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 2008 March Newsletter
Overview Helping Hands with Hearts for Christ exist to take the Gospel to the Nicaraguan people in a practical and relevant way. This is accomplished by being part of the community and building everyday relationships with the people. We supply resources and help where we can on a case by case basis. God has given us four great years on ministry and He is continually growing our sphere of influence. The following pages will tell of our history, present needs and the vision He has given us.
Please make your checks
payable to North Point Community Church. The Ministry Our names are Mike and Joan Vilasi. We are faith missionaries to the Central American country of Nicaragua. Our ministry name is Helping Hands with Hearts for Christ. The name says it all. We do whatever God puts in front of us. We use our hearts, souls and hands to build His Kingdom in whatever way He presents to us. In the past we volunteered at an orphanage for a little over a year. Then He blessed us with a home for abandoned, abused, and at risk girls on the Island of Ometepe, which is located in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. The island received its first paved road just two years ago. Much of the island remains dirt roads and poverty abounds. We also do outreach ministry work with the help of local pastors, doctors, and teams. These outreach ministries include health clinics, children's programs, sport programs, feeding programs, and pastoral training. We also work with a camp on the mainland, where children from the city dump in Managua are brought to the camp and matched up with teams or young adults from the US. Anywhere from three days to a week the children are exposed to Our Lord and Savior through fun, food, and fellowship. Teams have also taught them science, geography, English, and even ballet. The Mayor of Rivas also refers families to us that have a specific need that we might be able to assist them. In April of 2007, we began working with a Nicaraguan Missionary Family from Carazo (about 1 1/2 hours from where we live), Nicholas, Karla, and their children Emerson, Jossiel, Hazel, and Eric. Just knowing them has blessed our lives. On any given day you will find from 20 to 40 children in their home. These children do not have a home or the families are too poor to feed and supply them with the necessary items to attend school. So Karla and Nicholas take them in and show them God's love. Nicholas holds church services for those in the area several times a week. Their daughter Hazel teaches preschool in their home and Emerson and Jossiel are fine examples of strong Christian young men. Statement of Faith We believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God. God, through the Holy Spirit, moved upon the authors of the Scriptures in such a way that they faithfully, accurately, and completely recorded all that God intended. We believe in the one triune God as revealed in the Bible. He is the only true, eternal and living God. He reveals Himself as Father, righteous and holy in all His ways; Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son; and Holy Spirit, Lord and giver of life; each with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being. We believe Jesus Christ is God's only Son, uncreated, the only Mediator between God and mankind. By His perfect life of obedience and servanthood, He upheld divine justice at the cross, removed our guilt and reconciled us to God. When He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, He sat down at the Father's right hand where He now makes intercession for all His people and rules over all the affairs of mankind. We believe in the Holy Spirit and His work of drawing people towards Jesus through the proclamation of the Gospel. He convicts and persuades us to repent and confess Jesus Christ as Lord. Through the renewal of our hearts By His presence and gifting, He enables us to live holy and righteous lives and to fulfill the Father's purposes for our lives, individually and as the church. We believe that man and woman were created in the image of God as the crowning work of His entire creation. Man was tempted by Satan and rebelled against God's command and fell from his unique relationship with God; thus, all his descendants inherit a nature hostile to God. We believe that salvation involves the redemption of the whole person. That redemption is through Jesus Christ. Because of sin, man is separated from God, inwardly depraved, and without hope of reconciling himself to a just and holy God. All who respond in faith to God's call to submit to His Son, Jesus Christ, as Lord are justified before God and are welcomed into His Church. We believe that those who are united by the new covenant of Jesus Christ comprise the Church of Jesus Christ. Believers express their placement in His Church through confession of faith in Christ, water baptism, and communion. The goal of the Church is to reflect the glory of God and make disciples of all nations. We believe that Jesus Christ will personally and visibly return to earth in power and glory. He will come to fully establish His Kingdom and to judge the living and the dead, rewarding the righteous and punishing those who have refused to believe. We believe that every
person will stand before God and receive individual judgment for his works.
