Heading for Home!

Hello Friends,
We are going to sleep so that we can get up early.  Breakfast is at 6 (5 a.m. Spokane time), and we leave for the airport at 6:40 a.m.  We are flying all day and get into Spokane at about 9 tomorrow night.

I have to say that it simultaneously feels like it we have just gotten here, AND that we have been here for a lifetime.  We are looking forward to coming home, and sharing a little about our trip this Sunday morning in worship.

Hope to see you all soon!
Dios le Bendiga,
Gregg

  PS- Make sure you scroll down to see what else we did all day Friday!

Friday

Our last day here, and we packed a lot into today!

Here are some highlights:

We met with some artisans from around the country who are trying to market and sell their wares, especially utilizing the expertise of CRISPAZ.

We met with some amazing youth and volunteers from El Centro neighborhood, who talked about the plight of youth in inner city San Salvador these days.  The group also included a young woman named Maddy from Minnesota (center in navy with the backwards baseball cap) who is in the middle of a two-year stint volunteering here.

Lunch was at Nelly's (a traditional Salvadoran lunch)!

We then went to the Truth Memorial in Cuscatlan Park, where the lives of those killed, and those who disappeared during the war are commemorated.  Similar to the Vietnam War Memorial, there are marble slabs (4'x8') 180+ feet long filled with the names of victims of the violence here.

Then we met with a microfinance people at a bank, had our closing reflection time (including communion) and dinner out at a Mexican restaurant.

I think we were all much less frazzled today, partly because we didn't have quite the inundation with the violent aspects of the history here.  Now we are all packing like crazy!

Thursday... Pretty Tough Day

I knew (from my experience in Guatemala) that we would have days like today.

• We began by going to CO-MADRES, an organization begun to advocate for the families of those assassinated and those who disappeared.  Graphic images and stories left us devastated, but since they still have hope, we have hope.  Here is a photo of the women that spoke to us:

Magdelena, Patricia and Sophia

• We then returned to the hotel for lunch, and listened to our host (the hotel owner) tell his story of the war.  You can read more about that by clicking this link.
• Then we went to UCA (University of Central America, a Jesuit institution pronounced oo'-kah), where we met with a very interesting man who teaches theology there (Dean Brackley), followed by a visit to the museum which commemorates many of the martyrs during the war, most notably the six Jesuit priests and two laypersons who were assassinated in 1989.  Here is a rose garden that marks that site:

•  While driving around we saw a couple of interesting things.  Here is a protest outside the Canadian Embassy, protesting a Canadian company that is pushing to do large scale mining even though NO ONE here wants it and it will have disastrous effects on the land (especially the rivers).  Here is one link, and here is another and another if you want to learn more.  Here is the photo:

• And here is the sculpture, "El Salvador del Mundo (the Savior of the World)"

Today, I felt overwhelmed by the violence in a few hours and can't imagine how one would get through years, or decades of repression and violence.  We are all very tired, and I need to go to sleep, so even though there was a little more to tell of today, I am going to sleep.
You are all in my prayers.
Dios le Bendiga,
Gregg

Day of Martyrs

Well, Wednesday was another full and rich day.  We started (after breakfast) by going to see the place where Monsignor Oscar Romero preached and was killed.  It is a local hospital run by Carmelite nuns, and it has an accompanying chapel where he often preached.  I have to say that it impacted me more than I thought it would.  Here are a couple of photos:

outside the church

Inside where he was standing behind the altar when shot

outside the little house where he lived

The overarching questions that I was left with are, "Am I faithful enough to die for what I believe in?"  "Am I willing to lay down my life for God?"  At times in my life I could answer, "Absolutely!"  Right now I hear this as a call to remember my calling, that my life "is not about me" and "God wants it all."

We then went to the Central Cathedral and saw the church, as well as the place where Oscar Romero is entombed.  And no...  we did not get kicked out for singing like the last group did!  Sorry, but I don't have pictures of that one right now.  Maybe later.


