Carol Bremer-Bennett, director of World Renew-U.S., brought both a call to prayer and a clarification on the status of World Renew partners working in Nicaragua to Synod 2018, the annual general assembly of the Christian Reformed Church.
“We would ask that you continue to pray for the people of Nicaragua, who have been experiencing increased violence in their communities as they protest certain decisions of their government,” Bremer-Bennett said.
Describing a state of instability including road blocks, gang violence, and looting that has been escalating in Nicaragua since mid-April, Bremer-Bennett acknowledged that the work of Resonate Global Mission and World Renew has been hindered. Some staff have decided to leave the country earlier than they had planned.
“We praise God that none of our staff members have directly experienced any violence. Yet their relationships run deeply in the community of Nicaraguans, and so all of them know someone who has been directly affected, and this troubles them,” Bremer-Bennet said.
She explained that a crisis monitoring team for Nicaragua has been meeting at least weekly since the onset of the violence and that no wholesale evacuation by staff has taken place. The monitoring team’s role, she said, is to support the staff in the country and make recommendations concerning security.
“The missionaries ask that you pray that people would turn the battle over to the Lord,” Bremer-Bennet said. “May the God of angel armies protect Nicaragua and spare her people from a lasting war.”
Synod 2018 is meeting at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., from June 7-14. For continuous coverage while synod is in session, download the Banner app on your mobile device or follow The Banner Magazine on Facebook or @crcbanner on Twitter. You can find more tweeting by following hashtag #crcsynod. News stories will be posted at thebanner.org several times daily. For CRC Communications releases and the webcast, please visit crcna.org.
About the Author
Alissa Vernon is the news editor for The Banner.
