Somos en búsqueda.

Three Romero posters, one semi-tanned body, and lots of Pops ice cream receipts later, I will take many things with me as I leave El Salvador tomorrow. But more importantly, I'll forever have with me the stories, images, and sounds of this beautiful tiny country.

I have learned so much over just a short span of four weeks. I have learned the true meaning of liberation and the many definitions of oppression. We've explored the realities of so many people, walking with them through their stories of pain, desperation, death, violence...of hope, joy, and strength.

I have met God anew.

I have seen God in the faces of the trapped gangsters that we view from the TV screen. I have heard God in the passion of the voices of the lesbians fighting for their rights. I have felt God in the energy of the volunteers at the Peace Center in Suchitoto. I have seen God in the excitement of the people of Usulutan. I have received God's word in the signs of "Basta ya!" (which mean "Enough!"). I have seen God in the patience of the little girl who taught me how to play jacks. I have heard God in the calming words of our coordinators. I have heard God in the flute music produced by teenage boys of Nueva Esperanza. I have experienced God in unexpected ways.

My view of God has been stretched, misconstrued, challenged, questioned, attacked, and transformed...and I love it.

Today I created a project about liberation theology and what my learning about it has done for me. I have discovered the many ways I myself have yet to be liberated...liberated from myself. My eyes have been open to the liberation needed back home, in the lives of the people closest to me. I have realized the need for liberation in my sisters and brothers around the world. I have learned that your own reality is not something to ignore, not something to push back. It's something to embrace.

I apologize that I'm not really getting into so much depth about this. I think that is because I am still in the process of taking in this overload of information and figuring out what it is I am being called to do with all this information.

Nothing will replace the huge amount of things that I have learned this month. In a little over week, we will be on our way to Nicaragua, to encounter yet another reality. Why won't we be there for another week?? Because we have fall break, of course! :) Tomorrow, my friend Laura and I will get on a bus heading south, first through Honduras, then through Nicaragua, then we'll arrive in Costa Rica Saturday night. We'll spend a day there, then hop on another bus to Panama and spend a few days there. Then at the end of the week, we'll make the trip back up north to Nicaragua. By the end of next week, the only Central America country (not counting the Caribbean) I will not have visited is Belize. :)

I am beat, but I hope I have more to say about El Salvador soon, when I'm not so tired.

I encourage you to do some research on this small country. I found a website for a documentary with a trailer that gives a great synopsis of the status of El Salvador: http://www.returntoelsalvador.com/. Also, there is a man who keeps a great blog about happenings in El Salvador: http://luterano.blogspot.com/. Scroll down to find a topics listing, and find something that might interest you. There are also many videos and documentaries focusing on El Salvador (I have watched Romero and La vida loca [about gangs], but there are so many more [Return to El Salvador, Which Way Home, and Si Nombre all touch on immigration].

It's a lot of info, but I need to get the word out about this small, full-of-potential nation. (And right now I just don't have the energy to type it all out!) Let me know what you know or find out about El Salvador.

As always, thanks for reading! We'd appreciate prayers as we spend a total of over 40 hours on buses in the next week. :)

Somos en búsqueda. We are always searching.

80 choco-bananas later...

The past two weeks have been oober memorable for me. I will try not to make this post seven pages long. :)


Last weekend our group split up to visit different communities throughout El Salvador for a "church accompaniment weekend." Three of us traveled to Usulután, a city a few hours away from San Salvador. We spent the weekend riding around in the back of a pickup truck, visiting surrounding communities and their church events. Not only did I get to learn more about the Lutheran church in El Salvador (which is fairly new  and pretty small), but also we got to see a lot of the area. We visited one of the smaller churches and its shrimp hatchery in the back. During "shrimp season" the youth collect the shrimp and sell it to raise money for youth and community funds. Also, we saw some flood damage in another community. We could only drive a little ways on the street into the community before we ran into acres of water. We were informed that beyond the water was a community of 180 people and five more communities beyond that. Many of the people were living on rafts, refusing to leave in fear of losing their homes and belongings. After this, we drove through a river-sometimes-road to get to Pastor's home. There was water everywhere, both due to flooding and just due to a casual rainfall (the road is a river when it rains and a bumpy dirt road when not raining). We stayed in the pastor's brother's abandoned house (his brother is in the US), just a few hundred feet away from his house. We had two fun nights falling asleep under the shadows of fluttering bats, to the feeling of ants crawling about our legs, and to constant rooster crows, cow moans, and dog barks. We learned a lot about "liberation theology in action." The church was very much focused on its youth. We visited a youth group session that included a Bible study and some games. So fun. :) Many of their goals also include raising the funds to hold retreats and birthday parties, especially for the youth. The church's goals including events to unite the multiple communities. Sometimes it was hard to see how this church community lied within "liberation theology," mostly because there seems to be a lot of need in the area--due to hunger, flooding, sustaining themselves, etc. But I am realizing now there is a lot of legitimacy in their efforts to unite and empower their church. I hope their efforts keep growing and result in even greater transformation in their communities. 

