Nica in a Nut Shell
The Nicaraguan Story
On a trip to Mexico in 1998 the President of Chop Point heard about the devastating situation in Nicaragua and that there were children begging in the streets with little being done to help them. He immediately got on a plane to the Capital of Managua and with no contacts waiting for him; he began looking for opportunities to serve the children of Nicaragua. After meeting a Missionary family in Managua he soon decided to bring a team of students from Chop Point the next year after Hurricane Mitch to paint houses and visit orphanages.
I was one of those students.
I immediately fell in love with the country, and was shocked that people were living in such devastating conditions in a country in Central America. After graduating college, getting married and living in Minnesota for a few years Rachel and I began seeking opportunities to serve overseas long term. At the same time Chop Point had received a few large donations for Nicaragua and had now bought 50 acres of water front property on Lake Nicaragua and had built cabins and a dinning hall in order to run children’s camps, and host mission teams. The Camp, “Campo Alegria”, had grown big and Chop Point was relying on local missionaries to oversee the expenses and expansion. They were now interested in getting someone down in Nicaragua full time.
Before Rachel and I had left for India we had discussed the option of serving with Chop Point at some point, not knowing what our future held. Once we decided to head home from India we gave Chop Point a call and were immediately welcomed into the family, Chop Point gave us free housing and I began working as a bible teacher for the High School as well as studying Spanish daily in preparation for our time in Nicaragua.
Rachel and I had a chance to go to Nicaragua for a couple of weeks in October to check things out, and I just returned from a trip with the school in February where our group ran a children’s camp and completed local service projects.
Rachel and I plan to head down inevitably this coming summer, please keep us in your prayers as we prepare.