Today was our last day out in the community of Alejandría. We had one last visit to do in the community, as this was the first day of our trip that the family would be home and then we headed back to the gathering place for a wrap up meeting with the Directiva. This meeting, after our visits, is a chance for them to ask us to reflect on what we've heard during the visits, to ask us questions about anything that has come up, and a chance for us to ask additional questions. It also is the opportunity to address any lingering questions or concerns from the first meeting we had with the Directiva. For example, in our first meeting this trip they spoke of the 2 projects they were hoping to complete - the new gathering building and the stream crossing. We had asked them about estimated or projected costs so we could consider what we might be able to fund/raise money for. They brought those estimates to this second meeting. After the meeting wrapped, we walked up to the water source for our community. We've been up to the water source each of our previous trips and I wrote quite extensively about it my first time down here. You can find that post here.

Once back down from there, we had lunch and then it was time to PARTY! On the last day, we have another community gathering and this one includes piñatas, food and drink for everyone, and a chance for the community, and us, to say our goodbyes. Everyone is offered the chance to say something and then it's time for the kids to have some fun. The girls and the boys each have their own piñata and they go after it and then the candy. It's so much fun to watch. Finally the food and drinks are brought out.

I want to pause in the day here to comment on something that really struck me. One of the things mentioned in the second meeting with the Directíva was that they know of a number of families struggling with getting enough food. We would label it food insecurity in the States and while that is often a concern down here due to the poverty levels, it was interesting to hear it directly referenced. But when you combine the fact that many people in our community do not have steady employment and that the cost of goods is continuing to increase, more families are struggling to get the necessities as they have to make decisions about which bill to pay (electricity, water, school fees, etc.). I had wondered if this was becoming more of a concern because I was bringing all the photos from the last trip (August 2024) and as I passed them out I had noticed that many of them had lost weight. It made me curious. The final thing I noticed that made it home that this is a definite struggle right now was the food and drink that was given out at the party. My last two trips there was a juice drink, cake that people would eat while they were there, and then some small veggie sandwiches for them to take home. Today, everyone got a take out container full of food. It included plantain chips, papusas, a fried veggie treat, and the toppings for the papusas. And what went through my head was that the Pastoral Team was trying to make sure everyone got a good meal. It was another reminder of how hunger is everywhere.

Finally, everyone headed home and everything got cleaned up and then we headed back to Berlín and the Pastoral House. On our final night in town, we take the Pastoral Team out for supper to thank them for all their hard work in ensuring that our trip goes smoothly. There is SO MUCH that happens behind the scenes, done before we arrive, while we're visiting families, or even before we get up in the morning. We get so many thanks for coming and supporting the community but we always want to make sure the Pastoral Team knows our thanks because these trips would go nowhere near as smoothly without them.

While we were at supper, though, Cecilia, one of the team members, got a call that every pastor is familiar with - a medical emergency in the community. Jesús, one of our beloved community members, has been struggling with health issues over the past 12-18 months. It's been a real challenge because he is caregiver for his mother (86 years old) and his aunt (91 years old). Oscár, our translator, and I noticed as he was leaving at the end of the party he was having a really hard time walking and seemed to be in a lot of pain. Blanca, a Pastoral Team and community member, as well as others helped him. But then Cecilia got the call while we were at supper that things had not improved and he was feeling much worse. So, one of our drives (Elmer) and one of the Pastoral Team/Community members headed out to Alejandría to get Jesús and bring him back into Berlín to the clinic. As of this moment (8:30 p.m.) he is still at the clinic. They won't keep him there overnight, however if they don't feel he has stabalized enough to go home, they will move him to the hospital. It seems both his blood sugar and his blood pressure are dangerously high. While we know what is like to get those phone calls, it's not a great way to end a night. So, we pray and we wait. Please keep Jesús in your prayers. 

We're back at the Pastoral House for the night. And it's my bedtime. Tomorrow will be final things in Berlín before heading to San Salvador in the afternoon. 

Make sure to check out the photos below.

Jessica

Today was all about visiting our families. We left the Pastoral House by 8:15 so that we could get started by 9:00 a.m. Check out the photo of all the gift baskets loaded in the truck! As we visit each family, we have a short amount of time to chat, check in on how they are doing, get any updates (ages, school grades for the children, health, work, and so on). It also gives us the chance to see what they might need or how we can pray for them - we seemed to hear a lot of requests for prayers for health this trip. Then each family receives the gift baskets from us, along with tylenol, and photos if we visited them on the previous trip. 

