POST by FRAN: My Battling Brien-Bro

Sezni performing in the Nicavangelist Street Theatre Production, CREATED

Sezni, my brother, began to watch videos on youtube, he watched an epic Nerf gun battle. Nerf guns are toy guns that shoot out blue, yellow, orange or green darts that can stick to windows.

He would always exclaim "wow! These guns are sooo cool! I want one soo bad!" He told our mum about these awesome Nerf guns. One night mum wasn't home in time for Sezni's bed time, so he fell asleep in the dark and began to see stars and started dreaming about a Nerf gun battle.  The fight involved him and his friends battling the evil ones in the galaxy, with balls exploding into colour as they fought each other.

It seemed like five minutes had gone by before it was time to wake up and his dreams all disappeared into a safe place in his imagination.

As Sezni lay in his bed, still half asleep, he began to look around his room. He saw a plastic bag. The plastic bag was from Walmart. It was lying on the ground near his bed. Sezni crawled across his mattress towards the bunk bed ladder, curious to know what is in the Walmart bag. He reached the bunk bed ladder and began to climb down, skipping two steps at a time. "What is in that Walmart bag!?" He said with a tone full of suspense.

Sezni’s foster brother, Billy, has covers with Lightning McQueen on it. The covers were  lying at the bottom of the ladder. Sezni let go of the ladder and jumped down the rest of the way and landed on Billy's covers.

Sezni began to walk toward the plastic bag. He walked faster and faster untill he was standing directly over the plastic bag. He bent over and picked up the plastic bag. Closing his eyes tightly he felt the bag between his fingers, just like you’d with a birthday present. "NOOO! IS IT?!" he exclaimed excitedly! He ripped off the plastic bag and opened his eyes, "YES, YES, IT IS!!!"

He viciously tore off the cardboard packaging and flipped in the six blue darts to start rocking! His mum also had two midget guns and three darts, so my brother, Raffy, and him started to shoot at each other as they ran around and had a battle like the ones that Sezni had dreamt about.

They ended up getting really tired, "let's go get something to drink", Mummy suggested.  Sezni began walking towards the kitchen, "But I won!" Sezni stated firmly. "No, I won!" Raffy argued back. "Oooooh yeah?” came the rebuttal.  “Well I guess we'll just have to have another battle to prove it then..." They stared at each other eye to eye, then started circling. They stopped and began to laugh and then went arm-in-arm to the kitchen.

"We'll battle tomorrow to see who is the best", Raffy said in a baby voice. "Yeah, but I'm sure I'll win though",  Sezni assured his opponent but in a way that wouldn’t start another fight...

Sezni (in orange t) and his siblings and Capital on the Edge brothers...

POST by LIZ: The LOVE Shack!

Elizabeth with some of her boys

As I fumbled my way through my purse hunting for the $20 Radio Shack discount receipt, the cashier asked me typical questions we get when entering places with a mass of Nicaraguan lads in tow.

I explained why we were in the States and why we live in Nicaragua. 

“Wow!” he gasped, after my spill, and at that moment he ceased just being the professional Radio Shack cashier across the counter from me, and revealed his humanitarian heart.  “I really want to do something like that too – I want to make a difference – wow, I bet that must make you feel really good…” and he continued to lavish praise and admiration for the work that we do. 

His eyes were gentle and genuine, but the rest of his words were wasted on me.  I couldn’t get past his phrase ‘I bet that must make you feel really good…’ His words whirled around my head, I couldn’t shake them.

“Make me feel good!” if only he knew how it made me feel.  I wanted to tell him how it really made me feel.  The recent events flashed through my mind like a B rated horror movie from the sixties.

Situations flashing through my mind recalling all the rejecting statements, compulsive lies, and bad attitudes which had been thrown into our path, like ugly weeds growing in a rose bed.

Now to be fair, this particular day had been especially tough; I had started out the day dealing with tired teenagers wanting to get their own way - which of course clashed with my own agenda for them, and I was having a particularly tough season dealing with Yordy, who was slipping away into depression, Rene, who wanted to act like a porn star, and Beycker, who thought he was every girls’ dream come true. 

I wanted to scream out and release the pent up feelings I had harboured and allow those who had taken out their own hurts and rejections on me, to see that I was just human too. I wanted to pour out my bottled-up hurt from constantly being rejected, unloved and unappreciated. 

My captured feelings shocked me.  I didn’t realise that I held on to so much hurt.  Over the years, I had helped many people unlock their trapped hurts and had explained that hurt left untouched would morph into binding bitterness – yet here I was, standing on a polished floor with a beaming cashier believing in what we do, and seeing the mountain of bitterness I had allowed to build within.

Never-the-less, I snapped back into my reality, smiled at the kindhearted cashier man, and said, “Yep, it’s rewarding, but it sure is a rollercoaster ride at times,” 

We left the shop with shouts of well-wishing from all the staff, including the district manager, who was visiting the store and had also taken interest in our life.  The lads were high spirited, and left the shop in normal style; double twists and flips. Everyone whooping and cheering and laughing and totally unaware of the mountain I carried inside.

Later that night I checked my heart before the Lord.  “God, I didn’t realise I was so hurt and I can feel bitterness consuming me.  I want to ‘feel good about what I do’, but right now I just feel that no matter how much I pour myself out, I receive a stack load of rejection, fear and failure thrown in my face.”

“You know what your problem is, Liz?” God shot back at me. “You are doing things out of your own love for people.  Even Jesus didn’t do this!  You think Jesus died for you because he loves you – but this is not true!”

“WHAT?” I thought… “that goes against EVERYTHING I was raised with. ” 

“Well, read the scripture Liz, it doesn’t say, ‘for Jesus loved the world so much he gave his life,’ No! It says, ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only son..’ you see Liz, Jesus died for you out of love and obedience for me! But YES, Jesus does love you – because of my love for you! And this is the way you need to operate too.  If you do things out of your own love for others then you will either only love those that are lovely, but Matthew says... where is the reward in that?! But if you love the unlovely out of your own love, then you will get burnt out, rejected, unloved, and unappreciated. 

