Safe Harbor House

A safe place for children whose parents are working on a cruise ship for a tourist cruise company. These parents are working for a period of 6 to 8 months. We keep these children in temporary housing until their parents return.

After-School Tutoring Program

Schools in Nicaragua are from 7:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m., and from 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m. Therefore, children spend a lot of hours without supervision, and they are on the streets instead of doing their homework. Bethel Church opens its doors to accompany children and young people to become all God wants them to be. The Program is also a bridge to many families in Bluefields, Kukra Hill, and Rama so their parents may come to know the Lord.

AWANA (OANSA in Spanish)

Every Saturday, Bethel in Bluefields receives 150-200 children for discipleship, sports, puppet and clown ministry, and movie night. During these four hours with us, the church family shows God's love to each child. We pick the children in their neighborhoods with a new schoolbus.

.Pool Ministry

This ministry in Bluefields gives us the opportunity to receive and meet people from many different areas. It is the safest place for recreation in the city, and is open all weekend for people to use as a place for families to go. They are looking to be refreshed with water, but many find the living water that is in Christ Jesus. We give swimming classes to children, and it is also the place where baptisms take place done by other churches in Bluefields.

Church Planting

• 2000 -- Bethel Church in Bluefileds (population 50,000)
• 2007 -- Bethel Church in Kukra Hill (population 13,000)
• 2009 -- Bethel Church in Rama (population 60,000)

During our first four years in Nicaragua, our focus was in discipleship and training the people who have come to know Christ so they can in turn do likewise. (2 Timothy 32:2 "...and the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.")

In the same way that we have walked with the people at Bethel in Bluefields, today, together, we are planting new churches in the Atlantic Coast area of Nicaragua with the same model of discipleship, starting with an after-school Tutoring Program.

Day Care Program

The growing population of babies have increased tremendously in the city of Bluefields, and the amount of day care is limited. Therefore, the Bethel Church in Bluefields opened its doors to receive little ones so at an early age in their development, they could experience God's Love in their lives.

Discipleship

Each new believer in Christ is part of a discipleship class, but the class is not the only way to grow and change. It is in the close relationship with the disciple, day by day, so that person can walk a way that is worthy of the Lord. (Colassians 1:10 -- "... to lead a life worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God."

Seminary Scholarships

After 3 years of discipleship class, the disciple is able to further his/her studies in the Baptist Seminary in Managua if he/she has received a call for the ministry. The cost of each seminarian per year is $1,500. In 2010, two disciples in Bethel will be going to seminary. While they are in Seminary, they will be pastoring a new church plant in Muelle de los Bueyes.

Recreation Center

Bethel Church in Bluefields offers a safe environment for children and young people so they can develop their skills in sports through use of the swimming pool, basketball/soccer court, and swingsets.

Work Teams

Bethel Church in Bluefields opens its doors to various kinds of work teams from the U.S. to do construction, provide medical and dental care, and help with educational programs for children (such as Vacation Bible Schools. Occasionally, we have workshops for teachers to help them to learn how to teach to children; and for pastors, to sharpen their skills in teaching and preaching.