Bethany Beachum
When Maria Pilar talks about her community, she does it with joy. Her neighborhood, “David Andino,” is a very
typical community in Chinandega, the city of second most economic importance in
Nicaragua.
This neighborhood also has many of the symptoms of insecurity, violence,
dysfunctional families and community division, but Maria Pilar sees beyond
these. “We have many victories to
celebrate”, she expresses joyfully.
For the last two years, Maria Pilar and five of her neighbors, have been
involved with the Strategy for Urban Transformation (ETU), a training program
that is using the local church to contribute to community transformation by
means of a combination of evangelism, discipleship, and development based in
the use of local resources and building cooperation among neighbors.
Maria Pilar sums it up this way, “Through
ETU, God has taught us how we can help our community, both physically and
spiritually. We have been able to
establish friendships with various people in the community that we never knew
before.”
“Friendship” is a word that Maria uses often, but it is the term that
best describes her work in the neighborhood.
From her home, she has begun teaching handicrafts to young women. “We
have a beautiful group of people who have learned to make handicrafts and sell
their own products themselves, generating income for their households,” she
shares.
Photo: María del Pilar (center) and her handicrafts class
For Maria and the ETU team, however, the most valuable part has been the
camaraderie that has developed among the neighbors as a result of the arts and
craft classes. The community now has a
stronger affinity with the church. “This last semester we have met on several
occasions with the leadership of the neighborhood to share the topics of
Leadership, Community Service, Domestic Violence, Marriage Problems, and
HIV-AIDS. Also, we are developing
roundtable discussions to promote healthy relationship within the family,”
adds Maria.
What is happening in the neighborhood of David Andino is a small example
of what can happen when the church reaches out to the community, taking small
steps to help people flourish. Beyond
just growing new relationships among neighbors, the church allows God to add
people that he wants to belong to its reach.
As Maria explains, “We celebrate
the fact that two people have accepted our Lord Jesus as Savior and that others
are visiting our church and small groups.”
Maria finishes her testimony asking for prayer for the members of the
ETU team in the neighborhood of David Andino in Chinandega, “That the Holy Spirit would accompany us, illuminate
us, give us patience, give us time, and above all, the disposition to work as a
team, that God would touch the hearts and minds of those in our barrio and
allow us to advance in the transformation of individuals.”
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