Satisfied Wages for Nicaragua

Less than three weeks after our arrival to Nicaragua I was hit with Dengue fever. A small mosquito I never saw delivered a fever of 104 degrees Fahrenheit for 6 long days. In addition to this problem I caught bronchitis for the first time in my life also! This was the result of fumigation of an apartment below us, for mosquitos! In December there is a lot of trash and leaf burning, which agitated my lungs more. I battled these illnesses and Jari took great care of me, but she too had worries. I was upset, sick and doubtful of our move here. Why did I come to Nicaragua?  Was I here to get sick?  You made a mistake! Your not doing anything here! I began to realize these thoughts were not all my own, but something else. After breathing through my nebulizer treatments, and taking my last fever pill I sat up on my bed. I knew I had to tell our partner churches and friends to pray for us. The Holy Spirit said to send out a message, so Jari sent an email requesting prayer,...

Jari and I have been back in Grand Rapids, Michigan from October to the end of November. We have been sharing the work and  the message of Kingdom Business! We are so excited and inspired to hear the good feedback and response from our friends and churches! Sharing at Unison Church, Grand Rapids MI Many people have commented on how unique our work is. There are not many ministries that focus on the economic side of the Kingdom of God. These business people have a huge impact on their communities and the Nicaraguan economy. They provide jobs in a country where many have to leave their homes to find work. Best of all, they provide a different attitude in the market place, a confidence and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ!  During our mentoring with the entrepreneurs of AECNIC we have found a need for good financial stewardship values. Since all of them go to a church we decided to help the Nehemiah Center start a finance program called Kingdom Finance . This program ...

Association of Christian Entrepreneurs of Nicaragua board During the summer of 2016 when I was telling a good friend Paul Pierson I was leaving for Nicaragua and so I needed to close my company Satisfied Wages, Paul said, " Jesse, your not closing. Your going international!" With that new perspective I was able to stay encouraged and make the move to Nicaragua a little bit smoother for Jari and I. Soon I saw the plan God had for my business was the same it always has been. Coach and mentor people in their personal and business finances. I was doing what I have been doing for years, just in a different place! We have had a great first year in Nicaragua. Jari and I have been able to stay encouraged and feed off the energy of entrepreneurs. We've taken day trips and stayed over night in hot hotels in the cities of Leon and Chinandega for business mentoring with the board member of Association of Christian Businesses of Nicaragua (AECNIC). There have been very fe...

I woke up earlier than usual on Tuesday August, 22, to prepare for our big day! Our vision conference, or pitch for Finanzas para el Reino was here! I arrived at the Nehemiah Center to see the power was out. No electricity! No problem, the Nehemiah Center has a generator, but there was a problem, the generator was right next to the room were we planned to hold the vision conference. This generator is a loud diesel engine, so we started moving chairs and our tech equipment. Sign In We expected forty people to show up for the conference. We knew it was going to be hot so we turned on the fans, set up our tech and waited for our people to come. Our conference started at 8:30 and people were starting to file in. In total we held fifty-two  guests in the little conference room! How awesome is our God? Our presentation was received very well and the group was eager, maybe even hungry for God's Word on finance. In attendance were pastors, church leaders, ministry partners and bu...

We were invited by Roberto Armas to Leon, Nicargua. Roberto is working with some churches in this area with a Caja de Ahorros, savings box. There are many bureaucratic barriers to banking in Nicaragua. Many banks require a proof of a salary or job and high monthly minimum deposits.There are also fees that eat away at small accounts. Therefore a group of churches in Leon decided to start a community saving box. Members of the saving co-op have a minimum deposit of $20 Cordobas (.67 cents) a month. They can withdraw after a year. Since it was a group with a mind and goal for saving, we shared Paz Financiera, " Super Ahorros" . We had a large group and were blessed with eager minds and open hearts! Over 30 people came. Best part is the group requested two more sessions! During open discussion a pastor challenged them all to change their culture. To stop giving in to the poverty excuse and make saving a priority. We encouraged them in this effort, and reminded them the lack o...

"I have been waiting three years for this!" said Pastor Berrin. "You know I like to share a thought with you Jesse. The parable Jesus tells us about the man who hid the talents. (Mathew 25: 14-30) Well this man was worried when he hid that money. I like to ask what if that man had someone who could advise him? What if someone walked along side this man and helped discover what better options there were in the world beside burying the money in the ground?" Pastor Berrin inquired as he leaned forward, eyes wide open and excited. "What we need to do is walk side by side with people, the way Jesus walked with us, maybe this man would have heard better words!" I have been a financial coach and mentor for around 12 years now, and I learned something new this week. The last servant just needed a good mentor. Pastor Berrin has a long history of civil war and politics here in Nicaragua, 15 years ago the saving grace of Jesus Christ changed his heart. "Jesse,...

