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Baptist Medical & Dental Mission International
  Updates from Nicaragua:
  Another year has begun. The Mount of Olives School has all of its teachers contracted and students enrolled. While the enrollment is down slightly in the high school, it is up in the elementary portion. Enrollment has significantly increased at the Bible Institute in Diriamba due to the addition of a Saturday class. This class alone has thirty new students. The regular modules have seven new students and the post graduate pastor’s modules have several new students as well.
  We began the year with the Annual Congress of our Association of Churches.  The growth of our churches was evident because of the number of delegates present. Churches may send a delegate for every ten baptized members. We had sixty-seven delegates present which filled our dining hall/auditorium to the max. We are making plans to enlarge this room to accommodate our growing attendance at events like the congress and our Bible conferences.
 

Women's MinistryChurch service
We have had two teams to date; both evangelism teams. The first team also had a veterinary team that really enhanced the evangelism allowing us to share with men who brought their animals for vaccination. A lot of ministry occurred during these times. The first team did woman’s ministry every afternoon, two days at one church and two days at another church. (See photo above left.) This team also had a very large Bible School for children every morning. The final night’s service was held in the new church which this team sponsored and served as the dedication of this beautiful new building. (See photo above right.)

One highlight for me was an eighty-three year old Nicaraguan-born American citizen who gave his heart to Christ on the final night’s service in the new church. I had met Saul the year before and had been able to develop a relationship with him and talk to him about what it meant to be a follower of Christ.  He was a man who knew a lot about the Bible and had even considered going into the priesthood as a young man. But, like Saul of Tarsus, he finally had his eyes opened and left the service that night a new man…even at eighty four years of age.

  The second team was equally unique in that they offered sewing classes to women of the village. They started slowly with only four women coming to the first class. This number grew to seventy as the word spread. Another special outreach opportunity was that this team brought several hundred bags filled with school supplies. They were invited to all of the schools of the area where they distributed these supplies and shared the Good News of the love of Christ.
  Both teams were very special, preaching the Word of God with their voices as well as well as through their actions. In addition, both teams distributed many copies of God’s Word. Jeremiah 23:29 says, Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? In spite of the indifference that we often encounter when sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ, we know that when we leave a copy of God’s Word, that it can penetrate the hardest of hearts and accomplish God’s purposes in His time.
  These updates provided by BMDMI missionary Darrel Johnson
Baptist Medical & Dental Mission International
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(601) 544-3586 | www.bmdmi.org