Some information for the Water Outreach Project, March 17-24 from Mrs. Hoffmeier: Health & Hygiene classes for 246 people (46 Adults & 219 Children); distributed 41 Sawyer Water Filters to individual homes and completed a health assessment for those families; installed Skylights in 11 homes in the village of San Marco, outside of Villa Nueva.  Hosted by Pastor Carlos, Pastor Herman & Pastor Silvio for this ‘mission start’ with the Lutheran Church of Nicaragua.

It's nice to be settling in at home and be back with our friend's and families, but I know that it's also hard to think about what we left back in Nicaragua. But there's no need to be sad because when we left the country, we left the people with clean water, light, and God. Their lives and ours will be changed from this moment on. We should go forward in faith and continue to spread the Word of God to everyone we meet, and we can use this past experience as a guide to help us in our evangelism in and out of country.
God's blessing,
Emily Fairbairn

God´s blessings on all that was done here. All that we did was done through the Lord. His Holy Spirit worked wonderful things through us as we were here in Nicaragua. May our efforts be fruitful and may the love and presence of the Lord continue to grow in their hearts daily as they use and benefit from their water filters that God blessed them with. 

God´s love,

Emily Fairbairn

More pictures (finally!)

Goodbyes

It was hard to say goodbye to the people in the village, the translators who helped us immensely, and the driver. They all meant a lot to us, but we know this goodbye isn't forever. We will see them again either here on Earth or when we meet in heaven. Hopefully what we've done here for them will last, and the water filters improve their health. They will be in our prayers and in our hearts. I pray that they remember us as well and remember that The Lord God is always with them no matter where they go. 

God's blessing,

Emily Fairbairn 

La Joya Revisited!

Immanuel and other friends,
Today we visited the same village where we served in 2010 and 2011.  Jill and Cindy, you would be happy to see the positive changes at La Joya. Mateo is married! We were not able to visit with him. We noticed lots of improvement in the health of families that are receiving clean water.  Pastor Marvin works so hard with such meager resources. He would be overwhelmed to see Immanuel's facilities.  Yet he is a faithful shepherd of his people and is dedicated to sharing the Gospel.

Tomorrow is our last day of health assessments in a remote village about two hours away.  Keep us in your prayers for continued health and safety.  We will be home on Tue. evening.  Look forward to seeing you soon.
Blessings to all,
Dan and Kathy

Another successful day on site! The kids are really enjoying themselves with the crafts and games that we are giving them. The feedback from the water assessment team is great. They told us that the towns that they are visiting that have received the water filters in the past are showing much improvement in their health and way of living. It´s great to know that what we are doing down here is really going to be effective and make an impact in the lives of the people that we are serving. It´s crazy to think that we are already half done, but we still have much on our agenda to get done, and it will get done by the grace of God and with His power working through us.
God bless,
Emily Fairbairn

P.S. I´m sorry that no pictures have gone us since we have arrived in country. I´m having a hard time getting it to work. I will keep trying though! Keep the prayers up!

Immanuel and Friends,
The health assessment team has been busy the last two days.
We have interviewed about 30 families that have had a water filter for the past year.
These families are active members of our Lutheran church in their communities.
They are thankful they have a filter and say their neighbors and church friends would also like one!
The living conditions for them are VERY DIFFICULT but they are grateful for the work of mission teams.  They encourage us to continue providing water filters and health &hygiene classes.  Several have encouraged us to bring optical and/or medical teams to this area of Nicaragua.
Much more work to do over the next three days. Our insights generally center on the blessings we have and what we can do to share God's love thru Christ with everyone we meet.
Look forward to our return home.
Love, Dan and Kathy