Because those who are rejected will reject, those who are unloved will be unlovely, and those who don’t feel appreciated will be ungrateful.   But, if you do it only out of love and obedience for me, then you won’t even look for praise or acceptance from others.  If you do things out of love for me, then it doesn’t matter what the reaction is from the person, because you will only look to me to say ‘Well done good and faithful servant!  Then you will truly be living for an audience of one!  The best part is that your love for others will actually increase – Jesus does love you and did die for you because he sees you through my eyes.  This is how I want you to approach your ‘work’ for me. ”

So, I can’t say that I am fully there yet, but I can say that when I receive the rejecting words and actions, especially the ones so typical from teenagers, they don’t stab my heart like before, because I’m now doing things out of love and obedience for God.

If you would like to learn more about our ministry, please watch our latest update,CLICK HERE

If you would like to learn more about who our Nica-Youths are, or to support them, please visit their page, SUPPORT Nica-Talent

To learn more about our street theatre production, "CREATED", please visit our page,NICAVANGELISTS: "CREATED", North American Tour (2013)

If you would like to see a video of some of our Nica-Youths practicing, please CLICK HERE

We are not up to budget, and travelling with 14 people is very expensive. We need an investment from Christian people for our next evangelism tour to the Midwest. To support us or make a once off donation, please visit our page, Contemplating SUPPORTING something significant?

POST by JOSE: Trauma Mia (Mumma)

Jose, of Capital on the Edge, flying with Taca

My mum’s childhood was one of the cruelest experiences that I have ever heard of. Everything started when she was just 8 years old. My grandmother got together with a man who wanted to abuse my mum. He would tell her to leave the house and he would not give her anything to eat. My mum told my grandmother about it all, but she did not believe that she did not have a normal childhood.

My mum escapes her parents’ house:

Every time my grandfather told her to leave the house, she would sleep on the streets and would be really hungry and would suffer. She decided to escape all the suffering and abuse.

Relationship of my mum and dad:

My mum ran away from her house at the age of 10. She had a boyfriend who is my dad. He gave her a place to stay and they lived together. He was 19 years old and my mum was only 11.

Abuse to my mum:

After a while, my mum became pregnant. She was only 13 years old. She bore her first son, my first brother, who died. This death affected my mum a heap. At the age of 14, she had me.

Then my dad started to change and he would hit her and treat her bad. There were a lot of times where he would grab her hair and pull her across the room and sometimes he would try to kill her. She had my brother at the age of 17, yet her boyfriend kept on abusing her.

The abondoning:

At the age of 18, she decided to run away from the abuse. She went to another country leaving us with him. Years passed and we did not hear anything about our mother. My dad said that she had been bad to us and that she had abandoned us.

After many years my brother and I grew up. One day I was playing and I saw an elegant and beautiful lady and she approached me and said "son, how are you?" and at that moment I felt really happy and all the hatred I held for my mother, disappeared.

Forgiveness to my mother:

My mum took us with her and we were all very happy. Though, she was the happiest out of us all. The most important thing is that she forgave my grandparents for all of the damage that they had done to her, and the traumatising pain that they left her with.

Years passed and the economic situation became more and more difficult. There were times where we would go hungry and she would always prefer to give us her food so that she would be hungry instead of us.

My mum is my hero and a marvelous woman. I love her a lot. We are extremely poor but at least we are together. I will always help her. I love her.

Forgiveness sets you free:

The best advice you can get is that it does not matter what your mother does, nor what she is, she will always be there to protect you and take care of you. She is your best friend and forgiving makes you feel free. Thank you God for giving us all marvelous mothers!

If you would like to support this fellow on a monthly basis, please CLICK HERE

To learn more about our street theatre production, "CREATED", please visit our page, NICAVANGELISTS: "CREATED", North American Tour (2013)
If you would like to see a video of some of our Nica-Youths practicing, please CLICK HERE

We are not up to budget, and travelling with 14 people is very expensive. We need an investment from Christian people for our next evangelism tour to the Midwest. To support us or make a once off donation, please visit our page, Contemplating SUPPORTING something significant?

To learn more about our home Church in Australia, please CLICK HERE

This story was written by a Nicaraguan youth, and was voluntarily given to Capital on the Edge for publishing. The subject choice was his entirely. He has elected to write about his experiences for the glory of God and so that others may learn from his experiences. The translation of this work is performed voluntarily and not professionally, hence there may be some errors. Any decisive deviation from the text is in consultation with the author, and is done so to make clear the life events written about and to provide further information so that the story is more understandable. 

This story was translated by Lorenzy and edited by Jed.

Jose enjoying dinner with Siren Assembly of God

La niñez de mi mama fue una de las más crueles y duras todo empezó cuando ella tenía 8 años mi abuela se juntó con un hombre quien quiso abusar de mi mama repetidas beses, el la corría de la casa y no le daba de comer mi mama le decía a mi abuela y ella no le creía ella no tuvo una infancia normal.

Escape de mi mama de la casa de sus padres:

Cada vez que mi abuelo la corría ella dormía en la calle y pasaba hambre y sufrimiento, ella decidió huir de todo su maltrato y sufrimiento.

Relación de mi mama y mi papa:

Mi mama huyo de la casa a los 10 años ella tenía un novio que era mi papa el le dio refugio y vivieron juntos el tenía 19 años y mi mama 11 años.

Maltrato de mi mama:

Después de un tiempo ella quedo embarazada a los 13 años de mi primer hermano quien murió en el parto eso la afecto mucho a los 14 años me tubo a mi, mi papa comenzó a cambiar y le empezaba a pegar y la maltrataba mucho hubo veces que la agarraba del cabello y la arrastraba barias veces la intento matar, ella tubo a mi hermano a los 17 años mi papa cada vez la maltrataba mas.

El abandono:

A los 18 años ella decidió huir de ese martirio y se fue a otro país dejándonos con el , pasaron los años y no sabíamos nada de ella mi papa nos decía que mi mama había sido mala con nosotros y que nos había abandonado, mi hermano y yo crecimos paso el tiempo, un día yo estaba jugando y mire a una mujer elegante y bella ella se me acerco y me dijo hijo como estas en ese momento me sentía muy feliz todos los rencores desaparecieron.

Perdón hacia mi madre:

Ella nos llevó con ella y éramos felices ella lo más importante perdono a mis abuelos de todo el daño que le hicieron y los traumas que le dejaron, pasaron los años y su situación económica se iba haciendo más difícil habían beses que pasábamos hambre ella prefería darnos su comida y ella pasar hambre ella es mi héroe, es una mujer maravillosa la quiero mucho somos pobres pero unidos y siempre la apoyare en todo.

