Editor’s Note: Presbyterian Evangelical Fellowship (PEF) is one of the four organizations that worked together to start the Presbyterian Church in America. In addition to their decades of work doing and promoting evangelism in local churches in the US, they have also been involved as a sending agency for missionaries that sense a call to work in a country or area or specialized ministry that is not being served by other boards. PEF has an International Team of over 40 committed Christians from all over the world. The team is currently active in 22 countries around the globe. The following report comes from the International Director for PEF, Ken Vlietstra.

I recognized Martina’s beautiful smile as she was watching Kathy and me through the glass window while we retrieved our baggage at the Managua airport. Martina is the wife of Emerson Wilson, and they both serve as evangelistic workers with PEF in Nicaragua. Even though none of us had ever met before, I could easily recognize Martina’s smile from pictures I had seen of her in their newsletters.

Emerson and Martina live in the city of Estelí (pronounced Es-ta-lee) about two hours drive from Managua. At a higher elevation in the mountains of Nicaragua, Estelí had temperatures in the low 80s during the day and 70s at night. The Wilsons had arranged for us to stay at a very nice hotel right in the downtown area close to their home and church.

On Wednesday, our first full day, we met Ariel and Arlene Mendoza and their small son, Fred Caleb, at their home. Educated to have been a lawyer, Ariel now serves as youth leader for the Wilsons’ church, Shalom Presbyterian. After getting acquainted, we all went to the church for a program presented by students who had been given scholarships that allowed them to continue their education. Approximately fifteen students spoke and thanked PEF for the scholarships they had received. This was shocking to Kathy and me. We did not know anything about these scholarships, but we did know that PEF had not directly contributed funds for these scholarships. We knew that the money came from the support and ministry funds Emerson and Martina generated and was only administered through PEF. We realized that the Wilsons had, in their humble way, attributed the funds as coming directly from PEF. Therefore, all the young people were thanking PEF.

The scholarship program is necessary to help young people continue their education. Even though public education in Nicaragua is free, students must pay expenses associated with this education. These expenses include the cost of photocopies of study books, notebooks, pens and pencils, test scores, final grades, bus transportation, and daily light snacks of juice and cookies. For ten months of study each year, it costs $45 per month for a college student, $25 per month for high school, and $15 per month for elementary school. Currently, the Wilsons are providing scholarships to ten college students, six in high school, and ten in elementary school. All of the students who spoke that day testified that they would not have been able to afford these schooling costs; only the scholarships made this education possible. The students come from poor families struggling to survive in a country with a fifty percent unemployment rate.

We were amazed and very impressed by the scope of this ministry outreach by the Wilsons. Not only were these students receiving necessary education, but also the college students were being prepared for professional careers. It addition, these students were being incorporated into the life of the church and receiving additional training and education in the Bible and Christian life. Their Christian testimony was evident in the words they spoke and the songs they sang during this program. What a great afternoon with these students!

On Thursday we went with the Wilsons for their regular weekly visit to the prison at Estelí. About thirty prisoners, both men and women, gathered in a large room in the men’s prison. The women were allowed to come from their separate compound. During the service, two female and two male prisoners sang solos, and the whole group sang “The Spirit of God is in This Place.” Martina presented a short Bible study, and refreshments provided by Emerson and Martina were served.

In addition to this group meeting and Bible study, some of the prisoners also participate in the Wilsons’ ministry of administering Bible training through CROSSROAD Bible Institute. Here prisoners have workbooks in which they study Bible lessons with their answers critiqued by the Wilsons and others trained to assist. Most recently, the number of prisoners enrolled in their program has reached sixty, and several new workers have been trained to assist in the grading, evaluation, and feedback portion of this program.
The prisoners were clean and appeared in jovial spirits. Of course, the refreshments (just cookies and punch) were a big hit with some of the prisoners trying, with much ingenuity, to get second helpings. We enjoyed that visit and appreciated the ministry the Wilsons provided these prisoners.

On Friday we spent all day at a spiritual retreat for the university-aged youth of the Shalom Church. There were twenty-two young people in attendance for the program administered by Martina and youth leader Ariel Mendoza. Rev. Jose Chay, pastor of Shalom Church, also participated in the program. Martina’s devotional was from Psalm 27. Later, when I was asked to speak, my topic was Heb. 10:25 on the necessity of church attendance. I was able to tie that in with what Martina had previously said on this topic from Psalm 27:4. All the young people in attendance were neatly dressed with no tattoos or wild hair. They were full of fun, laughter, and a willingness to receive spiritual teaching. They also played some spirited games of soccer and tug-of-war.

