First Presbyterian has been partnering with Central Moravian Church in Bluefields, Nicaragua since 1991, when our first delegation visited that city. Our medical mission trips began with the 2002 expedition, and proved to be such a success (with almost 1,000 patients seen in four days), that we vowed to continue the effort.

Our relationship with Central Moravian Church is described as a "partnership", but as Heather Smith wrote, it is more than the dictionary definition:

• it is investing in a community, knowing our lives will be enriched far beyond the measure of what we give.
• it is visiting with old friends and making new ones.
• it is FPC members and non-members alike forgetting who was which and instead forging a strong identity as the Brigada Médica.
• it is medical professionals showing unending patience with a crew of helpers who arrived in Nicaragua unqualified to do more than hand out band-aids, and turning them into a confident clinic team.
• it is Central Moravian Church members embracing all of us as brother and sisters in Christ, opening their homes and their hearts with amazing generosity.
• it is our med team agreeing to make house calls after 12-hour workdays.
• it is FPC members taking the last hours before our flight home to meet with a local church official and a doctor to talk about additional ways we can potentially join forces to bring about positive change in Bluefields