Aaron Cordero, GMI missionary candidate for Nicaragua who is currently living in Costa Rica, is very much looking forward to arriving on the field and beginning his ministries for the Lord.
Once Aaron arrives in Nicaragua, he will engage in many ministries. In addition to discipleship relationships and Bible studies, he wants to create a self-sustainable cashew tree farming business on the ministry property. This project will create jobs for people in the community and will help to sustain the church. These jobs will come in phases:
Phase 1 – dig a well behind the church in the back of the property. This will supply water for the irrigation of the cashew tree farm we will be creating. Another goal and hope is that by having this project it will allow the youth to be more involved and allow them to learn new skills.
Phase 2 – we will need to pump the water out of the well. In order to accomplish this we will build a windmill or get solar panels to extract the water from the well. The energy created from the windmill or solar panels will pump the water into water tanks. From these tanks we will eventually take the water to feed the cashew trees.
Phase 3 – we will prepare part of the church property grounds for planting cashew trees. The grounds will be tilled and fertilized in preparation for the cashew trees. These trees will be planted on the church property as seedlings and small grafted trees.
As we wait for the trees to mature and produce fruit we will start Phase 4. This phase will consist of making a brick, outdoor oven. This oven will be used to cook the cashews, make jams from the cashew fruit, and also make soy meat from the fruit (this oven will also be used for church and for youth events). Another aspect of Phase 4 will be to plant fast-growing, medicinal and vegetable plants in between the cashew trees. Every cashew tree needs 5-10 meters of space so this space is ideal for these smaller plants.
Alongside this cashew tree project, we will buy domestic sheep. These sheep will eat the leftover fruits and vegetables of the farm. As they grow, we will breed them so that we can eventually sell them to help the cashew project be self-sustainable. Another project will be to raise awareness about the amount of fruit being wasted in the community’s homes. We will encourage them to give us some of the fruit from their homes so we can dry them and package them as food for the community. We will also take the cashew fruit and dry it to sell and get more revenue for the project.
My hope is that this business will involve many youth and through it these young people will participate in the different church ministries and come to know the Lord as their Savior as they also learn and grow in their vocation. I know these projects will take a lot of dedication and work but I am very excited and ready to take on the task so that I can give all the honor and glory to God (2 Timothy 2:15). Thank you so much for your prayers and support.
