Houses, Road Work, and Stories

Julie and I just spent a couple of days with Pastors Matias and Martina.  I just love staying with them!  They take such good care of us and are such wonderful people!  The highlights of our stay with them was going to visit the two month old baby in the community of Colon and going to the pool.  We also got to go visit a couple of houses in Guaycume that are being rebuilt after the heavy rains of last November damaged them.  One house was pretty much completely destroyed when mud from the hill above slid down and covered the house.  They now have a sturdy house, but they don´t have electricity, running water, or windows, and they just have a dirt floor.  The other house fell down the hill it is located on.  They are still working on reconstructing the house.  I´m not convinced that even the new construction will help.  The house is well constructed, but it seems like it is just a matter of time before the land below it is washed away down the hill by rain.  The family is in a tough situation though because this is the land they own and so that is where they need to construct their house.  The money for the new construction for both houses came from donations from churches in the States.  The new house cost $3,000 to construct- strong foundation, two rooms, strong metal roof.  With $1,500 more they could have electricity, a nice cement floor, doors, and windows.  Just think...only $4,500 to construct a nice house.  Wouldn´t it be wonderful if everyone could have a simple nice house like that?  Here are pictures of the house that was destroyed by the land slide and their newly constructed house.

Also in Guaycume, Pastor Matias and some of the church members spent time clearing some brush from the side of the ¨road¨ and digging some ditches on the side of the road for the rain water to run through so that the rain hopefully won´t make it´s own ditches through the middle of the road.  The road was in great need of work.  Pastor Matias worked so hard!  He was using a machete to whack away the brush.  I think you would be hard pressed to find a pastor in the U.S. who would lead his congregation in such road work (and with one lung!).  Again it was obvious just how hard working Salvadorans are. 

The other day, Julie and I went with Trini to a little museum.  We took the bus to get there and as we were riding the bus I was observing the people on the bus.  I first looked at Trini who was sitting a few seats ahead of me and I thought about her testimony that she shared with us some time ago.  I thought about all she had been through during the war and since then- fleeing the army, losing one of her sons and her husband during the war, being imprisoned and tortured, struggling to find work to survive, and most recently losing another of her sons to gang violence.  Then it struck me that most of the other people riding that bus also had some story about the war and how it affected them.  I know at least part of Trini´s story, but I cannot even begin to fathom how many other stories there are.  Practically every Salvadoran who is older than 18 has a story to tell about how the war affected them.  It´s difficult for me to comprehend how all the Salvadorans I see everyday -riding the bus, walking on the streets, shopping in the grocery store- all these people have their own stories of war, of violence, of pain.  These stories have obviously shaped people- who they are and what they believe- and yet just looking at people one would have no idea what stories they have within them. 

I cannot imagine what it is like for people to carry around such stories of violence and pain.  Do such stories unite Salvadorans?  Or do the stories divide people?  There is such a rich history and so many stories that I don´t know.  And yet I´m in awe of the humanity here and the incredible lives that continue despite or perhaps because of their stories of war.

Testimonies

Last Friday when we were all in Antigua, we shared a very special worship service.  Instead of a traditional sermon each of us would share our own testimony of how our time in El Salvador had affected us and our faith.  After lunch we all spent 2 hours in personal reflection and writing to prepare our testimonies.  Then we gathered together in the courtyard of out little hostel.  The family who owns the hostel lit incense and helped us set up chairs and an altar.  We squeezed in enough chair for us all to sit in a circle.  With the blue sky above and beautiful plants, flowers, and vines around us it was a perfect setting for our worship service.  Pastor Kristie set up the altar complete with bread and wine for communion.  A wooden Jesus was nestled in the low branches of the small tree next to the table that served as the altar.

We settled into our chairs and we began the service.  We joined together in songs and prayer.  Then it came time to share our testimonies.  One by one, each person shared his or her testimony as the Spirit moved him or her.  Each person told something different, each of us took something different from what we had experienced.  Some shared how their faith had been challenged, some shared how their faith had been strengthened by what we had experienced in El Salvador.  Many talked about the love, faith, and strength of our Salvadoran friends- Pastor Matias, Pastor Martina, Trini, Jorge, Mari, Atilio, and of course all the kids.  We also shared tears with each other- tears of sadness for the pain and suffering we learned about, tears of happiness for the miracles and joys we witnessed, tears of thanks to God for an opportunity to grow in faith, tears of frustration for the continuing injustices and suffering of the Salvadoran people, and tears of solidarity with those in our little circle and with our friends back in El Salvador.

