Our church is part of the Kairos Association (sometimes called "AKF", short for the Spanish Asociacion Karios para la Formacion), an organization made up of six U.S. churches and nine Nicaraguan churches that fosters "sister" relationships between the congregations. Jiñocuao is the "sister parish" of our church. For more than 10 years, our church has been sending letters, parishioners, and hope to Jiñocuao - a small, poor farming community in northwest Nicaragua.
Jiñocuao is the "sister parish" of our church, while a congregation near to them - Dulce Nombre de Jesus--is sistered with Church of the Covenant in Boston. Damascus United Methodist Church, a congregation near TPPC in Damascus, MD, is partnered with a congregation called El Bijague in San Francisco Libre.
Elena Hendrick and Luis Aguirre, our mission team based in Managua, Nicaragua provide the Kairos leadership. It is through their vision that Kairos successfully works with the Nicaraguan communities and also with the Northern churches.
The emphasis of Kairos is on teaching and supporting community people to analyze and understand their situations, tackle problems within their control; pool resources to help the neediest families; set up and run a small agricultural loan program created by Kairos, and engage in serious Bible study and reflection. Jiñocuao has an elected Commission and its members take leadership responsibility seriously. It is a privilege for TPPC to be part of their community life.
These "brother/sister" (Sp. "hermanamiento") relationships are about much more than material aid. We are two communities walking together, praying for each other, building relationships, and creating a family between us. It is not a charity arrangement because it is much more than just writing a check and more about how we walk as a family, work as a family, and help each other out. In this way it works on a model o f the early Christian church - pooling our resources and meeting each other's needs.
Sometimes material assistance is needed. When Hurricane Mitch struck in October 1998, all U.S. Kairos members raised as much money as they could and responded as a group. Each church gave as much as they could, and by pooling resources, they can better be spread out over all the communities, according to greatest need.
Being in relationship with Jiñocuao and participating in Kairos is a true blessing for all of us and part of what it means to really be working on building the reign of God.
Please find out more about our relationship by visiting the Jiñocuao information table after church! For more information on Kairos, visit their website at http://www.kairosassociation.org/.
Webmaster : Brian C. Monsell