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El Salvador
Our global mission is with Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church (Espiritu de Gozo) in Brisas del Valle, El Salvador. We have been in a sister parish relationship with them since 2006, following our first visit to them in 2004. We have assisted with the construction of a church building, along with monthly assistance with basic food needs. We partner with Pastor Matias Bonilla and his wife Martina, who is a diaconal minister in the Salvador Lutheran Church. In our latest visit, 14 members from Calvary celebrated the dedication of the new church building, continued help with painting and construction, conducted a Bible school for over 100 children, and joined leaders in the Salvadoran Lutheran Church for a prayer walk with the homeless in the streets of San Salvador, ending with a simple meal together at the Lutheran soup kitchen, Casa de Esperanza.
Here are some reflections from three of our missionaries: Brittany Isaac, Clay Giese, and Scott Wilson. Brittany is currently a freshman at UNC-Wilmington, Clay is a senior at Vanderbilt University, and Scott is a middle school teacher in Burke County.
Clay Giese
Dear Calvary Family,
Every time Pastor Matias would start a new prayer or simply address us, he would always begin by stating hermanos y hermanas, which in English translates to "brothers and sisters." For me it was a simple and humbling reminder that we are brothers and sisters for we are all God's children.
Pastor Matias is the pastor for our sister parish in Brisas del Valle in El Salvador (not to mention the fact that he is also the pastor for four other communities in the area) and it has been my privilege to work with him and his parishes during my trips to El Salvador. I have been blessed in that I have now been able to go to El Salvador twice on mission trips with our congregation and each time I have been completely amazed by the generosity and kindness of the Salvadoran people who have taken us in and truly treated us like brothers and sisters.
Through these trips I have seen God work in many ways. I have seen general interest and willingness to get involved grow within the congregation. I have seen us form loving relationships with adults and children in the communities that we serve. And I have seen a dramatic change within myself. I personally believe (and I'm sure that the others that went along to El Salvador would whole-heartedly agree) that we have benefited more from our relationship with our brothers and sisters in El Salvador than we could ever hope to give to them, and so, it is incredibly difficult for me to summarize what it meant to me to be able to go on this mission trip and share my time and talents with my brothers and sisters.
It meant a chance to share God's love with some of his children that are looking for good news in these tough times. It meant the opportunity for me to focus on the needs of others instead of thinking of my own selfish desires. But most importantly, it meant that we were able to grow closer to our brothers and sisters and thus strengthen our relationship as we continue our journey with Christ. Therefore, I want to thank you all for your prayers and support. Thank you for making this mission possible and I pray that our mission continues to grow and that we all continue to work together to help out our hermanos and our hermanas.
Clay Giese
Brittany Isaac
As I sat listening to the Director of the Lutheran University in El Salvador, something struck a chord somewhere in my heart, something I knew in an abstract form from school but had not met face to face before. This is it, a deceptively simple concept, but one that we, as Christians especially, should not forget: All of us are connected. No man or woman is an island unto him or herself. It truly does matter when you buy biodegradable instead of Styrofoam or if you send an e-mail to that friend you haven't seen in a long time or if you take the time to pray. We are all complexly connected.Because of our recession in the United States, many people here are tightening their belts, so to speak, but in El Salvador the belt is already cinched as tight as it will go. I do not know if everyone is aware, but El Salvador uses the United States currency and so is tied in a sort of chokehold with the economic welfare of the States. Right now, if the dollar continues to fall in value, starvation is imminent for many Salvadorans. The Director of the University in El Salvador spoke often of economics and politics of the United States directly affecting his country.
He also spoke of global warming and asked us how we felt about the subject. This is an important issue to many Salvadorans because El Salvador is a small country and cannot afford to lose any of its coast line to rising sea levels. When our group visited the Pacific Ocean, we saw how the waves crashed almost right up on the cement steps of the houses. If I looked out over the waves I could see where buildings used to be, farther out in the water. The beach is slowly disappearing as the waves crawl farther and farther into the land. The problem is, El Salvador is a small developing country and, unfortunately, their reduction of emissions would do little to stop the process of global warming. We, as Christians in a technologically advanced and large country have small decisions we can make daily to be good stewards of this land God gave us.
However, despite the poverty, the prospect of starvation, and the global warming problem that faces us, I always find when we go to Brisas del Valle and other communities, that there is something more. I find faith, hope, and love... But the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians:13). I see the hope of the people I meet, in their children. The church Calvary Lutheran helped to build, with generous donations over the last two years, has given the Brisas del Valle community something to be proud of. It is absolutely beautiful. When I saw it, I could not believe my eyes.
At the church service the next day the church was packed with people and there were people standing outside, looking in through the windows. It was a moving church service. I could feel the Holy Spirit in that place. And all of you, at Calvary Lutheran were there too. You were a part of that moment because you listened when the Holy Spirit came into your heart and asked you to donate your time, money, or talents to our sister church. It was your love that made this possible.
We as Christians at Calvary Lutheran are connected to Christians at St. Matthews in Wilmington and are connected to Christians in Brisas del Valle, El Salvador, and are connected to Christians in China and Germany and Africa and anywhere else you can think of. Each of us has a unique function in the extensive body of Christ. Each of us has a unique talent and gift to use for the glory of God. This is what Jesus died for. He died to save us, to make a personal connection with God, so that we could let his love spill over us and into others around us.
