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Nicaragua UBF
May 9, 2014

The Great Love of the Father

"So he got up and went to his father. ‘But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.’” (Luke 15:20)

1. Conference preparation

One month before the conference, M. Juan, M Rebeca and the shepherds Jonathan, Mariano, Ayser, and Sandra all met together to pray. Although we were only few in number, we gathered to pray overcoming our unbelief and offering our five loaves and two fish. We focused on inviting sheep and preparing the word of God. We studied the parable of the heavenly feast to prepare. Many are called but few are chosen. Many rejected our invitation but those few who accepted encouraged us.

God revealed his power in a few brothers and sisters during invitation. S. Eveling (Industrial Eng-Grad) who works in a Japanese organization registered and participated in dance. She was a new sheep and gave us great joy. Juan Carlos (Econ-UNAN-5) was a runaway sheep at conference time but M. Juan Kim challenged him and he came. It was a miracle. Luis Carlos (Econ-3) was a sheep whom we didn’t expect to come but he came. Silvia C. and Kent G. paid completely and came. Holman Y. sold his guitar for registration. It was a great work of God.

The earthquake was a great obstacle for this conference. The ground was still trembling and there was a red alert. Many didn’t want to go because of this but the Holy Spirit worked to bring them. One sister named Celeste who works for the health department came at the last minute. Another brother Ayser didn’t want to go but he came through the strong invitation of M Juan.

We were few in number and not sufficient to prepare the conference but our students prepared a wonderful drama. There was also a beautiful dance called Managua, linda Managua (Managua, Beautiful Managua).

2. Conference

The conference was held April 17 - 20 in a place called la Garnacha en el departamento de Estelí, and we had beautiful weather. 24 persons participated including the bus driver who even wrote and shared his testimony. Jorge Antonio came from Guadalajara UBF, who is actually a missionary to Dominican Republic. We also thank God for the support of Missionary Timoteo Rhee.

M Juan Kim preached the message of repentance based on Mat. 3:1-12. The first evening message was John 4 by P. Sandra Betancourt. We could really see the dialogue between Jesus and the Samaritan woman through her inductive message. The main message was “The Great Love of the Father” by P. Mariano Guerrero. On the second evening “You are the Christ” (Mk 8) was read by P. Yasiris, as she could not finish her message. Another main message was “Father, forgive them” by Jonathan Gerrera and the final message was by Jorge Antonio, “Jesus Has Risen based on Mark 16.

M Juan emphasized repentance which is good though painful. Without repentance we cannot enter the kingdom of God. Each time God reveals our sins we should repent sincerely. Then we will bear the fruits of repentance. There was a great work of repentance at this conference and baptism of the Holy Spirit. Shepherd Mariano, Shepherd Jonathan, Shepherd Ayser, Hermano Milton, Hermano Holman all confessed their sins. But each one received the forgiveness of God our Father. The testimonies revealed God’s great love and Jesus’ forgiveness.

Sister Silvia Castillo was the main protagonist in the drama as the Samaritan woman. She confessed that Jesus was her Christ and could find the living water in Jesus. The message of John 4 is always beautiful. Also, this time the attendees wrote their testimonies confessing their sins beforehand instead of writing superficially during the conference. This was a new experience for us. We could see the fields ripe for harvest through this conference. We pray for the work of salvation among 40 university students in Nicaragua.
Thank God who is Almighty. I give Him all the glory. Also, I thank all the servants of God who prayed for our ministry. We share our joy with you.

Prayer Topics:

1. Be used as a discipleship church for students like the Samaritan woman, prodigal son, the soldiers and the crowds who crucified Jesus.
2. Growth of Shep. Jonathan, Mariano, Ayser, Sandra, Yasiris and to establish house churches.
3. For the 2nd level of disciples: Holman, Milton, Juan Carlos, Luis Carlos, Kent, Silvia, Silvia G., Eveling and Celeste.

One Word: The Great Love of the Father