Professional Documents
Culture Documents
December 2009
Vanessa Continued.
The team really welcomed us to the group and allowed us to minister with them throughout the week. We are currently without help in the
house and so ministering outside of the house, plus homeschooling the kids, plus cleaning and cooking everyday is sometimes overwhelming.
Most days I spend time praying to our Heavenly Father that He will provide the strength I need to get everything done. I ask God to help me
open my eyes to the needs around me so that I don’t miss where God wants me to serve. We have struggled this month with internet problems
and are hoping it will be resolved soon. Keeping in touch daily is important to us and without the internet that communication is removed. We
pray God will continue to keep us on the hearts of those He wants to know
about us even without the internet. Our hearts continue to long to stay
down here for many years and so we pray that God will raise up more peo-
ple to support us and pray for us on our journey down here. We have been
blessed to meet many other missionaries in the area and are able to help
them as they need it and support them while we wait on the Lord to clarify
what it is He wants us to do down here with the children.
Upcoming Events:
Dec 6th. I was invited to preach in a mission church in Las Panitas
December 7th: Immaculate Conception-celebrated in Leon (let’s pray that
God will open the eyes of many who celebrate Catholism)
December 18th: School year ends
December 25th Feliz Navidad (Christmas)
December 26th Team from Parkside Church in Texas arrives for Crusade
December 31st: End of year/beginning of New Year
Up Coming opportunity for Children’s Ministry, My Precious Sierra is grow- Kyle taking
may it grow abundantly for God: ing up so fast. his turn
behind
We will be starting a sponsorship pro- Family Picture at the
gram for the children down here. Their informa- foggy Caterina with camera.
tion will be available through our newsletter. We Mike Hulsey
are planning to start with 15 children. You will
have the opportunity to sponsor a child at the cost
of $150.00 per year. This cost will cover the
child’s school tuition, uniform, school supplies,
shoes, food at school, a backpack and a few new
clothes. Keep watching to find out more about
this new and exciting opportunity to minister to
these children. More to come…..
An Interview with Pastor Felix Calderone This is a series of interviews that I want to include in our newsletters. These are the real heroes of
Nicaragua. The Pastors who serve at great cost to their families. I want to tell their stories with the
utmost of respect for their dedication. This interview was interpreted by Michael Silva.
Pastor Felix Calderone is the Pastor of Ingelesia Tercera Bautista—Jerico. His church serves the barrios of Walter
Ferreti, BelleVista and Guadeloupe. He has served as the pastor of Jerico church for 10 years plus an additional 7
years as a mission church. Here is his story.
How did you feel called as a pastor?
1st when I was elected as Pastor I was “hit”. Even though I had been the pastor of the mission church for 7 years I
was surprised that they elected me as Pastor of the church. As a Pastor, there are many pressures. I am the “head of
the church”. It is my job to say what to do but I have to do it without judging. I have to learn to discipline in love. I
need to be strict and strong or the people will take advantage. First I was “living in the world——believer——-
servant of God” Sometimes I feel alone because there is very little support, especially in difficult situations.
What Is Your Testimony?
I was born and raised Catholic. My family worshipped many idols, especially St. Mary. I remember wanting to par-
ticipate in the Catholic celebrations on the streets when they have parades. At 12, I went to a Cathedral with my mom
to be confirmed. The Cathedral was closed so we had to find another. I was accepted there and began to participate
and get involved. I remember them singing Psalm 121. After awhile, the church began to look like a mirror with hypocrites and sometimes I felt
rejected by the church. I noticed it was just in name that they served the Lord and not in life. Once when I was smoking and reading the Bible
with my brother in Christ, he asked if I wanted to know more about this God. I was baptized in 1993 at 22 years of age. Six months later I began
to backslide and started to drink again. That same brother in Christ came to me and encouraged me to stay on track and I did. Later I started a
Bible study in people’s homes and it grew. That was the beginning of the mission church.. I was elected as Pastor in 1999, it was a very big step,
very important and there is no turning back.
What is your Community Outreach?
This year we hope to reach people by teaching reading and writing in the community. We hope to start in the next 3 months. We will then also
talk about the Gospel with the people we teach to read and write. We would like to open more mission churches.
