Oscar and Tamy Gaitan’s door is always open to anyone who desires to support the mission work in Nicaragua in any way. The same held true years ago when Tamy’s mother, Karen Smith, went to Nicaragua to teach. She found Paul and Mickey Robinson and John and Shirley Ladd very welcoming to her. In fact, she lived with John and Shirley for a while. At that point, Nicaragua was a growing mission work within the BMAA. Then, due to the political situation, we had to withdraw the American families from there. Now it seems to be open and thriving again.
Oscar and Tamy married in 1998 and have lived in Nicaragua the whole time, Oscar, having grown up there. They have two children: Lidia Sarai, who is 10, and Ostali Natanael, who is 1. The children go with their parents and help in the mission work as well.
In 2004, Oscar was asked to be the coordinator of missions for the country of Nicaragua. At that time, they began with Action centers (or what we might call cell groups) in different parts of the country. They have opened at least one church plant each year, and sometimes two. This year, however, God has blessed them with four new church plants. They currently have 26 churches in Nicaragua—17 churches and 9 new church plants that are less than 5 years old. They begin a church plant with an action center or cell group and grow and multiply from there.
Nicaragua also has a Bible Institute with two extensions to train their leaders. One is in the area of San Francisco Libre; the other is at La Esperanza, on the east coast. This is a much needed asset anywhere. Without proper training, it is difficult for those who have never known anything about true Christianity to understand what they need themselves, much less to provide it for others. The classes are taught by men from Nicaragua.
Years ago, the Robinsons and Ladds began a clinic ministry in Nicaragua. There is also a clinic ministry operating in a remote area of Nicaragua today. That allows the people to get general medicines much closer to home. This is in San Jorge, San Francisco Libre. BMMI teams also come on a regular basis to perform needed medical and dental work in these areas.
Different churches from Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas have greatly supported the ministry in Nicaragua. These people have sent groups to work on construction of church buildings and other ministry needs such as conferences. These groups help not only with the work, but also in establishing contact for them and spreading the gospel to different areas of Nicaragua.
Oscar and Tamy say, “We are always glad to have visitors and if you ever need a place to serve in missions, we would love for you to consider Nicaragua. Our home is always open to those who desire to support mission work in any way.”
submitted by Jackie Ricks
National WMA Editor
