Sister Church

In Partnership with Buenas Nuevas (Good News) Lutheran Church

Mission Statement

We are dedicated to Jesus’ teaching that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, and this teaching extends beyond the artificial boundaries set by denomination, community, or even nation. We believe to love our neighbor includes loving the poor, the disinherited, the oppressed, the outcast, and the imprisoned. We are working to change the conditions, the material circumstances, and even the political structures that limit and oppress.

Goals & Objectives

In order to fulfill our mission, in 1989 Covenant United Methodist Church, through its Sister Church Ministry Group, established a sister parish relationship with the Buenas Nuevas Lutheran Church in El Paisnal, El Salvador. The goals of this relationship are to implement an active and prayerful interchange with our Christian sisters and brothers in El Salvador and to accompany them in their pursuit of economic and social justice.

The goals of the Sister Church Ministry Group include, but are not limited to:

Expressing our solidarity, support, and encouragement through delegation visits to El Salvador, educational scholarships, communication, prayers, and material aid.

Educating our congregation and community about El Salvador and the role of the Church in meeting the spiritual, economic, and political needs of its suffering people.

Addressing the needs in El Salvador by direct action and by partnering with other organizations that embrace similar objectives.

Living our faith by learning and striving to be peacemakers in our families, church, and community

Sister Church in El Salvador

El Salvador is a country still struggling with the effects of decades of war, poverty and oppression. In El Paisnal, the town where Buenas Nuevas Lutheran Church is located, most families live in small homes similar to rural homes in the U.S. during the early 1900’s.

Lack of health care and employment continue to be a problem throughout El Salvador. Due to the many years of war and the deaths of over 75,000 people, real social and political changes are slow in coming. There are still many challenges in El Salvador.

There is also a great light, because the Salvadorans are people of enormous faith. They believe that Christ is revealed in the lives of the poor and suffering. They also believe that Christ is present today in their struggles for dignity and justice. They have hope for reconciliation, forgiveness and healing that can only come through Jesus Christ. Even the country’s name, El Salvador, refers to the savior. The name of their church “Buenas Nuevas” at El Paisnal is “Good News”–radical, life changing, transforming good news. We have much to learn from this relationship with our brothers and sisters in El Salvador.

Invitation

We invite anyone with a compassionate heart and an adventurous spirit to participate in this outreach ministry. We operate as a small fellowship group and welcome individuals who would like to help with material aid projects, participate in delegations to our Sister Church or would like to know more about our ministry.

Please contact Dave Hayward (443-0631) for further information.

A Brief History of Covenant’s Relationship with Buenas Nuevas

Accompaniment Delegations

From the time that the Sister Church relationship was established in 1989 through 1992, when the Peace Accords were signed, our primary focus was on accompaniment delegations and material aid.  Communities that were visited by North American delegations were provided a modicum of protection from the violence of the Salvadoran military.  Our fundraising efforts were focused on supporting teachers at a local school (the government was not paying teachers at this time), buying sewing machines for a woman’s cooperative, and bringing basic school & medical supplies to the community with each delegation to El Salvador.

Emphasis on Student Scholarships

When the Peace Accords were signed between the government and the rebels in 1992, the government was obliged to fund public schools.  However, the students were required to pay for school supplies and for their uniforms.  This put schooling out of reach for most of the rural poor that formed the majority of the Buenas Neuvas Church.  At the request of the Salvadoran community, we accepted the challenge of providing educational scholarships for the children of Buenas Nuevas.

From a modest beginning in 1994, we are now supporting 75 students at $120 per student per school year, for a total contribution of approximately $9000 per year.  These funds come from Sister Church Ministry fund raising efforts such as direct appeals to the congregation, yearly garage sales, periodic Advent Devotionals, Fair Trade coffee sales, etc.  Sister Church Ministry does not receive funds from Covenant’s operating budget.

Recognizing the Need for Clean Water

Covenant’s 2001 delegation t El Salvador was touched by the lack of drinkable water in the rural communities that they visited.  Upon their return, they planned and organized a fund raising Central American Fiesta.  The event featured Salvadoran music, food, and an auction of donated items.  The $5000 raised that evening went to Living Water El Salvador, the organization then built a much needed water well.

Our 2006 delegation to El Salvador partnered with the Living Water organization to help fund and build two water wells in the community of Santa Remedio.  One well served a school and the other served a Catholic Church and a rural health clinic.

Building Earthquake Resistant Homes

After a devastating earthquake in 2003, we joined with UMCOR’s Volunteers in Mission to fund and assist in building homes for earthquake victims in Jayque, El Salvador.  Covenant’s VIM/Sister Church delegation of 2004 funded one concrete block home and assisted in the construction of three homes for earthquake victims.  This was in addition to visiting and worshiping with our Buenas Nuevas community.

We Have been Blessed to have this Connection

From 1990 until 2008, approximately 35 Covenant individuals and approximately 20 other individuals from Spokane have visited Buenas Nuevas and worked on various mission projects in El Salvador.

In July of 2008, our Sister Church delegation assisted in the development of a sustainable orchard and forestry project for 50 families in the small villages near the Buenas Nuevas church.  We are committed to replicate this project in 2010.  The yearly cost of this project is $5000 and is our most ambitious undertaking since the formation of our ministry in 1989.

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