Sunday July 31st in Chacalcoyo

The Salvadoran countryside is beautiful.Lush foliage. Lofty green mountains shrouded in the mist. Bright sunny mornings and stormy afternoons. But none of it can match the beauty of the Chacalcoyo community. The people of this tiny rural community opened their doors, their church, their homes, and their hearts to us today. We worshiped together at the Iglesia Nueva Esperanza (New Hope Church). Our Salvadoran lunch, prepared by loving hands, was exquisite. And I was overwhelmed by their boundless generosity. I learned the meaning of accompaniment as Salvadoran and American Christians ministered to each other, sharing our faith and the love of Christ. I saw God today in the faces of my brothers and sisters in a community called Chacalcoyo and will carry the memory of our visit for a very long time. May God bless and keep them in his loving embrace.
Jeff Carstens

Sunday- New Hope

Today started bright and early with a bus ride to Chalatenango to a Lutheran church called Nueva Esperanza (New Hope) to worship together and then spend the afternoon sharing a delicious meal and a fellowship.  The church is in a very rural location and families walk up to 30 minutes to go to church. The name Nueva Esperanza was chosen by the community to reflect their hope for a new beginning in this church.  This is important because the community is composed of migrants who settled in Chalatenango after the civil war ended, arriving with only the clothes on their back and hope.  God is working through this community to bring peace and a new life to the church members.  The children and youth of the church outnumber the adults in the congregation, so there really is a hope for the future already growing in the church.

 I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to share a day with kind, generous families who despite having few material goods are rich in kindness and spirit.  At first glance, it is easy to see the stark differences between Chalatenango and Northern Virginia, but after spending time together today our similarities as brothers and sisters in Christ give me new hope in the world.

Jen

“In a real sense all life is interrelated.  All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.  Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.  I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be.  This is the interrelated structure of reality.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

One Week Until Our Journey Begins ...

After a year of planning and preparations, we leave for El Salvador in one week.  Please keep our delegation members in your prayers as we embark on this journey of accompaniment.

Micah 6:8

No, he has told you what he wants, and this is all it is:  to be fair and just and merciful, and to walk humbly with your God.

4 Weeks and Counting!

We will leave for El Salvador in 4 weeks.  Our delegation of 19 members from 5 different ELCA congregations in the Metro-DC Synod will learn about the ministries of the Lutheran Church in El Salvador, visit and worship with local congregations, see historic sites, and help celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Lutheran Church in El Salvador. 

You can follow our blog as we journey through El Salvador.  Members of the delegation will update our blog daily.