The Naked Feet of Nicaragua

The Naked Feet of Nicaragua
By Nick Cole and Dennis Smith
Hodder & Stoughton. 208 pages. £9.99
ISBN 0 340 66929 2

Before reading this book, it would be helpful to do two things:

1) Study a map of Nicaragua.
2) Read the relevant chapter in Operation World.

While the book is the story of humanitarian aid to a desperately poor country - a country rich in potential but crippled by dictatorships, human greed, gross mismanagement and bitter civil wars - it is also the story of the acts of a sovereign God. The reader will be able to trace the hand of God historically preparing the way for the project which is the story of this book.
The project was to combine the potential of many committed Christians with the technological possibilities of Hovercraft. This would open up whole areas of the country which could bring untold benefits, particularly to the thousands whose lives are destitute and impoverished. Yet one of the many lessons the team learned from these people was that 'human joys are not closely related to earthly comforts'.
The title of the book comes from a series of articles written by the late husband of the President. He saw the very area the project was to investigate as a strong base on which Nicaragua could stand but which had been left unshod. He dreamt that one day, technology might provide the answer. He was assassinated in 1978. The story of this book really, under God, becomes the fulfilment of his dream.
Those who embarked on the project of providing a hovercraft that could open up Nicaragua from the Pacific to the Atlantic were people of vision, adventure and courage. Their hope was in God. With a mere £100 deposit, they ordered a Griffon which would cost £250,000. Reckless faith? Judge for yourselves as you follow the remarkable provisions of God. Then see the hindrances, the obstacles, the red tape, and yet, like Cyrus of old, politicians and government officials were but instruments in the hand of God to fulfil his purposes.
As one observes the many material benefits of this project, one overwhelming desire expressed sticks in my mind. What was the greatest need? 'It was the Bible teachers they asked for!' Maybe the hovercraft will open the way for this longing to become a reality.

Philip Grist
Grace Baptist Mission

© Evangelicals Now - April 1997
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• Being a Christian university student
  A discussion of attitudes to be adopted by Christian students at university
• Shanty town church
  An account of Christian witness in a slum area of the Mathare valley just outside Nairobi
• How to help Muslim converts
  The condition of Christians in Muslim countries and the help given by the Barnabus Fund
• Strasbourg's Cockney Christian
  Interview with David Hallam MEP (Member of European Parliament)
• Labels past their sell-by date (Bulldog for April)
  The labels of charismatic and reformed
• Let's keep asking questions
  Discussion on the question of Biblical inerrancy

Other articles

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• In Pursuit of God: The Life of A W Tozer - The evangelical mystic - remembering A W Tozer - extract from the book In Pursuit of God: The Life of A W Tozer
• The Doctrine of Humanity
• The Beauty of the Lilies
• Shine - The story of the Australian pianist David Helfgott
• The Openness of God - A challenge to the traditional understanding of God
• Treasures of Darkness - Reaching a new understanding of God's sovereignty through suffering
• The Blessing of Tears - Healing benefit in weeping
• A Grace Disguised - Reflections of Gerald Sittser on the years following the loss of his mother, wife and child in a road accident
• The Naked Feet of Nicaragua - Account of a project to open up the interior of Nicaragua by the provision and use of a hovercraft
• The Ten Commandments for Today
• Becoming a Premier League Husband - (Audio tape)
• Cure for Life
• Revelation Unwrapped (Bible Application Series)
• Kriss - Biography of athlete Kriss Akabusi
• Jesus Here and Now
• Renewal for Life
• Manual of Congregational Principles - (Reprint of work first published 1884)
• I Believe in Taking Action
• Animal Rights and Wrongs - A Biblical Perspective