In October 1998 hurricane Mitch hit Nicaragua and destroyed the northwestern coast. It was estimated that 10,000 people died and the streets were flooded to the point where it was difficult to remove the corpses. Even after the water began to subside families tried to rebuild their homes however they were not able to because they were building on top of bodies and decay. When I went to read articles about it I learned that the damages suffered set Nicaragua back 50 years economically.
Finally a pastor petitioned to the government for a lot of land for these families to build homes and continue on with their lives. One of these communities is Bethel (pronounced more like Pa-tell), a community of 135 houses. Over the last 11 years the government and the church were able to raise money to build brick houses for all the residence; instead of just plastic siding.
The moment we set foot into this village my teammates and I were overwhelmed with a feeling of peace and love; because that is what the city was literally built on. As people were building, they were building out of love, gratefulness to have a place to live, hope for the future and a peace that life was going to be alright again. Such is the spiritual atmosphere of the village to this day.
Unfortunately for many of the residents of Bethel live has not been easy cheesy. In fact almost every family has suffered further loss because of sugar can harvesting. After the destruction of the hurricane, many were left without jobs as many of the jobs had also been destroyed. Aside from opening up a family run store, the only other option for these people is to harvest sugar cane. On the surface this seems like it would boost moral; however, as with many businesses there is so much more underneath the surface. When the men go into the field to harvest the sugar cane, they are ingesting pesticides that the company uses to, well to keep the pests away. These men work 12 hour days, with no break for lunch, and many of them develop kidney diseases/cancer from the chemical that the sugar cane industry sprays over the crops. Law suits are not really an option as the larger corporations pay off everyone who works underneath them; including some of the environmental groups.
(one of the fields)
Our ministry this month is looking much different than any other country. Thus far this month is focused on relational ministry – spending time in the community, praying with them, playing with the children, being involved in the youth group, prayer walking and holding bible studies.
