The Link Family
About seven years ago a couple, Tim and Chris Bagwell and their family, following the call of the Lord, left the comfort of their home in South Carolina and moved to Managua, Nicaragua. After a short time there, they were drawn to the plight of the most vulnerable amongst us, the children. Nicaragua is a third world nation and fledgling democracy whose infrastructure and economy has been devastated over the past several decades from both deadly natural disasters like the massive earthquake that struck Managua in 1972 and Hurricane Mitch in 1998, and a man-made disaster in the form of a bloody revolution between the Sandinistas and the Contras during the 1980’s.
These disasters have created such poverty that Nicaragua is now the poorest nation in this hemisphere. As is usually the case with poverty, it is the children who suffer the most. The level of abandonment, chronic malnutrition, and acute starvation is staggering. Tim and Chris saw an incredible need and stepped up and opened New Life Nicaragua Re-Nutrition Center to take in the abandoned and starving newborns and children and nurse them back to health in a loving and safe environment and find them safe homes.
At this point in the story the Links (my name is Jeff, my wife is Kristi, my 25 year old son is Jason and my 23 year old daughter is Laura) came onto the scene. We are from Traverse City, Michigan where I am an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon in private practice. In 2001 I went on a construction and medical mission with my church (the Presbyterian Church of Traverse City) to Punta Gorda, Belize where we worked at a children’s home known as Acres of Love. It was this experience that was the start of the Lord’s directing my heart to use my talents (a gift from God) and training to serve him in mission.
Several years went by and that mission calling never really left my heart and mind, but as is so easy to do, everyday life just seemed to get in the way of God’s calling. In October of 2006 my daughter Laura and I were led by the Lord to Tim and Chris while down in Nicaragua. Laura wanted me to see for myself the incredible healthcare needs of Nicaragua firsthand. She had led a team of students from her college, DePauw University, down there on a mission trip about a year earlier. Laura and I were so excited that 3 weeks later my wife Kristi and I returned to Managua so she could meet for herself this wonderful couple. An immediate bond and mission partnership was formed and over the next several months New Life Nicaragua Mission Center was born.
What brought us together was a shared vision to bring the love of Christ to the impoverished people of Nicaragua in a real and tangible way. Property was purchased-five acres in a beautiful and peaceful valley within the city limits of Managua, safe and out of the way of the “big city”, yet close and convenient to the people. The vision is to build a safe haven for the abandoned children and a health clinic in a campus-like setting where people can feel safe and have access to much needed medical and dental care. Currently the New Life Nicaragua center is close to traffic and the associated noise and congestion. The children at New Life Nicaragua are extremely well taken care of with a very loving staff. The problem is the facility is rented and a very large portion of the operating budget is going to pay the rent, so by building a facility on the property the mission center owns we can get out from under this burden. Also, with five acres of land, the children will have plenty of room to run and play-something that is more difficult to do due to the space constraints at the current location. We also have room to expand the mission in the future with a chapel, a guesthouse (for mission teams to stay at), an expanded facility for older homeless children, and facilities for meetings and conferences.
Currently on the property we have a large storage facility and a guardhouse constructed and are in the process of building a perimeter security wall. We are working with a Nicaraguan architect who is developing a master plan for the property.
Nicaragua has truly become a family affair for the Links. My wife and I travel back and forth frequently between our home in Michigan and our home in Managua where we are now Nicaraguan residents. We are deeply committed to the wonderful people of this country. I am splitting my time between doing mission oral and maxillofacial surgery here in Nicaragua and in my private practice in Traverse City, Michigan. My desire, if it is indeed God’s plan, is to spend more and more of my time here in Nicaragua working in various clinics in the country while building a state of the art healthcare facility on the New Life Nicaragua Mission Center campus and recruit medical and dental personnel to travel here.
My wife and I have opened our home as a guesthouse for mission teams and hold groups as large as the mid 20’s. It is run by our son Jason who lives there year round. He teaches high school English at Nicaragua Christian Academy. Our daughter Laura, who really got all this started for the Links, is in graduate school at DePaul University in Chicago getting her master’s in bilingual/bicultural education. She is interested in possibly coming to teach in Nicaragua if that is where she is called to serve.
We feel God calls us to be obedient and serve-“For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’ Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we see you sick or in prison, and visit you?’ And the King will tell them, ‘I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!” (Matthew 25:35-40). God is doing exciting things in Nicaragua and we just feel so blessed to be a part of his plan.