Pray for Nicaragua on Sunday, July 3, 2011

Pray for Nicaragua on Sunday, July 3, 2011

Prayers for Nicaragua: Matthew 11:16-19 & 25-30

Gracious God, we thank you for the gift of relationships that strengthen and sustain us.  Open our eyes to see you and our ears to hear you in the faces and voices of our partners in Nicaragua.  Let us learn from the example of a poor church seeking to serve those who are even poorer then they.  We lift up to you the heavy burdens of our brothers and sisters, faithful people who sometimes grow weary in the work of serving God and supporting their families.  We pray for La Misión Cristiana as they work to improve the lives of their congregation and  their communities, who suffer from a lack of employment, schools, and even the basics of nutritious food and clean water.  Send your Spirit to guide La Misión in their work to meet these needs. 

We pray for the country of Nicaragua, for a rainy season that will provide enough rain for a good harvest, but free of floods.  We pray for sustainable economic opportunities for all, that families will not have to choose between finding work and staying together.  We pray for your guidance for the people as they prepare for elections this November, for fair results and for a peaceful response.  We pledge to make these burdens our burdens, for we know that the yoke is easier and the burden lighter when they are shared.  In the name of the gentle and humble-hearted Christ we pray,  Amen.

Mission Stewardship Moment from Nicaragua:

La Misión Cristiana (The Christian Mission Church) has just completed the first year of a project designed to provide greater food security for communities in the Western region of Nicaragua.  The food security project was such a success that they are aiming to expand it to the Eastern region in the coming year.  “Food security” is a fancy technical term for making sure everyone has enough to eat.  In Nicaragua three out of every four people subsist on less than $2 a day, which means that hunger is still a very real problem, especially in the rural areas.ΓÇ¿

The project has three components.  First, La Misión has set up seed banks in seven of the small farming communities where their churches are located.  The seed banks provide corn, red bean and sorghum seeds to farmers with the agreement that they will repay 125% of the seeds they receive after the harvest.  This structure ensures that the project can continue and benefit more families the following year.  The bank focuses in particular on sharecroppers and farmers who own small plots of land, many of whom could not have afforded to farm otherwise and may have left to find work outside the community.

The other components of the project involve the gift, to each family in the local churches, of five fruit tree seedlings (3 mango and 2 orange trees) and enough vegetable seeds to plant a substantial backyard garden.  This past weekend, we accompanied a group of  pastors and church leaders in a training on how to properly plant and tend a vegetable garden and heard first-hand how the project is already taking root.

To access Laura Jean and Tim’s blog: http://laurajeanandtim.blogspot.com/

 (Prayer and Mission Moment written by Laura Jean Torgerson and Timothy Donaghy)

Video Resources for Nicaragua:

Interview with Laura Jean and Tim: http://globalministries.org/resources/multimedia-resources/videos/video-mission-moments/torgerson-donaghy.html

Global Ministries International Partners in Nicaragua:

  • Convencion de Iglesias Mision Cristiana de Nicaragua: The Christian Mission of Nicaragua, a grass roots national Pentecostal church, is committed to assisting the poor, not only with their spiritual needs, but also with development projects and leadership training.
  • Centro Inter-Eclesial de Estudios Teologicos y Sociales (Inter-Church Center for Theological and Social Studies):  seeks to live out its commitment to the Kingdom of God by providing education at varied levels (popular, undergraduate, masters’) in theology, ministry, and community development to promote the well-being of Nicaragua’s most vulnerable communities. http://www.cieets.org.ni/
  •  Consejo de Iglesias Evangelicas Pro Alianza Denominacional (CEPAD): The Council of Protestant Churches of Nicaragua seeks to serve the poor through community development, work for peace and reconciliation, and by promoting the values of the Kingdom of God. http://www.cepad.org.ni/eng/index2.html
  • Acción Médica Cristiana: Medical Christian Action provides community based holistic healthcare. Global Ministries supports several community water projects. http://www.amc.org.ni/
  • Iglesia Morava: The Moravian Church works with Afro-Caribbean and indigenous populations on the country’s eastern coast.
  • Centro Ecumenico Antonio Valdivieso:
  • Convencion Bautista de Nicaragua:
  • Seminario Teologico Bautista de Nicaragua:
  •  Nicaraguan Protestant University (Universidad Evangelica Nicaraguense Martin Luther King, (UENIC-MLK): http://www.uenicmlk.edu.ni/

For more info on Nicaragua: http://globalministries.org/lac/countries/nicaragua/

Global Ministries Missionaries in Nicaragua:

Timothy Donaghy, a member of University Christian Church, Hyattsville, Maryland,
serves the Christian Mission Church in Nicaragua. He works on church projects
in environment, food security, and leadership development and teaches about environmental issues at CIEETS (the Inter-Church Center for Theological and Social Studies).

Laura Jean Torgerson, a member of University Christian Church, Hyattsville, Maryland, serves with the Christian Mission Church of Nicaragua. She works as a consultant to the church’s national Education and Theology Department and assists in the formation of pastors and lay leaders in the liberating theology of the church.  She also teaches New Testament to undergraduate theology students at CIEETS (the Inter-Church Center for Theological and Social Studies).

Pray for Partners without Global Ministries Mission Personnel: Costa Rica

For more info on Costa Rica: http://globalministries.org/lac/countries/costa-rica/