AMOS Health & Hope Mission
We would love to share our 2025 reflection of St. John’s Church Mission Trip to Nicaragua with AMOS Health and Hope! If this interests you, please learn more by attending our AMOS presentation at the 9:00 a.m. adult formation meeting on Sunday, May 18 in the Underground.
Your support of this outreach to AMOS Health and Hope means so much and our team: Carol Harvey, Brian Nystrom, Larry Veit, JR Dalby, Linda Taylor, Arla Burbank, Sonia Diaz, Burt Mills, Kathy Hahn, Jason Ruybe, Marcela Badillo, Manny Badillo, and Tim Spring (AMOS Board member from Pittsburgh, PA), all want to thank you for your prayers and good wishes. AMOS again did an amazing job of organizing this trip and coordinating with the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health (MINSA) to provide much needed support and health education to the Nicaraguan people.
We were the first team to travel to Nicaragua this year under new governmental regulations that mandate that AMOS get approval from MINSA for all project work. Things were delayed a bit by this new structure, but once we got the “green light” we were able to travel 9 hours to El Ayote, a municipality in the South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region. All of our preparations at AMOS campus in Managua enabled completion of our mission goals in a compressed 2 day time-frame.
The activities/projects were the following:
Construction work on the Casa Materna. This is the maternity home where women from the surrounding rural communities come to stay for the last couple of weeks of their pregnancy so that they can then deliver in a controlled/safe environment at the MINSA El Ayote Health Clinic. When we arrived, the water system was not working at all and the women were using an outside latrine and buckets for bathing. Our work involved re-piping the water lines to and from the elevated water tank, fixing the two flush toilets, installing shower and sink fixtures, painting both the base of the water tower and the outside window grills, and repairing and installing several outside light fixtures for better security. With the help of AMOS staff, Manny and his valuable translation skills, and the whole team working together, the women now have a much more comfortable and cleaner environment.
Teaching about Menstruation with the Pregnant Women in the Casa Materna and at the El Ayote Clinic. Many women don’t really understand their monthly cycles, natural post-partum bleeding or have access to feminine hygiene products. So, our team helped them understand their bodies, how to care for themselves and supplied them with cloth re-usable period packs hand sewn by Kathy’s Soroptimist Women’s group of Vallejo, CA. Forty of these packs, each containing 6 washable period pads and a holder that attaches to underwear, were greatly appreciated by the women.
Wound Care Education with the Community Health Workers from the Surrounding Rural Communities and with the MINSA medical staff at the Clinic in El Ayote. As blood loss and the risk of infection can be life-threatening, the value of this education is so important, especially when access to health care services is limited or involves long distance travel. Our team collaborated with AMOS’ chief nurse, Socorro, to provide content and demonstrations on correct techniques for handwashing, glove use, stopping bleeding, and wound dressings.
Baby Layettes for Mother’s of Newborns in El Ayote. The women of St. John’s supplied baby clothing, diapers and blankets that will be shared with women in this rural areas who have limited access to infant care supplies.
Donation of a Transvaginal Ultrasound Probe to the El Ayote Clinic. Our teammate Kathy communicated with a Medical Mission Supply company in California who was able to track down this valuable equipment to use with pregnant women for early identification of fetal or maternal distress. The clinic physicians were thrilled to get this equipment that will help to save lives. In addition we donated blood pressure cuffs, stethoscopes, and electronic thermometers to AMOS for use in their clinics Worship and Sunday School Activity at First Baptist Church in Managua. We shared the creation story and the song “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”, with Arla on the ukelele, to have the children think about their lives, God’s love, and joy. Our teammate Jason made wonderful ballon creations, the children decorated scarves with images of their hands and loved ones, and they built rainbow tissue paper flowers created by our friend June Nystrom. We handed out packets of toothbrushes/paste and hand soap donated by Carol Owens and Annie Sampson with encouragement for each child to care for their teeth and hands. Lots of laughter and love were shared by all. At the end of the worship service, we heard their choir share a stunning version of “Dona Nobis Pacem” which means Grant Us Peace.
Life at AMOS and in El Ayote. At AMOS’ campus in Managua, we lived in the Guest House with fans to keep us cool and comfortable beds. Rosa, the fantastic cook, fed us well with traditional Nicaraguan food “Gallo Pinto”—rice and beans—and wonderful fresh fruits and vegetables. Nightly we shared prayers and reflections along with songs to center ourselves and our spiritual journey with this experience. We travelled to El Ayote in the loaded transport truck “Bertha” without any problems this year, and we stayed at a house that is under construction with dirt floors and electricity. We slept on cots with our bug nets and had clean latrines and bucket showers. We ate our delicious meals “al fresco” and we even experienced a lunar eclipse with JR teaching us related astronomy. Several of us caught the “campo” cold, but that did not stop us from completing our projects and sharing love, and hopefully not our germs, to the people of El Ayote.
Visit to the Volcano. On our first Saturday, we travelled about an hour south of Managua and visited the Mombacho volcano. A beautiful cloud forest area and amazing views of Lake Nicaragua and Granada.
We are grateful to AMOS for taking such good care of us and providing us with the opportunity to serve. Our St. John’s partnership with AMOS is strong. We look forward to more work together to support Health and Hope for the people of Nicaragua and to spread God’s love.
Compiled by Carol Harvey – St. John’s AMOS Mission Facilitator
