1. Hurricane Victims Get Help for New Houses
2. Bianchi Runs for Guatemala President

Hurricane Victims Get
Help for New Houses

Verbo Ministry’s long term help to Hurricane Mitch victims in Nicaragua is providing agricultural and housing projects in various parts of the country.

Bob Trolese, coordinator of the ministry’s work in the region, reports that in the Posoltega area, where over 2,000 people died in a volcano mud avalanche, plans are under way for an agricultural community. His team is participating in the purchase and development of 150 acres for 387 of the surviving families.

The first victims that Bob made contact with in Posoltega were 17 Christian families who took shelter in a church building after gravel covered their land, washed away their houses, and drowned many of their loved ones. The help he promised them that early November morning is now becoming a reality.

“It has been a very uncomfortable four-and-a-half months for them, but their Christian spirit in crowded circumstances has been a remarkable example for any that have been fortunate enough to know them. We are purchasing the land necessary for them to move unto their own lots and still be within the town limits. We rejoice in that we’ve finally found the right land for this move.”

In the Nueva Vida refugee camp near the capital city of Managua, Verbo is working on water and literacy projects, and simple shelters for people with no 17 acres of land which will be a training and service center for Nueva Vida residents.

There will be sports fields for the children, agricultural projects, vocational schools, a large community center that will also serve as a church meeting hall, and a day care facility for working mothers.”
“Another relief area is the mountainous region north of the capital,” Bob says. “In Las Maderas we’re helping 24 families who lost their homes when “Mitch” flooding swept through their village. The community is really backing us in this. The families have cleared the rocky land, dug trenches and are preparing the foundations for new two-bedroom homes.
“In Bacacan, and in five other impoverished, isolated villages, we’re

Bianchi Runs for Guatemala President

Editor’s Note: Francisco Bian-chi, a Verbo minister for 20 years and for the last two its international director, recently resigned his church assignments to campaign for the Guatemalan presidency. Ever since taking leave of his church responsibilities for a time in the early 1980’s to act as a cabinet-level official in the Rios Montt administration, where he was highly regarded for his competent and ethical professionalism, various political parties have considered him a possible candidate for public office. Business and professional leaders also encouraged him because, as a successful businessman, he is knowledgeable about the country’s economic situation. However, two main factors crystallized his decision to run: the sheer amount of prophetic words he has received about being president and the fact that the largest evangelical church association in the country—in an unprecedented move—endorsed him for the 1999 elections. Here’s his brief account of the spiritual factors that led to his candidacy.

By Francisco Bianchi

Various members of Verbo and other congregations in Guatemala, in their capacity as responsible citizens, have become increasingly involved in civic action in the nation in the last decade. Last year about 35 leaders of the largest churches and denominations in the country met in Guatemala City where during their deliberations they responded to a questionnaire about the Christian’s responsibility to participate in the process of resolving the nation’s problems. The meeting was organized by COCIPE (the Permanent Civic Committee of the Evangelical Alliance of Guatemala). The responses to the questionnaire were suprising: 95 percent of the delegates were in favor of participating in the upcoming 1999 presidential elections.

 Given this level of enthusiasm for Christian participation in the electoral process, COCIPE organized a second meeting with the Alliance’s leadership to decide how the group should participate in the 1999 presidential elections and which candidates it should support. The committee also organized interviews with groups backing specific candidates to determine their positions, and sent the report to the Alliance leadership. The leaders, in their second meeting, voted to support me as presidential candidate in the elections. I received about 75 percent of the votes.
Before all this, in 1993, I received a prophecy at a “prophetic presbytery” for members of the Verbo leadership that I was called by God to be the head of my nation.
People in different countries have subsequently confirmed this prophecy. I received a confirmation in New Orleans in 1996. That same year, Harold Caballeros, a Guatemala City pastor and speaker at “spiritual mapping and intercession” seminars, spoke prophetically that I was called to lead the nation. In 1997, a woman in Jutiapa (in the interior of Guatemala) had a dream in which she saw me as a presidential candidate. In March 1998, I received a similar prophecy in Toronto, followed by another supernatural confirmation from Chicago. In the latter, a church leader had a dream in which he visited the Guatemalan consulate in Chicago and saw a photo of me on the wall in which I was dressed with the presidential sash. Last December I received another prophecy while visiting the Verbo congregations in Argentina.
At least five people who are recognized internationally as having prophetic ministries also have given me similar Words from the Lord. Although I felt these prophecies were correct because of the large numbers of confirmations from so many people--including people who didn’t even know me--I was concerned that perhaps the timing was not right. Then I received a completely unsolicited communication from an American Christian woman, Nancy Cohen, who said, “You have asked for a confirmation. I have sent you three witnesses to tell you now is the day; now is the hour; today is the time. Go forward with courage and boldness.”
The confirmations have been extraordinary. The men and women with whom I work both locally among the Guatemalan churches and internationally as director of Verbo Christian Ministries are at peace with my decision to become a candidate. We all realize that my campaign and presidency will have to be other resources. “We are also purchasing