We´re Here in El Salvador

I wrote this post yesterday but just as I was hitting the post button the power went out and I lost the whole thing. So here goes another attempt at it.

The trip yesterday went well and we arrived in San Salvador after a drive from the international airport in San Salvador. For the most part everything went very smoothly.

I am so excited about being here in El Salvador. Marco and I were talking about our schedule for Friday and we made plans to visit the Romero sites as well as the Catholic University in San Salvador. These places are important to me because it was around such events as the assassination of Archbishop Romero that I discovered that the church was more than a place to gather on Sundays and had a message of real Good News to share with those who are poor and downtrodden. As I learned about Romero´s death and then the subsequent deaths here, I discovered different and refreshing ideas about who the church can be and is in the world today. Bishop Gomez of the Lutheran Synod sounds like a man along the same lines as Bishop Romero. It is the hospitality of the Lutheran Synod that makes possible this trip.
Several years ago, the bishop disappeared for a period of time evidently because of his outspokenness about the Gospel. We heard some more about the social justice work that the
Marco also shared with me that the pastor in Puente Azul is bi-lingual and that we should be able to explore the possibility of developing a longer term relationship with that congregation. That excites me! It looks like we will be working on a parsonage and another out-building for the church. Right now the pastor cannot live in Puente Azul but must commute some distance. With a parsonage, that could change.

Please forgive any mis-spellings as Í´m working on an international keyboard and trying to get this done as quickly as possible before the power goes out or somehting else happens. As I am able, I´ll add more to the blog so check back.