Things are moving along great for Project Samuel Latin America! We were in Nicaragua last week and were able to spend a couple days at the site of the Project. Pastor Timothy, Amanda and I walked the entire length of the property, which is about 3/4 of a mile, and did some vision casting about where things could possibly go. I have to say it was pretty exciting to I vision how Project Samuel will be set up across this piece of land. The second day we were at the property was the best for me though because we walked through the community, visited the local school, and got to play with the children. After all, the children are why we are there.
Now, for me to tell you why I’m so passionate about Project Samuel being in Nicaragua, I need to give you a short background. The city dump of Managua is home to hundreds of people, most of them being young adults and children. They have built homes among the trash and their livelihood comes from the dump. A few years ago the government decided to do something about this problem but honestly they fixed only a small part of it. They went into the dump and built small homes for these people out of concrete blocks. It was a great gesture but all they did was move the problem into a better living situation. Nobody has invested time into the lives of these people. They aren’t receiving educations, trade skills, or discipleship. Their social need of a home was met but none of their other needs have been. Now these people are just inside the city but the rural parts of Nicaragua are filled with the same sort of problems. That’s where Project Samuel comes in.
The community of Guanacastillo will be able to directly benefit from Project Samuel Latin America. More importantly the CHILDREN of this community will benefit, be empowered and equipped to become transitional leaders. The school just across the road has about 400 students in attendance and this is just what we would consider elementary school! As we walked through the community and visited the school that day, I saw hundreds of young Samuels waiting for their story to be written, waiting for someone to step in to mentor and disciple them, waiting for someone to invest in their education, and waiting to just simply be loved. Project Samuel will be able to restore hope to this community and empower the future of this community through its precious children.