Meet the Team
Alcides, Sileny, Paola, & Priscilla Fuentes
Alcides: I am the third one of five of a family of farmers from Turrialba, Costa Rica. I graduated as a technician in the production of milk and ornamental plants, and I came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Savior in 1988. I married my wife Sileny in May of 1990 and in October of that same year God called me in a very intense way to serve Him full time during a missions conference of the church Iglesia Centroamericana in Turrialba.
Sileny: I am the oldest of a family of six. Along with my parents I received the Lord Jesus Christ when I was eight years old in San Jose, Costa Rica, where I lived until I was fourteen years old. Then, my parents moved away from the capital to Turrialba, Cartago, where when I turned fifteen years old God called me to serve Him full time in the ministry. During that same year, I met Alcides, whom I married seven years later. In 1992, our first daughter Paola was born; she received Lord Jesus as her savior when she was four years old. When she was fifteen she felt God’s calling in her life and decided to dedicate her life to serve the Lord. In 1996, our daughter Priscilla was born. She accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior when she was five years old, and when she was twelve she confirmed her conviction of being a daughter of God who had been born again.
In 1994, Alcides and I started our preparation at the biblical seminary of theology ESEPA in Costa Rica until the year 2000. During this period of time, we also helped start the Centroamerican church in Guararí Heredia, Costa Rica. After we finished our time in the seminary, we worked as part of the pastoral team of a Baptist church in San Francisco de Dos Rios. It was during this time when we were serving in this church, that God confirmed Nicaragua as our first missionary destination. The Christ for the City base in Costa Rica invited us to open a base in Nicaragua and to serve as the directors of this new base. In 2002, we moved to Managua, Nicaragua where we now live with our two daughters.
Mary Ezzell
I grew up in Miami, Florida and graduated from the University of North Florida with a degree in physical therapy. I moved to Greenville, South Carolina and began working as a physical therapist. In Greenville I attended Grace Church and participated on several mission teams to Costa Rica.
Through these experiences I met a missionary nurse who shared with me a vision of using medical missions to reach spiritually hungry people with the good news of Christ. My passion throughout my walk with Christ has been for those that do not yet know Christ to have the opportunity to hear about Him in a real and relative way. I loved the idea of using my medical background to present people with the opportunity to hear about Jesus Christ.
Over the next few years I collaborated with Medical Mission International, Christ for the City International, and my church to bring medical teams to Costa Rica and Nicaragua. In 2004 during one of the medical outreaches in Nicaragua, I was invited to join Christ for the City International in Nicaragua as a full-time missionary. After language school in Costa Rica I started serving as the medical teams coordinator in Nicaragua in January of 2005.
Since living in Nicaragua I have had the privelege of working with medical/evangelism teams in Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and Mali, Africa.
If you would like more information about medical missions in Nicaragua, please feel free to contact me at maryezzellpt@yahoo.com.
Fabricio, Claudia, & Adiel Mendoza
We are Fabricio and Claudia (and Adiel!) Mendoza from Chinandega, Nicaragua. We became Christians 10 years ago and were “Christian pioneers” in our families. We are pleased that the majority of our family members have now given their lives to Christ as well!
We met while attending the Iglesia Amor Viviente (Living Love Church) in Chinandega. Fabricio was working at an accounting business while Claudia served in the church as an administrative assistant. In early 2003, the leadership of an Amor Vivient Church in Managua invited Fabricio to work as the church administrator. After we were married, we left our hometown and families and moved to Managua, Nicaragua’s capital and largest city. We became active members of our new church and enjoy leading praise and worship, discipling youth, and leading small groups.
Shortly after moving to Managua we met Alcides Fuentes, director of Christ for the City International in Nicaragua. Fabricio started helping with CFCI-Nicaragua one day a week with accounting needs. In December 2005, Fabricio was asked to consider serving as a missionary with CFCI full-time. We prayed and sought God’s direction and in March 2006 we began serving with CFCI as full-time missionaries. Along with our church and ministry responsibilities, we are also in our third year as university students. Fabricio is studying business administration and Claudia is studying clinical psychology.
Although Fabricio’s primary responsibility is in youth ministry training, he serves in almost every ministry of CFCI in various capacities. Claudia recently became the director of our School of Hope scholarship program and she often serves as hostess to our many visitors to Nicaragua.
We are very excited about working as missionaries in our beautiful country! And we are VERY excited about are baby boy, Adiel Andres!!! Please contact us at fjmendoza07@yahoo.com.
