Nueva Guinea Project

Vision
While we believe that the work of evangelism is of utmost importance, we also know that making disciples is a process, and must be maintained from generation to generation. To be able to continue impacting a community, city, or nation, the kingdom of God must be established in every area, not just the churches. Part of Central American church history shows that while the Christians were arguing over rules and regulations, the socialists were taking over the education system.

In our judgment, a good education with a Christian worldview is the best method to make a permanent and continual change in the atmosphere of a community and even a nation. This includes businessmen, farmers and ranchers, laborers, and professionals.

Nueva Guinea
Nueva Guinea is an agricultural hub in what is called the RAAS - Spanish acronym for the "South Atlantic Autonomous Region" of Nicaragua. Nicaragua is divided up into 15 "departments" and 2 autonomous regions, which are on the Atlantic side of the country. The reason for these autonomous regions is that the eastern coast is quite distinct from the rest of the country. Having said this, Nueva Guinea, while part of the eastern region, is more western Nicaraguan than coastal, and there is talk of making it a separate department some day, which would be called "Zelaya Central."

Nueva Guinea was heavily affected by the Nicaraguan civil war in the 1980s, and many of its residents fled to Costa Rica. Since the elections in 1990, FUNAD (Spanish acronym for "Nicaraguan Foundation for Aid and Development") has been involved with making small business loans and helping children without families, and will be the Nicaraguan covering for the new school. FUNAD is currently overseeing a grade school in another rural community called "San Juan de la Concepción," in the department of Masaya and has developed a good model. Our Manto de Gracia sister church in Managua has done many projects in conjunction with FUNAD.

FUNAD has a family placed in Nueva Guinea (Rodíver & Victoria Amador). They have run a home for children since the mid 90s with more than 50 children having been in their care at some time or another, in addition to 5 of their own. They are very quality people that have earned the respect of the community.

Colegio Cristiano Manto de Gracia
Phase 1 of the construction of the new school has been completed. While we have had the approval of local and regional education authorities, the centralized government has been causing delays. We plan to initiate our pre-school this year, and add a grade every following year until we have all 11 grades (11th grade being the last year of high school in Nicaragua).
The school's vision has the following distinctions:

1. In addition to Christian education classes, we want to instill a Christian
   world view, as opposed to the socialist one that most Nicaraguans, even Christians have.
2. We want our students to be fully bi-lingual by the time they graduate high school.
3. We want to have a quality music program, with every student learning to play an instrument.
4. We want to have competitive sports teams.
5. We want to have the most quality science program possible.

While these may seem basic for American schools, they are significant goals for
Nicaragua, especially in this rural community.

Clínica Médica Manto de Gracia
The second part of the vision for the community of Nueva Guinea is the establishment of a medical clinic for the poor of the community.

In the summer of 2007, Zoya ministries sponsored a week long clinic at the FUNAD home, and it was then we realized that a permanent place was needed to be able to give longer term care to the needy.

The clinic will have the following distinctions:

1. Give medical attention to those needing it along with the necessary medicine. In Nicaragua, people seen by doctors or even people in hospitals, often can't find or afford necessary medicines.
2. Give consistent follow up.
3. Include health education and basic information about life styles, foods, etc.

Costs

Construction
Initial construction costs for phase one of the school (a large building with 4 classrooms, a separate building with restrooms, electricity, plumbing and a septic tank) have been covered by donations from individual donors. Future projects include the second building, a courtyard/basketball court, and a building that will include the administration and a computer lab, with a projected cost of about $150,000. We also are considering building a small hospitality house for construction and ministry groups that will work with us - groups both from the USA and other Latin American countries.

School operation
Since we want to give a quality education and Nueva Guinea is a poor area, we will need financial support for the school's operation. We are in the process of developing a sponsorship program, but at this time, will not have a system of linking a sponsor to a child. While this system can work, there are many complications. We will probably look for teacher sponsors, and sponsors for general operations.

Financial partnership:
If you would like to help with either the project or our (the Kelly’s) personal support, you can do so through Zoya Ministries.
Make checks out to Zoya and mail to:
Zoya Ministries
PO Box 260381
Plano, TX 75026-0381

Please mark checks for either Nueva Guinea Project OR Bob & Barbara Kelly.

You can also give at the donation page of the Zoya website.

Any questions can be directed to Bob Kelly, bobkelly52@gmail.com