Bob Trolese shares his vision of their new church in the center of Managua located just seven blocks from their current location.
July 2008
Dear Friends and Co-Workers,
Thank you for your stand with Verbo’s work in Nicaragua. The years go by so quickly, but fortunately the Lord’s hand is never slack nor His arm shortened. The timing though remains in His schedule.
He has made everything appropriate in its time.
He has also set eternity in their heart,
yet so that man will not find out the work which God
has done from the beginning even to the end.
Ecc 3:11
We can appreciate the beauty of our portion at every moment; feel the pulse of eternity in our hearts, but the entirety of the Lord’s Work we will never fully grasp. Neither can we really understand how ‘our’ moment fits into God’s plan. But we can always rest upon the assurance of Romans 8:28, His design is perfect.
Verbo has grown to 12 churches, all in very different sets of circumstances. The Verbo Central Church of Managua has never had the opportunity or had the time to find a permanent home. The church is still renting, while many of our daughter congregations have their own buildings. Now, we have finally been able to negotiate a piece of land to become our ‘base’ of operations. We’ve begun the purchase of 1.6 acres just seven blocks from our current address. Something this size, in a central, urban location, one block from a major artery through Managua, will be taking us to new level of presence in this city.
Our hope is that this may grow into much more then simply a nice new church locale. Rather, a very visible Christian expression that will shatter the world’s conception of the church’s irrelevance. Our disaster relief work over the years, the children in the orphanages, our public schools, a hospital project and medical teams, the experimental agricultural sites, and some rather remote ethnic ministries, all help provide us with a necessary statement into this country.
The church’s responsibilities must all give testimony of the Lord’s profound concern, and solutions, for the result of fallen men. Our leadership team in Verbo desires to see viable expositions of the Christian values that should ‘mark’ a healthy church.
This new location seems to be the Lord giving us the opportunity for a far reaching declaration of God’s visionary and hopeful love for this nation. One existing building on the property will serve nicely as ministry office space; however the eventual purpose in our design is to serve as transitional home for the children coming out of our orphanages. Two, quite old, storage buildings will be rebuilt into one initial church meeting hall.
The fuller, longer range goal is the creation of a ‘village atmosphere’, with a large multipurpose structure for church meetings and as a rental income as a business auditorium. The purpose of such an environment is to expand the vision, and imagination, of everyone that comes upon the premises. Trying to show God’s heart towards this nation by seeing and tasting the goodness of lives given to God.
To ‘cover’ all this, we are putting together an 8 acre urbanization plot on our orphanage/farm outside of Managua. Poor timing, of course, with skyrocketing gasoline prices (we have the highest in the hemisphere) and the cost of construction (thanks to questionable Chinese and Indian growth), all this in addition to the Sandinista effect on property values, makes our efforts, …. challenging. The Lord has though, repeatedly demonstrated His approval of this whole venture. Obviously your prayers are and will be greatly appreciated.
Over the years Verbo has grown into so many areas of ministry that we want to make sure we keep our focus upon Him and His priorities. The ‘Apple of His Eye’ continues to be His Bride, the church in her fullest beauty. Bringing this truth into difficult situations is our call. Our latest attempt is the founding of a church in the city dump. Square miles of smoking trash have drawn generations of families into horrendous living conditions. Daily, many others join them in the rifling through the arrival of scores of dump trucks. Beneath the soot and grime, there are some very fine and precious, hard working people. The moral, hygienic, and ethical values are of course distorted. Here too, are the saddest instances that I have ever witnessed including people dying from AIDS. Yet, in all of this, Ramon and Miriam Baca are pastors of this work. Hand in hand they are ministering and opening up the truth of the Lord to a much forgotten people of Managua.
Personally, I do want to thank you for your help both financially and in prayer. Myra and I have become such a part of this country. It’s an honor of course, to be so accepted by our beloved adopted nation, our hearts are certainly here. Perhaps because we don’t have a ‘home church’ in the US, our friendship with people like you speaks a very profound value, and confidence, into our labors. You are helping us to be found faithful in His vineyard.
May God Bless You Very Much,
Bob and Myra Trolese