It was so moving to hear how everyone had been affected by our time together in El Salvador.  It was helpful for me to have time to reflect on my own experiences so far, but it was even more helpful to hear everyone else´s reflections.  It was amazing to hear how much people learned and grew in such a short time.  It was clear that God is truly powerful and when we let God guide our experiences, our faith and understanding can grow immensely.

Some told stories of moments that were significant for them.  Some talked about the trip as a whole.  Some built on previous experiences in El Salvador while others told of how El Salvador had affected them for the first time.  Some talked about how this trip had ignited in them a passion to continue to work for justice and to help our Salvadoran friends.  In every single testimony, one thing was clear: El Salvador and the incredible people here have a power to change and inspire people to work for a better world while strengthening faith.

I was struck by the resolve so many had to not be complacent in their faith or in their efforts to live as true Christians.  As we sat listening to each other´s testimonies, I think many of us were thinking about what life would be like with we return to our ¨normal¨ lives.  We were challenged to change by what we had seen, done, and learned in El Salvador, but how long would that last once we returned to our materialistic, comfortable, and busy lives at home?  How quickly will we forget the stories and lives of our Salvadoran friends as we get lost in the entertainment of whatever is on the TV?  How soon will we forget about the bugs, heat, bumpy roads, and the mud when we return to out clean, well-constructed, air-conditioned homes and churches?  How can we continue to be changed and challenged in our faith?  How can we continue to feel the passion for justice and peace we felt when learning about the injustices and violence of the past and present in El Salvador?

I´m not sure that anyone has a good answer to any of these questions.  And the good news is that I still have a few more weeks to think about these questions.  However, sharing our testimonies in that group gave me hope and reassurance for a number of reasons.  Most importantly, I fully felt that I´m not the only one who has these sort of questions.  Furthermore, I was reassured that I don´t have to change the world on my own. To be able to share these difficult questions and the burden of changing the world makes me feel (a little) better.  Perhaps it is partly my introverted nature, but I often feel overwhelmed and helpless when I think about all the injustices in El Salvador (and in the whole world for that matter).  I have always known that there are lots of great people who are passionate about justice and peace, but to have so many gathered in one place talking about faith and the issues of justice was powerful for me.

I was amazed at how honest and frank so many people were about their emotions and their faith journey during the trip.  This is evidence of what an amazing group of people this was but it also speaks to the power of our shared experiences in El Salvador.  Sharing trips on the ¨roads¨, sweating together, being hot and dirty together, and sharing tears really has the ability to bond a group of people like nothing else.  I´m looking forward to sharing testimonies with another smaller group in a few weeks.  It will be interesting to see how my own experience and reflections will have changed with a few more weeks of El Salvador.

Today we went to Trini´s house and worked in her corn fields.  We left at 7:00 am and traveled in the pick-up truck a little over an hour to her house.  About 7 of the older boys came with along with Julie, Mari, Trini, another woman and an old man who was doing the driving (Julie and I aren´t really sure who this man is, but he is nice and drives them around sometimes).

Trini´s house was built through Habitat for Humanity.  It is a nice little cinder block house with two bedrooms, a kitchen area, a little bathroom, and they have added a little room on the back.  The house is near the town of Suchitoto but is in the country (we had to go down a bumpy road and through a small river).  They have electricity and some days they have running water.  The first thing we did when we got there was check to see if the water was running today- it wasn´t.  Then the boys got out the little TV and got it hooked up to the antenna which was on top of a long branch.  The TV had to be hooked up so that they could watch the soccer game that was on.  It was so funny watching all the boys crowd around the TV messing with the antenna and adjusting the buttons to try to get it to work.  They eventually got the game on although it was in black and white and was pretty staticy.  We made some breakfast of beans, eggs with veggies, bread, and hot chocolate. 

And then we went to the corn fields to pick weeds.  The boys were using machetes to cut some weeds and the women were just pulling the weeds by hand.  Farming in El Salvador is very labor intensive- they don´t have tractors and there is no way that tractors would even work on the hilly, rocky soil.  So everything is done by hand- planting, weeding, and picking.  I cannot imagine what a farmer from Illinois would think of the corn fields in El Salvador.  I don´t even know how the corn manages to grow in the rocky soil. 

We spent most of the morning picking weeds (Julie and I did pretty good, but we didn´t work as hard as the Salvadorans.  Salvadorans are such hard working people.  Even the kids pitch in and usually work harder and do better than I do.).  Mari, Julie, and I went back to the house to make some lunch.  Mari did most of the work to make some soup and warm up some tortillas.  Julie peeled some potatoes with a knife and we discussed how much easier it would be with a potato peeler.  Everyone came in from the fields, we ate lunch, and the boys turned the soccer game on.  We cleaned everything up, locked up the house, and went into Suchitoto to visit Jorge´s grave before heading back to San Salvador. 