The righteous will receive the reward of faithfulness to Christ and His
purposes. The unrighteous who have refused to believe God's revelation and
provision in Christ, and have lived in rebellion to God's revealed law and
Gospel will receive eternal punishment according to God's just precepts. History Michael Vilasi was born and raised in Clifton, New Jersey the second of 5 children. Joan Marie Derringer Vilasi born in Clifton, New Jersey. At a very early age she was adopted by a family from Phillipsburg, NJ and lived there until her adopted mother died when she was 7 years old. Her father remarried a woman from Clifton and she lived there until she married Mike. Mike & Joan met in high school by accident and became best friends. After Mike went into the Army, they both broke up with whom they were dating. They saw each other as friends and spent time together playing miniature golf and just goofing off. One night as they went out for some milk for Mike’s Mother the thought came to Mike that he was wasting time. They should just get married. With his smooth manor and just do it attitude. Mike suggested they should not get the milk, but instead drive to North Carolina, and get married. The only reason Joan could come up with for not marrying Mike was that he was too short (we were both 5ft 7in). It did not take long for Mike to convince her he really was tall enough and they eloped. This was Mike’s mother’s idea of a wedding because she did not see it happen so about a week later they were married again in New Jersey. Over the years they have lived in New Jersey, Germany, Texas, Illinois, Georgia and South Carolina. Initially it was the Army. Then it was Mike’s quest for warmer weather and finally Joan’s career. With God’s help they raised two wonderful daughters, helped one foster daughter and have spent 40 plus wonderful years together. Over the years we have been Cub Scout leaders, softball and soccer couches. Joan was the Commissioner of Administration for the Houston Soccer Association. We have also served as PTA presidents. While we lived in Chicago, Mike was a chairperson on a committee, which established a home for young men. He also mentored a young man that was diagnosed with ADD. This young man gained self-esteem and confidence that he could achieve his goals with God’s help. In 1993, Mike became disabled and shortly thereafter, Joan lost her job. As we look back now we can see this is where the Lord started really working in our lives. He brought us to Columbia, South Carolina, then to local mission outreaches (God’s Storehouse, Co-operative Ministries, Windsor Methodist Church, Rehoboth Methodist, and Christian Ministries International). Finally, to North Point Community Church where we began to grow and experience what it was like to belong to a body of believers that really cared about each other. Until this point as Mike explained to John Sharp (our pastor at North Point) he had been a closet Christian. He accepted Christ as his savior when he was about 34 years old. Except for reading the Bible, he took no other action and had not grown in his walk with the Lord. (He has since determined you can not be a Christian and live in a closet.) In 1998, we began teaching Sunday school at North Point. In 2000, Joan became the coordinator for the Toddler Sunday School Class. We have served as small group leaders, worked at Nick at Night (VBS); Joan was a member of the meals ministry, and a member of a men’s prison ministry team and participated in Experiencing God Weekends Program. God began calling us to full time mission work in 1999 when Mike visited Nicaragua for the first time. Joan began working in Nicaragua in 2000 and in June of 2003 they sold everything they had and left for Nicaragua to volunteer at and orphanage and to begin their ministry “Helping Hands with Hearts for Christ.” Since that day they have lived simply but joyfully believing that God will provide their every need and do whatever the Lord guides them to do on a daily basis.
Rancho Hebron-Rivas & Carazo Goal · To provide the abandoned, abused and at risk children with a home to live in. · Where they are loved and cared for by Christian parents. · To help them build strong lives; mentally, physically and spiritually. · To know that they have a Heavenly Father that loves them! · Group Prayer · Bible Study · Christian Literature · To help each children to build a dream for a Brighter Tomorrow! · To join families together via adoption to Christian families throughout the world Community Involvement · Being involved in local community · Hiring workers from the community · Being part of the local economy H3C Medical Assistance · Via Medical Teams and Local Doctors · Supply Medical needs for locals · Coordinate Physician care · Supply Medicine Outreach Ministry · Via Evangelism Teams · Home Visitation · Home improvement · Sharing the Word one person at a time · Building or Improving Local Churches or their facilities · Vacation Bible School Programs or other outreach programs to children in the community · Feeding Programs · Distribution of Bibles and Tracts · Pastoral and lay person training Rancho Hebron Rivas – Immediate Need · To relocate by year end to the mainland · To rent a temporary house/s to house the children temporarily · This will increase the monthly budget by approximately $450 a month per house. Rancho Hebron Carazo – Immediate Need · Construction teams to improve facilities · Additional bathrooms · Painting · Patio and Porch · New Pre School Room Rancho Hebron Rivas & Carazo – Future Needs · To purchase property to build houses on. · Teams to build homes to house 6 – 8 children per house · Christian Self Funded House Parents to join our team Long Term Goals for Rancho Hebron Rivas & Carazo · To have our children participate in Short term mission trips to reach others · To build a youth recreation facility and youth ministry · To build a Christian School utilizing a Christian Home School Curriculum · To conduct a daily feeding center at each location · To build a vocational training center
So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you .. Luke 11:9
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