In addressing His followers Jesus said, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last….”[John 15:16]  For the Trinity congregation this began in a new form in 1993. A group of 12 members traveled to Central America guided by Tom Post to learn of the Lord’s working in the hearts and lives of many vibrant Christians—indigenous believers who had a vision for bringing about integral transformation in Honduras, El Salvador, and Belize. How was the Christian Reformed Church partnering with other visionary Christians working to instill a change in lives and in lifestyles? In teaching the Good News in these settings, how would it reform the culture in a “Gospel” way to bring wholeness?  From this 1993 introductory trip, the travelers returned with enthusiasm and with plans. Over the next 11 years more than 50% of the Trinity families saw one or more of their members volunteer for work teams to partner with Latin American Christians on projects in those three countries with primary focus on Honduras. The Trinity congregation supported each work team financially and with much prayer. Teams returned with enthusiastic reports of blessings—both being a blessing and receiving a blessing! They learned to build relationships of trust; they learned that we work best when in unity with many types of Christians. They learned that the biblical worldview means presenting a God-honoring effort in every aspect of living, glorifying Him with every moment—redeeming every square inch of planet earth for our Creator. The many team members would each learn what Frederick Buechner once wrote, “the place where God calls you is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” [p.47]

Similarly, following Hurricane Mitch in 1998 many North American churches were responding to needs in Nicaragua.

Several agencies discovered that long-term change could only come about with a development of a worldview change. This came to be called an integral transformation. Several relief and mission organizations banded together so that they could cooperate as equals each with their own strengths. The Nehemiah Center was established in 1999 in Managua, as a center for learning, service, and collaborative planning.

ON MENDED WINGS is the story of the Nehemiah Center in action. This is not a dry, detailed outlining of agency lesson planning. No, the book is told through many, many testimonies of changed lives—changes brought about by organizations familiar to us (including CRC World Missions, Worldwide Christian Schools, CRWRC, and more; p.170). Collectively the agencies’ goals are to mend broken lives, broken marriages, broken communities, and to establish church communities enlivened to serve neighborhoods. The vision is to build relationships that bring action. The center for their coming together for prayer, for encouraging, for conferring, and planning was given the name Nehemiah—the Old Testament prophet was a nation builder, rebuilding what had been Jerusalem, rebuilding the country, rebuilding lives.  Part of the strategy became first building relationships, trust, with and among the local people. This must be done primarily by trained Christian Nicaraguans, not primarily by the Canadians or the Americans. To be effective, local Christians must build trusting relationships with and through local leaders. This would require assembling an entity called the Ezra team for teacher training. The Old Testament prophet Ezra was of a Jewish family of priests who helped lead the Israelites to rebuild community after their return from exile. Nehemiah was the builder, Ezra was the teacher. The Nehemiah Center, now nine cooperating agencies, facilitates and teaches Nicaraguans to transform lives in a holistic, God-centered, integral worldview. The stories and testimonies warm the heart and bring tears of joy to any reader reflecting on the Holy Spirit working through His people. Through enthusiastically working in unity, Nicaraguans are bearing witness to the transforming Good News. This Nehemiah model is now being replicated in Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic [p130]. For the many Trinity families who had members taking part in the Latin American mission trips, this will be a fascinating follow-up to see how this whole program had developed. The Lord has blessed these efforts and used them to build His Kingdom. We were privileged to be a part of the initial 1993 team as well as of several later work teams to Honduras, Belize, and Haiti. And, our nephew Steve Holtrop is presently a part of the CRC World Missions staff at the Nehemiah Center in Managua, Nicaragua.

As El Salvadoran priest Oscar Romero, who was assassinated in 1980, wrote: “We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work. Nothing we do is complete…the Kingdom work always lies beyond us.”[p.54]  Tears of joy come from watching the Spirit working though His people. We are reminded of Paul writing, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.”[I Cor.3:6]  Every reader will receive inspiration from ON MENDED WINGS. May all glory go to our Sovereign God as we see Him at work.

~review by Dan F. Bloem

ON MENDED WINGS by Carol Van Klompenburg with Donna Biddle; c.2011; The Write Place, 709 Main Street, Suite 2, Pella, IA 50219;  www.thewriteplace.biz/bookplace. A copy of this book can be found in the Trinity library.