news article

Missions to Nicaragua: Rich experiences in a poor nation

January 20, 2015 / By Beth DiCocco / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

The number of Nicaraguans living in extreme poverty – defined as less than $1 a day – increased from 7.6 percent to 9.5 percent from 2012 to 2013, according to a survey published in November 2013 by the Managua-based Fundación Internacional para el Desafío Económico Global, a nongovernmental foundation.

That's the factual reason Upper New York United Methodists have a heart for mission in Nicaragua.

Here are some other reasons:

"The people are a very loving and sharing people," said Mary Anderson, who with her husband, Genesee Valley District Superintendent Rev. Ted Anderson, has been to Nicaragua some 15 times. "They don't have a lot of material goods, but they are warm and welcoming; they open up to visitors. It's very compelling."

"It's just a wonderful opportunity to give back and to be God's hands and feet," said Carole Gehrig, a member of New Hartford United Methodist Church, who has been on medical missions to Nicaragua seven times. "We are all His people ... not that we don't do things in this country, but there is a special calling to go and help people in less-fortunate countries also."

From Feb. 14-22, 2015, the Andersons will be among the 19 people going on the Genesee Valley District mission trip to Project Chacocente in Nicaragua. A Central New York Medical Mission, which Gehrig has been on in the past, will take place from March 16-26. It's organized by Greg Wright of the United Church of Canastota.

Project Chacocente began in 2003, inspired by United Methodist youth on a Northeastern Jurisdiction Mission of Peace trip to the Managua dump where they saw "people living off the dump – scavenging food and stuff to sell like ball bearings and other metal. It's a pretty hardscrabble life, and these high school students were  touched, shocked, horrified," said Anderson, and then they asked: What can we do to help?

What they did was donate $5,000 to create Project Chacocente, which started as a way to move people who were living in the dump into their own homes.

"It was about more than land and house," Anderson said. "It was about building a Christian community that  was working toward self sustainability; that's how it all began."

It took 10 years to get the original families the deeds to their land, she said, but now those families are doing well and are mentoring the next generation.

The dump has been covered over, although there are still families living in and around it. Now Project Chacocente operates a school, which in December 2014, graduated its first class.

The volunteers on this mission trip will tackle work that needs to be done at the school, but the relationship building is just as essential, Anderson said.

"You learn from people down there and share Christ," she said. "It's a week and a half-long communion of saints. You realize God is there and has been there."

"Their faith is so strong and somehow more essential to their lives," Anderson said. "Here, we're under the illusion that we can provided for ourselves."

The medical mission will bring routine medical care as well as basics to people in rural Nicaragua, where it's difficult if not impossible to access medical care. Gehrig's role has been to help distribute clothing and toys to the families who come to the clinic.

Gehrig said that she's moved by the Nicaraguans' patience – waiting in the hot sun for hours at the clinic – and their deep gratitude. It's a lesson she wanted her grandchildren Nicole and Andrew to learn.

"It's strengthened my faith," Gehrig said. "I am so grateful for what I am blessed with. I've taken my grandchildren with me so they see what a third world country looks like and how grateful the people are and how little they have.

"Our kids have so much, and they want more. They don't realize the difference between want and need. That was the lesson I hoped my grandchildren would get, and they did."

Gehrig cautions that the days are long and "things don't always go as you plan" – something Anderson remarked on as well. But "it's a wonderful experience," Gehrig said of mission work in Nicaragua. " ... we are so blessed and don't appreciate it. We need to be more open to people that don't have anything."

Learn more

Learn more about Project Chacocente at outofthedump.org. Visit the Upper New York VIM page to learn more about upcoming mission trips and how to participate.

Q&A with Sarah Muder who is going to Nicaragua in March

MuderOne United Methodist in Upper New York with a heart for mission in Nicaragua is Sarah Muder. The 18-year-old is a member at the New Hartford United Methodist Church. On the pre-med track at Vassar college, she hopes to one day be an OB/GYN.

She is making her first trip to Nicaragua as part of the medical mission organized by Canastota United Methodist Church. Here's what she had to say about why she's drawn to serve in Nicaragua.

What inspired you to join this mission trip?
I’ve always firmly believed that medical care is a basic human right that everyone deserves. Currently I’m on the pre-medical track in college and administering hands-on care to people that have difficulty accessing it is something that I’m passionate about.

What do you hope to learn and experience?
I hope to have a glimpse at what my future career could be like, but other than that, I believe that God knows way more about what He wants me to learn than I do. Visiting another country always results in pearls of wisdom that I never could’ve expected or predicted.

You have done mission work outside the U.S. before; talk a little about what those experiences have been like and how they have affected your faith journey:
I spent a month in Cambodia in 2012, which really just opened my eyes to how diversely beautiful God has made the world and His people. Further, it also gave me a huge reality check on the many blessings that we have in America that are not commonly present in other developing nations. Without healthcare, women and children often perish in childbirth, kids often aren’t healthy enough to get an education, which affects the rest of their lives. It really gave me a clear picture of how adequate public health and clinical care can easily change the world.

What would you say to another college student who may be considering going on an international mission trip for the first time?
Don’t go if you don’t want to change. Because you will.

Feel free to add anything else you'd like say that I haven't asked about.
Thanks to the New Hartford First United Methodist church, for always supporting me, financially and in prayer!