Greetings from the McCullah Family

We hope this finds you all doing well and enjoying 2008. This year is already proving to be a busy one for us. We are involved with several projects at this time.

Mira Ministries Int.

We want to thank Sis. Lois Wells with Trinity Christian Academy for the work she has done for us for almost 2 years in supplying a base for sending support. In the future we will be associated with Mira Ministries, Int., and will be running our support through them. Mira is a ministry that provides Hope for Tomorrow school packs and uniforms to impoverished children and orphans in many countries of the world, evangelistic concerts, pastor’s conferences/seminars, and church consulting. We first met David and Pam Waters almost two years ago while working with them on an evangelistic team in Esteli. When the opportunity opened up for us to accompany them on a trip delivering school packs to Matagalpa this last year, we were delighted. We are available to assist in any way with their many different ministry projects here in Nicaragua.

For the last several months, Bob has been on the coordination team to set up and promote the Youth Evangelism Concert to be held in Managua, the capital city of Nicaragua. Youth groups from 150 churches are joining together to prepare for this evangelistic outreach March 15^th. They are expecting to share the gospel with 4,000 to 6,000 youth. Please pray for this festival that God will deal with the souls of this country’s youth and change their hearts. To look up further information about David and Pam Waters and Mira Ministries, see their website: www.miraministries.com.

Los Cedros Farming:

The Los Cedros orphanage consists of three homes, one in Jinotega for 6-13 year olds, one in Los Cedros for 0-6 year olds, and the boys home, housing boys from 13 -?.

Bob has been working to cultivate, plant, and now harvest crops at this Los Cedros Orphanage. The teen boys have helped some with the planting and weeding and now they will help to sell the produce. The plan this growing season was to try various vegetables and see which varieties are more conducive to this climate and soil. Convoy of Hope donated a large variety of wonderful seeds. So far, we have begun harvesting zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, watermelon, lettuce, and radishes. Most of these vegetables are quite expensive here because they are imported. By supplying these types of vegetables we will be reducing the cost as well as increasing the quality of what they will be eating. So far we have been able to grow without pesticides, which is an unexpected blessing. The primary goal of this crop project is to supply food for the three childrens homes and teams. The future goal is to eventually grow large enough quantities to sale locally and for export. This will help the orphanages to become self supporting. There are nearly 100 acres now available for this project. It has been a joy to watch the children, workers, and teams enjoy the freshly harvested vegetables. Please pray for God’s continued blessings on the crops and wisdom for Bob as he makes decisions regarding the this project.

Next door to the baby orphanage are two beautiful dormitories and a large cafeteria for teams. In the next few years they hope to build a toddler home, add-ons to the boy’s home, and volunteer housing. There is a need for fences to be built or mended around the crops to keep out the horses and neighboring cattle. This week a group of Doctors are seeing the children and the families in the area. Next week volunteers from Florida are building a ranchero for a covered play area for the children.

This ministry also owns a building located close to La Chureca, the city dump with profound poverty. It is a “ready” feeding center when teams want to minister by providing food. Of course, there are always babies to hold and little ones that love trips to the beach. There are many opportunities to minister, for further information contact us at the info. below.

The Church of Mamón: for more pictures and information click here

This is the Church of Mamón located in El Mamón, Diriamba, Nicaragua on the Pacific Ocean. There are 103 people that are a part of this church. There are no jobs in this area leaving these people in extreme poverty. They are lacking: food, health care, schools, electricity, and phones. The main way of living is by farming, but, most farming is for sustenance and doesn’t allow the farmers to get ahead and plan for the long term.

This is a joint project with UPOLI, a Christian University that is one of the larger in Nicaragua and known for quality education.

UPOLI’s goal is to make the farming here profitable and sustainable for the long term. By training the people in techniques that maximize production and profitability for the specific area and soil types they are able to implement a program that will allow them to become self-sufficient.

Their goal is to utilize the first 50 acres to grow enough food to feed the church members working as a coop. Later, the other 170 acres will be used to plant income producing crops that will help to stabilize the situation of the people and improve their lives.

