Walking With El Salvador

As we in North America are emerging from summer into fall in an era of pandemic, in a season of planetary rebellion against climate change marked by epic fires and floods, in a new scholastic year in which children, parents and teachers are greatly stressed, and in a time of societal convulsion fevered by political strife, we are grateful for the faithful prayers and accompaniment of our brothers and sisters in El Salvador.  Our prayer chains are connected. Photos are sent this way and that.  Birthday greetings show up on Facebook walls. Little pieces of news about our children, our elders, and our churches travel via social media while people cannot travel at all. In our messy, messy world, this quiet, mutual accompaniment is beautiful, faithful, and encouraging.   Beautiful, beautiful.  My heart is jumping with joy.  I feel so happy that we are a great communion of partnership.  For so many years of partnership, with all the details that we have...

As we discuss some of the challenges we are facing in partnering during a pandemic, travel seems like perhaps one of the lesser worries on our minds.  After all, most of us are still trying to figure out safe ways to see our kids or grandkids or parents who are across town.  Packing up, getting on a plane, and traveling to El Salvador is pretty far down the planning list. In the Salvadoran Lutheran Church solidarity network, the US summer is prime time for travel.  Many delegations visit during late July and early August to celebrate partnership anniversaries and to participate in the annual August festivities.  Of course, in 2020, these visits are all cancelled or postponed.  Throughout the year, delegations visit in coordination with different ministry programs which focus on Sunday School teacher training, health education, health and wellness in communities, sewing projects, potable water advocacy and projects, agricultural projects, community sanitation, re...

The conversation about how best to re-open schools is currently filling our social media feeds and news outlets, locally, nationally and internationally.  In the US, July and August bring "back-to-school" sales in the stores, and even though families seem less than excited about shopping right now, good-hearted, generous, smart shoppers are starting to ask if education ministries "need anything."   Whether sparked by the arrival of back-to-school sales or the general angsty conversation about re-opening schools, those who support education initiatives and ministries in El Salvador, are asking about the current situation in El Salvador and how the solidarity network can be most supportive, not only for 2020, but with a look forward to 2021. In El Salvador, during the end of June and beginning of July, students are completing their current grading cycle in advance of the August week of vacation.  Since March, students have been studying at home. During the lockdown (w...

There is a song in the Salvadoran hymnal entitled "En la Viña del Señor" (In the Vineyard of the Lord).  I am sure I have talked about this song in previous stories, and now I have probably created an ear worm for many of you who have worshiped in El Salvador.  It is one of our Salvadoran church pastor's favorite songs and the first one he taught his sister churches in the US. Yo quiero trabajar por el Señor, (I want to work for the Lord) Confiando en su palabra y en su amor, (Trusting in His Word and His love) Quiero yo cantar y orar, (I want to sing and pray) Y ocupado siempre estar (And always be busy) En la viña del Señor. (In the vineyard of the Lord) Coro: Trabajar y orar,  (Work and pray) En la viña, en la viña del Señor; (In the vineyard, in the vineyard of the Lord) Sí, mi anhelo es orar, (Yes, my longing is to pray) Y ocupado siempre estar, (And always be busy) En la viña del Señor. (In the vineyard of the Lord) El Salvador was under very strict quarantine for 8...

At this time, across the United States, millions of families are living under stay-at-home orders from their governors.  In my state, the order allows families to go to the grocery store, to the pharmacy, and to pick up foods from restaurants.  Businesses identified as "essential" remain open.  Churches have been identified as "essential" and that means groups of 10 people or fewer can work in the church, keeping distances of 6 feet or more between workers.  Most churches, like ours, are closed to everyone except for a few staff people.  Worship is run from an empty sanctuary or a pastor's living room - sometimes live, sometimes recorded. Our church in Milwaukee feeds people, literally, with food.  We cook and serve hot meals.  We provide food security for families who "shop" in our food pantry.  We grow thousands of pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables which are free for the neighborhood.  Individuals and families in our neighborhood nee...

We left El Salvador.  It was a planned departure, and did not take place exactly as planned, but we made it home.  We are self-quarantined, by choice, because of encountering crowded conditions during travel.  So far, so good. If you are following the news from El Salvador, you might know that the President took very strong measures to protect the country before there was a single case of Covid-19 in the country.  If you have been to El Salvador, you can understand why he made this choice.  El Salvador is crowded - really crowded.  El Salvador's medical care system barely functions under normal circumstances.  Minimizing the impact of the virus by limiting the movement of people is the only hope.  Before we left, we received advice:  Drink warm beverages.  Don't drink anything cold.  You need lime juice.  (Salt and lime juice are used to clean things.)  Drink tea with ginger.  Eat garlic.  And - a funny one t...

I am not sure who coined the phrase "Junk for Jesus," but it came into my lexicon a few years back.  Already, many of you are nodding and chuckling at the mention of this short phrase because without any explanation needed, folks who work in churches or organizations that solicit and welcome in-kind donations know exactly what "Junk for Jesus" is.  For the good-hearted donors among you who would appreciate a definition of the phrase "Junk for Jesus," let me enlighten you:  "Junk for Jesus" is cast-off stuff, sometimes neatly tied into recycled plastic bags, often labeled, and happily placed into donation bins.  It is the stuff that is "too good" to throw out.  It is the stuff leftover from rummage sales (usually with price stickers still affixed).  It is clothing and shoes that children have worn well or which have been stashed for a few decades in an attic or a basement.  Junk for Jesus sometimes has sentimental value. Sentiment is...

Communication:  In most sistering relationships, good communication is held up as a core value.  Poor communication is held up as a significant challenge. If we natively speak English (or German, or Finish, or whatever) and our brothers and sisters natively speak Spanish, and if our only words in common are taco and sombrero, then we have an obvious communication challenge with the language itself.  Hence the occasional or persistent need for an English-Spanish translator.  Yet no matter how fluent one might be in the English and Spanish languages, without cultural context, it is almost impossible to translate effectively. At this point, I want to give a shout out to all of the really great translators who have gone over and above expectation, digging into history and context in order to be able to translate documents and conversations for folks in sistering relationships.  The focus of this blog post is not primarily directed toward translators, but to the ...