About a week ago, the police brought a family to stay here at the Casa Concordia.  I´m not sure if I completely understand what exactly happened, but I think I understand that the kid´s father was killed and then they family got word that whoever killed the dad was going to come and kill the rest of the family.  So, the family is staying here until the police can find a new place for the family to stay.  There are two young girls, a young woman, an young man, and an older woman.  They are in a safe place here, but I cannot imagine the fear and grief they must be going through.

The day before we left for Guatemala, the police showed up with an old woman.  Apparently they found her wandering the streets.  She was confused about how she got here and she said that she was from Guatemala.  Who knows how she ended up in San Salvador.  We tried to ask her, but she didn´t seem to know.  The police were going to contact the Guatemalan embassy to see if her family had reported her missing.  That evening we had a pizza party with all our Salvadoran friends and she joined right in with the festivities.  A few people gave some thank you speeches and then the old woman stood up and offered a cute little thanks.  I highly doubt she had any idea what was going on, but she just went with the flow and joined the crazyness.  

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.       

Adventures on the way to Guatemala

We had quite the adventure yesterday coming to Guatemala! We left the Casa Concrodia at 5 am and headed to the bus station. We went with a very nice bus company that has very nice two level buses with comfy seats, air conditioning, shows movies, and serve a little meal. We got all checked in and left San Salvador at 6 am. I fell asleep pretty much right away and slept until we got to the border. A man from the Salvadoran customs came on the bus and checked our passports. Then after a few minutes the man who worked on the bus serving us food, etc. told us that the bus was going to have to wait there for an hour, so it would be best for us to get off the bus and walk across the border and go through the Guatemalan customs and wait for the bus on the other side. So we all got off the bus and walked across the bridge that took us to Guatemala. It was definitely an interesting experience to walk across the border. As we were waiting in line to get our passports stamped in Guatemala, we saw our bus pull up, but it had not been an hour. I'm not really sure what happened- perhaps they thought the traffic was worse than it really was- I don't know.


So, then we all got back on the bus and continued on our way. After a little bit we started going slow and stopped periodically. Then we stopped and the engine went off. The driver tried to start it again, but it didn't start. The young man who worked on the bus told us we be waiting for an hour or so while they found some parts and tried to fix it. After a while it got really warm on the bus without the air conditioning so we got off and chatted with each other. I got to meet a young woman from the U.S. who is working for an organization called Voices on the Border (http://www.votb.org). It was neat to hear about this organization and to hear about the work that this young woman is doing.

Here we were standing on the side of the road while with bus driver worked on trying to fix the bus. I think they said there was something wrong with the oil or fuel filter. They got it started we got on the bus and then it stopped working. We got off the bus and after a few minutes they got it started again, we got on a started moving. We were going pretty slow though. After about 45 minutes we met another bus and we changed buses and continued on to Guatemala City on the new bus. We got into Guatemala City at 2:00- about 4 hours later than we should have. Then we had an hour ride to our cute little hotel in Antigua. We went out and had dinner- our first real meal of the day- and then walked around the city for a little bit before heading back to the hotel for our nightly Bible study/group devotions.
By no means was it a horrible day, just different than we had anticiapted. Always an adventure.

To Guatemala

Tomorrow (Wednesday) I´m heading to Guatemala for a few days with the group from Minnesota.  We are taking a bus to Guatemala City and then we will go to the city of Antigua where we will stay in a hotel.  The purpose of this time in Antigua is for the folks from Minnesota to reflect on their trip and to relax a little before returning home.  I´m looking forward to reflecting with them and hearing more about how this experience has affected them.  The folks from Minnesota will fly back home from Guatemala City and Julie and I will head back to El Salvador on Saturday morning.

I don´t have the energy, brain power, or time now to write about our activities today, but you will hear about them soon enough.  I´m not sure if I´ll be able to write while I´m in Guatemala, but hopefully I will be able to.  

Jon Sobrino!!!

The other day I was chatting with my mom on Facebook and she asked me what the best part of my trip has been so far.  I struggled to think of a good answer, and eventually said that the day we worked on the church, heard the testimonies, and visited Jorge´s grave was probably the most meaningful day.  There have of course been wonderful moments and I have experienced lots, but nothing really stuck out to me as being ¨the best¨. 

