STEVE’S REPORT ON NICARAGUA

Although this was my sixth trip to Nicaragua’s coastal region, this was by far one of the most productive, both in the natural and the spiritual. As Rod Westbrook and I were making our final preparations for a training seminar at Orinoco in November, Hurricane Ida struck with a vengeance. But instead of canceling our trip we decided to go, spend the money we would have spent on the conference for aid and relief, and see what practical help we could give. 

   The City Church of San Diego gave $2000 and we (HoF supporters) put in an additional $1000. We arrived in Tasbapaunie 10 days after the hurricane hit and on the very day that drinking water ran out. With no electricity, food running short and people getting sick from the water, we arrived right on time. With the help of the other local Pastors and many of the people from the church in Orinoco we were able to bring in by boats almost 1500 gallons of  fresh drinking water. The people lined up for hours to fill their buckets. As we toured the village we saw simple repairs being made every where. Some homes were flattened, many had damaged roofs. The church’s roof had literally been lifted off the block walls and dropped—18 inches off to one side. Rod took one look at it and although the Pastors had all agreed it would have to be demolished before it could be repaired, Rod said he wanted to have “a go at it”. So after scouring the village he came up with a hand saw, an axe, a hammer, some nails and a piece of rope. Getting several young men to help they cut some nearby drift wood, forced the roof up by wedging it, tied the roof to a palm tree, pulled it over 18 inches, and dropped it gently back in place. The villagers were amazed, and frankly, so was I!

   We spent two nights holding meetings and I’ve never seen a village so receptive to our preaching. The next day we returned to the big city of Bluefields, purchased 3000 pounds of food and supplies, loaded it on a boat and sent it back to the village. The food arrived a day later just as the village was running out of food. At the same time that Rod was repairing the roof, the local military came and asked if we could help them. They had a distress call from 4 people stranded at sea. The military had no money and no gas for the rescue. After consulting the Pastor we found he trusted them so we gave the money for gas and the next day the soldiers returned from successfully saving those people’s lives. All in all it was one amazing trip!