September 2, 2003

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Nicaragua, where the “winter” rains drum on the metal roofs of comfortable houses, and cause flooding and destruction in so many poor barrios. One moment the sun is shining, the next it’s pouring.

In my last newsletter I wrote about the contrasts between wealth and poverty, and left you with this final thought from a popular Latin American protest song:

What I ask of God, is that I not be indifferent to pain,
and that dry death does not find me alone
without having done enough.

Someone wrote to tell me he enjoyed the newsletter, but he asked, “What is it that you do in your work?”

My work is helping people build relationships. I facilitate meaningful contact between people from the United States and people in Nicaragua. My Nicaraguan colleagues and I work together to build bridges between disparate worlds whose peoples are all children of God. It’s a program CEPAD has been doing since the 1980s that tries to break down the barriers that exist between rich and poor, north and south.

My work is about someone like you talking with María de Socorro Cruz about the similarities and differences of your children and hers. It is about sharing photos of the snow in Indiana with a spellbound group of Nicaraguan children under the welcoming shade of a leafy green mango tree heavy with fruit. It is about sharing a meal of dark red beans, rice and tortillas with a Nicaraguan family as they start their day.

My work is about learning about Nicaragua as it relates to the rest of the world, and asking oneself difficult questions about poverty, the meaning of justice, and the many different shades of peace. It is about working with members of a rural community to put a roof on a church or repair a rain-damaged road.

My work is about reflecting on the good news of the gospel that the poor will no longer be poor, and how God works in and through people—in the United States and in Nicaragua—to be light to one another through large and small acts of faith and love. It is an attempt to not be indifferent to pain, to breathe deep those things that give life, and exhale hope with words and actions.

In August 2001 the Nehemiah Program was challenged by CEPAD to become self-sustaining, and it has been exciting to be a part of the Program in this new phase as it struggles towards financial independence and maintains a reflective, educational, Christian focus.

CEPAD, the Nicaraguan Council of Protestant Churches, is a trusted disaster-relief agency, a council of Protestant churches with 29 denominations, and a development organization aimed at nurturing projects of self-development and self-sustainability in 39 communities. CEPAD’s main emphasis is an educational one: in the eight programs that CEPAD operates, seven (including the Nehemiah Program) hold education or leadership and skill-training as their central axis. CEPAD follows the old maxim of teaching a person “to fish” rather than simply giving him or her a fish to eat. As the year draws to a close, CEPAD finds itself lacking $72,000 to be able to meet the 2003 budget. This may mean closing CEPAD programs and cutting staff within the next couple of months.

At least a few times a week someone comes to my door to ask for money, or some old clothes, or food to eat. I meet each person who asks for something of me with both compassion and scrutiny. I would rather not be in the position to judge who needs what, or how much I can give, or if it will cause dependence, but this is part of the reality of being one who sits in the air-conditioned car, so to speak. For better and for worse I call the shots.

With this letter it is my turn to knock on your door and ask for your help—both spiritual and material. First I ask you to pray for the varied ministries of CEPAD as its overworked staff tries to accompany their Nicaraguan brothers and sisters in community development work and community leadership training. Pray for the Nehemiah Program that is trying to close out the 2003 year in the black.

Secondly, I urge you to consider coming on a special delegation this fall. The delegation will allow you to learn about Nicaragua and CEPAD, to reflect on your faith, and to share in the company of rural and urban Nicaraguan brothers and sisters whose dignity and courage is unsurpassed, and who want to know you and to share their stories with you. The delegation dates will be from November 15 to 24. We need at least seven delegates to make this a reality. Please write to me at partners@cepad.org.ni if you are interested.

Finally, I urge you to contribute to the Extra Commitment Opportunity fund set up by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for CEPAD’s ministries. If you feel moved, send checks to Central Receiving Service, Section 300, Louisville, KY 40289. Write the title (CEPAD) and the ECO number (E347002) on the subject line of the check and put it on your cover letter, too. Send a copy of the cover letter to the Area Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, Worldwide Ministries Division, 100 Witherspoon St. Louisville, KY 40202-1396. Click here to donate online.

CEPAD has been a partner with PC(USA) since it was founded in 1972. Contributing to CEPAD’s ministries or coming to Nicaragua this year on a delegation are two concrete ways that you can support this PCUSA-Nicaragua partnership. CEPAD’s ministries give hope, faith, and empowerment the final word to the people of Nicaragua and the United States—and not “dry death.”

With love

Ellen

The 2003 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 254