Today that changed.  I got to meet Jon Sobrino!!!  Jon Sobrino is a Jesuit priest (originally from Spain) who has worked at the University of Central America (UCA) here in San Salvador for a long time.  He is one of the leaders of Liberation Theology and has written many many books.  I have read some of his books and these books greatly influenced my own theology.  Furthermore, he is an amazing man of great courage, he is incredibly intelligent, and is overall just a great model of a person of faith who is working for peace and justice.

Julie and I have been talking about wanting to meet this man for quite some time.  He often travels out of the country so we weren´t sure if he was in the country or not.  We asked a few different people around here and most people seemed to think that he was indeed out of the country.  But when we went to the UCA today, Julie was asking a secretary if Jon was in the country and as she was asking, he walked past us, the secretary pointed him out to us, and he went through some doors (we think he went to the bathroom).  So, naturally Julie and I freak out as if we had just seen a rock star.  After a few minutes he came back out and it was obvious that he was in a hurry (he´s a very busy man).  Julie and I very quickly asked him if we would take a picture with us and he agreed.  And then he left.  Julie and I were just glowing and smiling and star struck for some time.  We are hoping to maybe find some way to get to actually meet him and talk with him sometime later in our trip.  Just to be in his presence for a short time was amazing!!!  I´m still a little bit giddy just thinking about it.


The reason we were at the UCA was to visit a museum there and to learn about the massacre that occurred there in 1989.  A student served as our tour guide and did a fantastic job- the amount of information was overwhelming.  We started in the museum where they have artifacts from priests, nuns, and other church people who were murdered before and during the civil war.  We started with learning about Father Rutilio Grande who was assassinated in 1977 along with an old man and a young boy who were traveling with him in his jeep. We saw the shirt Father Grande was wearing when he was shot, the shoes of the old man, and the backpack of the little boy.  Father Grande was just the first of many who were killed because they were priests, because they were nuns, because they had things like Bibles with them, or simply because they were just with a priest or nun.  In the museum we saw a picture of Pastor Matias´ priest who had been killed in 1979.  All the pictures and personal artifacts of the people who had been assassinated really showed that these people were people just like you and me.  These things illustrated humanity in the face of inhumanity. 

Our tour guide told us about a few massacres of hundreds of people- women, men, kids, elderly people.  The Salvadoran army (backed by the U.S. government and tax payers) massacred these people for no rational reason.  They justified what they did by saying that the people they killed were guerrillas or they were supporting the guerrillas, but in reality most of the people in these massacres were just people trying to escape from the army. 

Then we started learning about the massacre that occurred at the UCA.  In the early morning hours of November 16, 1989, members of the Salvadoran army came to the place where Jon Sobrino and 6 of his fellow Jesuits lived there at the university.  (At the time Jon Sobrino was out of the country.)  The Jesuits were awoken by the soldiers.  The soldiers ordered the priests to go out of their rooms into a garden area where they proceeded to brutally murder the men by shooting them.  One of the priests had managed to stay in his room until he thought the soldiers had left, but he opened his door too soon and he was shoot too.  A little bit down the hall, the groundskeeper´s wife (Elba) and their daughter (Celina) had been sleeping.  They had been awakened by the gun shots and when they opened the door to see what had happened the soldiers saw them.  The soldiers had been told to leave no witnesses and so these two women were killed as well.  The rooms of the Jesuits and their things were burned, shot, and otherwise destroyed.  We saw the clothes the Jesuits had been wearing when they were killed- pajamas.  They soldiers left a brutal scene.  Blood, organs coming out, skulls bashed in.

Just outside the museum and the place where the Jesuits lived is the rose garden that was planted in memory of the Jesuits, Elba, and Celina.  The roses were planted in the place were four of the bodies were left.  The gardener would eventually plant more rose bushes because these people were not the only ones assassinated during the war.

The reason the Jesuits and other religious people were murdered was because the government feared that they and their ideas were encouraging the people to rise up against the government and the wealthy.  Most of them practiced and preached liberation theology which challenged the status quo of the injustices that benefited the wealthy but greatly harmed the poor.  In a symbolic act, the soldiers destroyed the priests´ books, typewriters, and heads because they used these things to teach and preach liberation. 

Recently declassified documents indicate that U.S. officials knew about the plan to kill the Jesuits before it happened.  This is obviously very disturbing on a number of levels.  Today we talked about the Cold War mentality, the way of thinking that led to support such atrocities.  However, nothing can justify what happened to the 6 Jesuit priests, Elba, and Celina, and the thousands of other innocent people who were murdered during the war.