MISSION AND VISION
”Already but not yet” is a description of God’s Kingdom here on earth. Corruption, natural disasters, extreme generational poverty and an ever-widening gap between rich and poor make it easy to see how most Nicaraguan Christians focus on the “not yet” portion of the Kingdom. With an emphasis on separate and holy living, Nicaraguan churches and Christians have much we can learn. At the same time the Nicaraguan church is learning from the historic Reformed worldview that Christ claims all of creation as His both now and in the future.

Steve works with a group of North Americans and Nicaraguans at a place called the Nehemiah Center (http://nehemiahcenter.net). The Nehemiah Center is a community of service and learning which trains lay and pastoral leaders in an integral, biblical worldview and encourages local, national and international collaboration for a Christ-centered, transformational development of communities and nations. In short, the Nehemiah Center exists to help Nicaraguans and North Americans further understand the “already but not yet” of the Kingdom of God.

As part of a team at the Nehemiah Center, Steve helps to provide overall direction of the Nehemiah Center. He also has two more specific roles with churches and the Service and Learning Institute.

Healthy Churches:
Steve works with various pastors in helping Nicaraguan churches define and understand what a biblical model for a healthy church looks like in their context. This involves both self and peer evaluation to help create action plans for moving forward to be more of what God would desire.

Service and Learning Institute:
We believe that interchanges between North Americans and Nicaraguans help each of us better understand ourselves and God. Steve oversees all of our exchanges between North Americans and Nicaraguans; from Service and Learning groups working for a week or two, volunteers serving for a year, college interns working for four months, or university students studying for a semester.

“My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
Colossians 2:2-3


CONTACT INFORMATION
Steve and Kim Holtrop
Email: sholtrop@crcna.org