GUSTAVO PARAJÓN was a remarkable figure: an Evangelical Baptist pastor, who was also a medical doctor, a public-health pioneer, and a fearless peace activist during some of Nicaragua’s most troubled years. Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by President Jimmy Carter, he has been described as an Evangelical proponent of liberation theology.
He died in 2011, and this long-awaited biography charts his achievements. It is more a statement of record than a work of literature, but it has real value in bringing his life of selfless dedication to public notice.
Dr Parajón was born in 1935, the son of a Baptist pastor in Managua. Nicaragua was under the thumb of the American-backed heriditary dictatorship of the Somoza family.
Parajón went on to study medicine in the US, and gained a Master’s degree in public health from Harvard. He returned in 1968 to Nicaragua as a missionary doctor and pastor, with his American-born wife, Joan. The country at the time was one of the poorest in the Western Hemisphere.
Parajón began travelling to the poorest rural communities. He founded PROVADENIC, the first-ever primary-health programme in the country, by enlisting support from community leaders across the denominational divide, and recruiting volunteer health-promoters. His work came to the attention of President Somoza, who asked him to be his Minister of Health, but Parajón refused, because of the regime’s corruption and dismissive attitude to the rural poor.
In 1972, a massive earthquake hit Nicaragua. In response, Parajón formed CEPAD, an inter-denominational relief and development agency, which continues to this day. He confronted the Somoza family, who siphoned off huge quantities of foreign aid meant for earthquake victims.
After the earthquake, armed Sandinista rebels rode a tide of public anger, ousting Somoza and established a government under Daniel Ortega. Dr Parajón was no supporter of violence, but believed that the new regime would be better for the poor, and advised the government on health policy.
As a result, he came under a disinformation attack from many US Evangelicals for “befriending” communists. Relations become worse when — during the 1980s — the Reagan administration backed former members of Somoza’s National Guards (Contras) to attack the new regime.
Parajón highlighted Contra atrocities against health clinics, development projects, and innocent civilians, and raised support from more liberal-minded Evangelicals in the US. Teams of volunteer “peacekeepers” from overseas were billeted in war zones to deter attacks.
Parajón’s enhanced international profile brought visits from celebrities such as the singers Kris Kristoffersen, Bruce Cockburn, and Bono. Former-President Carter came, too. Parajón became a popular speaker at the UK’s Greenbelt Festival.
When Ortega was replaced by Violeta Chamorro, US support for the Contras ended, and Parajón was active in facilitating the disarmament process. But nine years of civil war had almost destroyed the health systems of Nicaragua. Parajón then had more to do, first with President Chomorra and, again, with Ortega when he later returned to power.
Parajón, as this book recounts, was a humble man, who lived up to one of his favourite Bible verses, someone who “did not come to be served, but to serve”.
The Revd Malcolm Doney is a writer, broadcaster, and Anglican priest.
Healing the World: Gustavo Parajón, public health and peacemaking pioneer
Daniel Buttry and Damaris Albuquerque
Read the Spirit Books £19.54
(978-1-64180-151-5)
Church Times Bookshop £17.69