Swiss UCC New Glarus
Swiss Church, New Glarus, in solidarity with Emmanuel Baptist Church in San Salvador, El Salvador, has worked in partnership for 10 years on mission projects to better the lives of people in rural communities of El Salvador. For 2011, projects were: (1) construction of community building in Las Americas, (2) a water irrigation system and garden for Quebracho, an impoverished rural community of 20 families, and (3) a community center in Yomo, a remote village high up in the hills outside of Alegria. Projects with these communities are about more than bricks and mortar. They are about:
- Two cultures working together as one
- Demonstrating to the Salvadoran people that we will not give up on them or give in to poverty
- Living the Christian way
- Showing our youth that we CAN make a difference
A reflection from a participant…Kris Penniston, delegation member, Mission Trip 2011
“When I tell people I go to El Salvador on church mission trips, I often feel the need to explain that we don’t pass out Bibles or preach into a loudspeaker from a moving truck. Some church groups see those activities as “mission” work. In the United Church of Christ, we understand mission as an opportunity to walk alongside and develop relationships with others, particularly those who are oppressed and less advantaged. In doing so – through work projects that are identified by the people in the small villages of el Salvador with whom we have built friendships during a “sister” church relationship with Emmanuel Baptist Church in San Salvador – we open ourselves up to being transformed and to developing a deeper relationship with God and all God’s people. This year, I spent 5 days working alongside men and women of Yomo, a small community in southeastern el Salvador, who wanted a community center. With the help of 3 hard-working young men from New Glarus High School and several others in our delegations, we dug trenches, shoveled dirt, carried concrete blocks, mixed cement, and began to erect a sizable building for the village of Yomo. Through mutual sweat, blisters, and sore muscles, we shared laughs and stories using a combination of broken Spanish and English with had gestures as need to make a point. Their load may have been made a little lighter by our efforts, but we came away much the wiser. By acknowledging that our relative privilege means we have much to learn, and by placing ourselves in situations outside of our comfort zones, we begin to understand what it truly means to be part of God’s plan for peace and justice for all humanity. We are grateful for the financial and moral support of members and friends of Swiss UCC and of the Southwest Association, without which we could not continue building community and friendship with our sisters and brothers in El Salvador.”