That evening I went with Martina, Ariel, and Arlene Mendoza to the downtown office of a local radio station. There I participated in their regular weekly half-hour radio program with a potential audience of over 50,000 people in Estelí and surrounding areas. After these church leaders spoke and sang for the radio audience, I, as the visitor from the U.S., spoke briefly on “Dirty Coffee Cups.” Martina served as interpreter, and I used Matthew 23:25-26 as text. With coffee being one of the chief export products of Nicaragua, I told the story of finding a cup of dried, moldy coffee at home accidently forgotten a couple of weeks earlier. I then equated our lives as “dirty coffee cups” in the sight of God with Jesus Christ as the only way to get these dirty cups clean.

On Saturday we visited the home of Richard and Sandra Fuentes and their son Richard Alejandro. Richard serves as music leader at Shalom Church and is also in charge of liturgy and order of worship. Sandra participates with Richard in the music program. We then visited church elder don Noel Montoya at his home.
Lunch that day was at the home of Juan Carlos and Maria Gutierrez. Since Juan Carlos, a new member of PEF in 2008, was then in seminary training at St. Paul Presbyterian Seminary in Merida Yucatan Mexico, our lunch was hosted by Maria and their daughter Neysi. It was good to meet both Maria and Neysi, and we were honored to be guests in their home to enjoy a delicious lunch. We have recently learned through an email from Emerson Wilson that Juan Carlos completed his seminary training and was ordained on July 4, 2009, by the Peninsular Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Mexico. He is the first Nicaraguan to be ordained as a Presbyterian pastor in Nicaragua. Juan Carlos Gutierrez was officially installed as pastor of FPC Shalom Nicaragua on July 26, 2009.

Saturday evening Kathy went with Martina for their monthly women’s meeting at the church, and on Sunday evening I attended a blessed worship service at the Shalom church. Sunday worship services
at Shalom are in the evening rather than the morning.

I am very impressed with the development of local talent and church leadership that the Wilsons have accomplished. Pastor Jose Chey is seminary trained, and he was sent here by the Peninsular Presbytery to serve as pulpit supply until Juan Carlos Gutierrez could receive his seminary training and could be ordained as pastor at Shalom Church. All the other church leaders—youth ministry, music ministry, elders and deacons— have been locally trained and developed. The Wilsons have eleven trained staff members assisting in their ministry. In addition, twenty-two volunteer leaders also assist. It was clear to see that the future of this Christian ministry is in capable hands. God has blessed the ministry work of the Wilsons in Nicaragua. Emerson is stepping back and letting the work be done by those who are younger. However, it is clear that he continues to provide the oversight for all their ministries and provides the direction. Martina is dynamic and involved in all aspects of their ministry. They have done a tremendous job developing local talent and then had the wisdom to delegate responsibilities effectively so that these younger, indigenous leaders could continue to grow and help the ministry to expand.

Our final day on Monday was spent relaxing and just enjoying walking in the downtown area. We had a delightful lunch at the home of Emerson and Martina and then prepared for our departure to Costa Rica on the next day.

The Wilsons have an energetic, multi-faceted ministry in Nicaragua. Youth ministry is under a program called Young Life. Direct contact at the barrio level is made to invite young people to attend club night, Bible study, and leadership training in the Wilsons’ home and at the youth camp called La Finca. Basketball, volleyball, and soccer teams have been most effective in capturing young people to begin the process of building friendships before inviting them to club.

Their prison ministry is an ongoing weekly outreach in prisons at Esteli and Matagalpa. We mentioned the Bible education program involving sixty inmates using material from CROSSROAD Bible Institute. In addition, the Wilsons also provide training for prisoners in basic computer skills and literacy.
The scholarship education assistance program is provided to children and young people who are participants in their youth ministry. They have also participated in the past in a Christian home building program that provided a home to a family in need.

Of course, there is the church plant of Shalom Presbyterian Church. The Church serves as a light to those who are unchurched, a house of worship to our Lord, and a haven of nourishment and fellowship for those redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.

The Wilsons live modestly in a rented home right in the downtown area of Estelí. Martina’s mother and college-aged niece live with them in this home. They have begun building a home of their own near the prison, but only the foundations had been finished at the time of our visit. This is a slow process, with work being done only as funds allow. As we observed, they do not sacrifice ministry funds to upgrade their personal level of living.

One of the immediate needs Emerson and Martina have is for a video projector to use in their church, in the youth groups, and also in their prison ministry. The other primary need, of course, is for additional financial support. In these difficult financial times, they have received notice that two churches that have been helping support them since 1996 will no longer be able to do so due to lack of funds.

The Wilsons welcome visitors, and they would love to hear from anyone who would like to assist in their ministry in Nicaragua. Kathy and I had a great visit, and we left with deep admiration of them and their work.