Many who hear about our trip are often curious what is in the gift baskets. We have a photo that will give you some idea but the standard items included are: toilet paper, cookies/sweets, coffee, oil, rice, soap, and as you can see a whole host of other items. Each gift basket is $50 of items. And as we learned again today, they love to show their gratitude. We were given pineapple, papaya, melons, and chickens to bring back to the Pastoral House. These are then used to supplement our meals and for the party in the community tomorrow. We also received snacks at many of the homes, drinks, and even ice cream from one family. There is not a shortage to the food they offer to us and they take good care of us.

For this introvert, it's a lot but totally worth it. One of the things I believe is important in relationships is the willingness to show up, to put in the time and energy it takes to be present. And that is what we are doing with these trips and visits. We are showing up and being present. And that effort is acknowledged and appreciated.

And after arriving at the Pastoral House in Berlín about 2:00 a.m. this morning, we were up in time for breakfast at 7:30 a.m. and headed out to Alejandría in order to meet with the community starting at 9:00 a.m. We are all dragging a bit, especially by the time we came back to Pastoral House this afternoon about 3:30 or so. But that's part of coming to El Salvador.

Monday night I was staying with my brother and sister-in-law when I got the news about the flights and my sister-in-law wondered if we could just reschedule the whole trip. I've never asked, and while I assume it would be possible in extraordinary circumstances, it is definitely not ideal. The schedule and plans have been worked on by the Pastoral Team, the Directiva (community council), and the community since the trip was officially scheduled. All of the food needed for us and that we give to the community has been purchased. And over and over we hear of how once the community knows of our plans to come, how much they prepare, wait for, and look forward to our arrival. So we do all we can to stick as close to our original plan as possible, which is why the flight changes can make things difficult. And that is also why even after the late night, we still had a full day today. But we were ready.

Breakfast was the El Salvadoran standard of egg, beans, and plantains. My first trip down I was surprised by the food and always think that we eat so well when we are here. Then the trip out to Alejandría. We all pile in the back of the KIA and hold on. While more of the city road has been paved, once we're outside Berlín, think hilly dirt roads. I mentioned that it takes me a day to get my "sea legs" back as I adjust to the ride. But it was so nice to be out in the warmth and sunshine.

The first trip out to the community always starts with the community gathering. They have a nice new area for the gatherings as the building we met in on previous trips is no longer stable or able to be used. And it's immediate greetings and hugs all around before we all sit down for the more structured introductions. This morning a gentleman from a neighboring community joined the group to play the guitar and lead some singing. Check out the video at the end of this post! 

Then each of us was invited to say something to the community. And that's when the emotions I'd been prepared to hit last night actually caught up with me. Because as you've read, after my last trip I ended up very sick and I didn't know if I would ever make it back here - to these people, this place. So to be here, listening to their welcome and thanks, hearing of their gratitude and love, was a bit overwhelming - in the best way possible. Then the community members are invited to say something if they wish. A number of them did so, offering their gratitude, love, and appreciation. 

After that portion of the gathering concludes, we spend the rest of the morning meeting with the Directíva discussing how the community is doing, what the needs of the community are, and what their are planning and hoping for the future. We learned of a number of projects the Directíva is working on including trying to get a new bridge to cross the stream that swells during the winter months, putting up a new building on the new gathering spot, and beginning to look at plans for updating the piping to the water system. Our congregations will be hearing more about these projects once we return to the States as we work to financially support them in their continued efforts to improve their community. Then it was lunch.

After lunch, we started on our family visits. Each trip down we get a census, a list of all the families that are part of our community, and then we go to each families' home. We spend about 15 minutes or so with each family catching up on how they are doing, gifting them their food basket and medicine and photos, and then taking family photos that we'll print and bring down the next trip. It's a wonderful time to see how the kids have grown, meet new families in the community, and share the love with each other.

After visiting seven families, we headed back to the Pastoral House for free time, rest, supper, and I don't know about Tim and Gary, but it's going to be early to bed tonight for me. The plan for tomorrow is to visit the rest of our families.

We are headed back to El Salvador! Gary Badgett, Tim Maxa, and I are on our way and it's already been an adventure. I was flying out of Des Moines and they were to fly out of Kansas City and we were meeting up in Dallas. My friend warned me we probably wouldn't get through Dallas after the winter storm that went through this past weekend and she was right. Both of our flights were cancelled about 8:30 p.m. last night. So then the question became...now what? After phone calls and messages and all the things, we were finally able to get tickets that would still get us down there today, just much later then planned. We flew from Des Moines to Chicago-O'Hare, which is where I'm writing this from. We have an afternoon flight to Panama City, Panama and then a late flight from there to San Salvador. Everyone on the ground in El Salvador has been made aware of all the changes and our wonderful driver, Alfredo, is still going to pick us up tonight (when we get in at 11:30 p.m.) and drive us over to the Pastoral House in Berlín. It's about a 2 1/2 - 3 hour drive so it'll be nice and early tomorrow morning when we finally arrive. But we'll have made it and be able to stick to the originally planned schedule which makes everything easier for everybody.

