Five countries, three languages, one faith: Mennonites join hands to rebuild homes

Mennonite Central Committee
Friday, 6 April 2001

EL PORVENIR, El Salvador -- This remote village is an unlikely setting for an international gathering of Mennonites. Northwest of the capital city of San Salvador, El Porvenir is reached by a rough, unpaved road that winds its way up a long hill. The community's tiny Mennonite congregation is new to the faith. Already, however, they are experiencing the warm embrace of their church family.

When El Porvenir was devastated by the Jan. 13 earthquake, the 70-member Mennonite congregation in nearby Metapan was quick to respond with food and 125 Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) relief kit buckets. Now, with the financial support of MCC, the Metapan Mennonite church hopes to help reconstruct 40 to 45 homes in El Porvenir and its surroundings.

Mennonites from Guatemala, Belize and North America recently joined their Salvadoran counterparts to complete the first phase of construction: a pilot project of six homes.

Fernando Poo'u, carpenter and leader of the Guatemalan K'ekchi' delegation from the Iglesia Menonita Chiquixji, apologized that his group could not offer much in the way of material resources. All the men but him are subsistence farmers.

"We recognize that we are a poor delegation, but we want to give what we have -- what we have is our hands," he said.

Hands are working a small miracle in El Porvenir. David Martin, MCC earthquake relief coordinator, found busy hands at work on a truly collaborative effort.

Six K'ekchi' Guatemalans worked with Jeremy Denlinger, a student at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) in Harrisonburg, Va., to frame a home for Elsa Cornejo.

Meanwhile, three Belizean Mennonites from Iglesia Menonita Belizeña Vida Abundante and EMU student Janin Siegrist nailed siding to a completed frame, assisted by their warmly appreciative beneficiary, Ruben Bonia.

Aldo Rodriguez, an energetic young Guatemalan whose work in Guatemala City after Hurricane Mitch led to an ongoing commitment to relief work, ran back and forth with tools, drinking water, and words of encouragement.

Curious children gather around the building site, hoping to catch a few notes of the strange music of K'ekchi' or English. The community challenges the K'ekchi' delegation to a game of soccer, offering its friendship in this nearly universal language.

Miguel Valiente, a Salvadoran living in Canada, brought material aid, a cash donation and greetings from his church, New Life Center in Toronto. He planned to report to several churches in the Toronto area when he returned.

Former Salvadoran Isaias Guevara, who now lives in Belieze, rediscovers deep ties to his land and his people as he plans to stay on a second week with his Belizean companions. And college students Denlinger and Siegrist find their cross-cultural study semester enriched by this encounter with Central American cooperation.

For more information, or to contact Mennonite Central Committee, see their website at: www.mcc.org