Lending a Hand in Nicaragua

I had the privilege of going on a mission trip to Nicaragua sponsored by ABCRM this past April. The trip was led by Pastor John Turnage of Loveland and consisted of eight other members from Colorado ABC churches, including FBC Loveland, Calvary in Denver, FBC Colorado Springs, and my own church, American Baptist Church in Fort Collins.

The purpose of the trip was to help ABC missionaries Vital and Ketly Pierre, and their church, Bethel Baptist in Bluefields, with the construction of a multi-purpose building at a site in the town of Kukra Hill, where Bethel Baptist planted a new church in January 2007. Kukra Hill is about 17 miles north of Bluefields on the Caribbean Coast and accessible by boat on the Rio Escondido River.

The second purpose was to put on a Bible study for the children of the Kukra Hill Church and the community. Another important goal was to develop relationships with our missionaries, the parishioners of the Bluefields and Kukra Hill churches, and the Nicaraguan people.

It was hot and humid, and the work of masonry construction was hard and not the sort of work any of us was used to doing on a regular basis, but very rewarding. We made a large dent in the task of finishing the cement block and concrete beam walls. Better yet, we got to know our fellow Nicaraguan church member workers. Language was never a problem. Some in the group were bilingual and the rest of us found ways to communicate.

The three ladies in the group had a successful Bible school with the help of a wonderful lady named Alice from the Bluefield’s Church and Pastor Turnage, both of whom are bilingual. When they weren’t putting on the Bible school, the women helped with the construction.

My fondest memory of the trip was the rapport I experienced with my fellow team members and the Nicaraguan people. Our team meshed very well together and I found the Nicaraguans to be a very warm, friendly and inviting people. I believe that God will use the work we did and relationships we made to foster His purposes in Nicaragua. When the airplane wheels lifted off the tarmac at Managua on the trip home, a large part of me did not want to leave.

Bruce Nuttall
American Baptist Church
Fort Collins, CO