November 16, 2007

Dear Friends,

Grieving in “Felix’s” wake

On September 12, following Hurricane Felix, I visited Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast with Action By Churches Together to gather testimonies from survivors in three communities.

In Krukira, village elder Lanyado Bilbano grieved the loss of the village’s trees, including a 200-year-old mango tree that was felled by the 160-mile-per-hour winds that razed the village. “That tree covered us, cared for us, protected us from violent winds and the rain,” Lanyado lamented. “But now it is on the ground. If we could send someone to jail for this, we would do it. But who can we find guilty? My mango tree, my sweet lemon tree, my avocado tree, and all the fruit trees that we had, in each season gave us their harvest. And we would eat of their fruits little by little. Where will we get our sustenance if not one of them is standing?”

Flooding and famine

A few weeks later, two consecutive tropical storms poured an unprecedented amount of rainfall on the western and northern parts of Nicaragua. All told, in September and October Nicaraguans experienced nearly 50 days of non-stop rains.

The immediate effects of Hurricane Felix and the October floods were death, destruction of homes, roads, bridges, wells, latrines and crops. In the days and weeks after each event, epidemics grew in the affected areas. Now, two months after “Felix” and a month after the floods, uncountable Nicaraguans remain without a proper roof over their heads, without enough food, without nets and lobster cages to work the ocean or farm tools to work the land. The October floods destroyed more than 75 percent of the crops that are mainstays for the rest of the country; it is expected that in the coming months there will be famine in Nicaragua.

Finding hope: CEPAD’s birthday

This week CEPAD celebrated its 35 birthday. On December 27, 1972, in the wake of an earthquake that devastated Managua, a group of eight pastors representing eight denominations and a literacy organization called ALFALIT met under a mango tree on the grounds of the Baptist School to plan their response to the emergency. The original plan organized volunteers to serve hot meals daily to thousands of earthquake survivors throughout the city.  “We thought that after four or five months we would go back to our normal jobs,” the Reverend Dr. Gustavo Parajón, the founding president, commented. But once eight denominations grew to over twenty, and Nicaraguan Protestants saw how well they could work together, they decided to continue working in rural development and literacy programs. Thirty-five years later, CEPAD has grown and changed; although it is still active as an assembly of churches and still responds to emergencies (including Hurricane Felix and the floods), its main emphasis is on leadership training and providing village leaders with the tools to identify their needs and seek resources for their own development.

Part of CEPAD’s birthday celebration took place in the northernmost mountain reserve of Kilambé, close to the Honduran border. A 28-person delegation of board members, and assembly members, staff, and special guests were driven 158 miles (seven hours, half of them over “washboard” dirt roads!) into the breathtaking mountains east of the tiny town of Wiwilí to a special event organized by the Kilambé Community Development Association (ASDECK is its Spanish acronym). ASDECK is a testimony to CEPAD’s recent strategy to help rural villages join together and become legally constituted community associations, in order to seek resources for their communities’ development. The anniversary event was held under the shade of trees. The platform and chairs were bedecked with flowers and huge banana tree leaves. One after another, ASDECK community members stood on the platform to sing songs and recite poems that tell CEPAD’s story and honor its ministries.

Yoelbi Peralta from the village of El Diamante recited a poem about CEPAD's 35th anniversary.

Yesterday I came down from the mountain with the anniversary entourage, and into the city. I feel overwhelmed with the needs I see in Nicaragua, and with news of fresh disasters in Tabasco, Mexico, and southern California. There are over 150 unread messages in my email “in” box.  But the words and the gusto of Yoelbi Peralta, a little girl from Kilambé who dramatically (and by heart) recited a poem about CEPAD, make me smile: “It’s because of being in solidarity/ and not for a salary/ that today we celebrate/ CEPAD’s 35th anniversary.” In Yoelbi’s words, I see the seeds of CEPAD’s work, a child who because of CEPAD and ASDECK may one day become a leader in her village and her country. Her words reminded me of CEPAD’s example—inspired by Jesus’ mandate to serve God by serving others—of the importance to work in unity. If we can get away from the isolation of our desks, shut down our email, and generally not allow ourselves to become overwhelmed by the onslaught of information about wars, disasters, and famine in the world, and simply connect with other people, there is much we can do individually and collectively to make positive change in our communities and our world.

Finally, a whole-hearted thank-you to churches and individuals that supported Mission Challenge ’07, which brought 48 missionaries to 900 churches (and 50,000 people) throughout the United States during the month of October. Without your prayers and support, mission co-workers, including me, could not carry out our ministries.

May the Christ child bring you many fruits of love, life, and unity this season!

The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 58