Novō News // April 2024

There’s a saying that gets to the heart of our approach to bringing freedom from addiction:

“No one can do it for you, but you can’t do it alone.”

When our residents join the Novō programme, they embark on a transformative journey where they are encouraged to be honest, take responsibility, make good decisions, build character, work hard, and seek after God. This path is unique to each individual, and no one can walk it for them. 

We also emphasize the importance of community. Isolation fuels addiction, while connection inspires recovery. We aim to foster recovery communities characterized by welcome, belonging, safety, compassion, and fellowship. We want to see our residents’ relationships with family and friends restored. We pray they will discover a living relationship with God, who will never fail or abandon them. Recovery isn’t a journey to be tackled alone.

As we look back on a fruitful quarter, we’re thankful to God for his grace, at work in and through us, and to you, our supporters, for your prayers, gifts, and encouragement.

In Nicaragua, we have been encouraged to see our local partnerships deepen.

On Sunday, 14th April, Hombres del Jardin, the new recovery community led by Alan Romero in the heart of Managua, celebrated their first three graduations. It’s early days, but celebrating these men’s progress was a huge encouragement. Carlos, Humberto, and Benjamin are all from the barrio where the rehab (and sponsoring church) are located. Indeed, before joining the programme, they were drinking their days away on a street corner outside the church! As such, their recovery is having an impact on the local community, as well as their loved ones.

At Centro Mahanaim in Matagalpa, the young leadership team has grabbed the Novō programme with both hands. It has been brilliant to see the residents using the Novo recovery manual and getting (unsolicited) positive feedback about the differences it is making in their lives!

The next step is for Marvin Pao, the Director, to travel to Bolivia for immersive training at Quinta Totaices. After that, we’ll produce a development plan to map how we can work together to sustainably improve the quality of the whole work, including staffing, facilities, administration, and the programme.

In March, Treflyn Lloyd-Roberts, General Secretary of the International Substance Abuse and Addiction Coalition, visited Nicaragua for a few days.

We took the opportunity to travel to Centro Mahanaim with the guys from Hombres del Jardin, bringing both communities together for a day at the waterfalls adjoining Mahanaim’s(stunning) property. Alan shared his testimony with the group before we ate lunch and swam.

The highlight of the day was watching residents from both centres help a resident with limited mobility navigate the treacherous path down to the waterfalls. They patiently supported him step by step, even walking waist-deep in river water, to ensure he reached his destination.

No one can do it for you, but you can’t do it alone.

Our recovery manual, Beyond Addiction, is central to our capacity to equip recovery communities in developing nations. This resource contains the personal exercises each resident completes as they progress through the programme and our interactive recovery groups. Now professionally designed and available in Spanish and English, we look forward to seeing Beyond Addiction impact lives in many more locations in the coming years.

In March, I (Andy) had the opportunity to speak at a conference on addiction for church leaders organized by the Nehemiah Center in Managua.  Over 60 leaders from a range of churches attended. Over the coming months, we’ll be following up with a smaller group who are committed to being equipped to respond to the addiction issue.

In March, I also spent ten days in Bolivia, spending quality time with the Quinta staff and residents for the first time in 12 months, along with the Novō Adventures team.

David Salazar continues to do a tremendous job, leading the work at the Quinta and networking to promote Novō nationally. The whole team, which now has many years of experience, not only delivers first-class care to our residents but also operates a model programme where we can equip recovery workers like Marvin from elsewhere in the world.

Since the start of the year,  we have been blessed by Mischa Friesen, a Latin Link volunteer from Switzerland. Mischa has been actively involved in our community, focusing specifically on discipleship and Bible study.

Looking forward, we are excited to see the impact of a newly established agreement with the Universidad Evangelica Boliviana as they equip the next generation of psychologists. Students will be completing clinical placements with Novo, serving the residents under the supervision of our psychologist, Oscar Cabrera.

Well, those are the headlines!

Thanks for getting this far and for supporting Novo as we work to bring freedom to individuals, peace to families, and hope to communities.