Our church accompaniment

Some of the flood damage (and a not-so-happy vaca)

This past weekend provided another great adventure to another great community. We traveled as a group to the community of Nueva Esperanza (in English, "New Hope") in the Bajo Lempa region of the country. I LOVED this community, which 500 people call home. To me, the people of this community are the epitome of liberation theology. They are truly united as a community, working together to do some great things for themselves. Some of these include going to the government to fight for their rights to dry land--Bajo Lempa lies on the Lempa River which has flooded the near communities many times (probably multiple times a year).  The severity and frequency of the flooding is due to discharge from a hydroelectric dam. They have asked these discharges to be regulated. This year only 3% of their corn sustained the floods. They simply want to be able to grow their food and live safely in their homes without so much water all the time. We also visited with a "Health Emergency Fund," an organization that helps residents travel to the city for their check-ups, provides events for the older residents, and even has worked to partner with Venezuela in a program that allows Salvadorans to travel to Venezuela for cataract surgery for free. We also toured the coconut and sugar cane fields (including some sipping of coco milk and gnawing on sugar cane...mmm, so good!) The community has also been focused on the youth, providing many opportunities to get involved in soccer tournaments and music groups. Whenever we walked around the community, we could always hear a band practicing or would run into a teenage boy walking down the road, practicing his flute. A highlight of my weekend was also finally being beneath a clear night sky, with zero clouds and limited light pollution. Two nights we found ourselves lying in the soccer field, counting shooting stars. :) One night we also had a great view of a late-night futbol match from the top of the water tower. Every day also included one or two (or six...) visits to the choco-banana woman. She made 80 choco-bananas before we got there on Thursday...they were gone by Sunday morning. :)

Sipping some coconut milk
and eating coconut meat

Gnawing on some deliciously sweet sugar cane

A musical group from Nueva Esperanza
performing for us (they were so good!)

Oh, did I mention the adventures we've had on our days off? :) Last monday: a day of relaxing in hammocks and frisbee on the beach. Yesterday: a hike up the tallest Volcano in El Salvador. Tonight: bowling. :)

Pacific Ocean :)

The crater of Santa Anna Volcano -- the tallest volcano in El Salvador

There is so much I haven't included...(including a visit to a great photo exhibit about immigration, a talk with the head of the religion department of the UCA, and some great class sessions.) Overall, I'm still having the time of my life. Every day is an adventure...and an amazing learning experience. 


Cómo estás? Let me know how YOU are doing! (I'd also like to know that someone is actually reading these posts!) I really welcome questions and/or comments. :) Thanks for reading! Hasta la próxima!

What is Liberation Theology?

I'd like to share with you parts of my first essay exam for my Liberation Theology course. I kept out most of the academic stuff and brought out my own analysis and definitions. Hopefully it will give you some understanding of the LT movement. If you're looking for an update of what I've been doing, it'll come in a later post (hopefully tomorrow), but liberation theology has been the backbone of all I've been learning and doing--it is what I have been studying, living, and breathing for the past two weeks.

I have developed my own definition [of liberation theology], which includes the following:

Everyone needs to know they are beloved.  Jesus told his disciples that the greatest commandment is to love.  In order to be empowered yourself, you need to know that you have worth.  I think this should be the first and foremost goal of liberation theology, or any theology in that case.  This goal is not accomplished by imposing beliefs or trying to persuade someone to adapt a new culture.  It is done through relationship and compassion.

We must work from the bottom up.  Liberation will not happen unless the recipients are the ones in control.  Liberation theology is the first way of doing theology that starts with the people, and then becomes an analysis of their reality. 