El perdón te hace libre: uno de los mejores consejos es que no importa lo que nuestra madre haga o sea ella siempre estará ahí para protegernos, amarnos y cuidarnos es nuestra mejor amiga y el perdonar te hace sentir libre. (gracias a dios por darnos un ser tan maravilloso nuestras madres).

POST by JED: California Dreamin (Part 12)

The first few days in Davis were absolutely mind blowing, however there was one day in particular, that left me absolutely, unbelievably, totally in love with our new Northern Californian friends.

Two Churches, the Davis Christian Assembly and Vision Espiritual, joined forces to bless us with gifts and in addition, on this specific day, took us to perform our street theatre production for a middle school FULL of troubled teens.

Capital on the Edge performing for a Middle School  in Davis, California

The Brien kids and Nica-Youth gave it 1,000% and our American student audience really dove in, singing along and clapping their hands after the various scenes of the production.

Capital on the Edge performing for a Middle School  in Davis, California

We were having a wow of a time until the very end, when I gave the blessed students an option to get up and dance, which I’d never done before (nor since) and several of them actually did. Of course it wasn’t too long before a young lass hurled herself, bot-bot-over-noggin, nearly causing permanent damage to her back – CRACK!

Capital on the Edge performing for a Middle School  in Davis, California

But alas, she got up sporting a broad grin across her face and proceeded to do the Macarena utilising our Heavenly ‘Te Doy Gloria’ as accompaniment (I give you glory).

We were able to share a little about the plight of young Nicaraguans too, and the students of this Davis middle school listened attentively. After the production, scores of kids enveloped the boys and upon putting out my hand for a shake with not one, but two teachers, was grabbed and hugged tight.

The public school teachers seemed really grateful for their kids to have been exposed to genuine stories of hope prevailing, and stacks of the students said they’d show up to Davis Christian Assembly on Friday night, if the school could organise transport – which was just bazaar to me, because at that point, I didn’t even realise we were overtly advertising Church.

The evening of the same day was brilliant. Our Mexi-American friends took us out for good ol’ fashioned all-you-can-eat. The Nica-boys put the theory to the test and several were barely able to get out of their seats at the end of the night on account of gluttonously full stomachs.

The young lad serving our table seemed to consider us a curious bunch, as every time he entered the room we were either arm wrestling, having a formal devotion, designing and dressing our faces with fairy floss (cotton candy?), or laughing uncontrollably on account of all things Latino… It was a great time!

However, the most important thing to me was the love and dedication that exuded from these Latino pastors towards our valuable, eclectic, formidable troupe. Their love was unconditional and significant.

Now I know that it is generally common to hug and kiss as Latinos, but this isn’t the case in most of Nicaragua. From what I can understand, the poorer classes have been trained by missionaries in thinking that these kinds of emotional displays of affection, just aren’t Christian – inappropriate, don’t you know.

And so our boys’ faces gave away their shock and delight, when they were embraced by the teddy bear pastor, and dealt out full-on kisses, which were planted either right on their cheeks or neck. The fatherly expression of LOVE, it was great!  

Flip over the page and yet another exciting day in Davis meant a trip to the 8th most prestigious public university in the US, the University of California, Davis campus. What an honour! The fellas were well received with stax of students rallying around, and it was a significant time on account of these, future American leaders in their various fields, being ministered to by some of the world’s poorest inhabitants.

In the afternoon, we choofed off to the Farmer’s Market (ooh-laa-laa), where the boys went nuts with their dance moves, causing quite the stir. Then, back to Church for a mega-dinner, with Church people pouring in from every which-way… I am not joking when I tell you that halfway through dinner a masseur walked in with his table and gave ALL of our lads a work-over. Bah! None for me, but next time…

The masseur was the husband of one of the teachers from the middle school we had performed at. She, one of the teachers who’d hugged me, is a Columbian Catholic lady and had been so impressed with our performance she’d begged her husband to come and help our boys out. He didn’t need much persuading, and came with a great attitude to bless our boys, and the fella wasn’t even a regular Church goer. (He also knew some form of martial arts, and all of us laughed uncontrollably as he “took each one out”)

On our final “school day" in Davis we managed to visit a regular middle school, and had in mind to present a variety of dances for students enrolled in a Spanish class. Snore…

Capital on the Edge performing for a Middle School  in Davis, California

Now there’s something you just have to know about Pastor Jonathan of Davis Christian Assembly. He knows what he wants and he usually gets it. He didn’t want to perform for a single Spanish class, he wanted to perform for the entire school. And well, if they wouldn’t call a general assembly for us, then he’d do it himself…

Capital on the Edge performing for a Middle School  in Davis, California

And so, we spent some time in moments of “Oh no, this will never work. Why the ceilings are too low, the floor is too high, and the walls, well? They should be a dozen yards away from the classroom! No, let’s take this thing outside…” Eventually, they got the picture - the pastor just WOULDN'T budge… 

We went out and brought all of the other classes with us. Honestly, I think it was Pastor Jonno himself who started the rumour that Enrique Iglesias was about to perform… Eight classes were in attendance, with close to two hundred students and staff watching on.

As the story goes, I was standing at the back of the audience, watching as Liz directed and spoke, and then began to enjoy the Nica-youths performing when... an imposing figure, who I could only imagine to be a cranky school administrator, in a Pauline Hanson combo-styled pastel lemon and fuschia pant suit outfit, came storming towards us, papers in hand.

I couldn’t take my eyes off her hideousness. The fury! She was NOT happy. She promptly arrived right next to me, not once looking in my direction. Her hairy mouth twitched. I could've sworn she was about to bust up our parade and throw us all into prison. 

She made a grunting noise and then OH the hilarity – whatever had happened was side splittingly funny to her (I hadn't been watching the performance and had no idea), and she laughed until she cried, eventually looking over in my direction, nodding wildly and pointing towards our troupe – I must have looked a tad backward when my face went from concentrated stare (almost cross-eyed too) to Jim Carrey, plasticine face. Never laughed so hard in my life - and at what? To this day I have no idea…

We packed up and started moving away towards the parking lot. Elizabeth approached, “one of the boys is saying mean things to Franny,” she said. I needed not a second prompting. I approached the lad in question and asked him if he’d said the heartless comments.

