Having an IMPACT in Nicaragua

IMPACT youth clubs are relatively new in Latin America. Nonetheless, mentors like Mauren Blandon in Chinandega, Nicaragua, already report many positive changes in their communities.

“When Mauren first started this IMPACT club, she was very nervous,” says Adrianna Oudman, a Christian Reformed World Missions missionary who coordinates IMPACT Club efforts in Nicaragua.

 “She is a young, Christian lady and most of the members are unchurched young men who are older than her.”

Although the club members accepted Blandon as their leader, the group quickly began suffering from low numbers and low motivation. The members did not see how God could use them to make a difference. They did not see themselves as a group or as serving a larger purpose.

However, Blandon did not give up on these young people. She continued to visit them and call them to meetings. With Blandon’s leadership, the IMPACT club members began to discuss ideas for community projects.

“Each person gave an opinion for a project. Some talked about a spiritual retreat, others a sports afternoon,” said Oudman.

“However, none of the ideas got full support. When they remembered that the purpose of the project was to serve the community, they started reconsidering.”

The group decided that they wanted to start working with members of the regional jail, which forms one boundary of the neighborhood’s limits. The jail was also a  place where these young people already knew several young inmates from their own community.

Next, core members of Blandon’s IMPACT club and church began fasting and praying together in preparation for visiting the jail. Other members of Blandon’s church, El Manantial de Cristo,  donated clothes and other supplies for the inmates.

Unfortunately, the group’s plan of visiting and donating items to the jail fell through due to a change in policy. But this did not stop the group from finding a way to serve others.

Instead, they took the items to a nearby neighborhood that has few economic resources.

“Even though not everything went according to the group’s original plan, people were blessed through them, and the members of the group got a vision for what it means to serve their community,” said Oudman.

Since this outreach began, Blandon has seen many positive changes within her group. She’s seen the young people grow in their faith and move from being vagabonds in the street to a group who helps others right in their own community.

More are becoming involved in El Manantial’s church plant in their community, and they are starting to see God’s work in their lives and in their own neighborhood.

CRWM’s needs your help to continue growing the IMPACT program in Latin America. In coordination with Giving Tuesday (December 1, 2015), CRWM is trying to raise $40,550 USD ($54,000 CAD). A gift at crwm.org/GivingTuesday will support this effort.