Sister Community Housing Project

St. John’s , Brookfield , WI

All Peoples, Milwaukee , WI

Heroes of Faith, Los Heroes , El Salvador

Two churches from the Milwaukee area joined with their sister church in El Salvador to help build durable housing in the aftermath of the earthquakes which struck El Salvador in early 2001.  The terrible earthquakes demonstrated how great is the need for such housing throughout El Salvador. 

Seed money for the project was provided by the Siebert Foundation . 

 Delegation Trip In Connection with the Housing Project

 A delegation of fifteen people from the Milwaukee area traveled to El Salvador on December 26, 2001 , returning on January 2, 2002 .  Four days and nights were spent at our sister church, Heroes of Faith.  The other three days were spent visiting the Milwaukee Synod’s sister community, Rutilio Grande, the offices of Lutheran Church of El Salvador, the church where Archbishop Oscar Romero became a martyr, and other sites of interest to the group. 

 Building Project

 Construction of the first house began approximately two months prior to our delegation visit.  A soil analysis was performed and the foundation was prepared.  Adobe bricks were also made and dried.  The first eight to ten rows of adobe bricks had already been laid by the future owner of the new home and several other members of the community under the direction of the construction foreman. 

Members of the delegation were shown how to mix and prepare the adobe mixture used to cement the adobe bricks together.  The delegation members took turns mixing the adobe by walking in place in it. After the adobe was mixed, delegation members helped lay a row of bricks on this house.  We learned how difficult and time consuming this process is for the Salvadoran people.  The combination of time-consuming work of adobe construction and the ability to only build adobe houses during the dry season (half the year from November to April), has resulted in the community discussing changing their plans.  The community told us they wanted to change from reinforced adobe homes to reinforced concrete block homes.  Our delegation discussed their concerns and plans and assured them that they must be the ones to decide what construction method works best for them.  We asked them to meet with the entire community and make sure everyone supported the revised direction.  We also received assurance from them that this revised construction method would meet their earthquake resistant objectives for the project.  The cost of the revised construction method would not increase the cost of the homes.  They also felt the time to construct a home would be reduced from 2-4 months to 2-4 weeks.

 Building Progress Since the Trip

Shortly after the delegation trip the earthquake-resistant adobe home was completed.  The recipient family moved into the new home.  The community meetings were held and the community decided to change to reinforced concrete block construction methods. 

 Work began on several other homes.  By mid-April we received the following e-mail from Pastor Santiago Rodriguez updating the progress on the project:

 

Greetings to all the brothers and sisters of St. John’s , All Peoples and Amazing Grace. We feel very near to you in our hearts.    

The project is coming along very well.  Five houses are finished, three are in mid-construction, and twelve have foundations.  There are four work groups involved in the project, with 45 people participating.

Share this good news ...because of your presence here in December, our friendship and partnership were strengthened and it created great hope in our people.

 May God bless you in great ways, because you have been witnesses of the Resurrection.   So we are also blessed.  Amen.

 Su hermano en Cristo.

Pastor Santiago

 

The building project has helped bring a diverse group of people into a common mission of community development.  We saw first-hand, the sharing and caring Christian spirit demonstrated throughout this process.  This project has helped meet basic shelter needs for some of the poorest of our Christian brothers and sisters.  In this process we were enriched by the faith and hope of these people.  This project has helped break down many barriers our world has placed between us and let us see each other as true brothers and sisters in Christ.

 

The Greater Milwaukee Synod’s El Salvador committee and St. John’s have continued to fund the construction of these homes during this past year.  Through tithing of St. John’s capital fund program and direct contributions, St. John’s will continue to support this partnership to construct additional homes.

 

Trip Reflections from Pastor Greg Van Dunk of All Peoples:

 “These simple, country people, so incredibly poor in human comforts, were rich in faith and abundant kindness.”

 “Pastor Santiago of Heroes of the Faith community and Lutheran church is a very special person.  The challenge of developing a worshipping/discipling community in that setting is incredibly difficult.  It felt a lot like trying to be the church here in the inner city.”

 

 

Trip Reflections from Jim Drees as printed in St. John’s monthly newsletter, The Spire:

 “At times, I find myself in discussions with other members of St. John’s struggling to understand the meaning of a Bible text.  What is God telling us and how should we respond?  At times we make the Bible complicated.  Our lives are easy in terms of having what we need for basic needs, but we find faith and Christianity complicated.  Yet the Christians in Los Heroes are opposite in so many ways.  Meeting their most basic needs for survival is often a struggle, and faith and Christianity are simple.  If there is a child who is forgotten they take him or her into their home to live with them.  If someone is hungry they share their food.  If someone from a foreign land visits, they welcome him or her in and sleep on the floor so they can give their guest their own bed.  The Bible says we must be like children to enter the kingdom of God .  We have our teachers in the men, women, and children of Los Heroes.

 Many thanks to all who have supported our collective calling to share lives with the people of Heroes of Faith.  Your prayers, financial contributions, and time invested have made this relationship grow.  Guided by the Spirit we continue to share our mission with each other to the greater glory of God.”

“My Reflections on El Salvador ” by Paul Drees, age 10,  read at church services at St. John’s

 “I learned that we should be grateful for everything that we have.  In Los Heroes, you can’t just go to Taco Bell or Burger King to get food (...well, you can go in the city of San Salvador , but the food is too expensive for them.)  In Los Heroes, there isn’t a grocery store either.  The mothers spend all day making food.  You don’t have to have Nintendo 64 to have fun as a kid.  We played football with them.  My brother, David, was the best one to communicate with the kids.  Even though he didn’t know much Spanish, he just played with them.

 It’s kind of strange to see TVs in tin shacks.  What was really funny is that Scooby Doo is on there, too.  Instead of saying “Scooby Doo, where are you?” they said, “Scooby Doo, dónde está?” Scooby’s voice sounded really, really deep.

 Luckily for us, we got to stay at a hotel on our last night.  That made things a little easier.  It’s hard to stay in their homes when we’re used to having air conditioning, regular toilets, running water that’s safe to drink, floors that aren’t dirt, no bugs, many rooms, and a safe neighborhood.

 But, we are all children of God.  They gave us the best things they had...and for that I am grateful.”