MISSION EL SALVADOR:
Eight Days of Spreading God's Love

In the 1960's a Christian youth hymn began to be sung amongst many youth groups. It's lyrics were simple but so is the gospel message which was shared with communities like those in the La Heradurra province of El Salvador some 60 to 70 miles southwest of the country's capital, San Salvador. The lyrics, "We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord... and they will know we are Christians by our love, by our love, and they'll know we are Christians by our love", was the basis for the planning of a group made up primarily of members of two youth groups from Long Island, New York.

The mission of the groups was four pronged. The first goal was to create a ten by twenty foot wall mural in the heart of the community of El Zapotillo. The picture was to represent the people going about their daily lives in the beauty of their homeland. It covered up an angry mural that had represented some of the political unrest in this not-so-long-ago war torn country. Under the oversight of Aprodehni, the mural was created by both youth members and adults who were part of our mission group. . As the mural was being completed local townfolk walked by and chatted with the artists and some even lent a hand in the project. From the CUTS group special acknowledgement is given to Kelly Marsh and youth leader, Linda Ferguson, for their efforts. This website also wants to acknowledge the work of Jamie Hile, the creator of Not the Same Old, Done-it-before Youth Meeting website, who was one of the young adult leaders on this mural project as well as Lynne Gregory, mother of CUTS member, Sean Gregory, who jointly drew the mural.

As stated, the mission to El Salvador was a four pronged effort. A second task was the presentation of a joint dramatic show with a group of young people from El Salvador. Under the joint supervision of Lois DeLong of the organization, Godsongs, and Gil Pintin of Aprodehni, about twelve young people spent the week preparing for a special performance to be performed free of charge for the local communities.. More information about the performance can be found on an up and coming "Godsongs" website. Thanks to CUTS youth, Stephen, Anthony and Michelle, for their committed efforts to this project.

The third task was truly the task that put into action the lyrics of the song, "They'll know we are Christians by our love". Not knowing how many children and their families would appear for morning community get-togethers, Ariel, Chantel, Kelly, Billy and Julianne (along with three adult leaders) prepared art projects, songs, dancing and the sharing of the Bible story, Noah's Ark, with between 150 and 200 children over a three day period. Accompanying the children were many parents and, although there was a language barrier, the sharing of Christian love is a universal language. Smiles were abundant amidst the hot ninety degree days under the open sun in El Salvador.

A couple of days later at a community function the young people were greeted by their newfound friends and the Chicken Dance learned a few days before was in great demand as well as a newly discovered limbo contest.

The fourth task was to work with older students representing six different communities. This was a three day (two and one half hour per day ) program with the joint goal of teaching English and sharing the gospel message more directly than in the other projects. Davina Durgano, her father, Derrick and Tim Ferguson were the "teachers" of this program.

The gospel story to be shared (in Spanish) was that of King Saul, his son Jonathen, David and Goliath. The message was clear - si ustedes confian en Dios y en unos a otras ustedes pueden hacer muchas cosas especiales (if you trust in God and in each other, you are able to do special things). Furthermore... su pais, El Salvador, puede convertirse en un lugar muy especial cuando su gente aprenda a escuchar y a confiar en Dios (your country, El Salvador, can become a place that is very special when your people learn to listen to and trust in God).

Amidst the teaching of English, games of "trust" were played and the story was read.

To teach English the game "Simon Says was used to assist the students in learning the names of body parts in English. The "Three Pens Game"and the song "Day by Day" was taught to the students, first in Spanish then in English (see box below). We even found time to read the story of Noah and relay the promise that God gave us a rainbow to remind us that his true desire is to reach out to humans to share his love... and they'll know we are Christians by our love... by our love. In many ways it was a series of CUTS youth group meetings in El Salvador with the teaching of English, a primary goal.

To describe the impact of these sessions let us share some statements from the students - first in Spanish and then with an English translation. Since we received about thirty comments, we shall publish four or five at this time and update this segment of the website at a later time.

Yesica, age 14... Que debemos de confiar en Dios que el es nuestro amigo que debemos de confiar en el y en nuestros amigos me gusto mucho los cuentos sobre todo la cansion. Me gusta leer cuentos el de Noe y otros aprendi mucho en estos tres dias. Gracias. (I learned we should trust in God because he is our friend and we should trust our friends. I liked the stories; most of all I liked the songs. I liked reading the story of Noah and others. I learned a lot in these past three days. Thank you.)

Gloria, age 16... Jo que aprendi fue que debemos tenes confianza y mucho fe en Dios como tambien en nuestros amigos y que Dios es nuestro amigo y cuando necesite ayuda debo de pedirle a Dios con mucho fe. (I learned that we should have trust and a lot of faith in God as well as in our friends and that God is our friend and when I need help, I should ask God with much faith.)

Silvia, age 20... Que aprendistes de Dios y los amigos? Lo que yo he aprendido de Dios es que debemos confiar en el aunque nolo veamos, y tener mucho fe. Y de los amigos es que tenemos que confiar en ellos y no dudar de su amistad. (What I learned from God is that we should trust in him even though we cannot see him and have a lot of faith. From the friends I learned that we need to trust them and to not doubt their friendship.)

Reina, age 11... Yo aprendi de Dios que cuando uno lo pide con el Corazon una promeza el la comple y pore eso yo creo en el mucho y de amigos aprendi que los amigos confian en nosotros y nosotros a ellos. Gracias. (I learned from God that when you ask him from your heart for a promise, he grants it and that is why I believe in him very much. And from my friends we learned to trust one another. Thank you.)

Xiomara, age 17... Yo que aprendemos de Dios, la forma en que elsu angronta a los problemas y la manera de coma los resuelba tambien su forma de ser con todas las personas. (I learned about God, the way he confronts problems and the way he resolves them and the way he is with everyone.)

We close with the song we learned together in El Salvador:
Dia par Dia (Day by Day)
Dia par dia, dia par dia ( Day by day, day by day) O Dios mio tres cosa yo pedi (Oh, Dear God, three things I pray) Verte mas claro (To see thee more clearly) Teamas mas claro (To love thee more dearly) Y te segui mas cerca (Follow thee more nearly) Dia par dia (Day by day)