Dear Friends,

It is hard to believe that I’ve been in Nicaragua for over a year now, but it’s true, and I realize that a newsletter from me is long overdue. It has been a year full of growth and learning. Thinking back over my time here, I know that I couldn’t even begin to share with you what living and working here has meant for me, especially since I’m just beginning to understand it myself. However, with this my first "missions connections" letter, I figure I can begin by describing what it is I do here in the Land of Lakes and Volcanoes.

My assignment is with CEPAD (the Nicaraguan Council of Protestant Churches), a ministry of Protestant churches of Nicaragua working together in development, emergency relief, and peacemaking. I am a coordinator of delegations and work with a team of Nicaraguans and North Americans planning week-long study/work trips for groups from churches, presbyteries, seminaries, colleges and universities. During their time here we hope to either introduce them to Nicaragua and/or deepen their knowledge and understanding of this beautiful and complex country. I understand my role as helping to build bridges between countries and cultures through experiences, education and relationship-building. I have felt extremely rewarded and blessed to be participating in a ministry of education which strives to raise people’s consciousness politically, socially, and spiritually, thereby touching lives—and possibly even transforming some.

Our office also coordinates a "covenant relationship program" in which churches in Nicaragua and the United States and Europe are linked together. This for me is an exciting endeavor, as I witness bridges being crossed and cross-cultural communities being built. The commitment, sharing and growth that exists in these relationships points to an exciting and fruitful future on all sides.

In the second half of 1999 I have been more involved in an Eco-tourism project in the community of El Hormiguero, which lies on the southeast border of Bosawas, the largest rainforest reserve in Central America. We accompany a group of committed and organized people there who want to better their community. We’re developing with them their ability to host and guide groups and individuals who want to experience the beauty and tranquility of the tropical rainforest. In this way we are also promoting environmental education, preservation and alternative forms of income. As I learn more about the project and spend more time with the community, I feel blessed with an opportunity to get to know a single community and the people that form the community, to learn about the difficulties they face as small farmers in a developing nation, and to accompany them in their dreams, hopes, and plans for the future.

Here in Nicaragua I find myself surrounded by a wonderful, supportive group of Nicaraguans and North Americans who enrich one-hundredfold my experience here. I’d like to share with you one other area in which I have felt most richly blessed, the New Vision Group. Grupo Nueva Visión is a coordination committee of one representative from each of PC(USA)’s partner institutions hoping to make a contribution to the unity of Christians in Nicaragua and to the struggle for justice and peace. Acting as a liaison between institutions, I’ve been able to participate in community and conversation with this group of truly dedicated and inspiring individuals.

The many blessings I receive living and working here in Nicaragua are closely accompanied by many challenges. The nature of my work forces me to constantly reflect on our North-South relations, not just between countries and governments, but also among churches and people. I have to ask how are we in relationship together? Where do I see the need for reconciliation? What is my role and responsibility in these relationships?

As a mission worker of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) I am lucky to be part of a new model of mission and of relationship between institutions. As a church, we have committed to a partnership model in which we do mission with our Nicaraguan brothers and sisters. To be true to partnership is far from easy, however, I believe that in working together and in sharing all our joys and struggles, the church as a whole is more complete, and we are all in desperate need of that.

Please pray for our church and institutions as we struggle to work together in healthy and fruitful partnership. I thank you for all your prayers and support as well as your commitment to the people of Nicaragua and the church’s mission here.

God’s blessings and peace be with you,

Tracey King

The 2000 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 244