In late 2015, something was stirring within Commonway. During a Sunday service, a generous outpouring of thousands of dollars sparked the possibility for our community to begin serving and investing in in the lives of another community thousands of miles away.
A few months later, in January of this year, a small team from Commonway took a trip to learn about the work Food for the Hungry (FH) is doing in Nicaragua. Their efforts center on renewing communities and families through relationship-centered development and restoration. As a church, we want to do work that is full of hope, dignity, and relationships. And that’s exactly the work we saw happening there. We’re excited about the work FH has done and is doing around the world and in Nicaragua.
As a church, we are officially partnering with Food for the Hungry for the next 8-10 years. Caulatu is a small village on the northern border of Nicaragua, with around 1500 people living there today. FH staff are already in the community, building relationships with local families and community leaders. The people of Caulatu themselves will identify where their greatest needs are and then identify solutions to those needs. Our role as a church is to support their work – financially (10% of our budget is dedicated to missions work, locally and around the globe), with prayer, and in regular trips to build relationships and physically support the work they are doing.
In fact, we have a team of 12 people who are heading to Caulatu, Nicaragua in June. These members of Commonway have played a part in conversations and efforts to find strategic missions partners for Commonway, and will likely go on to lead future trips and efforts in our partnership with FH and Caulatu. With at least one trip per year, these future opportunities will be a possibility for anyone at Commonway.
One way anyone can get involved today is through the Child Sponsorship Program. On Sunday alone, over 70 individuals and families signed up to sponsor a child – and the exciting part is that all of the sponsorships are with kids who live in our partner village. Through letter writing and financial support ($35/month), the lives of these kids and their families can be changed in ways we can’t even fully imagine.
If you are interested in sponsoring a child, we’ll have all the info available at the Connections Table for the next few weeks. (All you need to get started is to fill out a form and provide a payment option – either credit/debit card or a cancelled check to set up an Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT).
You can already begin praying and considering how you will play a role in our partnership with Food for the Hungry in Nicaragua. We are excited to see what God will do through this new vision and opportunity. We are just getting started and we would love for you to be a part of the journey.