He had, there was no denying it. I asked him to apologise to Fran. He refused. “Why won’t you apologise?” I whined. “Because I wasn’t talking to her, I was talking to someone else. She accidently overheard.”

Yes, yes… The logic… I instructed him, my voice fourth grade stern: “You need to apologise to Franny. It is irrelevant whether or not you meant for her to hear. She heard. It was mean. Say sorry…” He spat back “You’re crazy!” And of course, with this comment, I verily became… “You apologise immediately or there’ll be trouble!” He walked away, “NO!”

I then did a little Gerry Lewis action, running hither and dither, organising car swaps until I had the perfect concoction – The problematic punk would ride in my car, with the most helpful, obedient souls accompanying…

“You apologise, or we’ll send you straight home!” I yelled. “No! Send me home!” he squealed. Yes, I’m always so clever when I have to think under pressure. “Right, well when we return to the Church, you march straight into the pastor’s office and take yourself a seat. I will organise a flight for you, and we’ll have you on a plane by midnight!” I was confident, but I had in-fact forgotten just how stubborn this one kid could be.

He sat there with a grin from ear-to-ear. Another of our lads walked in, “Yeah, I’ll travel with home with him” he said. Wait just a minute, this problem was starting to feel like a runaway train. “You want to go home?” I asked. “Yeah, I miss my mum.” GAAAAH! I picked up the receiver and called the airline “blah, blah, blah, rah, rah, rah, you may as well buy another ticket.” The impudence! The audacity! Modern airlines and their super strict ticketing rules! There would be no return tickets, not for my naughty boy, nor his willing companion.

I hung up the phone, brain not communicating with mouth, which was already talking saying God-only-knows-what. It was then that my Nicaraguan associate became as cranky as all-get-out. We took it to the parking lot. I explained that he’d have to stay with us until the end of tour, but that he would no longer dance with the troupe.

We strode towards the youth room, our lodging/home, my pal’s words getting less and less polite, and more and more loud. We entered the room and the rest of our troupe stopped whatever it was that they were doing and fixated on our darling little Jerry Springer do-do of a moment.

He hurled himself towards me with all fury, bent on revenge. Others of our group bounded over and jump on top of him, like loco Mexican Luchadores. “Run” they all screamed. I did. I ran like a 3 year old girl, and cannot honestly remember if I did or did not let out a little “mummy!” as I propelled.

I waited in the Pastor’s office. “He wants to kill you, Jed,” said one of the boys as he hurried into my (the pastor’s) panic room (office). His face looked grim. I started, “Yeah, well… Perhaps I shou” I was interrupted. “NO! JED!  He’s got a knife and he really wants to kill you!”

And that’s the little doozie that changed everything. I pushed past my amigo and ran to the kitchen. I grabbed the knife drawer and ran back to the office. I threw the rectangular death-ridden device under the pastor’s desk (imagine the reverend’s delight when he sat down to type up his morning to-do-list, nearly skewering his foot with a butcher’s knife! This nearly happened… After our ordeal ended, I forgot to replace the drawer).

My compadre stopped me. He’s also got a baseball bat. I went to go ready the building a second time, thinking of everything that might potentially be a killing device, but realised all too quickly that the kid could take me with his bare hands in half a moment. It was to be no use. If he wanted me dead, I was TOAST!

Before long we had the pastor involved. He’s a very wise chap, our Davis Christian Assembly bloke. He sewed seeds of wisdom and put questions in our Nica-lad’s mind. However, the kid was unmoved, most likely because there wasn’t a longstanding relationship between the two – Nicaraguans don’t trust people they’ve just met, even if these people have bestowed gifts, time, resources, etc. Our kid now had the glitzy lights of Managua before him – only problem, the funds just weren’t available to send him sailing home…

I waited for the longest time, but then realised I was highly dehydrated on account of the sweat that was swilling around in my little booties. I decided to climb out of the broom closet and strolled back to the kitchen for a glass of freshly squeezed red cordial, and then noticed the most beautiful, precious, priceless thing through a tiny little window opening onto the courtyard. Liz, a valiant soldier, was speaking decisively to the dude.

Now I have to tell you – I am the hype, the fun, the vision… Liz is the details, the wisdom, the brains… She was talking to our micro-murderous-man, and not letting him get a word in edgeways (welcome to the party!).

Forgiveness flowed. We were restored! The hatchet was LITERALLY buried and the hugs, kisses and love once again shone like the hot, HOT sun...

Thank GOD for the too-hard-basket! I tell you, there are so many things in my life that I’d like to change for an easier set of circumstances, but not my will, but YOURS be DONE!

Yordy, my champion son, went on to do marvelous things whilst on tour with us in California. He wouldn’t perform publicly in the mission, but then went on to bedazzle 2 youth groups, whom I am sure are now changed forever. Yes, he would also eventually vandalise private property, threaten to punch Liz in the face and try to slug me in the guts, but he would also assist in the blessing of people running into the arms of an everlasting God. The rewards? Priceless…

The U-Turn event in Sacramento, where literally HUNDREDS of Youths Gave Their Hearts to the Lord

Today I’ve wrestled with writing this post.

A new friend of mine is scared to death for us and for the safety of our children. “Change your tactic” was the tone of his e-mail. Nicely written, and from a heart of love, you’d have to agree with this fellow if looking through the lens of Earthly Wisdom.

A pastor recently advised that we should not be so sensational with the words we speak (and I’m assuming “write”). “Americans are desensitized.” Focus on other facets of your ministry and your message, don’t share in such detail the pain and the past. Well, yes… Or, no… It’s not a huge deal to me either way, but here’s why we blog and share our testimonies:

We share our youths’ stories with you, so that our young people will have victory over their pasts… The Devil LOVES hidden sins and secrecy…

We share our youths’ stories with you, so that we have a record of how God has moved in their lives and can visually see where he has brought these kids from, and to…

We share our youths’ stories with you, to help them keep their focus on a very bright future with God, walking out of darkness and into light…

We share our youths’ stories with you, so that you can have hope – if God can do miracles in these kids’ lives, he can do miracles in your lives…

We share our youths’ stories with you, so that you can see the potential of God’s power. These young people are changing their world! YOU CAN CHANGE YOURS!!!

What’s the cost?

Christ, at God’s request, went to the Cross with his mother crying at his feet. Abraham, at God’s request, was prepared to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on an altar. Esther risked her life for God’s children. Job was handed over to the Devil to do with as he liked! It seems that anyone in the Bible who was significant in the Kingdom, had to endure and held onto a faith for the things unseen.

