2,000 attendees

Verbo Nicaragua took a giant step forward in its work of preparing true Christian disciples for their work of service to the world and the Church when ministry leaders from around Central America convened to name almost 70 new church workers, including apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers at a gala massive national event in Managua recently.

Bob Trolese, who with his wife, Myra, and a team of young Guatemalans founded the Nicaragua mission in 1980, hosted the event at which he was named an apostle according to Verbo’s understanding of Ephesians 4:8-16. Under Bob’s care, the original church has blossomed into 16 congregations throughout the country, plus schools, orphanages, agricultural outreaches and social services.

After 12 years as Verbo’s international director, James Jankowiak resigned the post at the end of 2010. He continues his functions as a member of the International and Central American councils and as coordinator for the churches in Brazil and Spain from his home in Guatemala City. He was not replaced, but rather the nine-member International Council will work on a consensus basis with a rotating coordinator.

      James explained, “I feel that God is guiding us into new, more dynamic and relational leadership based more on apostolic and other fivefold gifts rather than on national hierarchies. God's boundaries and spheres of responsibility are different from national frontiers.”

In January, the international ministry recognized Ecuadorian Diego Espinoza as a fivefold prophet. Diego oversees the churches in Quito. John Guido, founder of Verbo Cuenca, Ecuador, was recognized as an apostle. Bob Capaldi, Verbo’s South America director, also was recognized as an apostle. In the coming months other fivefold ministers will receive official recognition in Central and North America.

DOWN TO THE RIVER—So many people were baptized in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, recently that they were immersed by threes to save time.

Orphanages Serve 150  Kids

These churches are now organizing their own social works and  outreaches to the surrounding communities.

Orphanages now care for children in two locations—85 of them in Puerto Cabezas on the Caribbean coast and 65 in Vera Cruz near the capital. In Vera Cruz there are separate homes for teenage girls, boys, and younger children.

In Puerto Cabezas, Earl Bowie, the director of Verbo’s work on the north Caribbean coast and along the Honduran border, just opened a “transition house” for teenaged boys from the orphanage or from very poor circumstances in the countryside who have graduated from high school and who are ready for college or the work world.

Editor’s note: Verbo Spain began in 2002 when ordained evangelist Edgar Monterroso and his family moved to Madrid with the double purpose of working with the Guatemalan diplomatic mission and establishing the first Verbo congregation in Europe. The idea was to form a beachhead in Spain, which is a crossroads for both Europeans and North Africans, as well as a continuing socio-political force in Latin America.

Today the congregation is a blend of people of different ages and nationalities, especially immigrants from South America and a solid number of recently converted Spaniards. In a nation in which less than a half of one percent of the population is a born again Christian, Verbo’s growth to 80 personas in a short time is extremely encouraging, reflecting Edgar’s and his wife, Rosita’s, evangelistic anointing and bilingual and multicultural abilities.