To Be Reborn: The Nehemiah Center’s Second Decade Transforming Lives and Communities by Carol Van Klompenburg

In this informative sequel to On Mended Wings: Transforming Lives and Communities in Nicaragua, author Carol Van Klompenburg relates how the Nehemiah Center’s ministry in the second decade of its operation looked radically different from its first 10 years.

The Nehemiah Center was established in 1999 as an interdenominational ministry in response to the destruction caused by Hurricane Mitch. Today, its identity statement says, “The Nehemiah Center is a community of learning and service that contributes to the formation of leaders and the continuing training of pastors using a biblical and holistic worldview, and that cultivates local, national, and international collaboration for Christ-centered cultural transformation of communities and nations.”

When Van Klompenburg began her research on the second decade of the Nehemiah Center’s operation, she was surprised to learn of the changes it had undergone due to political and social upheaval, financial stresses, and other factors. In introductory notes, she writes, “Staff members sometimes wryly referred to parts of that first decade of the Nehemiah Center as ‘fat cow’ years, thinking of Joseph in Egypt and his vision of the coming years of plenty. By inference, they saw the second decade as the ‘lean cow’ years.” However, Van Klompenburg points out, just as God was faithful to Joseph and his family, so God has been faithful to sustain the work of The Nehemiah Center.

As Van Klompenburg listened to stories of transformation, staff narratives, and the progress of programs and other initiatives, she saw the correlation between the history of the center and of Nicaragua. Even as the Nicaraguan people have faced myriad obstacles and difficulties and developed resilience, so the center “has been graced with resilience.”

Van Klompenburg’s narrative includes numerous meaningful sidebars—titled “Meet the Team” and “Transformation Story”—which especially reveal God’s power at work in individuals affected by the Nehemiah Center’s ministry. (Write Place)