In my life, I find myself constantly doubting many things on any given day. But the one thing I feel firmly committed to is the discipleship of people God has placed in my way. They’re my children. They’re our Nicaraguan youths.

We’re all called to discipleship! We need to both be discipled and make disciples. But sadly, we just don’t do it (corporately, the church as a whole).

Honestly, as I reflect now on our time in Nicaragua, El Salvador, California, and after having spoken with SO MANY Church leaders across the USA, I can tell you that YES, I am disillusioned. I am disillusioned by our apathy, programs, greatness, selfishness, excuses, lack of compassion and vision… But most of all, I am disillusioned by our lack of Jesus...

I honestly feel that people just don’t understand how, but when we take a step back and look at it, the solution really is quite simple.

God is a loving God. He desires relationship. We need to surrender to His will and love him back. With the very same love he gives to us, we need to give to others. We don’t stop giving. We keep on loving, and loving, and loving and loving.

Tonight, Yordy said to me, “Jed, what do you see for my life when I am older?” I responded, “A man who wants nothing else but to love God and serve him always.” He smiled, kicked the dirt and said, “yeah, I want to be just like you.” We both laughed hard (and actually I’m not sure why… Mental note to self – I need to follow up on that one!).

The truth is, discipleship is just loving people that God puts on your path, all the time, without strings, completely and compassionately, with all that you are… Wasn’t/isn’t that Christ’s message to us?

If you would like to learn more about our ministry, please watch our latest update,CLICK HERE

If you would like to learn more about who our Nica-Youths are, or to support them, please visit their page, SUPPORT Nica-Talent

To learn more about our street theatre production, "CREATED", please visit our page,NICAVANGELISTS: "CREATED", North American Tour (2013)

If you would like to see a video of some of our Nica-Youths practicing, please CLICK HERE

We are not up to budget, and travelling with 14 people is very expensive. We need an investment from Christian people for our next evangelism tour to the Midwest. To support us or make a once off donation, please visit our page, Contemplating SUPPORTING something significant?

To learn more about Davis Christian Assembly, please CLICK HERE

POST by YORDY: The Purpose Driven Search

Raffy, Yordy & Jonny

My time in the States was very exciting. We met a lot of people with good hearts. They talked to us about their pasts and the changes that God has made in their lives.

We too, were able to share the truth about how our lives were before we got to know Jesus. We had very hard lives when we were lost on the streets. We only did bad things, and so I thank God for placing Jed and Elizabeth Brien in my life.

They are a very good family who follow the foot prints of our God. They showed us how to live with Jesus in our hearts. We too have been able to help others make changes in their lives. We’ve been able to help people who really needed it, in the United States.

I have a lot of faith in God, that he will give us another opportunity to share the gift that he has given us.

I hope to see God move in a lot of lives on this next trip (to Minnesota and Wisconsin) and also hope that the people we visit will learn more about the purpose that God has for their lives.

Thanks for reading and God bless you.

If you would like to support this fellow on a monthly basis, please CLICK HERE

To learn more about our street theatre production, "CREATED", please visit our page,NICAVANGELISTS: "CREATED", North American Tour (2013)

If you would like to see a video of some of our Nica-Youths practicing, please CLICK HERE

We are not up to budget, and travelling with 14 people is very expensive. We need an investment from Christian people for our next evangelism tour to the Midwest. To support us or make a once off donation, please visit our page,ContemplatingSUPPORTINGsomething significant?

To learn more about our home Church in Australia, please CLICK HERE

This story was written by a Nicaraguan youth, and was voluntarily given to Capital on the Edge for publishing. The subject choice was his entirely. He has elected to write about his experiences for the glory of God and so that others may learn from his experiences. The translation of this work is performed voluntarily and not professionally, hence there may be some errors. Any decisive deviation from the text is in consultation with the author, and is done so to make clear the life events written about and to provide further information so that the story is more understandable. 

Mi experiencia en Estados Unidos fue muy emocionante conocimos muhas personas con un buen corzon, ellos nos ensenaron su pasado y el cambio que dios hizo en sus vidas, nosotros tanvien les demostramos la verdad de como era nuestra vida antes de conocer a jesus, teniamos una vida muy dura perdidos en las calles solo hacienda cosas malas pero le doy muchas Gracias a dios por poner a Elizabeth y a jed brien ellos son una familia muy buena que siguen los pasos de nuestro dios, ellos nos ensenaron a vivir con jesus en nuestro Corazon logramos muchos canvios a personas que lo necesitaban en los estados unidos, tengo mucha fe en dios que el nos dara otra vez la oportunidad de compartir lo que dios nos a dado esperamos lograr muchos cambios en las vidas de las personas en este viaje y tambien aprendan mas sobre los propositos que nuestro dios ha puesto en nuestras vidas Gracias por todo y que dios los bendiga.

POST by JOSE: Dios te Cuida en Los Momentos Más Duros

Jose with his pal Ronny...

About two years ago I had an experience that involved feeling the presence of God by my side. He guided and protected me from a lot of dangers.

One day a friend of mine invited me to go with her to church, because they were having an evangelistic service. I decided to accept the invitation and went along with my friend.

We went along and I enjoyed the preaching and how they shared Jesus. I was very happy and started to go every Sunday to church.

One Sunday I went to church and everything started out great.  I liked feeling the joy of the Lord and the thrill of being together with other Church folk who also loved the Lord.

I felt very happy because before I knew Christ, I did not believe in him. Things would happen to me in my life, and I would be like “why are these things happening to me? Why do these bad things ALWAYS happen to me?” I would start crying and felt like I didn’t have answers to my questions.

Most of the time I felt like life wasn’t worth living and that there was no point in going on, and that life just didn’t make sense.

Living life like that, meant that there was no meaning for me. It made me push people away. I felt invisible. I did not want to talk to anyone. People would talk to me and I would answer them with unkind words.

I hated everyone and I didn’t care about anyone. I felt invincible. But when I went to that church, everything changed and I felt comforted.

One day, the service went on for a little longer than usual. After the service, some brothers from church offered me a lift in their car and dropped me at a bus stop. I waited a long time for the bus, my mode of transport for getting home, but it never came.

