I miss you all, and I’m thinking of you. I hope Advent is good for you this year.
I wasn’t going to send my weekly updates, because I haven’t been doing... it’s more observing and experiencing that I’ve been doing. But these emails are my way of staying connected to you all when I am far away.
I made a website with some of my pictures and the emails I sent you from Mississippi, and I have El Salvador stuff on there too. It’s:
www.oocities.org/redenney99
I enjoyed being home with you on the first Sunday in Advent, though it was strange to be both coming home and leaving again the same Sunday. I was only in Atascadero for three and a half days before I left for El Salvador! I managed to get off in an orderly fashion without a to do list... quite an accomplishment for me, a test of my new more laid-back way of living. Basically stuff didn’t get done, but it turned out ok. After my second trip to Mississippi, I shed a lot of my task oriented busyness and worry. And being in El Salvador has only furthered it... a peaceful sense that God is and always has been, even when I didn’t see it, guiding and teaching me.
So far I am really enjoying El Salvador, except for the fact that I’ve currently got what-ever food born illness every visitor here gets. My sister got me the hefty antibiotics, so I should be almost back to normal tomorrow, and hopefully armed with some immunity.
Anyway, this country is so different than anything I have ever experienced. Violence and poverty, and their tragic recent history scar this nation. But the people who I have met are so full of generosity, and joy and kindness, it’s remarkable. I’ve mostly met church people and activists (that run the language school I went to). But they are all people who by our standards are quite poor, and none of them came through the war without loosing loved ones. The current Lutheran Bishop here was imprisoned, tortured, and nearly killed (by the government of course) during the war... and only released after the massacre of the six Jesuit priests in 1989 brought world-wide attention to the atrocities committed by the Salvadoran Government. Tragedy is everywhere. The church here is very active, an activeness that was born during the war, and continues today. Here’s an interesting fact about the Episcopal/Anglican Church in El Salvador... the US embassy classified it as Communist during the war and forbade it’s employees from attending services there. The church ran a refugee camp out of it’s grounds downtown... the military stormed the site at one point, but the people locked themselves in the building, and were amazingly, not harmed. (most stories like that ended in massacre). The fact that the church (and I mean that in a broad sense) became an important enough target, for it’s leaders to be assassinated, says to me that they were doing something right! Against oppression and violence they were not silent. It’s inspiring to see the church in such an active role, not worried about fundraisers and meetings, but out there building houses, improving agriculture, helping people better their lives, intervening in the lives of teens before they become pray to the gangs... I see now why my sister is so passionate about this region, and why she and Vince are so glad to be here.
So far I haven’t done much. I’ve tagged along with Amy, gone to a week of language school, and seen some of the city (San Salvador). My Spanish has improved some. But I’m tired of being in school, and am ready to get out and do something. Amy has vacation bible school next week (they consider this season summer, though its hot year round, it’s dry now), so I might help with that, or I might go out to the campo (countryside) to help with an agriculture project the dioses started.
I miss you all and love you much! Wishing you a peaceful and expectant Advent!
Love and Peace,
Robin