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Fifteen Years

Written by Chris Madsen

Less than a month to go before our trip!! Please continue to pray for our delegation that we may be physically and spiritually prepared.

This trip is especially meaningful to me. This November’s trip is exactly 15 years since Kent and I first visited El Salvador with Larry and Kathleen Morkert. Oh the changes we have seen: electricity, cell phones, e-mail, running water to the pilas (outdoor concrete “sinks”) of every home. Growth of the school such that on this trip we will be present as 17 youth graduate from High School (the 5th or 6th graduating class).

Our prayer child Walter will be 16 in December. When we started the ‘prayer child” program in 2004 we picked him from the list because Kent’s godfather was his favorite uncle, whose name was Walter. It took a few years to build a relationship, but now - as opposed to the shy, small 5th grader we first met - Walter (now taller than me) makes a point of visiting with us on each visit. We email regularly, and the group has a meal at his house every visit. Last January we included Walter with several other children to a field trip to San Salvador. One stop was the Memorial Wall, engraved with the names of people who died during the civil war which ended in 1992. Walter said that he did not know anyone on the wall. I am sure that his mother and father would have a different response. However, this just reinforced what I have been saying for several years: we are seeing a generation of children for whom this war is History. They are affected, but not broken by it. They have hope that there is something other than the “milpa” (cornfield) waiting for them when they grow up. They are allowing themselves to dream. I am Sandra’s (Walter’s mother) “comadre”, and Walter calls us “padrinos” (godparents). This is a great honor to us. We encourage him to work hard, and we are challenged to be positive role models for he and his siblings. “Building Relationships for Better Lives” is not just a ‘tag line’, it is a reality.

The other reason this trip is meaningful is because we are taking our (official) goddaughter Ariana Stevenson with us. I know that her life will be changed, and she will be challenged. But isn’t that what godparents are supposed to do? We know that most of you will not be able to take a trip to El Salvador and develop they type of relationship we have with Walter and his family, but we are your representatives. That is why we encourage you to send some of yourself with us. The scholarships tell these children that you care. The cards, pictures and small gifts you send make you real. For practical purposes, we do ask that any gifts you send fit easily in a gallon storage bag, and that you clearly mark it with both the recipient’s and your name. There is an example of a gift bag in the Narthex.

For those of you without a ‘prayer child’, November is Sister Parish month for our monthly benevolence. The various programs we support were discussed in the past 2 newsletters, so I won’t describe them in detail. They are: School supplies for the students who do not receive scholarships; salaries for workers in the Health Clinic; University Scholarships; the Lutheran Church; and Health Supplies for the “clinic days” we are holding.

We are also asking for Items for a ‘Health Kit’ to give all children who come to the clinic. You can also donate Over-the-Counter medications. A sample of the kit and a list of OTC meds is in the narthex. Please feel free to contact Ruth Cruddas, or Chris Madsen. Chris’ contact info is: 438-1593 or chris@kcmadsen.com and Ruth’s is: 768-1580 or cruddasm@pacbell.net.

Thank you again and again and again for your support.

[This article was originally published in the November 2009 St. Stephen's Sun.]

Added by admin October 28, 2009 (9:37PM)

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