Dear Mission Supporters and Friends,
We are so excited to share with you all the great things that happened on our Christmas mission trip to Nicaragua. We had a great team of 37 people from the USA and Canada. The weather was the best we can ever remember in Nicaragua. The highs were in the 80’s and the lows in the 70’s. Most days we were not sweating and feeling tired from the heat. That was a big blessing.
25 years of Ambassadors to the Nations Celebration In Nicaragua:
Pastor Daniel, our main pastor in Nicaragua, had a SURPRISE celebration for us for 25 years of Ambassadors to the Nations at our Managua Church. They had all kinds of special decorations in the church when we walked in. It was amazing!! Then they had invited people that use to be in our schools and churches that we have not seen for 12-18 years to come and celebrate with us. It was special to see all these people, that their lives have been affected by our mission’s over the years in Nicaragua. We worshipped and then they showed an amazing video of pictures, they made from all the years of ministry in Nicaragua. It was moving to see so many lives touched by the gospel of Jesus and all the fun we have had for all these years. Thanks Pastor Daniel and David for putting together such a wonderful celebration for us!!
Christmas Care Box Distribution at our Schools in Nicaragua:
JOY, JOY, JOY is the BEST way to describe the children receiving their care boxes. Normally, we have other people taking all the pictures of each child receiving their care box. This year, Darey and I wanted to help with some of the classes with the pictures being taken of every child. WOW!! That was AWESOME for us. Darey would call their names, put the box in their hands and position them for the picture. I was able to watch their little faces while taking the pictures. Some of them were smiling from ear to ear, others moving all around with joy and excitement to get it, so they could open it. We had an enjoyable time being a part of this. Then we waited around while some opened the gifts with excitement to see everything in the box. Thanks partners for giving or making the Christmas boxes for the child or children you sponsor, so they could have toys, school supplies, clothes, hygiene items, etc. for Christmas. For many of them, these are the only gifts they receive. They could feel the love from these boxes. We are so very thankful that you make this possible for these precious children.
Pollo por Navidad (Chicken for Christmas):
One of the biggest traditions or desire for the Nicaraguans is for the family to have chicken for Christmas. Just like in the USA, we want turkey for Thanksgiving, they want to be able to eat chicken with their family on December 24th at night to bring in Christmas Day. The problem is, in most of the poor villages in Nicaragua, most of the Nicaraguans cannot afford chicken for their family. I remember Pastor Daniel telling me many years ago about this tradition. While we were at one of our feeding programs in Xiloa, we were blessing some of the grandmothers with a little cash. One of the grandmothers said, “thank you, now I will have enough to have POLLO for NAVIDAD (Chicken for Christmas)”. Then it came back to me, that is right. All the people want so much is to have chicken for Christmas. On the bus that we travel on from place to place, I shared the testimony and the desire of the people to be able to have POLLO for NAVIDAD (chicken for Christmas). One of the team members said, “well how much would it take for them to buy chicken for their family?” We figured around $5.00 for a family of 4-6 people, plus this would give them enough to buy a few other things. What happened afterwards while we were at the School of Granada was amazing. The team took up enough money to give over 100 families $5.00 each so they could buy Pollo por Navidad (Chicken for Christmas). Plus, we gave out nice bags of groceries with rice, beans, sugar, etc. in them to all the families. The excitement and joy on the faces of the mothers is something we will remember for a long time. They all kept telling us over and over, thank you, thank you. Then while we were at our Las Maderas church, the team wanted to bless the people there with the $5.00 so they could have Pollo for Navidad. That day they took up money to bless almost 200 families. This trip will always be remembered as the team that provided Pollo por Navidad (Chicken for Christmas) to hundreds and hundreds of families. AWESOME!!!
Our New Project in San Francisco, Nicaragua:
Our new project in San Francisco, Nicaragua looked incredible. It was just amazing to see all the work that had been done since our last trip in August. All the walls are up on the building and the bathrooms. Plus, the water well was being drilled while we were on the trip. The main building is over 2000 square feet not counting the patio and the bathrooms. Now we must put the roof on, put interior walls up, paint, put toilets in and get all the kitchen furnishings bought and installed. We are already buying tables, chairs, cabinets and supplies to ship on the next container for this project. Our plans are to start an after school/feeding program first and then as we build more classrooms and playground, we will open up our next Christian school. It will be the only Christian/private school in the area. This area does not see very many or if any missionaries. We are excited that God put on our hearts to work there to reach the children and their parents with the gospel of Jesus. Please be praying with us for this project and for all the finances needed to come in to complete it all for HIS GLORY!!
Next Container for Nicaragua:
We have been working on our next container the past few months to ship by February 9th. This is our Easter container that will be there for our April trip. We were able to buy a lot of toys, hygiene items and clothes on clearance for this container before and after Christmas. Since we were able to get so many great items at super prices, we have made 1000’s of care packages so every student in our schools and feeding programs will receive an Easter Care package. So, for this container, we need your help with the shipping cost of the Easter Container and for the items we bought to make the packages. Any help will be a huge blessing. We will give all the sponsors of the children opportunity to make birthday care boxes for the birthday container in May. We will be giving more information in later newsletters about that container. On the Easter container, we try to have room to ship lots of desk, chairs, school supplies, cabinets, tables, etc… for our schools and programs. All our schools reopen the first week of February. It very important to be able to ship all the needed items for our schools.
Upcoming Mission Trip to Acuna, Mexico:
We are leaving with our team of 30 people to Acuna, Mexico the end of January. We are excited to have the Charis Bible College of Charlotte, NC going with us this time. They will get to minister at our 3 after schools, plus go share love at 2 nursing homes, an adult day care, a senior feeding program, do street ministry, visit an orphanage, preach at churches and host a ladies meeting. It’s going to be a powerful trip. We expect to see a lot of people healed and God’s unconditional love shared everywhere we go.
2017 The BEST Year in Missions for Ambassadors to the Nations:
We praise God that 2017 was the BEST year in missions we have ever had. We know it was because of God and our wonderful, faithful partners. This year, we took in more children and youth to our schools and after schools than ever before. Also, this year, we added more programs, built more homes, constructed more buildings, helped more countries, added more partners, took in more finances, but the best and most important thing was, the gospel was preached to more people and lives were healed and set free. We are so grateful to our loving, Heavenly Father that He called us to this wonderful work for Him. We are so thankful that God would direct your paths to cross our paths to help us do this GREAT work for Him!! We can never thank you enough for your continual support and love. We know that God has even bigger and better things for 2018.
Reaching the nations,
Darey and Karen Jolley