Walking With El Salvador

Exit to The Angel Sugar Mill (Refinery) Protesters gathered around the traffic circle This morning we drove to the traffic circle at the edge of Nejapa.  This morning we parked along the highway and ran through a break in the truck traffic to the center of the circle.  This morning we stood with citizens, church folk and activists.  This morning we accompanied with kindness by the police.  This morning we were surrounded by signs and flags.  This morning we listened.  This morning we were pummeled by dust and walked through the ashes of a burned cane field.  This morning we took photos and we were photographed. Dueñas Family + The Angel Sugar Mill = Environmental Predators The actions this morning were not our first acts of accompaniment with the Salvadoran Lutheran Church in this valley. In a nutshell, the aquifer in the Valley of the Angel is being depleted by industry, the people who live in and around the valley barely have any wa...

A friend stopped by the church offices today.  We did that thing that women friends sometimes do when they have not seen each other for a long time - little screams, arms wide open, run toward each other, big hugs and big smiles.  We met when she was just a girl.  She was my Amiga Secreta (secret friend) at one, long-ago Valentine's Day party.  We have stayed connected via social media for sixteen years.  She explained the reason for her visit.  Back in October she had been robbed and her identity document was taken.  In November, she had organized all of the paperwork necessary (which includes a document from the Bishop because she works in a church), and she went to the government office to get a new document.  She waited the hours in line, as is customary, to find out that because her old one was going to expire in early 2020, there was no use in replacing it.  Instead she should wait until the new year to get a new document.  So, f...

There is a cross in El Salvador which is called subversive.  It was seized by military forces who sought to kill the Lutheran Bishop.  Their plans failed and either in frustration or retaliation, they seized members of the church, visiting foreigners, and the cross as evidence of subversion.  This took place on November 16, 1989, the same day on which the Jesuit priests were killed at the UCA (University of Central America) in the early morning and by the same forces who sought to kill later in the day. The Subversive Cross - 30 years of testimony Today, November 17, 2019, the worship service at Resurrection Lutheran Cathedral in San Salvador remembered the journey and witness of the Subversive Cross. Pastor Brian shared his testimony in the form of a dramatization of when he, his companions in the church and the cross were seized.  As Pastor Brian knelt bound and blindfolded on the floor, the congregation was uneasy.  Some were remembering that day or th...

More than five months ago, activists from the Salvadoran Lutheran Church were instrumental in creating a demonstration along the Calle de Oro  which carries traffic from the north of San Salvador to Apopa.  The highway runs through the Valley of the Angel, where a proposed housing and commercial development threatens the land which replenishes El Salvador's largest aquifer and the source of potable water for the municipalities of Apopa, Nejapa and Quezaltepeque. In El Salvador, the ecumenical movement to protest the development in the Valley of the Angel has grown. Sunday morning announcements in the churches invite the faithful to participate in civic  action, demanding governmental intervention on behalf of the people who have a human right to access clean drinking water.  I recently interviewed Pastor Santiago, a leader in the efforts to protect the Valley of the Angel, and faithful Lutheran who has worked for more than 20 years to promote Care for Crea...

We were crouching in the street, in the rain.  Wait... wait... wait... the student leader told us, then...RUN!!  As everyone ran, I thought, "Ooh, I need to share this idea with Pastor Steve."*  Strategies for keeping the energy alive during a long protest march or during a series of social action events over a period of time is a challenge.  Environmental groups, human rights groups, and churches in El Salvador have been fighting for a law to protect El Salvador's water resources from the clutches of polluters and money grabbers for 12 long years.  There have been small victories along the way, but every time the political parties which favor the interests of wealth and business increase the number of seats they have in the legislature, new threats arise.  It is incredibly disheartening. This is why it is critical for community organizers to invite, welcome, educate and encourage young leaders with new energy and new ideas into their social justice mov...

Monday, December 18, 2017 has been designated by the United Nations as International Migrants Day.  The following is a litany which I wrote and which we will be using during a vigil and civic action today in front of the ICE office in our city. Litany for the Vigil Form a semi-circle.   Each group of 2 can share a page – one person reading Part A and the other person reading Part B. (The idea is to have the people arranged ABABAB…).   Leader A and Leader B will help to guide the group reading. Group A:   God, bless our feet which have journeyed for so many miles.   Will they take us to a place of safety, a place of welcome, a place to call home? Group B:   God, give our feet strength to accompany our brothers and sisters who have fled from their homelands, fled from violence, from famine, from persecution. Group A:   God, bless our legs.   We wait, we stand in lines, we stand beside walls, we stand outside doors.   Group B:...