focus:poverty

Food for the Hungry’s Juan Pablo Belmonte made a good point in our Zoom call last week, “The ultimate goal of our work is not necessarily to complete every project that is on the community’s improvement list; it’s to see the community’s worldview transformed by experiencing God’s hope. That is what gives them courage and resilience in the face of new challenges, and it makes further development sustainable.” During the past three years fourteen churches have embarked on long-term, church-to-community partnerships through Food for the Hungry, which paired individual BGAV churches with respective communities in the Nicaraguan regions of Somotillo, Chinandega, or Quilali. In this “focus:poverty” partnership, churches have been able to visit their partners, develop relationships, work on projects together, and sponsor children in those communities. The encouragement has been mutual as we all have seen the transformation taking place.

This makes it even harder to digest the Nicaraguan government’s announcement on February 24^th that Food for the Hungry Nicaragua must to cease all operations in the country. However since 2018 the government has shut down thousands of non-profit organizations. Food for the Hungry started working with communities in Nicaragua after the Managua Earthquake of 1972, promoting indigenous-led, sustainable development for over 50 years. Food for the Hungry was reputed to be safe because of their exemplary cooperation with local government, as well as their transparent and reliable accounting. However worries started to grow as Save the Children was expelled from the country in January, and in early February Nicaragua withdrew from the United Nations Food and Security Organization.

We are shocked by the news, and heartbroken for the individuals who have been working so hard to help their communities graduate from extreme poverty. We are also concerned for the staff of Food for the Hungry Nicaragua. These indigenous Nicaraguan development workers, agricultural specialists, social workers, and micro-economic coaches consistently have gone beyond the call of duty to walk alongside the people they serve. Rooted in their faith in Christ they have been a strengthening pastoral presence in these villages and communities. Their spirit of servanthood has been an inspiration to all the BGAV teams that have traveled to Nicaragua in this partnership, and many of them have become friends with our churches’ volunteers. We pray that they will find new jobs and ways to support their families.

We know that God was at work in Nicaragua long before Food for the Hungry or the BGAV were there, and that God will continue in the future. We are glad for the relationships we experienced and that we could be their “backup singers” for a season. Juan Pablo’s statement at the beginning of this article reminds us of how faith works; we don’t necessarily get all the things on our wishlist, but we do learn that our hope in God is not in vain, and that God provides resources for us to respond creatively to future challenges. None of the work done through this partnership has been in vain, and much of it has planted seeds for the future. The fact that the BGAV must cease working with Food for the Hungry in Nicaragua is not going to keep God from continuing the good work that these communities are doing. Believing that this is how faith works, with confidence we can hope and pray for the partners in Nicaragua which we have come to know and love.

The Impact Missions staff and Food for the Hungry are working with the BGAV partner churches to facilitate the closure of the church-to-community partnerships in Nicaragua. The BGAV is grateful to Food for the Hungry for the work of their staff, both in the U.S. and in Nicaragua. In spite of their own shock and disappointment they have been diligent in helping us work through the implications of what has happened. There have been numerous Zoom and phone calls to answer questions and map the way forward. We have seen much alignment with their  emphasis on Christ-centered, relational, result-oriented development which is sustainable, indigenous-lead, and long-term. Therefore we are exploring ways to engage in a similar church-to-community partnership elsewhere.