VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS)-American Baptist Churches, USA celebrates the recent announcement that Gustavo Parajón, a former International Ministries missionary, is the 2006 recipient of the prestigious Baptist World Alliance Human Rights Award.
The award was previously handed out every five years but, following a vote at the BWA Centennial Congress held in Birmingham, England, in July of 2005, it is now given annually. It is awarded in recognition of "significant and effective activities to secure, protect, restore, or preserve human rights," and will be given this year at the General Council/Annual Gathering of the BWA, held July 3 to 8, 2006 in Mexico City.
Parajón, a medical doctor, clergyman, and a vice president of the Baptist World Alliance, is a prominent figure in Nicaraguan evangelical and medical circles. He is being recognized for outstanding relief and development work, as well as his contribution to the evangelical movement and Baptist witness in his country.
In response to the announcement, Rev. Jose Norat-Rodríguez, IM's area director for Latin America, said "This is a well-deserved recognition. Dr. Gustavo Parajón has dedicated his life and vocation to serving as a doctor in the poorest communities of Nicaragua through a program of preventive and clinical health." Norat-Rodríguez adds "Gustavo inspires a new generation to take very seriously the suffering of the poor and to work preferably for them."
Parajón has founded two major organizations. PROVADENIC (Nicaragua Vaccination and Community Development Program), founded in 1967, was started in partnership with the First Baptist Church of Cleveland in the United States, the Nicaraguan Baptist Convention and the First Baptist Church of Managua. It is a primary health care program that 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 organization to aid victims after an earthquake severely damaged the capital, Managua, and other parts of the country, taking more than 10,000 lives. 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.
After serving in Nicaragua for five years through American Baptist Home Mission, Parajón and his wife, Joan, were commissioned by IM (then known as the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society), in January 1973. Parajón was awarded the Dahlberg Peace Award for his work by the American Baptist Churches USA in 1980. He and his wife retired December 2003.
In terms of new generations, David, the Parajón's son, was commissioned along with his wife Laura as IM missionaries at the 2001 World Mission Conference.
This is the second American Baptist to receive the BWA award in as many years. During the centenary last year, global consultant Rev. Lauran Bethell received the award for her years of work among women and children affected by sex trafficking and forced prostitution.
Andrew C. Jayne American Baptist Churches, USA Mission Resource Development http://www.abc-usa.org/