Reality comes first.  Rather than developing a theology and believing this theology must be applied, the roles are flipped, and the theology becomes affected by reality and changes as reality changes.  It is the “voice of the voiceless.”  Change will not come about by imposing my theology upon a people, rather experiencing where the people are and asking them if my gifts can be used to assist their search for their voice.  

Where is the God of life? When examining reality, it is important to keep in mind how we are defining God, or why we are calling it theology.  How are these people being kept from living fully?  Are they experiencing life or oppression?  God for me is life and mystery.  In our actions, how am I allowing this beautiful mystery work itself out?

The call is for transformation.  Liberation theology is not just about change.  It is about a transformed mind, transformed belief, and transformed hearts.  Without internal transformation, it becomes a fleeting method, which includes a hand-out here or there, but never really a full empowerment of the oppressed. 

Liberation needs to happen now.  Too much focus has been put on what will come after this life, when we will finally see “Jesus face-to-face.”  Even scripture has been interpreted to say that it is okay to be poor now because when we reach that life-after-death, there will be no more suffering.  As a believer in a living God who is fully present and active in the world here and now, I see our call for liberation as present and urgent.

Liberation theology lies within the parent who will tell their gay child “I love you” rather than “There’s something wrong with you.”  It lies within the woman who can finally speak about her experience of being raped.  It lies within the scarred student who can finally go to school without the fear of being bullied.  It lies within the Lakota woman who sees her people as more than just alcoholics.  It lies within the youth pastor who helps a lonely teenager realize that he is not alone.  It lies within the child who after years of going to bed hungry, finally falls asleep without a rumbling belly.  It lies within the churches that not only hold an “all are welcome” motto, but actually live it out. 

Liberation theology is stirring.  It is not something that we anticipate to happen; it is happening and must happen now.  As Boff said, there is urgency. Until the oppression is gone and until justice prevails, liberation theology will always be relevant, and it will always be changing. ...

Hope is a heavy word.  But I believe we cannot talk about the future of liberation theology without using this term.  To believe that liberation will come about is to have some hope—not only in the method of theology, but in people.  I keep thinking about what our guide at the Romero Center told us.  The deaths of the Jesuit martyrs were not in vain; they serve as “sources of hope.”  So much violence and so much death have not resulted in just a mourning country, but a morning country.  A dawn is coming, hope is present.  Hope is not just a goal of liberation theology; it is a driving force and an active participant.  There is hope that repression, violence, and cruelty will cease.  There is hope that the God of life will finally be revealed in all of God’s children. 

In short, liberation theology is a new way of not only doing theology, but a new way of thinking and living.  Especially for believers, it asks questions about who exactly is God and how we are allowing God to be revealed.  It is a theological method not like any others because it opens itself up to constantly being refined and changed as reality emerges.  Liberation theology provides hope for the marginalized not just because it fights against oppression but because it allows all people to see themselves as capable of empowering themselves and being fully alive humans.

Holy Ground

This past week has been heavy.  Not only are we discussing deep issues in our liberation theology class, but our "field-trips" and speakers complement all of our heavy themes. The word "martyr" is always in the air. On Tuesday we visited the church of Oscar Romero, former archbishop of El Salvador who was assassinated in 1980 for his speaking out against the repression and violence. I have acquired a huge admiration for Monseñor Romero. Everyone who speaks of him, speaks with a great respect and with so much passion. Monseñor Romero had the guts to speak out and people listened. He sacrificed himself for the liberation of his people. A famous quote of his: "If they kill me, I shall arise within the Salvadoran people."


I have also learned that in the year I was born, an unjust and bloody massacre occurred on the campus of a large university here in San Salvador. We visited the University of Central America, where in November of 1989, the lives of 6 Jesuit priests and 2 women were taken by members of the Salvadoran army. They attempted to make it seem like a guerrilla encounter, but the evidence shows no sign of that. These men had been working against the oppression and injustice, and became just a handful of the many who were killed in efforts against the injustice.


My words cannot even begin to express these things; these things are simply indescribable. The images, the words, the feelings. This country is suffering. I can see the pain in people's eyes. But I can also see hope. Our speaker at the Romero Center yesterday told us that the deaths of the Jesuits were not in vain and they did not necessarily discourage the people; they served as sources of hope. So much blood has been spilled, everywhere we go. The blood has left stains that are not forgotten.


This is holy ground.