I was very scared because my house was a long way away from where I had been waiting for the bus. So I started to pray to Jesus. I asked him, “Lord, please protect me from danger and don’t let anything bad happen to me. Please take care of me.”

At that very moment, I started to walk to my house. I needed to go through places that were very dangerous, where bad things happen. I kept on walking and praying asking God to protect me.

I did not know the way, because the city is big and at times I felt lost. Yet God guided me with the wind. He directed me and told me which way to go. I went through places that might have been dangerous, but no one came out to hurt me.

The trip home on a bus takes about an hour, but God assisted me and my travel time was not too long - I arrived home in just an hour and a half! I was safe and unharmed, ALL thanks to God.

At that moment I knew that he was always with me protecting me. When you have problems that feel pretty hard, ask Jesus to help you, because he is always aware, no matter what. Never lose faith. Faith moves mountains!

Always trust the Lord, because he will help you with the hardest problems of your life.

If you would like to support this fellow on a monthly basis, please CLICK HERE

To learn more about our street theatre production, "CREATED", please visit our page,NICAVANGELISTS: "CREATED", North American Tour (2013)

If you would like to see a video of some of our Nica-Youths practicing, please CLICK HERE

We are not up to budget, and travelling with 14 people is very expensive. We need an investment from Christian people for our next evangelism tour to the Midwest. To support us or make a once off donation, please visit our page,ContemplatingSUPPORTINGsomething significant?

To learn more about our home Church in Australia, please CLICK HERE

This story was written by a Nicaraguan youth, and was voluntarily given to Capital on the Edge for publishing. The subject choice was his entirely. He has elected to write about his experiences for the glory of God and so that others may learn from his experiences. The translation of this work is performed voluntarily and not professionally, hence there may be some errors. Any decisive deviation from the text is in consultation with the author, and is done so to make clear the life events written about and to provide further information so that the story is more understandable. 

Hace como dos años yo tuve una experiencia inolvidable en la que dios estuvo a  mi lado y me guio y me protegió de muchos peligros, un día una amiga me invito que fuera a su iglesia que avía un encuentro y yo acepte ir con ella fuimos la primera vez y me gusto como predicaban y como se expresaban de Jesús yo muy contento empecé a ir todos los domingo solo a la iglesia, un domingo que fui a la iglesia todo empezó muy alegre me gustaba mucho sentir el gozo del señor la alegría que se sentía el ambiente con los hermanos era muy agradable esa experiencia y me sentía muy feliz yo antes de conocer a dios no creía en el porque me pasaban cosas que yo decía porque a mí porque solo a mí me pasa esto y yo me ponía a orar  y sentía que no tenía respuestas a mis preguntas mucha beses pensé que la viada no era nada que no valía la pena vivir que la vida no tenía sentido me quise apartar de las personas yo me sentía invisible no quería hablar con nadie a todo el que me hablaba bien yo le contestaba mal, era alguien odioso que no me importaban los demás solo era yo me sentía como invencible más que los demás pero desde el momento que fui a esa iglesia todo cambio me sentía reconfortado.

Un día se me hiso tarde en la iglesia y unos hermanos me fueron a dejar a la estación de buces y yo me quede esperando el bus para ir a mi casa y nunca paso por que ya era muy noche yo muy asustado por que mi casa quedaba lejos le comencé a orar a Jesús y le decía señor protégeme de todo peligro que no me pase nada cuídame guárdame  y en ese momento decidí caminar hasta mi casa tenía que pasar por lugares muy peligrosos donde avían muchos delincuentes y cosas malas peor yo por dentro cuando iba caminando le decía señor protégeme yo no conocía el camino por que la ciudad es algo grande y me sentía perdido pero el señor me guiaba con el viento, cuál era el camino correcto pase por lugares que tal vez eran peligrosos y no me salía nadie a hacerme daño el camino de regreso en ruta era de casi una hora en autobús y dios me iso  el camino más corto llegue en hora y media a mi casa sano y salvo gracias a dios y desde ese momento yo sentí que él siempre estuvo con migo protegiéndome cuando tengan un problema que sientan que es difícil para ustedes pídanle a Jesús el señor que él está ateto a sus peticiones sea cual sea nunca pierdan la fe la fe mueve montañas.

Confiemos siempre en el señor que él nos sacara de los problemas más difíciles de nuestras vidas.

POST by JED: California Dreamin (Part 11)

Capital on the Edge, performing at Davis Christian Assembly

It’s always tops to start on a good note and that’s literally what happened for us at the beginning of Californian tour, week four.

Davis Christian Assembly PUT ON the RITZ for our troupe, measuring us from head to toe and later giving us gifts of brand new clothes and shoes. Quite necessary, and completely welcomed. In fact, as I type this post, I look down with fond memories at my fancy-pants, Jarman shoes – so comfy!

The Church made sure that every meal was a spread fit for royalty with pastries, fruit and coffee for breakfast, and every tantilising delight available in mountainous form, for din-dins. My mouth was watering, at all times, on account of savoury and sweet fumes wafting throughout the building.

They drove us around their gnarly little town, from east to west and north to south, without any concern for the cost of gasoline or their own time.

They cut our hair, gave us tips for our production, helped with marketing our tour, loaded us up with cash and counseled, BOY DID THEY COUNSEL us!

Liz was treated to day-spa appointments, our girls were taken out for ice cream, the Brien boys went on play-dates and this little compilation I’ve delivered now, doesn’t even scratch the surface of their nonstop give-a-thon!

They prayed over our boys one-by-one, wrote letters and spoke with immigration officials on our behalf, organised covert evangelism events in public schools, universities and secular places we shouldn’t have dared step foot in.

They showed us every Christian kindness, with grace, mercy, compassion and unity, and all out of a Jesus-heart for their world – they were love to us. We’d come to be a blessing and whaddayaknow? The tables had been ferociously overturned!

And so from the very start, we knew that Davis Christian Assembly had our backs. Sunday morning was a great way to start our week, with Church consisting of prayer in small groups, praise and worship that was not trying to go somewhere super-dooper, but rather just focused on praising Jesus, and touching God’s heart, and then we performed our street theatre production, "Created."

Capital on the Edge, performing at Davis Christian Assembly

Our troupe was magnificent: high energy, correct form, good acting, the works. The Church was very supportive and really gave the boys something to get excited about. There were small bloopers, there always are, but nobody made mention and all was simply groovy-baby.

