It was Melinda Nelson's level-headed intelligence that put her at the top of her college class. The southern California native has always credited her search for the truth as one of the keys to her educational success. She took the same pragmatic approach in exploring Christianity.
"In college I made a decision, sort of a (Christian apologist) Josh McDowell kind of thing, that I couldn't deny the evidence of the reality of Jesus Christ; and if Jesus was actually who he said he was, my life would have to reflect that," Nelson said. For Nelson, coming to that conclusion was as simple as reading the Bible.
"It was very clear to me that if you called yourself a follower of Christ, you would help the poor," the Beulah resident said.
Over the last 20 years Nelson stayed true to her conviction and worked independently as a missionary in more than 50 of the poorest countries in the world. Inspired by Mother Teresa's works in Calcutta, Nelson built houses and churches in slums and has fed and cared for orphans and cast off children living in despair.
"I have the typical missionary stories about the rats crawling over me and the cockroaches on me and I've had malaria and have had Uzis pointed at me," Nelson said. "I have feared for my life, but the amazing thing is that, if I am where I believe God wants me to be, I have peace."
During the past decade, Nelson has focused her outreach on the orphans and street children of Mozambique. One of her passions is going to city dumps within the country and ministering to children trying to eke out an existence. She plans to continue her work when she returns to Mozambique July 6 for a monthlong stay. This time Nelson's husband David and five other Benzie county residents will accompany her.
"Twenty years ago I remember thinking, 'should I go? I could send a donation that would be the same value as the plane ticket.'" She reasoned that sending the money would be inconsequential. It was the relationships she would build that were the bigger value. Nelson made various contacts in Mozambique over the years and works where she's needed.
"I'm not a 'Lone Ranger' just going out doing things. I go to the poorest areas of Mozambique and link up with whoever's there. If it's the Assembly of God, if it's nondenominational, whoever's there," Nelson said. The Benzie team plans to work with the Iris Ministry in Pemba and House of Blessing in Beira.
The seven local residents have conducted bake sales and doughnut sales to raise money for the trip. Their biggest fundraiser will be a square dance and silent auction July 1 at Benzie High School.
"This group is unusual because lots of others were interested in going, but this particular group, I felt God was selecting them," Nelson said of the eclectic gathering that consists of a junior high student, a high school student, a college student, a young working man and some people in their 40s.
The trip is a dream come true for Stacey Puryear, of Beulah. "Since I was a small child I had a vision of going to Africa," said Puryear, who already has traveled to Brazil with a mission team. She said mentoring comes naturally to her, and she never turns down the opportunity to help children in need.
This also will be a second mission trip for Jason Speaks, 23, of Bear Lake, who spent three weeks in Brazil two years ago with Global Awakening Missions. Speaks works construction and would like to turn his part-time mission trips into more frequent journeys.
"A lot of people there don't have a lot of hope. Families have been torn apart by sickness and wars. The main thing I want to do is see God touch them." Speaks said. "We need to clean them up, feed them and they need love, too."
Three sisters from Benzonia, Dorethea Messersmith, 20, and her sisters Krystyna, 17, and Hannah, 14, also are on the team.
Dorethea, a pre-nursing student at Northwestern Michigan College, hopes to become a nurse so that she can offer medical assistance to those in Third World countries. On this trip she believes she and her sisters are the right age for children to identify with them.
"Our goal mainly is to love the kids there," Dorethea Messersmith said. "Most of them don't have parents and need someone to love them. Hannah will be able to identify with kids. She's also a kid and knows how to be a child, how to play and how to be a friend to people her age."
Nelson is making sure the group knows what they're in for.
"These people are not just going to have some one-month experience in a foreign country. They aren't looking to bring back some slides and photos," Nelson said.
"They're looking to make a difference in the world beyond this month. They're investing in this month in that each one of them is searching and asking God, 'What else do you have for me?'"
The square dance that will be called by Tim and Wanda Joseph begins at 6 p.m. July 1 at Benzie High School, 9300 Homestead Road in Benzonia. Suggested donation is $10. A silent auction for items such as getaway stays, dinners and artwork ends at 8:30 p.m. Children also can ride ponies for $5 just down the road from the school. For details, call 930-4399.
Reach Gretchen Murray at gmurray@record-eagle.com.
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