Cucumbers: Good for God’s Journey

A letter from Justin Sundberg, serving in Nicaragua

September 2017

This has been an incredible year for Renée and me and our work with CEPAD in Nicaragua. In every sense, you have been an integral part of this!

The improbable story that follows is one you’ve helped make possible. Read on and be encouraged! You should feel great about your investment of money and love and prayer.

The story starts with awful. And moves to awesome.

Almost all Nicaraguans face daunting daily challenges, including very difficult access to food, water and a good education. Nicaraguans also face unrelenting heat. (Renée and I often feel like crayons on a car dashboard.) Add to this daily sweat-bath a bloody history of war, earthquakes and foreign domination.

Nicaragua’s heat and its past misery made Renée and me not only physically buckle, but at moments emotionally break even though we only lived its painful past vicariously. And although the heat and a tragic history have worn down even the heartiest of Nicaraguans, they still breathe in God and radiate hopefulness, generosity, graciousness and hospitality.

God’s work through CEPAD is a big part of Nicaragua’s history and its hope for today. After a few months of working with CEPAD, rural communities are able to access things that we enjoy easily in the United States — electricity, potable water, improved roads and gardens.

Cristóbal’s story demonstrates the wonder of a big garden. As you consider it, think about the good we are doing together.

When I met Cristóbal, he smiled when he told me about trying to grow his first vegetable.

Cristóbal is from a hot and humid part of Nicaragua that is marginally suited for growing produce. Like most Nicaraguans, his diet is basically beans and rice.

On a good day, there is enough rice and beans to fill his stomach. On a really good day, Cristóbal might add tortillas or coffee or cheese. So, when CEPAD began to talk about growing vegetables, it seemed a strange idea.

Cucumbers, for example.

New daily joy and sustenance.

His first ones turned out big and juicy! He gushed, “They are so refreshing! I can take two or three and they sustain me on a long journey.”

Holy smokes. Cucumbers?! Could he be serious? Sustaining him for a long journey?! Surely cucumbers cannot be important to life in any meaningful way. But this is exactly how Cristóbal feels. He spent several minutes explaining the “refreshing” to me: the “juiciness,” the “crunchiness” and the “sweetness.”

Imagine how Cristóbal will feel after CEPAD finishes working with him for a period of five years. By then, he will have learned to grow 25 different kinds of fruits and vegetables. Being able to grow vegetables creates layers of blessings for Nicaraguan families: harvests of pride, income and improved health.

For example, the diabetes that plagues so many in Nicaragua has new “enemies” because of Cristobal’s family’s recently varied diet! And the really fun part is seeing his children’s reactions. Cristóbal told me that they were not interested in cucumbers at first. But once he prevailed on them to give them a try, his kids could not get enough. In fact, they beg for them, especially on school days, because they keep them fed and hydrated in a refreshing way that rice and beans do not.

Cepad’s 42 communities.

Because CEPAD works in 42 communities, there are 100s of “Cristóbals” and 1000s of children whose lives and livelihoods are being replanted by God’s goodness through CEPAD.

We are so grateful that you have continued to partner with us. Nicaragua is a forgotten country by most. We know that someday soon, for one sad reason or another, Nicaragua will have another terrible and dark chapter written in its history. But CEPAD’s light, which is the light of Christ, will shine even brighter in that darkness because of you. This beautiful, needy country nearly matches Haiti’s despair in the south. Life is very hard for most people, even in these “best of times” void of earthquakes and war.

We’re so grateful that we can change this reality for many.

May God plant fertile, bountiful and beautiful gardens in your hearts and grow you with peace and hope. May Christ sustain you at home and at work. And may the Holy Spirit urge you to keep seeking a more just world for all.

With much love and gratitude,

Justin and Renée Sundberg

PS: Even though we are now stateside, our work with Presbyterian World Mission continues. We seek your support to complete our four-year term, which ends in December. Please see the enclosed letter from Presbyterian World Mission Director José Luis Casal that explains why your financial support is vital.

Please read this important message from Jose Luis Casal, Director, Presbyterian World Mission

Dear Friend of Presbyterian Mission,

What a joy to send this letter! As Presbyterian World Mission’s new director, I thank God for your faithful support of our mission co-workers. The enclosed newsletter celebrates the work you made possible by your prayers, engagement, and generous financial gifts. We can’t thank you enough.

After I began in April, I met with mission co-workers and global partners and was blessed to see firsthand the mighty ways God is working through them! Our global partners are asking us to help them move forward with life-changing ministries. Because of your support, we can say “yes” to these creative and exciting initiatives.

I write to invite you to make an even deeper commitment to this work. First, would you make a year-end gift for the sending and support of our mission co-workers? We need your gifts to end the year strong. With your help, we filled two new mission co-worker positions and plan to recruit for others. The needs in the world are great, and World Mission is poised to answer the call to serve.

Second, would you ask your session to add our mission co-workers to your congregation’s mission budget for 2018 and beyond? Our mission co-workers serve three-year or four-year terms. Your multi-year commitment will encourage them greatly.

Our mission co-workers are funded entirely from the special gifts of individuals and congregations like yours. Now more than ever, we need your financial support.

In faith, our mission co-workers accepted a call to mission service. In faith, World Mission sent them to work with our global partners. In faith, will you also commit to support this work with your prayers and financial gifts?

With gratitude,

Jose Luis Casal
Director

P.S. Your gift will help meet critical needs of our global partners. Thank you!