wfn.org | ABCUSA: PARAJON HONORED IN MANAGUA

[RICH.SCHRAMM@ecunet.org]

AMERICAN BAPTIST NEWS SERVICE 
Office of Communication  
American Baptist Churches USA 
P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851 
Phone: (610)768-2077 / Fax: (610)768-2320 
Web: www.abc-usa.org
Richard W. Schramm, Director 
 E-mail: richard.schramm@abc-usa.org

GUSTAVO PARAJON HONORED IN MANAGUA, NICARAGUA
 American Baptist International Ministries 
missionary Dr. Gustavo Parajon was honored recently 
during Managua, Nicaragua's 150th anniversary celebration 
with the Sesquicentennial Medallion as an Outstanding 
Citizen of Managua.   
 Parajon and his wife, Joan, have ministered in 
Nicaragua since 1967.  He has sought to bring social and 
spiritual reconciliation to the people of Nicaragua, serving 
them as a pastor, educator, doctor and community 
organizer. "He truly reflects what it means to engage the 
Gospel in the transformation of society and the 
empowerment of the poor," according to Dr. John 
Sundquist, executive director of International Ministries. 
 Parajon founded two organizations which have led 
to healing and reconciliation in Nicaragua. PROVADENIC, 
founded in 1967, was started in partnership with the First 
Baptist Church of Cleveland, the Nicaraguan Baptist 
Convention and the First Baptist Church of Managua. This 
primary health care program serves 25 rural communities 
by training local health promoters to treat and prevent 
common illnesses. 
 The second organization, CEPAD (Nicaraguan 
Council of Evangelical Churches), was founded in 1972 as 
an interdenominational relief committee to aid earthquake 
victims.  CEPAD has broadened its ministry and now 
serves congregations of approximately 45 different 
member denominations and the population at large with 
emergency relief, development and reconciliation 
programs.  During the Sandinista Revolution and the war 
CEPAD was the intermediary between the Evangelical 
Churches and the government.  It has continued an 
outstanding ministry of reconciliation.
 Parajon was awarded the Dahlberg Peace Award 
for his work by the American Baptist Churches USA in 
1980.  He also was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters 
degree by Denison University in 1981.
 His parents, Arturo and Beatriz Parajon, were 
pioneer Baptist leaders in Nicaragua.  His father, pastor of 
First Baptist Church Managua, traveled to rural areas of 
Nicaragua to share the Gospel.  Gustavo joined his father 
on many of these journeys and recognized the need for 
medical help among the poor.  As a result he studied 
medicine at Denison University in Granville, Ohio, and 
returned to help meet the needs he encountered as a 
youth. 
 The Parajons' son, David, was commissioned as 
an International Ministries missionary at the 2001 World 
Mission Conference.  He and his wife, Laura, now are 
serving PROVADENIC communities in Nicaragua.

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