It is important for us to understand the difference between development and relief work on the mission field. We want most to be able to assist the poor to become self-supporting. Therefore, we emphasize programs which do more than simply pass out food and supplies. In Nicaragua, through the Rainbow Network, we do development through micro business loans to help families start income producing businesses. We also provide housing in a Habitat style partnership in which villages band together to help build homes and homeowners repay a small no-interest loan which allows them to own a small home.

We do direct relief work through the Rainbow Network feeding more than 4,000 children daily and providing educational programs and medical clinics. The Rainbow Network is a paragon of efficiency, feeding children at an average cost of .10¢ per meal and putting physicians on the field at a salary of just over $300 per month. Because the Rainbow Network spreads their resources so thin, using beat-up old trucks and donated storage and office space, there is no money for more expensive needs.

Our team of fifteen National Avenue Christian Church members who were in Nicaragua in January of 2003 were helping build homes in Los Solano. We had the opportunity to meet a little girl whose name is Karina who attends a Rainbow school in El Crucero. Karina is going blind due to cataracts. The surgery to restore her sight will cost about $600 which is an amount far out of reach for anyone in the villages we visited (the lucky villagers who have jobs make about $4 a day). Our team was so moved by Karina’s story and so captured by her beautiful smile that we all pitched in to pay for her surgery. Our church donated funds to build three houses and to dig a community well. We will also be sending support to provide more than 10,000 meals in the region of San Ramon. Several of our members sponsor high school students in Nicaragua.