We then went to the church where 20 or 21 students died in a massacre as they protested outside "Freedom Park."  Truly an amazing story and reminded me of standing in Tianamen Square in Beijing where students were massacred for protesting in 1989.  I will get a better picture tomorrow.

Our last stop of the day was a talk about the political and economic realities of El Salvador with a man who serves as the economic advisor to the current president.  Very interesting, and he was pressed with some very difficult questions from the group (especially Digger - a former banker, and Don - who gives everyone a hard time  :)

We actually only thought that was our last agenda item for the day.  Francisco stopped by after dinner and shared the story of his family during the war.  His dad was a high ranking officer in the army and grew increasingly uncomfortable with the brutality and inhumanity with which peasants were being treated.  He even disobeyed orders and avoided a 5,000 person massacre in a northern village, ending up calling in food, water and medical supplies for this village filled with women, children and war time refugees who were starving to death.  He finally, after several assassination attempts fled with his family and joined the "other side."  Eventually he was one of the men who helped negotiate the 1992 peace accords which ended the armed conflict.  It really is an amazing story.

We are again very tired, but will be rested and ready when tomorrow comes.
Dios le bendiga,
Gregg

Tuesday Update

Hello again, Friends!

Yes, this is my fourth entry tonight.  I wanted to put more photos on the blog (and another short video as well) so that you can continue to travel this journey with us!  Make sure you scroll down and see those entries.  Also, PLEASE keep the comments coming...  the team here greatly enjoys my sharing of all of your thoughts and prayers.

Today, we stopped by El Paisnal for a more formal time of saying goodbye.  There wasn't a program, just a chance to get together with our friends and have some closure.  I even took this laptop and showed them the photos we have taken so far.  It was like a moth to a flame...

Then we traveled quite far north, through Chalatenango, to a little town named Guarjila.  There we had the opportunity to hear the absolutely heart wrenching stories of what several women endured during the civil war here.  Here is a picture of these amazing women that have also started an artisan cooperative venture here.  The picture includes an 18-year-old from Cincinnati, OH that is living for about 8 weeks in El Salvador as a part of an internship, named Yuri (far right):

In this town, Padre Jon Cortina helped them rebuild when they returned from the Honduras refugee camps in 1987.  They have a beautiful little town, with some houses/neighborhoods that have homes that are far better engineered.  Here is a mural of Padre Jon:

and here is the view from the edge of town.  That is Honduras on the far mountain range...  about 26 miles north:

We then drove about 2.5 hours back to the hotel for some much needed rest.  It was a full, rewarding, yet difficult day.  We will have a little easier schedule tomorrow.  I need to go chat with my family on Skype, and then catch some winks.

May God's Peace Fill You All,
Gregg

Tree Planting Photos

Here are some more photos of us planting trees. Some of the trees have things you would recognize (coconuts, bananas, lemons, and oranges)and we learned about some other fruit trees that we had never heard of (mamon, anyone?):

And check out these "guns!"

After we were done, we were invited to a birthday "fiesta," and thanks to Judy there WAS dancing!

Bubbles and Sidewalk Chalk

The bubbles and sidewalk chalk were a huge hit!  As soon as one of us would start to draw, the others would soon crowd around and join in. The same is true of the bubbles. 

Monday morning, Kathy just got out the bubbles and started blowing and within ten seconds she had a crowd of kids around her popping them and wanting to blow their own.

On Monday while some of us were carrying tools and digging, Jeanne brought the bubbles and they had the same effect no matter where we went! Here are some more photos of us with the kids:

Books and Prayer Pockets

Here are some more photographs of us distributing the books and prayer pockets to the children of El Paisnal the past couple of days.  I hope you enjoy them!

Keep the comments coming!  I am sharing them with the group during our evening reflection times and it is great to have all these thoughts and prayers with us!

