Some scholars believe Jesus’ parable of the mustard seed was meant to remind us that one can start with very little and end up with something incredibly big. Such as been our experience as Global Ministries missionaries. In the past year and a half, we have been privileged to witness many ways in which La Misión Cristiana (The Christian Mission Church of Nicaragua) shares God’s transforming love, from visiting neighbors to talk about their faith to after-school programs for children in the poorest neighborhoods in the city to welcoming us North American missionaries with open arms and overwhelming hospitality. La Misión is a small, poor church in a small, poor country, but they work tirelessly to improve the lives of their members as well as the surrounding communities. They run an impressive number of projects, some at a local level and others at the national level, to transform lives by meeting the most basic human needs. One such project is designed to provide greater food security for communities in the Western region of Nicaragua. It has been such a success that they are aiming to expand it to the Eastern region in the coming year. “Food security” is a fancy technical term for making sure everyone has enough to eat. In Nicaragua three out of every four people subsist on less than $2 a day, which means that hunger is still a very real problem, especially in the rural areas.
First, La Misión has set up seed banks in seven of the small farming communities where their churches are located. The seed banks provide corn, red bean and sorghum seeds to farmers with the agreement that they will repay 125% of the seeds they receive after the harvest. This structure ensures that the project can continue and benefit more families the following year. The bank focuses in particular on sharecroppers and farmers who own small plots of land, many of whom could not have afforded to farm otherwise and might otherwise have left to find work outside the community.
The other components of the project involve the gift, to each family in the local churches, of five fruit tree seedlings (3 mango and 2 orange trees) and enough vegetable seeds to plant a substantial backyard garden. As a partner of Global Ministries (the shared witness of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ around the world), La Misión Cristiana provides a way for Disciples and UCC congregations to share in this work. Through Disciples Mission Fund and “over and above” gifts, we have the opportunity to put the resources that God has given us to work where they are needed most. Find out more about La Misión Cristiana, at http://laurajeanandtim.blogspot.com
Prayer: God, help me sow seeds from my abundance, inspired by those who create
your abundance in the midst of scarcity.
Amen.
Laura Jean Torgerson and Tim Donaghy, along with their two children,
serves as Global Ministries missionaries for the Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ in Nicaragua.