It's still sinking in that I'm headed back. My last trip was 3 years ago and I returned home with some passengers - 3 intestinal infections that led to post-infection gastroparesis, which wreaked havoc on my health. The Southwest Iowa Regional Partnership sent a delegation in August 2024 but I wasn't ready to travel at that point. That's also the middle of the rainy season in El Salvador and I tend to avoid going down during the rainy season. I already have some difficulties with the heat and adding on being wet all the time just sounds like a bad idea. When Tim let me know (a few days before Christmas - nothing like last minute) that the trip was going and the dates, I knew I had a lot to think about. I wrote some about my thought process for my church newsletter article this month and I share that here now:

As you read this, I will be either on my way to, or already in, El Salvador as the Southwest Iowa Regional Partnership makes its visit to our sister community, Alejandría. It’s been three years since I last traveled there. Three years since I came back with 3 intestinal infections that wreaked havoc on my health – physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally – as they led to post-infection gastroparesis. And as I’ve shared the news of my decision to return, I know it has raised many questions. Why go back? Why take the risk? What if it happens again? What if something worse happens? And on and on.

They’re valid questions, many of them ones I’ve had to ask myself as I discerned if, and when, to return to El Salvador. I could go into all the details of the precautions I’m taking and the ways I am working to minimize the risks but at the root of these questions, and really at the root of my decision to go back, is one thing…fear. The questions reveal our fears and anxieties – about my health and wellness, about what the church would do if I got so sick again, about the impact my health has on those around me, and so on. As I said, these are valid and human responses and please know I am not making light of them. They weigh on me. At the same time, as I considered going back, one thought continually came up – I do not want to be afraid. I do not want to live my life in fear. I do not want to make decisions out of my fear, or others’ fears, of what might happen.

Throughout Scripture, over and over again, God tells the people, “Do not be afraid.” When Mary and the shepherds are greeted by the angels with news that will radically change their lives, “Do not be afraid.” When the prophets speak to the people in exile or during the exodus, “Do not be afraid.” The psalms proclaim, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you [God].” Jesus says it to the disciples, to the crowds, “Do not be afraid.” I wonder if we hear it so many times in Scripture because God knew how often faith and fear would go together, how they live side by side, and how much we would need the reminder of God’s presence and love so we might not be afraid.

And so, even as I have a bit of fear and anxiety over what may happen, I know it is time to go back to El Salvador. I know I would regret not going. I know I don’t want the fear of what might happen to keep me from the people and the experiences that are waiting for me. And I know this is true not only in my decision to return to El Salvador, but in many other areas of my life. I refuse to allow fear to keep me from loving others – even as that comes with the risks of pain, loss, and grief. I refuse to allow fear to keep me from preaching and living the gospel – love of God and love of my neighbors, all of my neighbors – even as that comes with the risks of upsetting people, making them angry, the extreme risk of losing my job or, even more extreme, the risk of losing my life.

This is part of what I believe and proclaim. In the PC(USA) Book of Order, we read that “the Church is to be a community of faith, entrusting itself to God alone, even at the risk of losing its life” (F-1.0301). And when we affirm our faith with words from A Declaration of Faith, part of what we say is that “we believe God sends us to risk our own peace and comfort in compassion for our neighbors…[and that] Christ calls each of us to a life appropriate to [God’s] kingdom: to serve as he has served us; to take up our cross, risking the consequences of faithful discipleship; to walk by faith, not by sight, to hope for what we have not seen.”

None of this means we are, or need to be, reckless. It is important that we each discern and understand the risks of what we choose to do and to know what level of risk we are comfortable with. But it is also just as, if not more, important that we remember who we are and who we are called to be. We are children of God and called to be God’s hands and feet in the world. And we remember God’s promise to always be with us and that assurance we find again and again in Scripture, “Do not be afraid.”

So, I'm on my way. We're on our way. Here's hoping these last two flights go smoothly and as planned. We'll jump right in tomorrow morning by going out to Alejandría, greeting everyone, meeting with the Directiva, and then starting our family visits in the afternoon. I'm going to try and write a bit each night, so feel free to follow along.

Grace and Peace,

Jessica Paulsen