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El Salvador |
| Years of solidarity work, dating from the predecessor church and a request of El Salvador's Lutheran Bishop Medardo Gomez, connected Sister Synods to sistered congregations. A South-Central Synod delegation to El Salvador in 1992 established ties with our sister congregations and became hermanas del corazón (sisters of the heart) and were no longer just hermanas en papel (sisters on paper). Though the civil war in El Salvador is over, the situation is still very difficult, challenging, and even dangerous for the church workers and their mostly poor congregations. Government promises made in the Peace Accords have not been kept. Juvenile crime is widespread, random and violent. Death squads are still active and still target workers for peace and justice. Wages are low, unemployment high. In the poorer communities technology is archaic and expensive. The process of living takes all of a person's time and energy. Shepherding a flock takes all of a pastor's time and energy. The Salvadoran Sistering Committee has been concerned about the relative silence from its Salvadoran sister congregations for the past two years so it sent a delegation of four persons to El Salvador with the specific task of determining the status of each congregation through a personal visit. The delegation visited Cristo Rey in Santa Ana, Santisima Trinidad in Pasaquina, Manatiel del Desierto in Guazapa, and Fe e Amor in San Juan Opico. Representatives of the committee gathered information, messages and gifts for the congregations' Salvadoran partners from South-Central Synod congregations. In El Salvador, the delegation found the ministries of the Salvadoran congregations strong and faithful. All the churches received our delegates with joy and grace. Gifts, messages, hugs, tears and laughter were shared. Communication has been difficult for several reasons: the language barrier, the poverty of the communities, the rudimentary postal system and the fact that the essentials of life take all the time that the Salvadoran people and pastoral teams have. Shockingly, none of the pastoral teams of the Lutheran Synod of El Salvador had been paid for the previous six months. The Salvadoran sistering Committee has recently heard that at least partial funding has been restored. Notably, the pastoral work continues there in the face of any and all challenges, be they political, economic, or social. Interested congregational groups who may wish to join our Salvadoran partners in sister relationships may contact:
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