Dr. Jimmy Harper, Deborah Page, and Dr. Milton Riley co-led a team of 23 students to Managua, Nicaragua to work with Hogar Agape, an orphanage sponsored by the Church of God in one of the poorest sections of Managua, Nicaragua.  Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.  Hogar Agape is the special project of Lee University’s Mission Week for the 2007-2008 School year.  We are attempting to raise operational funds for two years support for the orphanage.  What is exciting is that the Lazarus Foundation is matching dollar for dollar what we raise at Lee. 

The primary purpose of the trip was to minister to the children at Hogar Agape by attempting to increase their English and computer skills.  We also took Christmas to the 20 children at the orphanage.  This included toys, games, soccer balls, Lee T-shirts, new tennis shoes, clothing, watches, back packs and many school supplies.  In addition to helping the children with English and computer skills, the team spent a lot of time playing with the children.  They also painted the large wall surrounding the complex and decorated it with paintings of soccer balls, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, and many paintings the children did.  It was a great cross cultural trip.  One of the most moving times was when the team visited the Managua City Dump.  Approximately 4,000 people live at and get their survival by salvaging plastic bottles, pieces of metal, etc from the dump.  There was hardly a dry eye when we saw this scene.  I really added a capstone to the course the students took in Global Ministry and Poverty.  Several students commented on how meaningful the trip was to them and one student has felt the call to work with Children of the Dump in Paraguay.

 Upcoming Medical Mission Trip to Ecuador to be jointly led by Jo Beth Boyer and Milton Riley. 

 Dates of trip June 11-June 26.  Dates of classes – May 6- June 6  

Classes offered:

Biol/Hscl 341 – Parasitology – 4 hours

Hscl 411 – International Health – 3 hours

GNST 252 – Cross Cultural Experience – 2 hours

Cost of trip – $4,100 which includes tuition, trip, plus books.  Other expenses include vaccinations, passport, living expenses in Cleveland during classes, spending money

 Our hosts will be Michael and Denise Mills. 

We will spend 10 days at Atacames, Ecuador which is approximately 800 yards from the Pacific Ocean.  We will do various medical clinics in the nearby villages.  Thus far we have secured the medical services of two medical doctors (full time of trip) and a nurse.  We are and will continue to talk with other medical providers.  There are approximately 200,000 people in this area that receive very limited medical care and are for the most part not evangelized.  We will spend 4-5 days in  Quito (elevation about 8,000 feet) doing a couple of clinics near Quito and then do one or more clinics at 13,000 feet in the Andes mountains.