I’ve received a new photo of Jose once a year in the mail since he was 4 years old. I see his growth. I get a small glimpse into his world. He’s now 13.
But this year I got a picture of his mother.
And it hit me hard. She’s a real person. With a real heart. A mother’s heart. Just like mine.
José is our sponsored child in El Salvador. It’s a country that holds memories for me. I went there in the summers of 2011 and 2012 with my church. We partnered with the church already there, hosting VBS-style events in their public schools, building structures, meeting families.
I still have friends there. And some of those friends are now here in the U.S.
But I never saw José there. And I’ve never seen his mother. Until now in this photo.
Walk with me now in El Salvador. You’ll like what you see. But it may also scare you to death.
This is why we need to pray for El Salvador.
The Tom Thumb of the Americas
Here’s where El Salvador is on the map. It’s the smallest country in continental America (smaller than Massachusetts).
It’s sometimes called “the Tom Thumb of the Americas.”
Yet it’s also the most densely populated. And of the 6.5 million people here, almost half live below the poverty line.
The people here are friendly, kind, and generous, despite living in this country also known as the Land of Volcanoes because of its frequent volcanic activity, its devastating earthquakes, and occasional hurricanes as it borders the Pacific Ocean.
But the people in El Salvador are also troubled.
Gang-related crime is high. Gangs (maras) plague the cities as its population shifts from an agrarian society to a more urban one. The government is often corrupt. Inequality is blatant.
3 Things to Pray for Salvadorans
Many in El Salvador know Jesus. It’s not unusual to see religious icons throughout their towns. Roman Catholicism has had an active presence there for decades, with almost half the population identifying as Catholic, 35% as Protestant, and 14% with no religious affiliation at all.
Here are three specific ways you can pray for Salvadorans.
1. Pray for the boys to stay out of gangs.
Gang violence attributes to the abnormally high crime rate in this small country. The best-known gangs are MS-13 and their rival M-18. Many boys are drawn to the gangs when they are young, either by choice or by coercion.
Pray for healthier families, for better employment opportunities, for church involvement, and for young boys like my José to have the courage to resist the economic and social opportunities that a gang offers.
2. Pray for the girls to not become victims of violence.
About seven people go missing in El Salvador every day. Many of them are women. They are often the victims of murder, of sexual exploitation, of trafficking, of abuse.
Pray for women to be valued equal to men, for girls to have affordable education opportunities, for the vulnerable to be protected from exploitation, and for strong leadership to arise among young women in Christ.
3. Pray for the church to unite in protecting the children.
The churches in El Salvador recognize the urgent crisis of stopping the violence in their country. As a result, many are united in their efforts to protect the children.
Pray for the Lord to continue giving strength, wisdom, and integrity to the Salvadoran believers as they come together to take care of their own, breaking any cycles of domestic and social abuse.
The Same Blessings
As I look into the eyes of José’s mother in the photo now on my refrigerator, I see a woman who wants the same thing for her children as I want for mine: health, opportunity, safety, love, even though the challenges they face are unique.
May we stand alongside the mothers (and fathers) in El Salvador, asking God for the same blessings on their children that we ask for our own.
Thank you, Lisa. Empathy begins with real knowledge, not sugar-coated, the ability to imagine yourself in someone’s shoes (or lack thereof), to find the common ground of humanity on which we all stand, and to do something tangible. We support a child from the Dominican Republic and donate and communicate regularly. It has been lifechanging and I pray is for him and his family too. I’ve not seen his mother’s face, but I can imagine it.
Thank you for sharing so compassionately.
Lynn
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could meet the children we have grown attached to? But whether or not we ever meet in person with them and their families, I thank God that we have had the opportunities to connect in these ways. Thanks for sharing about your child in the Dominican Republic, Lynn!
Thank you Lisa, for “Pray for the children of El Salvador”. Thank you for the reminder to pray for the children there as we would pray for our children, and for sharing about your sponsored child. We sponsored a child for 3 years until she moved to another area of El Salvador and was no longer in the program. I continue to pray, and ask for your prayers for Kathryn Molina and her family (grandmother, also).
Praying now for Kathryn and her family (including her grandmother)! It’s a blessing to be able to pray for the lovely people of El Salvador. I’ve continued relationships with several of the people there that I met; God knit our hearts together in such a short time, despite language barriers. Thanks for sharing this with us, Carol!