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Meal One - Nicaragua

Spotlight on Nicaragua

Region: Latin America
Population: 5,995,928 (July 2010 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: 71.78 years
Population below poverty line: 48% (2005)
Literacy rate: 67.5%

Printable Table Tent

Download and print this table tent, designed for the Nicaragua meal. This table tent includes conversation starters and information about your gifts to ELCA World Hunger in action.

Placemats

Download, print and use different placemats during your Lenten meals to raise awareness about hunger, poverty and related issues.

Program

This 30-minute program, specifically designed for the Nicaragua meal, contains a reading, litany, monologue, prayers and discussion questions.

Table Prayer

O God bless this food we are about to receive. Give bread to those who hunger, and hunger for justice to those of us who have bread. Taken from the National Farm Worker Ministry.

Story: Nubia
Nubia owns a herd of 60 dairy cows on her ranch on the outskirts of Chinandega, Nicaragua. Three years ago, when her husband died, Nubia didn’t think she could keep the land, much less run a successful dairy…
Read the full story.

Download and print this story to share at the meal.
Download this story: PDF | DOC

Local Recipes

Popular foods in Nicaragua include nacatamales (corncakes), gallo pinto (rice and beans), maduros (fried bananas), refried beans, fresco de pina y arroz (chilled pineapple and rice drink). We suggest gallo pinto. Find all of these recipes and more at http://www.nicaragua.com/recipes.

Skip the Coffee. Feed the Hungry.

Many are familiar with the tradition of giving something up during Lent. Last year, Pastor Steve Biegner of Zion Lutheran Church in Clarence Center, N.Y., decided to add something to his Lenten tradition. For 40 days, he stopped drinking coffee. And in its place, he gave whatever money he normally spent to support ELCA World Hunger.

“What does giving up coffee have to do with my relationship with God?” Pastor Steve asked. “Nothing. But focusing on the problem of hunger does. It helps ‘enlighten my eye’ to the ongoing problem.”

He placed a large, empty pickle jar outside the sanctuary of his church and asked others to join him. Each day, members of the congregation would sacrifice their favorite morning beverage and save the money they would have spent. By Easter Sunday, the pickle jar was full of donations to help end hunger and poverty.