Pastor Jonathan, you’ve never met anyone like him. Quirky/hilarious sense of humour, strong leadership ability, musically talented, gifted speaker, hands-on approach, Greek ancestory, sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, a businessman, husband and father to a beautiful family, a true pastor’s heart – I s’pose he really was an all-round AWESOME bloke…

Pastor Jonathan, left, with the lads of Capital on the Edge

And Bensie – Darling Bentz! The girl who dances in your shadow, always making certain that EYES are permanently dotted and TEAS are forever dashed, never seeking the spotlight and so articulate. She makes everything beautiful and the wheels definitely go round, not on account of anyone’s great work, but because she’s there pushing that bandwagon with everything she’s got! (and possibly with her darling little kiddies watching on!)

Bentz, an incredible exemplification of the love of God! This gal was the BEST communicator for us, from the Church’s side, of our entire Californian trip. So much thanks goes to this Treasure Pot, for all she did to make our lives simply Heavenly…

Bensie, far left, with (mostly) Capital on the Edge

But, I’m still not doing this Church justice. And why? Well because it’s a bargain basement, two-for-one jobby! They have a Spanish arm, which is more like a foot!

Again you ask “Why?” Because, during the week the Spanish Church utilises every inch of that Davis Christian Assembly building, pacing up and down it’s corridors, and walking around and around that Church’s sanctuary room, praying into the Heavenlies and giving praise, worship and all glory to God.

So at 2pm we enjoyed the Spanish service.  The music had a gigantic wow-factor attachment (saxophone and all!), and the announcements almost sounded like a sermon - lots of gusto and fanfare, totally Latino – I was in smitten.

Spanish Church at the Davis Christian Assembly

Then once again we presented our street theatre production, though on this occasion we were down 3 people. No matter, the crew soldiered on...

In the evening the Spanish Pastors, from Guadalajara no less, cooked up a storm and we all ate lots of great food. I told the boys to savour every mouthful, unaware that these kinds of meals were to be the norm for the entire week.

After our feed, the Latino pastors graciously took us to their homes where we each were able to have a well needed shower – two performances in one day – peeeeeYOUUUU!

We were also prayed over for about the 10th time that day and what a hoot! The lads have experienced Spanish prayer meetings and English prayer meetings, but never the both together. In fact, some of the second generation Latinos from Davis, prayed in both languages within the confines of the one prayer – ha ha SENSATIONAL! We had a good laugh – it was TOPS!

More presents of lotions and bathing stuff, and we were then brought home for a great night of R&R.

Spanish Pastors (The Montoys)

Now my old childhood pal from YWAM, Laura Larson (then "Rediger"), did a bit of a brag about the Davis Christian Assembly before we came to the pretty inland town (she used to attend the Church in her husband’s masters days). However, I was like “yeah, yeah, I’m sure it’s probably the best Church in the World.” (not really believing her…)

But truly, it may not be the BEST Church in the World, but it’s most certainly in the top 10, and considering there has to be some 10,000,000,000,000 Churches on Planet Earth, I’d have to say, and I’m no mathematician - so correct me if I’m wrong, that Davis Christian Assembly is in the TOP 1 percentile band of Best Churches in the World. That being said, I’d also like to go so far as saying that I think they’d probably make the TOP 1 percentile band of the Best Churches in the entire UNIVERSE!!!

The following morning we were up at the crack of dawn and off to an elementary school in downtown Davis. The school we visited had implemented a Spanish Immersion program, which I thought meant that it was an educational institution for Mexican kids, desirous of acquiring the English language. Nuppo muchachos, incorrecto. Other way around.

The kids at this school were everyday American kids (African American, White, Asian, 3^rd/4^th generation Latinos) whose parents thought it would be beneficial for their children to learn in Spanish.

Jed & Capital on the Edge, in an American public school

Hence, the kids were being completely immersed in the Spanish language and learning it really quickly, suffering only a wee bit of English instruction per day. The kids at this school were fully bilingual!

Anyway, the point of my story is that we were able to perform for 50 minutes, in two assemblies, in a CALIFORNIAN PUBLIC SCHOOL! To-date, this has not been possible. But I’m here to tell you that con Dios, no hay nada impossible!!!

Capital on the Edge performing in a Californian public school

I had a ripper of a time, stepping back into an American School, and was able to freely share the Gospel message through our street theatre production. We had the kids and teachers singing praise songs, were able to invite kids to other venues to see the production again with their families, and generally had a hum-dinger of a good time!

The kids of an American public school, sat still, sang loudly, and applauded with all of their might

Of course there were a few tears, but only from tincy-wincy kids who were afraid of the Devil (Jonny, otherwise known as Bad Choices), and Stivey.

In our street theatre production, Stivey gets REALLY angry and taunts his audience. We hadn’t prepped Stivey, assuming he would not go up to 6 year old kids and eye-ball them, smacking his fist.

Stivey, eye-balling his audience

Funny thing to me is, he didn’t think the little preciouses would be scared! Most Nicaraguan kids would laugh, having already been exposed to all sorts of horror, gore and physical abuse, and from the earliest of ages.

Our boys were really touched too, being able to come in as “teachers” to American kids. The little darlings looked up to our big boys because of their excellent Spanish language skills and athletic ability. And so the relationships blossomed, as did the dialogue in Español.

The boys, with their adoring fans...

Every bit of thanks to Elaine, from Davis Christian Assembly. This woman was NOTHING SHORT of phenomenal. She organised the public school events, offered us her home, organised for us to meet the director of Acquire the Fire, and nearly matched the Church’s love offering! She knew we needed the help (and we did – thank you Elaine!).

And so, after the performances, Elaine hosted our boys at her house. They were blessed by being able to sit in a spa for two hours, and desperately needed it due to our mounting injury tally – by now we’d been on the road for three and a half weeks, and the boys were getting sore and injured, mostly because they didn’t warm up or cool down properly – there’s only a certain amount that caring benefactors can say/do. At some stage, the boys needed to take ownership of their own bodies! Bah, the youth of today… ha ha

Thank you Elaine for the spa... Relaxed bodies ALL around!

In the evening the Church facilitated a time of openness and brokenness with both the Spanish and English speaking Pastors. It was something else. They prayed for every one of our boys and even Lorenzy. Their words of prophecy were completely SPOT on!