Every time I go to El Salvador, someone tells us that it is not just the money that Brisas del Valle needs, it is the relationship that is so important to them. The fact that we care, that we love them, that is what really matters. This love that flows through all of us from Jesus, allows us to have faith that He will never abandon us even when the future looks rough, and gives us hope to face whatever the world may bring.
So, what I took back with me from El Salvador this time were the relationships I made and the hope of Jesus Christ, which makes us bold.
God Bless all of my church family,
Brittany
Scott Wilson
My third visit to El Salvador. It's funny, you know? I thought I would know what to expect. I thought that this trip would be old hat to me, and that I would feel like the seasoned pro. And in some ways, this actually was kind of true-navigating the airport was no problem, speaking a few phrases in my broken Spanish came a little easier, and adjusting to the cultural differences took almost no time. The landscape seemed very familiar, almost like home, and I found that I could even remember how to navigate through some parts of San Salvador-most notably the drives from our hotel to Casa Concordia at the Bishop's compound and to Apopa, Guazapa, and Brisas del Valle, all towns fairly close to San Salvador where we worship, serve, and have fellowship with our brothers and sisters (whose names and faces, by the way, came readily to my mind!). There were dishes that I have craved for over a year, like the fried guisquil with cheese, and pasteles, which are tiny turnovers filled with meat or vegetables. (I was amazed that I still recognized the lady in Suchitoto frying these treats on the sidewalk in an improvised wood-fired fryer made from a 55-gallon drum!)
But remarkably, there were some parts of the trip that felt just like they did the very first time I set foot in El Salvador, if not more striking. First, the hopeless poverty. Everywhere you look, the poor make their homes and lives out of whatever they can salvage. Only a few blocks from Multiplaza, one of San Salvador's most opulent (and most U.S.-like) mall, a village of cardboard boxes and sheet metal arises out of a dirty stream running under a bridge. On the streets, thin people in what appear to be U.S.-donated clothes wait for buses, their hollow expressions revealing what I can only imagine to be sparse lives. From what place do they come, and where do they go? I found myself amazed at the multitudes of dirty, shoeless children in the countryside. Once we arrived in Brisas del Valle, the beautiful new church of Espiritu de Gozo arose out of dirt and litter, while mud and brick houses with scrap metal roofs looked on in amazement. And the skinny dogs, skinny cows, skinny horses... amazing how the depressed economy affects every living thing in the country.
Another thing that jumped out at me, despite my exposure to it in previous trips-the hope. I didn't have to look far to find evidence of hope-it appears in so many places, some obvious and some surprising and obscure. In museums, the national struggles of the past are celebrated and revered, and the victories that helped form what El Salvador are today are held in places close to everyone's hearts. Conversations with villagers reveal that they really do spend time thinking about the future, not just making do with today, and that the future in their hearts is full of peace, comfort for friends and family, and happiness. Only rarely did I hear anyone mention the concept of wealth for himself, or even financial stability-hope for the future means prosperity of spirit. I even find it hopeful when I see all of the plants growing from plastic buckets, grocery sacks, and coffee cans. The nurturing of these beautiful signs of God's artistic tendency is somehow hope to me, especially when these makeshift houseplants pop up in the countryside and in the city alike. Another wonderful symbol of hope that I saw in a number of places in the countryside-small, wooden crosses "planted" in the small areas adjacent to homes. These crosses seemed to be tiny altars to me, and where better to bring your hopes and desires?
I will mention one last thing that caused this trip to be different than the others for me. This time around, we spent a little less time getting to know each other, and a little more time walking and working together. So many of the people that were familiar to me before came back into my life again-Rosa, who is a member of Espiritu de Gozo's and the glue that holds together the community of Brisas del Valle; Don Armenio, the chairman emeritus of Espiritu de Gozo's council; Olympia, grandmother of Stanley, (who was baptized during Brisas' celebration), who bakes bread to sell in Guazapa; Doņa Trinidad, who runs Casa Concordia and Casa la Esperanza, the inner city soup kitchen in San Salvador; Bishop Medardo Gomez, the leader of the Salvadoran Lutheran Church; Pastor Matias and the newly-ordained Pastora Martina-the spiritual guides and family of the communities of Brisas del Valle, Loma de Ramos, Colon, Guaycume, and Buena Vista de San Juan. The hugs and greetings of these people were more reunion than introduction, and were great starters for the work ahead. And then we all took up shovels and paint brushes, construction paper and clerical stoles, musical instruments and Bibles, and we worked side by side. At times, I even found myself thinking, "Even if I could speak Spanish fluently, I think I would be content to work together in this wonderful peace, this unified desire to extend God's kingdom." How exciting to pick up our tools, literally and figuratively, and work collectively. For those seven days, and often in my days between visits to Central America, my world seems just a touch smaller because of this wonderful kinship, this fond attachment and clarity of mutual purpose.
So as I reflect, I guess I do so recognizing the paradox, like so many other of God's wonderful ironies-the strangers as family, the new life that springs out of nothingness, the unfamiliar homeplace in another continent. Gracias a Dios! Thanks be to God,
Scott Wilson
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