Why I Support CEPAD
Why I Support CEPAD Arlayne Knox shares why she supports CEPAD. I first learned about CEPAD in 1984, on a Presbyterian Mission Study trip to Central America. My church (University Presbyterian, Fairbanks, Alaska) sent me with money to use where I saw the need. It was during the Iran-Contra Affair and we visited a displaced […]
Amos Trust/Clive HorsmanTransformation From Helplessness to Sustainable Change
Chris Rose, Director of AMOS Trust, a UK based organization that supports CEPAD, shares the impact they have seen over 5 years of support of a group of 7 villages and why they have committed to supporting another group of 7 villages for 5 more years. People in the UK are surprised when they hear […]
The Beautiful Hues of Relationship
PC(USA) Mission Co-Worker, Justin Sundberg, serving with CEPAD, reflects on the word that he feels best summarizes the work of the organization and asks you to reflect as well.
by Justin Sundberg
In Jinotepe, to the south of Managua, CEPAD has worked for 8 months in the community of, “Los Encuentros” (the Meeting Crossroads). When I visited there last month, I left nearly ecstatic considering its future after meetings its CEPAD-trained leaders.
During my encounter in Los Encuentros, leaders described what they had been learning. One woman, Glorieta, rushed in late to our meeting. She had not personally been to any of our trainings, but a friend of Glorieta, trained by CEPAD, had trained her. Glorieta was beaming as she pulled necklaces, bracelets and earrings from her pockets. In Spanish, she burst, “He ideado unos!” In English, her statement could be rendered, “I’ve created some of my own unique designs,” shared modestly, but proudly.
Una nube de testigos: Reflexiones del encuentro internacional del CEPAD 2015
Para tratar la pobreza, tenemos que discutir acerca de ella. Las brechas son tan altas para millones de personas Nicaragüenses a quienes no podemos cubrir las necesidades básicas. Nosotros recordamos las formas en que experimentamos pobreza espiritual y también en las relaciones. Por unos pocos días en Managua, 75 compañeros de comunidades rurales de Nicaragua, Los Estados Unidos/Inglaterra y miembros del CEPAD hablaron honestamente sobre la pobreza, sus consecuencias y el rol de las relaciones personales en la ejecución del trabajo. Representaron 14 hermanamientos, algunos de ellos tan recientes como desde hace 3 años y otros con mas de 20 años de experiencia.
Nos reunimos en la mesa como personas iguales, cada persona con una perspectiva única de como la pobreza afectaba sus vidas, sus comunidades y el mundo. Juntos reflexionamos en Hebreos 12:1-2. “Rodeados por tan gran nube de testigos, corremos la carrera con perseverancia con nuestros ojos puestos en Jesús”. Hablamos sobre esa nube de testigos – Los lideres que han estado antes de nosotros, aquellos que están comprometidos ahora y esos que vendrán después de nosotros para continuar el trabajo. Debemos trabajar duro hoy y prepararnos para pasar el bastón a alguien mas. Este es un maratón, no una carrera corta. Con paciencia y perseverancia lograremos mucho.
CEPAD Partners Create A Great Cloud Of Witnesses
This month, welcomed 56 partners from Nicaragua, the U.S. and Canada to Managua for the International Encounter. This event, which we host every two to three years, is a chance for those partnerships with longterm commitments between individual international churches/organizations and individual Nicaraguan communities/associations to reconnect, share with other partners and learn more about CEPAD. Together, we created a declaration of our experience, and you can read it in English and Spanish below! Thank you to these awesome partners, whose longterm commitment to CEPAD and Nicaragua teaches us so much about sustainable development and accompaniment.
A Cloud Of Witnesses: Reflections From The 2015 CEPAD International Encounter
To address poverty, we have to talk about it. The stakes are so high for the millions of Nicaraguan people who cannot meet their basic needs. And we remember the ways that we experience poverty of spirit and in relationships. For a few days in Managua, 75 partners from rural Nicaraguan communities, the U.S./ England, and CEPAD’s staff talked honestly about poverty, its consequences, and the role of personal relationships in development work. We represented 14 international relationships, some as young as three-years-old and others with more than 20 years of experience.