Fraternidad de Iglesias Evangélicas Menonitas de Nicaragua

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Fraternidad de Iglesias Evangélicas Menonitas de Nicaragua
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Congregations	32
Membership	2.300
Presiding Officer	Insert Presiding Officer Here
Address	Apartado 3163, Managua, NICARAGUA.
Phone	(505) 266-30-78
E-mail	fiemn@ibw.com.ni
Website	Insert Website Here

La Fraternidad de Iglesias Evangélica Menonitas de Nicaragua tiene alrededor de 2.300 miembros en 32 congregaciones. Es miembra del Congreso Mundial Menonita.

Historias

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Historia

In 1966, Alfred and Doris Friesen arrive in the Francisco Morazan neighborhood in Managua. They are the first missionaries from the Canadian Evangelical Mennonite Church in Manitoba, Canada.

In these first few years of missionary presence in the city, efforts were concentrated on literacy, interaction with the community, and Bible distribution. They went from house to house in the community, guided by Guillermo Castillo, a Nicaraguan sympathetic to their cause.

The missionary group met a family from the Baptist Mission, who let them hold church services in their worship space. In the early days of church services, the following Nicaraguan people participated: The Argueda family, Reyes Arguello, Santiago Reyes, Bayardo Ruiz, Carmen Plata, Isabel Velasquez, Dominga Reyes, and others.

Having gathered a sufficiently large group of people, they decided to continue holding services in the house of Juan and Argentina Reyes. Eventually, due to the increase in church attendance, the house and patio of the Reyes family were no longer large enough to hold services. The church members donated on a voluntary basis in order to raise money for the construction of a new church building. Various women in the church also made and sold sewing projects in order to contribute to the collection. By 1969, enough money had been collected to buy a piece of land and construct a church building.

In March of 1970, the the first service was held in the new space-- the first official building of the Nicaraguan church. In the same service, the first Nicaraguan Brothers were baptized: Cesar Arguello, Carmen Miranda, and Francisca Rivas. Today, this building serves as the Sunday School Office, the kitchen, and the Classroom for Intermediate students.

In the same year, a new church plant in La Paz de Carazo began with the arrival of Lester and Darlene Olfert. The church in La Paz grew quickly, and the Olferts were very active in starting numerous other church plants in surrounding towns.

In 1973, the Fraternity of Evangelical Mennonite churches of Nicaragua officially organized in collaboration with Nicaraguan and EMC leaders of the various congregations. The official aims of the were church established as follows: Preach the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Promote and maintain fraternal unity among the churches of Jesus Christ. Cultivate the spiritual and physical health of people. Cooperate with other Christian groups in Nicaragua to promote the Gospel and the well being of the society.

In 1974, legal status of the church was officially confirmed and recognized by the government.

Orígenes

Los Misioneros menonitas que llegaron en 1966 trabajaron en distribución de literatura cristiana, visitas a hogares, y estudios bíblicos. Como resultado de esto, la Fraternidad de Iglesias Evangélica Menonitas de Nicaragua fue formad en 1970 por misioneros de la conferencia Evangélica Menonita de Canadá. Fue incorporada legalmente tres años después.

Vida Contemporánea

Ahora es una iglesia autónoma que se enfoca en áreas de desarrollo comunitario, capacitación de líders, y educación cristiana.

Personas importantes en la vida de la iglesia

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Recursos Electrónicos

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Bibliografía anotada

Founding Members of the Nicaraguan Church.“Reseña Historica.” Informational Booklet, Private Collection of Lisette Largaespada. Managua, Nicaragua. 2019. This booklet was put together by what is described as “Founding Members of the Nicaraguan Church” (translated by the author) as a commemoration of the church’s 50 year anniversary. It was distributed to the congregation in Ciudad Sandino, though it is unclear whether or not distribution occurred more broadly. The booklet consists of a prayer of gratitude and thanks, some Bible verses, and a two page history of the church.

Olfert, Lester. Mennonite World Handbook. Lombard, IL.: Mennonite World Conference, 1978. The Mennonite World Conference handbook is a collection of brief informational snippets including hard data and founding information from branches of the church all over the world. The entry on the Fraternidad was written by Lester Olfert, one of the first EMC missionaries in the country. The account provides helpful first-hand details that helped to flesh out the generalities of the timeline listed in the Valladares book.

Valladares, Jaime Prieto. Mission and Migration: Global Mennonite History Series: Latin America. Intercourse, PA.: Good Books, 2010. This book is the Latin American volume of a series of global Mennonite Missions and churches. The chapter on Nicaragua contains just a few pages concerning the history of the Fraternidad, but provided some key names and dates.

Archivos y Bibliotecas

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Links Externos

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