plan 7 -all leaders
Chief Experience Officer. Danny cultivates and leads a vision that creates life-transforming experiences for everyone who comes in contact with Amigos. From our lived experiences, he shares our lessons learned and our models with other organizations, through Juntos Global, to transform the world.

Abundant Generosity

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.

If there’s anything we’ve learned in our work over the last 20-odd years, it’s this: hope begets hope. Dreams that start small can grow into a vision of a totally transformed community, one where a life of scarcity is replaced by a life of abundance.
In October of 2023, 100 leaders from eight Plan 7 communities decided to share an afternoon together under the thatched roof of the Rancho. They made a plan to share their accomplishments, their struggles, and their lessons learned – and, like any good meeting, their food.

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.

Since then, these leaders have played an active role in transforming their communities. They dedicate their time, energy, and God-given gifts to serve on volunteer committees that pave the way for change. “We were able to take stock of all the progress we’ve made,” said Ileana from El Manzanillo about the meeting. “It’s so important to connect with other communities, especially the ones who have been partnered with Amigos for longer. These exchanges help us to put knowledge into practice, so we can help our communities continue to grow.”
What started as a simple potluck is really a symbol of so much more. Historian Diana Butler Bass wrote, “Jesus established a table of hospitality where all are guests, and no one owes anything to anyone else. Around this table, gifts pass without regard to payback or debt. Everyone sits. Everyone eats. And, recognizing that everything is a gift, all are grateful.” On that day, the Plan 7 leaders sat together at Jesus’ table of hospitality.

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.

This story was featured in the 2023 Annual Report.

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