May 5 update

As reported we moved to Casa Concordia, the Lutheran guesthouse, on Saturday. When we arrived, a Sunday school training program was under way. We joined the class and then had the afternoon for journaling and resting in a peacful environment.Sunday, the Bishop picked us us up and took us to the mother church, RESURRECTION. Here we reconnected with many friends and had lunch together. In the early afternoon, we traveled with Pastor Abelina to our companion church, Fe y Esperenza. This is also the community of the Rotary hygiene project.The public road needs much repair, the drive into the church and the grounds need much repair, and the plumbing has not yet been connected. Two soccer games were underway, one in the pasture having three cows grazing. The cows didn.t mind, neither did the kids. After an hour of soccer, the kids came into church for worship. They made the place very warm.After the service at Fe, we were invited back to San Salvador to Pastor Marina's home for pupusas. We returned to the area of Resurrection church. Resurrection is in the heart of the ghetto. The Lutheran community also operates a homeless shelter in this neighborhood. The Lutheran Church is the church of the poor and what better place than the ghetto. We are aware of the Lutheran Church protecting children and helping women turn their lives around. Glancing out the window of the bus, the streets are full of litter... the children, adults and street are visibility dirty. Some adults sit on the side of the street in a daze making one wonder if they are fully functional or maybe they should be cared for in a facility. Others are preying on one another for their own selfish interests or desires.We pulled in front of a gate which opened into a beautiful courtyard. We were welcomed and enjoyed the company of our hostesss and other members of the church family.On Monday morning, we attended the pastoral team worship service at Resurrection, which was followed by a special informational meeting about the repatriation of refugees to land in El Salvador which is being reclaimed by the campesinos.The government is slowly releasing land that it took from the peasants during the war and is making resettlement available. Tomorrow afternoon we will visit this land, now named Piedras Tontas, translated Stupid Rocks. We will walk this land with Pastor Chimita who is the head pastor of the churches in this region. We hope to learn of what the living conditions will be like when the community is built, their access to water, the forestation issue, and areas where outside support may be needed. While this community will not be established as a Lutheran community, it is the hope of the church to build a worship and gathering facility as soon as possible.Last night ended with a birthday pizza paryt for David at Casa Concordia. It was great fun for the children and the adults as we celebrated a milestone (65 years!). Tonight we go to another meeting to close the Rotary paperwork for La Granja and to begin the next phase of the bridge project.This morning at Rotary we learned that El Salvador has more suspected cases of El Gripe Procine. A comment was made that if someone sneezes and then oinks, there is a problem! Humor in the midst of fear can be a good thing.Updates follow tomorrow evening.David and Nancy