Back in El Salvador

Julie and I are back at the Casa Concordia.  Our bus ride back was uneventful, thankfully.  We left Antigua yesterday morning at 5:15, dropped the Minnesota folks off at the airport in Guatemala City, and then Julie and I went to the bus station for our journey back to El Salvador.  Our short visit in Antigua was wonderful and rejuvenating, and now I´m ready for 4 more weeks of El Salvador.  I´m sad that the Minnesota folks are no longer here- they are all such wonderful people and it was truly a pleasure to get to know them and to experience El Salvador together.

A lot has happened that I haven´t had the chance to write about yet, so hopefully over the next week I can catch up on posting.  We´ll see...

The first two weeks I was here, I felt completely overwhelmed with all I was experiencing- all the stories of pain, difficulties, and problems.  I heard about and witnessed first hand the structural violence of poverty.  Pastors Matias and Martina were constantly telling me about things that their churches needed and about the struggles that the members of churches were going through.  I was learning about so many problems and needs that I just felt so overwhelmed to even start to think about how I could even start to make a difference.  Part of the reason why I wanted to come down here this summer was to try to determine in what way I can work with the people of El Salvador.  However, after the first couple of weeks I felt I was even father from determining how I could help here. 

Being with the folks from Minnesota this past week really gave me reassurance that there are other people out there who like me are working to make the world a better place.  It was amazing to see what a positive difference their scholarship program makes in the lives of hundreds of students.  It is so good to know that I don´t have to change the world on my own!  No matter how small a difference I can make on my own, I know that with all these other wonderful people who care about the people of El Salvador, we can do something significant.  So I feel less overwhelmed and hopeless.

Last Sunday morning we went to church in the Lutheran cathedral.  This church was bombed twice during the war, and they just don´t have the money to fix it up.  There are simple wooden pews and the walls are made of pieces of some sort of low-quality plywood painted green.  The church is located just down the street from the Casa Esperanza.  Definitely not what you would think of when you think of the most important Lutheran church in the whole country.  Nevertheless, it was a lovely service with some great music and a meaningful sermon from the Bishop.   

After the service, we got to meet with Bishop Gomez.  He talked a little bit about the Lutheran Church in El Salvador, the war, and the trip to Europe he just returned from.  Then we got to ask some questions.  Bishop Gomez is an amazing man.  In 1992, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and he was close to winning.  During the war he led the Lutheran Church in efforts to help the people through things such as a refugee camp.  For speaking out against the violence of the war, he and his family had to deal with death threats.   

When Julie and I arrived back in San Salvador yesterday we were told we were going to a wedding in a little bit!  The Bishop Gomez´s daughter got married and we got to go.  I love how things like that just happen!  The wedding wasn´t too different from other weddings I´ve been to, but there were a few differences.  We got there at about 2:00 and we were one of the first ones there.  We thought it was supposed to start at 2, but it really didn´t start until 3.  Some folks were still decorating- putting up balloons and streamers.  More people trickled in and the bride and groom came.  They first did the civil ceremony.  The bride, groom, Bishop Gomez, the lawyer who was the Bishop´s brother, and two other people who I presume were witnesses sat at a table in the front.  The lawyer read the documents and then the bride and groom signed it and they were legally married.  Then we waited a while and then the religious ceremony started.  After the service everyone had a nice dinner of rice, bread, vegetables, salad, and chicken.  There was cake but we had to leave before they cut it.