Pastor Jonathan prayed that Lorenzy would be able to maintain her innocence. You have no idea how difficult it is as parents of teenage girls, to welcome teenage boys into your home. We do it, because we believe that God wants us to do this work for him.

However, pastor after pastor questioned us on this. “First God, then your family, then your ministry.” They all say the same thing. It’s not Biblical. It fits in with our selfish Western lives, but it isn’t Biblical. How would that philosophy have worked for Jesus? For Moses? For Abraham? No, serving the Lord is an honour, and we do it together. Our work is not a burden, it’s a privilege.

With God first, everything else will fall into the correct order. But, we do need to be wise. And this is where Elizabeth and I have fallen short, because we’re human – yet, that’s not an acceptable excuse, either. And therefore, it was ABSOLUTELY AWESOME to hear Pastor Jonathan pray over Lorenzy, speaking words of truth and encouragement into her heart. She’s a changed girl! And for the better…

Lorenzy LOVES to dance - and she does it with ALL of her heart

They prayed that Stivey would realise how precious he is to God. Stivey has about a hundred brothers. He is loved by his family, but he’s not special to anyone. He’s special to us, but he doesn’t know that. We try to show him and tell him, but he doesn’t hear us. He’s so used to not being special, that he’s sort of immuned to words or actions of specialness towards him. Stivey was touched, really touched.

Stivey, the special one... (of many)

They prayed that Rene would find his strength in God. Rene was sold by his parents. He’s ALWAYS had to fend for himself and fight in order to get ahead. Rene doesn’t trust anyone and is in a sense, “self-made.” This word was 100% spot-on.

They prayed that Yordy and Jonny would know that they are loved.

Yordy’s Dad left him at the moment he was born. He came back with a stack-load of presents when Yordy was eight years old – all the dads in Nicaragua do this. “I love you, I’m sorry…” They all say the same thing, like they’ve read it from the same script. Yordy started smoking Marijuana at this time – the hole in his heart just too great a magnitude...

Yordy’s mum, we believe, is a prostitute. She has lived with him for a total of 3 months in his entire life. She currently resides in Costa Rica.

Yordy’s first job, before he was ten years old, was to kill cows and cut off their heads.

We consider Yordy to be our son. Just a couple of weeks ago, Yordy cut himself. It all comes back to love. “Don’t you care that I have blood all over me?” he wrote to Liz, desperate for a display of affection from her.

Yordy has attempted suicide countless times. I have spoken thousands of words of love, have shown him fatherly physical love, have doted on him. It’s almost worthless. He needs to know his Heavenly Father’s love for him. Praise God for Pastor Jon’s words…

Jose, Elizabeth and Yordy

Jonny’s family lived in a seriously rough neighbourhood, dominated by gangs. His father was an alcoholic and ruled with an iron fist. Jonny has never touched any drugs or alcohol for fear of his father’s wrath.

When I first met Jonny’s father, I made him laugh, but even I could tell that his face nearly cracked. “Gosh” said Jonny when he got in the car, “I’ve never seen my dad smile before.” Jonny has a parent, but he lacks a father. Jonny’s father is now busy with another woman and a new adorable little bub – and so the cycle of poverty continues. Jonny doesn’t know love.

Sezni & Jonny performing

They prayed that Yader would keep chasing God. This was cool, because he’d been deeply impacted when the pastor’s of a Baptist Church in El Salvador had taken off our shoes and washed our feet. They’d prophesied over us. They gave Yader their own, very well used, Bible.

Yet, since arriving in the USA, we’d also somehow arrived in attitude city. We’d had several run-ins with Yader, he’s terribly proud and never admits fault – that’s quite an obstacle for a missionary. Breakthrough time for Yader!

Yader

They prayed that Beycker would know that he is not the answer to people’s problems. Beycker’s Dad is a terrible man. He is a lawyer and attends Nicaragua’s biggest church – an Assemblies of God Church. My very own denomination! However, Beycker’s Dad has two different sets of children, from who knows how many women (it’s not just 2 as previously though). He has a girlfriend, and brags to his son that his girlfriend is younger than Beycker! He visits prostitutes regularly.

Beycker’s Dad, as I write this, is trying to evict Beycker’s mother, the mother of his children, from her house. Beycker’s father charges his mother rent. I cannot, as a Christian fellow, tell you how cross Beycker’s Dad makes me.

Please pray for Liz, at the moment Beycker’s Dad is furious with us. Many reasons there, but the main thing is that we support his mother, and have gone to lengths to make sure that she is safe and cared for. Her, a mere woman, the garbage of Nicaraguan society…

Woops, lost the point of my story. Beycker is the go-between for everyone in his family and their problems with each other. Poor lad, he cannot shake the shackle.

I’m telling you, the Pastors of Davis Christian Assembly were SPOT ON with EVERY WORD that came out of their mouths. Lizzie and I sat there and just watched and laughed. INCREDIBLE! They were specific, without a word wasted. Usually I “oh yeah, sure” these types of moments. But as I knew, for a fact, that they had no idea about these lads, I could do nothing but sit there in stunned amazement. God, using Davis Christian Assembly, to affect the lives of nothing-people, who were somehow going places (and fast).

Then the food… Of course, the food… I thought I’d died and gone straight to Guadalajara… The Mexicans cooked up YET ANOTHER storm and the youth, intercessors and pastors just kept pouring into our boys, filling them up with food, prayers, wisdom, love, etc. It was INCREIBLE! I’m telling you, Davis Christian Assembly – remember that name. It mightn’t be in this life, but you’ll DEFINITELY be hearing about them again….

Please watch the following clip of a Davis Christian Assembly super-star. This kid was encouraged by our dance troupe and is going to do GREAT things for his Jesus. Just watch and see...

If you would like to learn more about our ministry, please watch our latest update,CLICK HERE

If you would like to learn more about who our Nica-Youths are, or to support them, please visit their page, SUPPORT Nica-Talent

To learn more about our street theatre production, "CREATED", please visit our page,NICAVANGELISTS: "CREATED", North American Tour (2013)

If you would like to see a video of some of our Nica-Youths practicing, please CLICK HERE

We are not up to budget, and travelling with 14 people is very expensive. We need an investment from Christian people for our next evangelism tour to the Midwest. To support us or make a once off donation, please visit our page, Contemplating SUPPORTING something significant?

To learn more about Davis Christian Assembly, please CLICK HERE