Currently, we have the Compassion Project as outreach, the feeding at the dump, El Audante, Voice of Hope and we work with Mark Hargrove at
TipiTapa with evangelism, digging wells for the community and we are fixing up a building to make into a church and school.
What would you like people in the United States to know about the church?
As a pastor I have many visions. I know the needs for the community and I would like to focus on preparing leaders to serve God. I know it
won’t happen in one day and I need time and resources and tools to reach the people. I want the people in the U.S. to know we are here serving
God. I want people here to know how to serve God correctly and the right way, but I need tools to help with this focus. As a pastor I am an in-
strument to serve God and I love to serve. However, I also have a family and we are in a poor neighborhood. The people give what they can but it
is not enough. I have a child who wants to go to college and the financial situation is an issue. The church people put pressure on me to use the
money given for the church and my wife puts pressure on me to use the money for our family. I do have other jobs but is not enough. It is a
struggle. However, I will continue to do His will not mine.
Caleb teaching the locals how to A carving I chiseled for the Gethsemane Sierra holding one of the babies at
throw a football. church. The rock came out of the foundation Bible School.
Volcano Telica “At the foot of Telica.” This phrase has been going through my mind. For the past several weeks I
have been riding on the back of Pastor Miguel’s motorcycle traveling to and from his church con-
struction site. I see the Telica volcano during the trip. I often use this time to pray for whatever is on
my mind, protection, guidance, abilities to do what God is calling me to do and for strength and cour-
age. I believe that this phrase has new meaning to me. It tells me to be humble and willing to serve
at the feet of the Master. For Jesus has called me to do His will and He will equip me to do what He
asks, whether it be building with my hands or building with my words. Do all with a servants heart
and to God’s glory.
In the November issue I wrote about the foundation work of the church being on solid rock.
In this issue I will continue with the construction and completion of the roof. Working with Pastor Miguel is always an adventure. The lan-
guage barrier is always a challenge, but we seem to know what each other is saying. The work is hard but fruitful. At the end of each day you
can see what you have accomplished. It feels good toughening up the hands and shaking the rust off the muscles. The building was prepared
for the Southside Baptist Church to come and complete. On Thursday November 26th, Thanksgiving Day, the roof was installed. That eve-
ning a campaign was held. The team members took time to share their testimony and preach. Many in the group went door to door doing
evangelism which resulted in professions for Jesus including young people from the community. I feel that God has great plans for the Geth-
semane Church and Pastor Miguel.
(For a complete photo journey of the church construction go to
http://picasaweb.google.com/speigle6/ChurchConstructionOctNov2009#
Money, the world runs on it, many covet it, and to put it simply everyone needs it to live. We are no exception. I
have struggled with aspect of fund raising how to approach it. I have never liked asking for help, I always relied on my own
skills and abilities. I can no longer do that. God has called me to a place that I need outside support. So that is why I am writ-
ing this article. Someone once told me that people want to give and if I do not tell them of a need I deprive them of an opportu-
nity to serve God. I never thought of it like that. I realize that God will provide the support for our mission but I need to do my
part. So here it goes.
Vanessa and I debated for many months about who to go on missions with. We interviewed with International Mission Board
(IMB) and I felt that it was not for us. The security and benefits that IMB provided were attractive but they were not working in Nicaragua, where
I felt strongly called to serve. So we decided to join up with Voice of Hope (VOH) out of Rogers Arkansas. Vanessa and I have served on mis-
sion trips with VOH and liked the evangelical focus and their vision of working with children. So we climbed on board. While there are many
benefits to this arrangement there are a few challenges. We have to be self supported which meant there are no mission boards with deep pockets
to provide for us. So we need to raise our own support. I like this setup because it give me the chance to talk with a wide variety of people that
God puts in my path. I am a people person and I love getting to know new people. But I have to overcome the challenges of my dislike of asking
for help financially. This is especially challenging in an economy that is less than strong. But God laid it on my heart to put this in our newsletter.
I am including in this article our monthly budget. It is cheap to live in Nicaragua like a Nicaraguan, buy it is very expensive to live like and
American in Nicaragua. We strive to live in the middle. We have always lived simply and will continue to do so while were are serving God.
Below are the Monthly expenses that we incur.