CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ABP) — Gustavo Parajón, a medical doctor and pastor who was a leading voice for peace and justice ministry in Nicaragua for more than 40 years, died unexpectedly at his home Sunday, March 13.
Gustavo Parajón
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He was an active supporter and participant in the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America and a former American Baptist missionary.
Parajón served as pastor of the First Baptist Church of Managua, Nicaragua. In 1967 he founded PROVADENIC (Nicaragua Vaccination and Community Development Program) in partnership with First Baptist Church of Cleveland, Ohio, the Nicaraguan Baptist Convention and First Baptist Church of Managua.
PROVADENIC is a primary health-care program that serves 25 rural communities by training local health promoters to treat and prevent common illnesses. He was also the founder of CEPAD (Nicaraguan Council of Evangelical Churches), the ecumenical relief and development agency in Nicaragua.
During the Sandinista Revolution and the war in the 1980s, CEPAD was the intermediary between the Evangelical Churches and the government. It won the admiration of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, who appointed Parajon as a member of the National Reconciliation Commission, together with Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo, former Catholic Archbishop of Managua.
That prompted some conservative circles to label CEPAD a communist organization working in tandem with the Soviet-backed government. As a result, CEPAD clinics became targets for attacks from Contra rebels, who sought to overthrow the government, placing doctors, nurses and patients at risk.
An intervention by noted Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary professor and author, Ron Sider, who organized visits of prominent conservative leaders from the United States to the sites served by the organization, helped to dispel the accusation.
Parajón received many honors for his work, including the 1980 Dahlberg Peace Award from the American Baptist Churches USA and the 2006 Baptist World Alliance Human Rights Award. He was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters degree by Denison University in 1981 and the Sesquicentennial Medallion as an Outstanding Citizen of Managua during the city's 150th anniversary in 2002.
Funeral services were scheduled for Tuesday, March 15, in Managua.
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Johnny Almond is communications director for the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America. This story also contains reporting by the Baptist World Alliance.