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PUERTO CABEZAS, Nicaragua?She listened intently, cocking her head sideways, hoping that the sounds would create a mental picture since her clouded eyes no longer allowed her to see. Blind for 14 years, widowed for four years and four children still dependant upon her care placed this Miskito woman at the top of the SBTC disaster relief team’s list of needy villagers.
The team’s efforts in February will serve as a model for future teams who will attempt to build 75 homes for those most in need in the region of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, where Hurricane Felix ripped across the pine savannah of the northeast region of the Central American country last fall.
SBTC disaster relief (DR) volunteers followed the directions of Mike Lene of Labelle Baptist Church, who served as lead builder on the trip. The simple plans for a 16- by 20-foot, three-room, elevated wood house were developed by missionary Jim Palmer to reflect the local culture.
The blind woman continued to listen intently to the noisy surroundings as the 10-man team from Texas worked. She had been without her home since Sept. 4 when Felix hit.
She told the team leader through a translator, “The wind tore the roof off and sucked everything out of the house. I took the children to the nearest tree and tied them to the tree to keep the wind from taking them away.”
The blue tarps and heavy white plastic sheets covering the surrounding shacks with “USAID” printed plainly across the various makeshift huts indicated the area had been visited by many humanitarian aid groups.
The building projects caught the attention of the villagers and earned their respect because they saw the houses being built, not for the politically connected, but for those who truly were the “least of these,” as one volunteer described them.
“We asked the village elders who were the most needy,” explained Palmer, a missionary with the SBC’s International Mission Board. “We told them we would provide all the building material and labor to build homes for those who were unable to work for themselves or had no means of helping themselves. The elders actually chose who would receive the new homes.”
The first home completed was for a widow with three children. She moved into the home before the windows and doors were completed. All she could say was, “Thank you,” repeatedly.
Paul Morrow, DR volunteer from Lakepointe Church in Rockwall, said, “God is good! If we can help missionaries and pastors spread that simple truth, the foundation is laid for the future.”
The stark poverty of those living in Santa Marta became the focal point of the SBTC team. Frank Bailey, who was often surrounded by the Nicaraguan children who flocked to him, said, “As long as I live, I will never forget how much joy a simple balloon can give.” His sentiments were echoed by Ron Maxey of Mobly Baptist Church who said that he was on this trip because he loved to help people.
The team was housed in tents that leaked whenever it rained and dripped condensation during the cool nights. The night long squeal of pigs, barking dogs and loud music kept the team from getting much rest. Trouble with heat exhaustion and diarrhea also plagued some of the members, but the work had taken on urgency, especially for the blind woman. Despite chronic equipment failures, wood that had been milled with a chain saw and strength-sapping heat, the team pressed on.
When strong rains flooded the creek separating the blind woman’s home site from the builders who were camped in the backyard of the local Baptist church, another home was started for an elderly couple who had no family to assist them and failing health. The hot sunny days that followed allowed the blind woman’s house to be completed early the next week. After guiding her through each room while she felt every wall and window, the woman excitedly burst out in her Miskito tongue, “I am so happy, I can laugh!”
Doug Scott of Westside Baptist Church in Atlanta, Texas remarked: “We have been blessed with so much, not that I think I can ever repay God, but it would be selfish for me not to give my time to this project. I can’t speak Spanish or Miskito, but I can look into their eyes and see the joy they have watching their mansion being built.”
Jack Wilkins, volunteer from the Pine Forest Baptist Church in Onalaska, said, “It is good to see personally what our missionaries are doing and how much respect the locals have for them.”
Paul Easter of Cason Baptist Church, Cason added, “Some are called to be pastors, some missionaries, but I was called to be a mission volunteer. If I can’t go two weeks without the comforts of home so I
can to share my time with others, then I would be the one doing without.”
The team included three pastors who settled into various tasks as the work continued. Julian Moreno, pastor of Primera Bautista Iglesia in Uvalde, served as the Spanish interpreter. The local interpreter spoke Miskito, Spanish and Creole English.
Pastor Bill Fondren of LaBelle Baptist Church in LaBelle told the team that “being an instrument of God who can have a radical impact by doing the simple is what ministry is about. This work is something anybody can do.”
As the fourth house was completed, the widow who received the house exclaimed to her friends standing by, “Look at all my brothers who have come to help me when I had no one else.”
The team closed out the week by completing two more homes, installing electrical wiring and building a dozen pews for the local Baptist church.
For more information on Project Unto The Least of These in Nicaragua, e-mail Jim Richardson, SBTC disaster relief director, at jrichardson@sbtexas.com.
?Larry Shine is the pastor of Pine Forest Baptist Church in Onalaska and a veteran disaster relief team leader.