The project for the 50 acres of plants and animals will cost $6,500. This will provide beans, corn, wheat, chickens, goats, fruit trees, platano, and irrigation system with gas pump. The funds will be administered by UPOLI and they will provide support by way of training and follow up.

The Chairman of the Board of UPOLI explained to Bob what they hoped to accomplish and that they needed to get support from churches and peoples for this endeavor. Then he took Bob to Mamón to meet some of the church members and see the land for himself. Bob is now working with UPOLI to raise funds for this need. If you are interested in supporting this project you can contact us at bob@rlms.org or call 417-429-0341. In Nicaragua call 698-8663

Happenings of 2007

Our Family:

Our holiday season was wonderful. We were surprised with a gift of a trip to Florida and Disney World. We spent a fun-filled, rapid-paced week in Orlando with Bob’s entire family. It was a treat and such a great holiday together. The boys especially enjoyed the Wonderful World of Disney and took full advantage of every day. They went from early morning until the late extended hours. Needless to say we were happily exhausted when we got back to Nicaragua. It was a wonderful time for all of us.

Cherie, Bob’s sister, moved down here full time and splits her time between our home and her place at the Los Cedros Orphanage. She has been a blessing to us and it feels more like home having more family here with us. The children at the orphanage love her and come running to her each morning when she enters their room. It is wonderful to see that God has been preparing and equipping her for this time and she is happy and doing a great job.

Stephen turned 17 years old and is finishing high school this year. He is planning on returning to the states but is first going to help his dad manage some building projects for CasaNica here in Nicaragua and learn more about construction. Pray for him that he will have wisdom in making decisions about his future.

Brandon turned 16 and is in 10^th grade. He and Stephen have adjusted very well to Nicaragua and have found good friends here. Fencing classes are offered through the Nicaraguan park program for free, so, he and his friends have been taking classes regularly. Brandon participated in his first competition and placed. He even scored against the National champion. He has been playing swords since he was able to hold a stick, so we are not surprised that he has taken to this sport.

Jacob turned the big 10!! He has quite a following of friends here and is very busy with school. One of his best friends is a Nicaraguan/Chinese neighbor. They converse in English and Spanish most of the time, however, when Jacob visits their house they speak mostly Chinese. He is finishing up his 4^th grade year. The older boy’s best friends here are also tri-lingual so they are all really getting a well rounded influence.

Elizabeth turned 2 and her personality which was pretty well packed has taken on a whole new dimension. The other day she was having a mock sword fight with her brother and won. He lay on the floor and she immediately jumped down beside him and started pushing on his chest, counting and then blowing in his mouth. It was her 2 year old version of CPR. She loves playing dress up with her new friend Adell, two houses down, and I am so glad to see her get some girl time. Adell has blonde hair and Elizabeth kept stroking it and saying how pretty it was. She wasn’t used to seeing blonde hair on other little girls and didn’t realize she was blonde herself. J She loves any kind of ice cream and cake, bananas, red beans and chocolate. The other day she got into Cherie’s chocolates and when I confronted her with it, she said, “But, mama, I lika da chocolate!” with her hands held out as if it was beyond her control. She may prefer football to her Dora doll, but she is a true girl after all. J

We love you all and appreciate so much your emails, prayers, and continued support this last year. Just knowing that we have a network of friends and family helps keep us focused and accountable to do our best. You all may not be living down here, but your contributions of friendship, finances, and prayer support, make you a vital part of all we do everyday.

with thankfulness and love,

Bob, Judy, Stephen, Brandon, Jacob, and Elizabeth McCullah

Missionaries to the beautiful people of Nicaragua.

E mail and phone:

simplyliving2004@yahoo.com – Judy

bob@rlms.org – Bob

U.S. Cable #: 417-429-0341

Reaches us in Nicaragua

Contributions:*

Mira Ministries International
McCullah Family

2100 W. Chesterfield Blvd, Suite 100

Springfield, MO 65807

telephone: 417.619.5650
e-mail: questions@miraministries.com

*NOTE: Please make checks payable to “Mira Ministries Int.”