FOR THOSE WISHING TO DONATE ANY MORE FUNDS FOR MY TRIP PLEASE WRITE A CHEQUE AND SEND IT TO 10 VALE ROAD, SOUTHBOROUGH, KENT, TN40QQ.

I HAVE RAISED ENOUGH FOR LATIN LINK- WHICH IS WHAT THIS JUSTGIVING PAGE IS FOR. BE AWARE, ANY FURTHER DONATIONS WILL GO TOWARDS MY TEAM HOLIDAY AND WILL NOT BE USED TO BENEFIT THE LOCALS IN NICARAGUA OR THE VOLUNTARY PROJECT AND WILL BE USED PURELY FOR MY OWN EXPERIENCE IN THE TEAM HOLIDAYS.

ANY FURTHER DONATIONS MADE THROUGH 'THIS' PAGE WILL GO STRAIGHT TO LATIN LINK VIA MY NAME BUT WILL NOT BE NECESSARY AS LATIN LINK HAVE RECEIVED THE FULL AMOUNT REQUIRED.

 

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

In March this year I'm off with a team of 10 other Brits from all over the UK to a country called Nicaragua in Central America. On an atlas it is in line with the Caribbean, just below Mexico, separating North from South America.

With Christian aims in mind, our team will be visiting two different places over the period of the four months we spend there.

Firstly, a city called Granada in the South of Nicaragua, 45 km from the capital Managua. As one of the safest cities in Nicaragua and the whole of Central America, Granada is a relatively poor city with little commercial activity. The aim of this project will be to help construct the roof and walls of a church over a period of 7 weeks. This will benefit the local community, who we will work alongside, by providing a nearby church as a sanctuary and place of worship for those living in the area.

The second project takes place in the city of Esteli, the biggest city in the north of Nicaragua 150 kms away from Managua, the capital. It is a centre of commerce and education, and has a great influence on the rest of the north. Agricultural and tourism industries has helped Esteli flourish in the last three decades. My team and I will be based in an area called Aristeo Benavidez, which is relatively safe, but local young people suffer from the constant pressure of alcohol and drugs. While in Esteli we will be helping church members with a programme aimed to aid children at risk in the area. This will include training locals to take part in the programme. Also, we will be involved in social action with a member from the church living and working at a local rubbish dump.

Furthermore, in Esteli, we will be part of a team of builders currently constructing an insulating/outside wall at the church to separate them from their neighbour's property. This will serve as an extra room for work with children. Our time in Esteli will greatly benefit those children and young people in the surrounding area and will also help encourage and motivate those members of the church in general.

Members of Latin Link "Step" Teams (short term missionary work) do not intend to impose or indoctrinate as part of the overall aim. Working via Latin Link, our objective is to work with the local community, attending to their needs as well as offering Biblically based guidance on matters they might be struggling with, while gladly accepting guidance from them for whatever doctrines British Christians might struggle with.

Finally, it's worth noting that even though it's of less importance, this whole experience will be life changing for me too. As well as being the longest time spent away from home, this trip will serve as a spiritual and intellectual enlightenment for me, helping in spiritual growth and broadening my awareness and experience of other cultures.

For those who don't, you might want to know a little about me as well as the great cause I'm going to serve. I'll be brief:

My hometown is Tunbridge Wells, and I go to Saint John's Church. I joined St John's when I was in year 11, so approximately 3-4 years ago. It wasn't until I received the encouraging and well-explained teaching from TGI and BG's (the youth groups at St John's) that I came to be a Christian. Since I'm too old to be a member of the youth groups now, I'm beginning to get more involved at helping out and also attending church services, rather than just the youth groups like before. I'm a very inquisitive person and read a lot around the subject of Christianity. I don't define faith as atheists like Richard Dawkins do; blind faith which believes in the teeth of evidence, and neither does the Bible.

I studied philosophy, psychology and photography at A Level, and will be continuing philosophy at university in September 2011. I enjoy reading and writing, cycling and spending time with friends.

 

Thanks, Oli.