small group (Grupo Vida) in his house.
– Cristian is 14 years old, and he lives with his grandparents who are very Catholic and have been told that if he continues to come to church, they will run him from the house. Despite this difficult situation, he recently received Jesus as his Savior. Pray for him and his family, and they are very poor. We know he doesn’t have a bed, but we don’t know what he sleeps on. A couple of weeks ago he came to church with his shoes broken. José Julio, another young man from the church, gave him a pair he had at home. It was very nice to see how a young man was moved by the need of another young man.
Now Cristian is learning how to share his testimony because he wants to tell his friends at the soccer school.
– Finally, Milton is a young adult who said he would never be in a church. He came with his wife to a wedding dinner over a year ago, and then he started visiting the church a little more often. A few weeks, he received Jesus as his Savior, and now he is about to be baptized and wants to become a small group leader. He’s also allowing us to start a Bible study group in his house.
Children are also instructed with the word of God and their parents begin to come with them. So far this year, God has allowed us to baptize some thirteen people and we are about to baptize another group in August.
Please be in prayer for our youth leaders as they work with these youth often from difficult backgrounds. Several youth attending our meetings parents do not approve of their participation. It’s difficult to see the hurt and brokenness that only God can repair.
To teach truth, we must encourage these young people to honor their parents and in some cases grandparents even if it means that they cannot participate as often with the group. God sees all things and “He” will provide for them.” HMC
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