About Voice of Hope

Here I would like to describe how I met Charlie, the director of Voice of Hope and explain a little bit about what Voice of Hope does as a ministry.

I met Charlie Brown on the plane headed from Houston to Managua. I remember finally sitting in my seat and realizing that I was by myself headed to a foreign country. The previous busy month inclusive of graduating college, having all of my family in town for Christmas, going to my Uncle’s wedding, and entering into a new relationship with my wonderful boyfriend Garret were all joyful, exciting things happening in my life, however because of them I hadn’t taken the moment to think of traveling alone to a foreign country. Therefore when I finally sat in my seat was when it all finally sunk in. I remember a bit of fear striking me. It was however in this very moment that Charlie Brown introduced himself as part of a team from Voice of Hope and also asked about me.  He was eager to share the gospel and asked me about my testimony. This is definitely a man who is ready at any moment to share the gospel—just like it should be! Anyways during that time I remember feeling more secure knowing that God had surrounded me with my brothers in Christ. This was comforting to know that I wouldn’t be alone when stepping off the plane.

During our conversation Charlie had invited Kristie and I to come check out Voice of Hope in Leon. I knew this would be a great opportunity to see another ministry taking place in Nicaragua. So this past weekend was our chance to go.

Kristie and I spent two days in Leon. Saturday, March 14^th we arrived. Upon arriving at the hotel the ministry is operated out of, we had lunch and then were off to touring the feeding centers. Two pastors from a church in Arkansas had also come to visit for the week to see if this was a ministry that their church wanted to partner with. Because Charlie was giving them a full tour of their ministry, this allowed Kristie and I to see in detail all that the ministry does as well. 

Here is the gang that we traveled with. Great crew! The mission statement of Voice of Hope is on the poster behind us.

Everyone meet Rocky! He was my pal while hanging out at the Hotel. He is three months and has SHARP sharp teeth :D

Voice of Hope has seven active feeding centers and is in the process of building four more.  The feeding centers are small buildings made out of cinder blocks and are built approximately 10’ x 12’.  Each kitchen has a wood burning stove, two metal kettle bowls, and approximately 5 to 7 large utensils like a spatula, knife, and ladle. These feeding centers have been placed in extremely poor communities where families live in tin roof houses, can’t afford to send their children to school, receive water from a well, and well can barely afford food. Voice of Hope has also worked to build a church shelter right next to every feeding center. This is really just a roof over a concrete slab.

How the system works. Voice of Hope partners with churches back in the United States, asking them to support the children in Nicaragua to be fed. I think it takes about $40 to feed one of these children for a year. This money then goes to buy the food to be taken to the feeding centers. Supported children receive a card, bring that card to the feeding center, and are able to receive one meal per day. On average each feeding center serves about 150 children per day. This becomes an opportunity for the ministry to share the gospel.

Churches who support Voice of Hope typically have mission teams come for one week to have evangelical events at the feeding center and church that they individually support. Actually late Saturday night, a team from a church in Oklahoma had come in for the week.  We got to meet all 20 of them Sunday morning as we all headed to Pan de Vida. The church Pan de Vida was the church connected to one of the feeding centers. This “pair” or “unit” was one that the team from the First Baptist Church in Oklahoma has been supporting for four year now.  Therefore their interaction with the community was familiar. The rest of their week would include fiestas that they put on with the kids and families of the community, inclusive of games and prizes. This will act as an opportunity for them to interact and to share the gospel with these communities.

Here is a picture inside of the feeding center. Large industrial size kettles and spatulas. The stove is on Kristie's left.

Here is what a typical church connected to the feeding centers looks like. The lady was watering the concrete to keep the dust down.

That is Voice of Hope in a nutshell. When touring all of these shelters one thing that stuck out the most to me was Charlie’s iteration of how simple the gospel is, and how simple it should be shared.  It doesn’t need to take much to share the love of Christ. Why do we make it such a complicated thing?

Here is a typical house in the communities where we were visiting.