Saturday, August 13, 2016

Visiting Cristo Rey (Chist the King) Lutheran Church in Santa Ana, El Salvador, Central America

On Saturday, August 6, we departed the Mamapan hotel and set off to Santa Ana, where Briseida hosted our visit to Cristo Rey Lutheran Church.  Below, Luis and Briseida (both representing Habitat for Humanity El Salvador) with Pastor Tom at Good Shepherd where they joined us for the special Mission Fund dinner in May.  It should be noted that Briseida is currently pursuing a Master's degree in divinity by attending school at night, in addition to her full-time position at Habitat.  Both Luis and Briseida visited us at our house work site this year in Ahuachapan.


We were sorry to hear from Briseida that Pastor Carlos of Cristo Rey is in poor health.  He had heart surgery, has a pacemaker, plus liver troubles.  He decided to step down from being Pastor at the church, and his wife, Pastor Vilma will take his place immediately.  She is already Pastor at another church about 20 minutes away, on the outskirts of Santa Ana.  Briseida has asked us to pray for Pastor Carlos and Pastor Vilma.

The entrance to Cristo Rey, where we worked on the foundation in 2014.  Jim and Barbara Hack attended the dedication in early 2015.


The front entrance.


Inside the front gate.


The old church, used after the original church was destroyed by earthquakes.


The 2016 group in front of the altar at Cristo Rey.


Below, a close-up of the this year's group including Francis and Briseida.


We spent the remainder of Saturday at a quirky beachside resort.  But, it offered the first warm shower Jim and Dean had in a week.
Below, Jason meets up with Montano, the same lifeguard we met at the same place in 2014.  He was proud to wear his lifeguard hat for the photo.


A pleasant surprise occurred back at the Mamapan hotel.  The owner, Claudia, gave Jim Hack an official Mamapan hat, shown below, in the hotel lobby.  We all agreed that Jim looks pretty great in his new hat!


If Francis is happy, everybody is happy!


Thanks to EVERYONE for all their support of the 2016 Mission Trip.  It would not be even close to possible without the combined help of many.  On behalf of the families of El Salvador:

Mucho Gracias!  &  Ve con Dios!  (Go with God)


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