 Our second round of diabetes support group has started! We had a two month break so our patients can apply their lessons to their lives.We have planned many exciting activities for our class and I am very excited to see these plans in action. The last time we met we had a physical trainer, Mr. Mumford as a guest speaker. He showed the group some simple and easy exercises to help them improve mobility as well as build strength. Mr. Mumfurd left these great exercises for us to use for our class.  We’ve mentioned to our patients that we are going to be moving around a lot more, just to get them ready, and they seem to be alright with this. With time and God's help we will become a physical class too.  A great observation is more of these patients are monitoring their blood pressure and their blood sugar frequently. Many are getting into the habit of writing these results down for their records and to share with a health provider. Blood sugars for some have ...

"Somos conejillos indios!" They all agreed to be those guinea pigs! I had my own batch of 14 conejillos de indias to start our experiments on! For the next 7 weeks the employees at the Nehemiah Center opened their hearts and exposed their culture to a new perspective on money and what is God's method for handling money. Debt Free Victor We used Andres Gutierrez's Paz Financiera for our curriculum. This was chosen because the teaching is done by video. Jari and I facilitated and led the class discussions at the opening of the classes and after the videos. During the first few weeks we felt resistance and some barriers to learning raised by our participants. We wrestle against a spirit of pobreza - poverty, and the lies she tells us. She told us clothes were not necessary, we are too poor to save. Pobreza said this is not going to work in Nicaragua, in our culture it's different. She also said there is too much emphasis on the power given to money. With...

Participants in our chronic support group at El Samaritano has been increasing in number! I am excited to share with you more of what our group looks like! This support group is offered to the clinics patients and community members with conditions such as diabetes and hypertension, and anyone else who wants to come and learn more. Packed Group! Last year an average of 15 people attended the group. Many of the participants live in the Nejapa area where AMOS and the clinic is located. Those that join us are folks in their 50s and 60s and many have shared how they look forward to coming every week. So we had about 5-6 people show up the first few weeks. Now, this number has been increasing every week! Many are bringing their family, friends and neighbors! The largest group so far has been about 20 people since the class began. I assist the Urban Health Supervisor at AMOS in planning and implementing the weekly lessons. We also have a medical student who is here for 3 months and ...

I am excited to share with you all we are starting a pilot program at the Nehemiah Center called Finanzas para el Reino. We have noticed the need for financial education among the churches and small businesses we have been working with. I know every one could benefit from some financial education in Nicaragua, (and the United States) but we have set a target area of west side of Managua and Nejapa area. This is a diverse social economic area and is where the Nehemiah Center is located. It is better to start work in your own neighborhood! 200 Surveys! The Nehemiah Center has a vision of 'healthy churches' and so our target audience for this program is local church pastors and leaders whom we have an existing relationship with. We conducted a small sample study of these churches and Christians in the area. Here are some general findings. When asked: " What are some things you would like to spend your money on but cant?" The top responses where a house, help my fam...

I stayed over night at the Hotel Campestre "La Terraza"after the AECNIC Celebration  because we had an early morning board meeting with AECNIC (Asociacion de Emprasarios Cristianos de Nicaragua). It was a time to get input from the board on their progress and offer some advise, but also a time to testify about the great things God has done for them. AECNIC's final recognition from the Nicaraguan government is on its way and soon they will be able to sign up more members. They know a lot of people are interested and have set a goal of growing by 100 members in the next 2-3 years. Board president Elizabeth says "We are brothers & sisters with a Biblical Worldview and pioneers with this structure." They have a vision to help Christian business because they see the need of God's people to be trained in topics of business as missions. Unfortunately, there is a belief in Nicaragua that business people are only looking to make money and they walk away from...

I was able to attend the 1st assembly of the Asociacion de Empresarios Cristianos de Nicaragua, AECNIC, (Association of Christian Entrepreneurs of Nicaragua) celebration. This was held in the city of Chinandega. It was a great reunion of all the current 24 members of the association, AECNIC is getting very close to finalizing their official recognition by the government of Nicaragua. During the assembly the members gave thanks to God and the Biblical Worldview business training they received through the partnership of the Nehemiah Center and Partners Worldwide. The training helped reassure their calling from God as Christians in the marketplace. Luis from Chinandega said "I am only a worker in this business, it belongs to God and so does the property, I thank God for the blessing and opportunity to serve Him!" Lesbia from Leon said " Thank you to Partners Worldwide and the Nehemiah Center. I learned about finances and business plans. I also learned accounting and...