Grace Church has partnered with Christ for the City International (CFCI) in Nicaragua since 2002 through short term trips that focus on medical and construction needs, and has recently expanded to biblical training for church leaders and pastors. CFCI’s vision to work through and empower the local church to evangelize and serve their local communities mirrors what Grace is striving to accomplish in the Greenville area.
Our partnership over the past few years has expanded to medical/construction teams, teaching/training teams, one Student Ministry team, and hosting a marriage retreat for the couples that are part of the CFCI staff. With growing interest from our congregation to participate on one of these trips we are anticipating that the number of teams will increase over the next year or so to allow more people to experience these life changing trips.
Our partnership with CFCI has given us the ability to expand our world and Christian perspectives as we experience the difference between our two cultures and see first hand how God is working in other parts of the world to change lives through his word and the work of the local church.
April '08 – Ciudad Sandino
On our first trip of 2008, Grace Church sent a 16 person team (medical, construction and children’s ministry) to Ciudad Sandino to work with a local church to provide free basic medical care, including prescriptions, to the community. Our team also worked on an expansion to the church and provided children’s activities for the children who came to the clinic and to those in the community each day. Each person who visited the clinic received one-on-one evangelism from the sponsoring local church and follow-up discipleship opportunities in the weeks after the clinic.
June '10 – Villa el Carmen
One of our interns for the summer tells about her experience in Nicaragua here. To read about the trip from one of our high school students, click here.