Last summer I had the amazing oppurtunity to serve with my church, the Palo Alto Vineyard, to serve alongside Arms of Love, in Jinotepe, Nicaragua. I'm excited to be going again, this time being a part of the leadership team. I'm already learning a lot about what goes into planning a trip like this, and I'm very much looking forward to watching God move in my life, the lives of our church team, and in the lives of those we meet in Nicaragua.
ABOUT ARMS OF LOVE
Arms of Love was started in 1998, shortly after Nicaragua was devastated by Hurricane Mitch. Today they are an engaged presence in the community, providing a variety of services and care for children, building partnerships with other community- based organizations, and supporting graduates of their own programs. They currently house 24 kids in their children’s home and regularly serve and feed 30 more through their local community development program in Jinotepe.
ABOUT NICARAGUA
Located in the middle of Central America, Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere (after Haiti). Over half of the population lives in extreme poverty and lives without access to clean water, electricity, education, and medical care. Even under these difficult circumstances, the Nicaraguan people have a great deal to teach us and we hope to be stretched as we spend a week learning about their lives and walking alongside them.
ABOUT OUR TRIP
Palo Alto Vineyard Church has financially partnered with Arms of Love for the la st eight years, and a number of PAVC attendees also sponsor children living in Nicaragua and in the Philippines. Those who went on the trip last year have found themselves transformed by the experience. To read some of my reflections from our last trip, click here:
http://teamzuber.blogspot.com/2016/05/nicaragua-reflections.html
Our team will be traveling to Nicaragua June 19th-27th . We have three goals for the trip:
1. Be transformed by witnessing how God is at work in Nicaragua among the poor and integrate what we learn into the ongoing ministry of Palo Alto Vineyard Church.
2. Support and learn from the children living at the Arms of Love home, and those connected to Arms of Love’s community programs. Our desire is to come alongside their ongoing work and contribute to alleviating current needs, whatever they may be.
3. Deepen our partnership with Arms of Love and continue to develop relationships we have built during the past two years .
HOW YOU CAN PARTICIPATE
Because we believe that God is sending the team as a community, from a community, we invite you to become part our team. Would you consider praying for and/or financially supporting this team? The total financial cost for our trip is $1,900 per person. This will include the amount of travel, food and board, but also the amount that will allow us to build and take the staff of Arms of Love on a team building retreat, to help them with conflict resolution as well as other training activities. We will also be able to do a few important building projects in the local community, assisted by Nicaraguan staff. To reach this amount, we will be using a portion of Palo Alto Vineyard Church’s Missions fund, a fund that consists of 12% of the church’s annual giving. Additionally, team members will be paying for $700 of their own trip, which leaves a remainder of $7,500 (total) in funds needed for the trip. If you would like to financially contribute you can click here:
https://www.gofundme.com/elaine_in_nica
or send checks with Nicaragua 2016 in the memo line to:
VCFP
744 San Antonio Rd, Suite 22
Palo Alto CA 94303
If you'd like to be a part of our prayer team and receive updates while we are gone, send me an email at elaine dot zuber at yahoo dot com.
All tax-deductible contributions must be received by June 1, 2016.
Thank you for reading! With Love,
Elaine
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