The first goal of our community development model Plan 7 pertains to leadership: that in every community we partner with, local leaders are the owners and the agents of change in their communities. These leaders inspire hope for their neighbors by creating a vision and a plan for their community’s advancement.
The leadership committees from each community brought a dish to share with the whole group. Leaders from La Danta brought chancho con yucca. Leaders from El Pedregal brought carne en baho. Leaders from El Manzanillo brought cosas de horno, and on and on until the delicious aroma drifted out of the Rancho and across the entire Amigos property.
The leaders present on that day were truly agents of change for their communities. Many of them participated in early conversations with Amigos for Christ about their dreams for the future: clean water and sanitation infrastructure for their families; opportunities for their children; healthy, purposeful lives for themselves and their neighbors. For many of them, those early conversations were challenging. “We feel like a forgotten community,” is a common refrain in many rural Nicaraguan communities.
Leaders like Ileana dedicate their time, energy, and God-given gifts to serve on volunteer committees that pave the way for change. Dreams that started small have grown into a new vision, and that vision has made a new reality. Those once-forgotten communities now know abundance, and generously share their fruit at the table of hospitality.