Bob, Johanna, David, & Lily Thurlow
Hello! I (Bob) was born and raised in Wabash, Indiana. I came to know Christ as my Savior as a youth. As a teenager I sensed God’s calling on my life. After graduating from Bible college, I served in two churches. While serving at the Christian & Missionary Alliance Church in Danville, Illinois, I met my future wife Johanna.
Hi! I’m Johanna. I grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee and North Georgia until age 13 when we moved to Danville, Illinois, where my father became pastor of Calvary Baptist Church. I accepted Jesus as my savior at a young age. After high school I returned to Chattanooga and attended Tennessee Temple University. Later I traveled with Life Action Revival Ministries and then served as a missionary in Slovakia for six months.
Shortly after we were married in 1994, we actively pursued serving the Lord in a cross-cultural ministry. Two children later and after a lengthy process of training and partnership development, we departed for Costa Rica in April 2000. After a year of Spanish language school, we began serving with Christ for the City International. Bob created a training program for pastors called the “Pastor’s Toolbox.”
In 2005 we sensed God moving us to serve in Nicaragua. Bob continues to ministry primarily in the area of pastoral training. Johanna uses her gifts of encouragement and hospitality in a variety of ways to serve her family, fellow missionaries, and Nicaraguans.
We have two wonderful children. David is 12 and Lily is 9. David enjoys drawing, playing video games, singing, anything related to Star Wars, and making others laugh. Lily is a bookworm. She is learning to play the piano and loves all dogs.
You can contact any of us at bjthurlow@yahoo.com.
Carey Franklin
My name is Carey Franklin. I am from Colorado, but now call Nicaragua home.
My heart and mind were first opened to missions in high school when I went on a mission trip to Mexico. That trip ignited a fired in me to one day serve full-time on the mission field.
During college I took a semester off to participate in a missionary training school for seven months in Costa Rica. As I finished up my training and returned to the United States there was a growing desire deep within me to return as soon as possible, but first I graduated from college with a degree in elementarty education.
Throughout college I spent my summers serving others in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. The end of each summer was a difficult time for me because I longed to be in Nicaragua full-time. But the right doors had not yet opened. In God’s perfect timing my prayers were answered; I moved to Nicaragua in the summer of 2004.
My heart has been touched by the deep warmth and hospitality of the Nicaraguan people and I delight in the opportunity to work with them everyday. I currently serve with CFCI-Nicaragua by organizing short-term trips. It is also my hope to be able to organize teacher workshops for Nicaraguan teachers.
Nathan & Amber Babcock
Hello! We are Nathan and Amber Babcock. I (Nathan) am originally from Charlotte, North Carolina. I graduated from business school at the University of North Carolina, then moved to Charleston, South Carolina where I met Amber. Amber is originally from Knoxville, Tennessee. She also moved to Charleston after college (nursing school at the University of Tennessee).
Early in our marriage Amber began to feel called to go into full-time ministry. I was a little slower in hearing (or listening to) that calling, but I eventually caught the same passion for overseas missions. That shared vision led us to go on a short-term medical mission trip to Nicaragua in August 2005 through our church, Seacoast. The trip was life-changing — and confirmed to us that God wanted us to go to be in full-time ministry.
Things moved very quickly after that — we moved to Costa Rica where we served from September 2006 until November 2007. We served as directors of a camp there, also doing ministry through a local church plant and by hosting short-term mission teams. But Costa Rica was not God’s final destination for us.
Since that first trip to Nicaragua in 2005 God placed a deep burden, love, and passion in us for the Nicaraguan people. He also knit our hearts together with Alcides and Sileny Fuentes and the other team members of Christ for the City in Nicargua. In 2008 our dream of serving in Nicaragua finally became a reality!
With Christ for the City in Nicaragua we are continuing our work with short-term mission teams. Amber helps coordinate and lead medical mission trips. Also, serves with the Nueva Imagen ministry, helping victims of sexual exploitation in Managua find their way off the streets and into the arms of our Savior. Nathan serves as office administrator — managing the base’s finances, website, and communications — and also serves with the short-term teams.
We’re very excited about serving God together in our marriage and our ministry. We want to sincerely thank all of our family, friends, and supporters who have been so encouraging, caring, and supportive of us in this big move. We love you all and can’t wait to share our adventures with you!
You can contact us by email at thebabcocks@missionsminded.org.