Peace,

Gregg

Overnight in El Paisnal

It was quite an experience staying the night in VERY rustic accommodations.  Mahlon and Kathy Dirks, myself and our interpreter Alexis stayed in El Paisnal overnight last night.  We stayed with Pastor Chema's son, Hector, his wife Elvira, and their two daughters, Veronica and Tatiana who live next door to the church.  Here is a photo of them (without Hector) on the bottom left side of this photo:

From the right are others in the community: Balbina, Don (He's one of ours), Graciela, and a couple of other eleven-year-old girls whose names I unfortunately forgot.  Perhaps others in our group remember their names?

Last night, as we were hanging out around the house, we did sidewalk chalk, bubbles and played with their pet parakeet:

(PS - There's Hector in the background)

The parakeet kept trying to bite Graciela's finger! (It actually did bite mine the next day and almost drew blood)  Graciela was VERY nervous.

Alexis and I helped move their kitchen table to the side, and they borrowed thin mattresses for us to sleep on their kitchen floor.  I slept relatively well in spite of the mosquitoes, flies, dogs occasionally rustling and fighting outside, pigs snorting, and roosters crowing seemingly all night long.  

Funny story:  they told me not to worry about the rats, since they are not too big (holding up their fingers about 9-12 inches apart).  Then they said something else to Alexis and all began laughing.  I finally convinced Alexis to tell me what they said, and he told me that they said, "We have nothing to worry about.  The rats will go for the biggest one first!"  I guess I was the biggest person there, so they were talking about me.  Talk about getting "thrown under the bus!"

All in all, I had a great time connecting more deeply with these beautiful people and better appreciating their existence and struggle for a better life.

Tomorrow morning we'll return for a short closing ceremony of sorts before we leave for a different part of El Salvador.

Please keep us in your prayers.  AND PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS!

Peace,

Pastor Gregg

Back from El Paisnal

Hola Amigos!

I just had about the best shower that I have EVER had.  I spent the last 36+ hours in El Paisnal, a small, poor town about an hour away from our hotel in San Salvador, which includes spending last night in the community.  I have so much to process that it wouldn't do it justice to give a cursory answer about what the past two days have meant to me.

One huge reason that I wanted to come to El Salvador has to do with the fact that when I went to Guatemala in 2005, I had a life-changing experience that I will never forget.  I left part of my heart in Guatemala, and began so see our US American culture with new eyes.  In general, we have no idea what the term, "dirt poor" really means.  Yet, as the people I met in Guatemala, and those here in El Paisnal lack monetary wealth, they are richer than I am in many ways.  I wanted to return to Central America, because I wanted to remove the shroud that covers my eyes after living in the USA.

The people in El Paisnal are truly beautiful people, and in so many ways I want to be more like them...  so pure in heart!  I thought often of the past couple of days of the scripture passage from the beatitudes in Matthew:  "Blessed are the poor in spirit...  blessed are the meek...  blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness... blessed are the pure in heart"

Here are a few stories, as well as photos and videos:

We gave books and "prayer pockets" to each child that is supported by our scholarships during a special service when we arrived:

This little girl is named Tatiana (on the left) and she is the daughter of the couple that Alexis and I stayed with last night.  Whenever I showed her the video, she would laugh.  Each time she laughed harder...  Hilarious!

Tatiana finds a creative use for the book...  and the prayer pocket!

Alexis does a great job interpreting... Here he stands with Don as Don brought some initial words of greeting in Spanish, and especially when I was asked to preach with very little notice at 3 p.m. yesterday!  I have a sneaking suspicion that some people who had gone before knew that would be a possibility, but neglected to tell me.

Here are some pics of us planting trees with the people in the community today, the main part of our project (although the relationships are the primary focus for us!):

Como se dice "dorky hat" en Espanol?

I will have another entry later tonight about our spending the night in El Paisnal!

By the way, PLEASE leave comments, etc. for us!  

We would love to hear from you when we are so far away!

~Gregg