Much of our time in Jinotepe, Nicaragua was spent with the teens living at Quinta Esperanza, a home for abused and neglected teens. After making the first stop-motion video, Mike and I decided to make one featuring all the kids living at the Quinta.
Below is a blog written by my teammate Justine about the Quinta and the teens living there. I hope you will read it and watch the new stop-motion video as well.
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Posted in
Nicaragua by Justine Zins on 12/5/2009
My life and heart will forever bare the impression that
these young men and women have left. I have witnessed the fruit of true
discipleship in the lives of these fifteen teens. Once beaten, and begging on
the streets; they now boldly proclaim a life in Christ and worship Him with all
of their lives.
The Quinta is home to these 15 individuals. It is their
refuge, their classroom, and their family. We have spent our month in Nicaragua
taking a small van through the streets of Jinotepe and Dolores to a small dirt
road on the outskirts of town. This small road, rutted out from the rain and frequented
by cattle, carries us to the Quinta that is tucked back in the slums. It is a
lighthouse on a hill in a dark world for a child.
Most children in Nicaragua are left without a
father. Many men leave the woman pregnant without word or provision. Many
children who do grow up with a father in the picture experience the rage of
alcoholism and abuse. Children at young ages are also taught to beg and sent
out on the streets for income.
The Quinta is a home that has sheltered these children from
the storm. They go to school, learn a vocation, and are taught the Word of God.
They are now teaching in the youth
services, ministering to children in the slums, and walking in righteousness.
Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but
set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in
purity.
1 Timothy 4:12
They walk out the Word. They live their lives unto God. They
are setting an example for future and past generations of Nicaragua.
I watched an eight year old girl preach s sermon this past
Sunday. After she shared her message the pastor asked anyone who needed prayer
to come up to the front of the church. All the seats were left empty and the
front was crowded with men and women ready to receive. This young girl made her
way through the line of broken and desperate. Tears hitting the floor as she
wept for each person. It was incredibly humbling to say the least.
We have been blessed to come alongside this ministry and
pour into the lives of these youth. We have been teaching at the youth services
and worshipping side by side in a different tongue but the same Spirit. We have
been fellowshipping with them, eating with them, and just doing life with them
for the time we have been here.
It has been so amazing to witness young men and women being
raised up as men and women of God toward full maturity by their elders in the
body of Christ. It reminds me again of my responsibility to my "Timothy's" in
the body of Christ. It stirs up my heart even more to pour into the lives of
new believers, or younger ones in the faith. In the same way it causes my heart
to beat stronger for a "Paul" in my life. We need people in our life to teach
and equip us. We need someone pouring into us that have
been where we long to go.We are a working body. We have a responsibility to one
another. It is a key to moving from milk to meat. I pray that each of you find your
spiritual sons and daughters that you are called to raise up, and that you,
Elisha, find your Elijah.
