Justice

Two Years

A New Dawn, Fundraising, Gangs, Justice, Kids at Risk, Urban Ministry -

Two years. That is the amount of time that Rodrigo* has been living on the streets. As a 13 year old, he  was forced to leave everything familiar. His family, his school, his friends, and his neighborhood. He had to leave because staying meant death. The truth is, El Salvador has the highest child homicide rate in the world. Teenage boys are most at risk. Rodrigo’s life was threatened. Join us or die.  That is the message falling on too many young ears around El Salvador today. Be a criminal, or die at the hands of one. Kill, rob, extort or be a victim yourself. Rodrigo fled and found a new home. A 13 year old sleeping on a bed of gritty pavement, eating out of the garbage, looking for something […]

It’s Complicated

A New Dawn, Human Trafficking, Justice, Kids at Risk, Thinking About God, Urban Ministry -

Está yuca. That’s a Salvadoran slang phrase that basically means that it’s complicated. It’s messed up,  and it’s tough to sort out. We use that phrase a lot around our office, and that’s because almost every one of our clients comes to us with layers of complication. Poverty, violence, systems that are practically rigged against them. Here is a glimpse… There is the boy coming to New Dawn because gangs threatened his life back in his hometown. He had to flee and he fled to the streets of San Salvador. Life on the streets is hard…abuse and addiction soon become the cycle that he can’t escape. There is the man who was traumatized as a child, and eventually turned to alcohol. Over time, he lost his wife, his job, his […]

Walking Together to Freedom

A New Dawn, Fundraising, Justice, Kids at Risk, Urban Ministry -

This morning was my first day back in the office after 6 months on sabbatical. As I pulled up to the center early this morning, the first thing I noticed were the children sleeping on the streets. They were there waiting for the doors to open at New Dawn. For these kids, New Dawn is the only safe place in a sea of addiction, violence, and abuse. Some of these kids have been raped, beat up, prostituted, and made to feel like nothing. They have been rejected and abused. On the streets they have found loneliness and fear. It is no easy task to introduce them to something new. New ways, new patterns, and new life are hard to come by on the streets. Our hope is that stepping into New […]

A Salvadoran Perspective on the Violence

Gangs, Justice, Kids at Risk, Life in El Salvador -

Photo Credit: La Prensa Grafica Today Oscar Garcia is guest blogging to share with us his perspectives on the violence in El Salvador.  El Salvador is a small country with big problems. Like a tiny boat in the middle of a raging sea, our country is rocked day after day. As Salvadorans we feel the weight of rapid population growth, financial strain, soaring violence, and political distress. We struggle, and strain, and row against the wind and waves just to get the through the day. We, the people of El Salvador, feel like we are caught in a vicious cycle, like a crazy ride that we just can’t get off. Difficulty after difficulty, catastrophe after catastrophe…and there is no rest from the cruel circumstances that clash with our desire to live […]

The Human Trafficking Risk Facing Migrant Children

Gangs, Guatemala, Honduras, Human Trafficking, Immigration, Justice, Kids at Risk -

  “Love you neighbor as yourself.”  We grow up hearing this concept that comes straight from the teachings of the Bible. We believe it, and it may even move our hearts to action. But who are our neighbors? This month is Human Trafficking Awareness Month so I want to take a moment to consider our closest neighbors and the trafficking risks they may be facing. If you are in the U.S.A. and reading this, your neighbors include Mexicans and Central Americans. You don’t have to go far to meet them. As I’m sure you’ve heard, the violence in Central American’s Northern Triangle (Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador) are sending hundreds of vulnerable children north in search of peace and safety. The situation is grim in El Salvador for children in high-risk […]

God’s People Giving Generously

Justice, Kids at Risk, The Lighthouse Project, Urban Ministry -

Since moving to El Salvador, our home church has been Centro Cristiano Internacional. CCI is a large church located in San Salvador and some of our friends invited us to attend there when we first arrived. Over the last few years, CCI has opened their hearts to make the work of MTES part of their ministry and service to the community. Volunteers from CCI help feed the homeless each week, assist in the Lighthouse Project, and help us with medical campaigns. They have prayed for us and encouraged us in countless ways. They have made the courageous decision to look outside of their doors and into the darkest parts of their city, and they have loved and served those that they have encountered. Most recently, they generously sponsored a donation […]

Creating Community

Justice, The Lighthouse Project, Urban Ministry -

It’s a rainy morning in San Salvador. The rain runs over the gutters, and up through the manholes in the streets. It is pouring and cold. For those who sleep on the streets, it has been a long night. For those who sleep in small, rented rooms it has also been a long night interrupted by leaky roofs and drafty breezes. Our clients begin to walk into our center around 8:00am. It’s warmer inside and they gather around a table for their morning’s work. They are making cards…rolling strips of paper into flowers, animals, and Christmas designs. They work to glue the tiny strips of paper, and to match colors. They are being paid for their work, and they are also enjoying a sense of community. Light laughter and constant […]

The Ripple Effect

Free the Girls, Gangs, Human Trafficking, Immigration, Justice, Kids at Risk, Urban Ministry -

When you drop a stone into a pond there is an initial plunk and then the splash of water. Around the place where the stone dropped ripples spread out until the calm, quiet of the pond is completely interrupted by ripples of various sizes. No part of it is left untouched. I am seeing that violence has a similar affect on society, at least on the society here in El Salvador. Our tiny home has made international news for the worst possible reason…a soaring homicide rate. August closed with more than 900 murders. That is in a country the size of Massachusetts. As the ripples of violence spread, lives are marked by terror and fear. Some of the women who sell bras in our Free The Girls program can no […]

A Gateway of Hope

Gangs, Justice, Kids at Risk, Thinking About God -

I have been reading some truly horrific things in the news here in El Salvador this week. A six year old girl was barbarically raped and murdered as part of a gang initiation rite. A police agent was brutally killed in front of his children. Meanwhile, the daily grind of violence pushes school attendance down and pulls the homicide rate up. I try to hide the paper from my children and swallow the physically ill feelings that this news brings. It seems like there is nothing left to do in the face of such reckless evil than to simply despair, give up, and wave the white flag. We deeply love this country, and it feels like it’s falling down before my eyes. How can I tell people that they can get […]

Imagine

Free the Girls, Gangs, Human Trafficking, Justice, Prayer, Urban Ministry -

Courage and strength…these qualities can be hard to come by when we grow up in the best of environments. Now, imagine that you did not grow up in a healthy environment. Imagine that you grew up in a hard situation, that your mother was gone most nights prostituting herself, that your father wasn’t around, and that your siblings didn’t even have the same father as you. Imagine that gangs moved into your neighborhood and forced you to do things you didn’t want to do. Imagine that you were exploited, intimidated, and soon you were in so deep that there was no way out. Imagine that you went to jail, and had a baby there. Imagine the fear, the weakness, the uncertainty. Imagine that you don’t have to imagine any of this […]

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