Jesus Centered Ministries, a missions group from Knoxville, Tenn., is in Demopolis this week to spread the word about their ministries across the world.

JCM president Mark Shoemaker, his sister, Cheryl Spence and four children from their missions in Nicaragua visited Demopolis First Baptist Church on Wednesday evening and will be at Fairhaven Baptist Church on Sunday.

First Baptist pastor Carl Williams said their visit was a good reminder for some of the congregation.

“It was good for our members to hear how God has provided for their needs in Nicaragua and how powerful faith can be,” Williams said. “It reminded us how powerful faith can be and what it can do.”

Williams said the children in the church were able to come to the service and hear from the missionaries and see the children from Nicaragua.

“It was good for the children to hear from missionaries and for them to meet the children from Nicaragua,” he said. “One of the children from Nicaragua gave their testimony and sang a song, and that was good for our children to see.”

Williams added that he became aware of JCM through his mission trips to Romania.

“I got to know Mark (Shoemaker) through our trips to Romania,” he said. “The pastor in Romania does a lot of work with him, and when he comes to the U.S., Mark takes him around to the churches.”

Jesus Centered Ministries began in 1993 and has grown ever since. In 1999, they started going into Nicaragua to spread the gospel, and now Spence is there full-time.

Spence currently has 12 children living with her in Leon, Nicaragua.

“They came to us one by one,” Spence said. “They came to us for either medical reasons or lack of care. Some of their parents aren’t able to care for them, and we take them in and make sure they have the medical care they need.”

Spence has been in Nicaragua full-time for 10 years. She works with HeartGift in Austin, Texas, so children can have heart surgeries and other necessary care that isn’t provided in Nicaragua.

“We just bought a farm and are working to build a clinic and some homes,” Shoemaker said. “We’re looking for construction teams that want to come down and help.”

The ministry can be supported through prayer, financial support and church teams to the country.

“We need a lot of prayer,” Spence said. “Financial support is important as well so we can get these children the medical help they need.”

Donations can be made at the ministry’s web site, www.jcmmissions.com. If any churches are interesting in taking a group to Nicaragua, Shoemaker can be contacted by phone at (865) 406-6275.