Roger & Anna Maria Rojas- The establishment of a new 'association' (ACIBEN) of indigenous pastors and churches began in 1992 when Fred Kornis and Tony Reyes committed to be partners with these Nicaraguan civil war torn brothers. Roger, and his wife, Ana Maria, and son, Ali, have helped organize and facilitate many training seminars and visiting teams every year, along with pastoring and mentoring local leaders. A thriving Christian school continues to grow within ACIBEN with 100-200 youth receiving the highest quality education and development of character ever year. Another new project is helping to develop and resource a booming baseball league that has gone from 100 to 500 payers in just three years.
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| Nicaragua - February 2008 | |
EGI returned to Nicaragua in conjunction with Fred Kornis and Tony Reyes of Heartland International Ministries (HIM) of Kansas City. Fred and Tony have been ministering to and loving these pastors for over 13 years. Tony, a retired businessman, was our interpreter. Because he is such a fine father figure to these pastors, ministry to them was well received as they realized he loves and cares for them. (In fact, during his translating, Tony would often tell Joe to sit down while he taught some "fatherly" advice. Then the translation would pick up again.)  The next morning, there was a wonderful spirit of unity and joy. They had worked together late into the night to create a document outlining their vision and steps to accomplish it in their local churches. They presented this document to Joe, Fred and Tony stating their commitment to reach their cities and communities. Every pastor had signed this document to show that each one was committed to this vision.  There were many times of discussion, interaction and sharing of how the Lord had helped them build their churches through the discipleship concepts taught in the EGI materials given to them in August 2006. One success report was from a young pastor who had started the EGI Training System with 13 disciples. The result was his church had grown 70%. This of course inspired others to want to start discipleship in their churches. Success is contagious!! ABOVE: Luis, Aciben President, is shaking hands with Joe after presenting their paper to Joe, Tony & Fred. | |
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Sebaco, February 20, 2008
TO: H.I.M. Staff
Hi Brothers,
Our best wishes are that you have peace and blessing from God so that you will always be part of our ministries.
We want to mention with great gratitude and recognize the work that our brothers, Fred Kornis, Tony Reyes and their families have brought here to Nicaragua for so many years.
From 1993, long before ACIBEN was ever found, we met Fred and Tony working as missionary-evangelists…as members of a group, building and constructing temples, and at the same time, teaching and instructing pastors and leaders in Nicaragua.
After ACIBEN was born in 1994, they have become our principle supporters in many areas of our mission work. They have been involved in bringing in humanitarian help with many supplies via barges with used school buses full of supplies, such as clothing, books, household utensils, which have helped so many families in Nicaragua, as well as other things, such as sporting equipment provided for our young people to play sports. We have received 5 buses throughout the years.
In addition, he has helped with the purchases of a pickup truck for the ministry of ACIBEN and its daily needs, plus another pickup truck for a pastor that is part of our group who had lost a leg during the war of the 80’s. I also have a vehicle which was provided for my family and my ministry.
In reference to the training that he brings to us with seminars and Bible studies, many times he is here more than once a year. He has brought many other qualified instructors from other parts of North America to train and instruct all the pastors that make up ACIBEN. As a group we have grown academically, and that is due to the personal attitude and patience that has been displayed by Fred and Tony which has brought us to a higher level of understanding of our theology and education.
We also have had the privilege to have many young people groups that Fred has brought into our ministry, and they have made evangelistic presentations at the parks, city markets and the plazas.
Many times he has also involved the pastors’ wives in our Bible studies and seminars.
We have to say that Fred’s ministry has been a great blessing for each and everyone of us involved with ACIBEN. One of the most important blessings that Fred has brought to us is providing resources, such as books, Bibles and other literature which he brings with him on every trip that he makes. As a result of this, every pastor associated with ACIBEN now has a small library at home to help in his studies and ministry.
This last seminar, which was with Joe and Jo Hughes of Equippers Group International along with Fred and Tony, has all of us very enthused and upbeat because we have begun to see the growth in our churches. It is very important to mention that Fred and Tony have been part of our lives, and we feel that we have found a strong relationship in our ministry during the last 15 years. We hope and pray that Fred and Tony will continue to be a part of our ministry in Nicaragua as well as part of our families.
In closing, my wishes are that there would be continued ministry and blessings through Heartland International Ministries in Nicaragua.
Sincerely,
Roger J Rojas and family
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Selmira Quinn -This anointed daughter of a local pastor (Robert Q) has traveled to the USA, translated for visiting missionaries, and lead many of her fellow Nicaraguans to a living relationship with the Lord. In a neglected off shore island of Nicaragua, she is a faithful and very poor dynamic shining light. They are presently building additional rooms on the back of their humble church for training and housing visiting teams.In Sept. 2007 they hosted 40 women for a discipleship seminar.
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Nicaragua Pastor Training 
4 min 52 sec - Jan 28, 2008
Description: Slideshow from Nicaragua 2006 trip by Heartland International Ministries and Equippers Group International to equip Pastors in Church Planting tools.
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