Monday, January 21
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
Nicaragua
Joy is the fuel of Nicaraguans. That and good humor.” My Nicaraguan friend, artist Gerardo Arias, said this in a matter-of-fact way on the journey to the remote village of Kilambé. “Is that a Nicaraguan saying?” I asked. “No, I’m just saying it. We don’t have a lot of money, so we run on joy.” He and I were accompanying a small delegation from Davidson College Presbyterian Church to their partner community in the mountains near Honduras. In another location it would be a tourist mecca for its natural beauty at the base of cloud forests and white cliffs. But this area is isolated and very poor.
A mural in the impoverished Managua neighborhood of Santo Domingo, created by Nicaraguan artists Gerardo and Candida Arias and funded by a gift from South Frankfort (Ky.) Presbyterian Church, celebrates the limitless possibilities of education.
Governments and NGOs are working hard to preserve Nicaragua’s abundant natural resources. But the people face an uphill climb on the way to sustainability and food security. Many Nicaraguans just don’t have enough. In a land of scarce financial resources, people are unable to pay for basic needs like food and medicine. Nevertheless, they believe in God’s manna world of abundance, where “those who gathered much had nothing over, and those who gathered little had no shortage” (Exod. 16:18).
A traveler once asked a woman in Managua why they set off fireworks during the day. After all, you can only hear them, and you don’t get to enjoy the bright show. Her answer: “We set them off so that God can hear our joy.”
—Carl Agsten Jr., PC(USA) mission co-worker, Managua, Nicaragua
Let us join in prayer for:
PC(USA) People in Mission
Council of Evangelical Churches-Nicaragua (CEPAD): Carl Agsten Jr. and Dr. Leslie Clay, facilitators of partnerships and communications, Carlos Cardenas Martinez, disaster mitigation/environmental management and agriculture, Dr. Rev. Douglas Orbaker, delegations coordinator
Partners/Ministries
Council of Evangelical Churches of Nicaragua (CEPAD): Damaris Albuquerque, executive director •Moravian Church in Nicaragua: Rev. Gonzalo Paiz, superintendent •Interchurch Center for Theological and Social Studies (CIEETS): Jairo Arce, general director
Presbytery Partnerships: Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy, Presbytery of Lake Michigan, Presbytery of Missouri River Valley, and Presbytery of the Pacific, with CEPAD
PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Herbert Beverly, Office of the General Assembly
Teresa Bidart, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Let us pray
Dear God, we thank you for new life, new hope, and the redemption of your creation. Amen.
Daily Lectionary
Morning Psalms 135; 145
First Reading Isaiah 44:6-8, 21-23
Second Reading Ephesians 4:1-16
Gospel Reading Mark 3:7-19a
Evening Psalms 97; 112
