Ontario woman hits pavement for Lutheran mission to Nicaragua

by Keven Drews

Liz Mellecke gets a little closer to Chinandega, Nicaragua every time she laces up her running shoes or takes her bike for a spin.

A resident of Kincardine, Ont., Mellecke plans to teach English as a foreign language as part of a Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC) mission in February 2012.

To raise funds for the three-month trip – between $5,000 and $7,500 – Mellecke is running and biking about 3,553 kilometres, the distance between her town and the Central American city.

“As my husband has just retired, and with our son still looking toward higher education, we have limited money to fund this mission project on our own,” said Mellecke.

“This allows me to challenge myself and to help people see that it takes work to realize dreams…that they can be accomplished by the Grace of God who gives us the strength to do things that are physically challenging and spiritually challenging with the reward of growth in both these areas.”

Chinandega is a city and a department (similar to a province) and is located on Nicaragua’s northern Pacific coast.

It is also home to the Iglesia Luterana Sínodo de Nicaragua.

After Mellecke and her son, Adam, arrive, she’ll teach English to school children, assist with Christian education and build relationships with community members.

This won’t be the Mellecke’s first trip to Nicaragua. She visited the country with the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League–Canada (LWMLC) in 2008 and participated in a vacation Bible school construction mission with Adam in 2010.

Before leaving on this trip, she has a lot of kilometres to cover.

On some days, Mellecke said she climbs onto her recumbent bike and cycles 16 kilometres. On other days, she runs seven to eight kilometers. Eventually, she’s hoping to run 10 kilometres a day.

Mellecke said she used to run about 10 years ago but “got away from it.”

This past December, she started again—after using a podcast training program known as The Couch-to-5k ® Running Plan.

Rev. Leonardo Neitzel, LCC’s mission executive, said Mellecke’s trip is all volunteer work.

He said the synod does not pay for travel or labour but blesses the trip and prepares places for volunteers to work and live.

Once in Chinandega, Mellecke won’t be teaching English just for the sake of teaching English, he added. She’ll be using the Bible to teach English from a Christian perspective.

“From the Biblical point of view, I think I see Liz saying, ‘Lord, here I am. Send me. Send me,’” said Neitzel.

Neitzel said the LCC’s Nicaraguan mission is important because the country is the second-poorest country in the western hemisphere and people are open to the Gospel. Back in the late 1990s, he added, LCC sent a pastor from Canada who was from Nicaragua, Rev. Sandor Arguello.

Mellecke said people can help her by pledging as little as little as two cents for every kilometre she completes.

“I have been blessed to be a stay-at-home mother, and though I have done a few things in my home congregation and in the greater church community with LWML and Lutheran Laymen’s League, I feel it’s a calling for me to go to Nicaragua and share myself and my faith with the lovely people of that country.”

For more information on Liz’s run email her at poefae@hotmail.com. Please write “Run for Nicaragua” in the subject line.

Follow Liz’s progress at http://fullofblessingsandsetapart.blogspot.com/