CEPAD

The Council of Evangelical Churches of Nicaragua

CEPAD is a ministry of the evangelical churches of Nicaragua working together in development, emergency relief, and peacemaking. Working in more than 100 locations throughout Nicaragua, CEPAD supports the efforts of local community members to better their material, social, and spiritual resources in order to live more abundant lives. Rather than impose solutions from the top down, we work with people to empower them to make their own decisions about their own communities.

Investments that make a difference

Most low-income Nicaraguans are unable to obtain bank loans. To meet the urgent need for credit, CEPAD created the Nicaraguan Community Development Loan Fund(NCDLF).CEPAD's expertise, feasibility studies, and technical assistance help assure the success of its over 200 loans. Loan recipients include small businesses, farming and fishing cooperatives, and a growing number of women's cooperatives.

Empowering Women

CEPAD recognizes that in Nicaraguan households women are the ones who somehow make ends meet, but often lack the training or experience to find creative solutions to what are often economic problems. CEPAD seeks to empower women through its women's ministry program, various training courses, and acommitment to increasing funding to women borrowers in the Loan Fund Program.

We at CEPAD believe it is God's will that men and women live inequality, with love and mutual respect. Only together and in harmony can we recreate the image of God in ourselves.

Nurturing the Earth

Years of war and decades of clearcutting, pesticide abuse, and government mismanagement have left much of the land in Nicaragua barren and nutrient-poor.The members of CEPAD believe that environmental restoration and the improvement of the quality of life are inseperable. CEPAD's agroforestry and sustainable farming projects are dedicated to helping peasants and rural workers improve their lives and preserve God's creation.

Ecotourism

CEPAD's ecotourism program promotes solidarity in conservation between ecotourists and local communities interested in preserving the earth and creating jobs. Within this framework of environmental education, CEPAD welcomes delegations of naturalists to immerse themselves in the rich culture of the Nicaraguan people and the vibrant natural life of the Central American tropics. Ecotourists encounter an abundance of wildlife in Nicaragua, including macaws, three different species of monkeys, and other intriguing inhabitants of the rainforests. CEPAD leads delegations on hikes in Bosawas, a natural reserve bordering Honduras, and on boat trips down the Rio San Juan, a river running through the SI-A-PAZ Biological Reserve near the Costa Rican border. CEPAD seeks to promote ecotourism in a way that benefits the communities involved and their conservation efforts without damaging the natural and cultural histories of the area.

CEPAD Ministries

CEPAD is a nonprofit organization representing 55 Protestant denominations in Nicaragua. CEPAD's governing body, the General Assembly, meets monthly to worship together, discuss the issues that most affect us, and to make decisions.

Formed originally to meet the urgent needs in the wake of the 1972 earthquake, CEPAD today continues its ministry of helping victims of natural and human disasters. When floods, earthquakes, or fires leave Nicaraguans homeless, we are there with assistance. Through our local committees, CEPAD provides emergency food and clothing and assists with material aid in the long-term process of rebuilding communities.

For much of the 1980's, Nicaragua suffered the cruelty and violence of war. This war, imposed by the United States, brought terror and suffering to the countryside, and more than a quarter million people were displaced from their lands and homes. CEPAD -- providing food, clothing, and building materials --has helped many of these families get a fresh start on rebuilding productive, happy, peaceful lives.

As a voice of the evangelical community, CEPAD actively dialogues with the Nicaraguan government about issues of common concern and strives to play a reconciling role in the midst of a process of rapid social transformation.CEPAD leaders haveplayed a singular role in fostering dialogue between armedindigenous groups and the national government. Likewise, in the southeast corner of the country, CEPAD has nurtured the grass roots work of local peace commission.

CEPAD promotes covenant relationships between sister churches, communities, and organizations in Nicaragua and their partners worldwide. Covenant relationships foster ties of love, unity, peace, and faith between Nicaraguan Christians and Christians from other countries as they jointly support and help community projects and plant the seeds of peace and justice.

CEPAD supports local churches in the theological training and development of pastors and lay leaders, as well as special ministries with women and youth.CEPAD provides training and materials for potable water projects, cooperatives, housing and latrine construction, children's welfare projects, agricultural improvement, medical care, and education. CEPAD also administers a loan fund using lower-rate and more flexible terms than banks offer, thus empowering the poor to help themselves.

History

CEPAD came into being following the December 23, 1972, earthquake that destroyed downtown Managua, killed more than 10,000 people, and left over 200,000 homeless. In confronting the tragedy, for the first time in our national experience several evangelical deominations joined together. On December 27, eight denominational leaders met in the Baptist High School, and, surrounded by the ruins of the capital city, formed the Evagelical Committee for Aid to the Victims, known by its acronym in Spanish: CEPAD.

As the emerging needs of the quake victims were ministered to over the ensuing months, we evangelicals found that we could, indeed, work together. Over the years, as we prayed and reflected together on the continuing problems of the poor of Nicaragua and the challenges faced by our churches, we changed our ministry and organizational structure accordingly. In 1973, and again in 1989,we found it appropriate to change the name of our organization, but kept the acronym of CEPAD. In 1995 we again restructured CEPAD to more efficiently meetthe needs of Nicaraguan communities.

Today, our ministry continues, with the involvment of dozens of denominations, including Baptist, Morovian, Anglican, Nazarene, Pentacostal, andApostolic churches. In the indigenous communities of the Atlantic Coast, Roman Catholics are especially active in CEPAD's ministries. Working in more than 100 communities, bringing the good news of empowerment and holistic development to hurting and hungry people, CEPAD's ministry is extended to all Nicaraguans, regardless of race, religion, or political affiliation.

Support

The success of CEPAD's ministry is founded upon its international partnerships with churches and orginizations concerned with the struggle of the Nicaraguan people. In an era of shrinking funds, CEPAD needs the support of its partners more than ever to empower Nicaraguans to develop themselves and their families spiritually, socially, and materially. If you would like to support CEPAD's ministries, contact your denomination's mission office, or write us at...

Department of Public Realtions, CEPAD
Apartado 3091
Managua, Nicaragua
Telephone: 505-2-664628
Fax 505-2-664236

E-mail CEPAD1@nicarao.apc.org,

or see our brief CEPAD USA page.

This page maintained by Steve Herrick, webjourneyman for CEPAD.
Last updated 18 December 1996.