By Jeremy Mills

ALEGRIA is a mountaintop village in El Salvador. In English, the name means ‘joy.’

I was there last month to help build homes for poor families, on behalf of Canadian Baptist Ministries. There were 12 of us from Victoria, affiliated with Emmanuel Baptist church and Arbutus Christian Fellowship.

From the moment we stepped out of the airport in San Salvador, the capitol city, I knew we were in for an adventure. It was dark, but warm – and there were trees everywhere. The atmosphere was so completely different from the reality we were used to.

We were warmly greeted by our hosts from the Iglesia Bautista Emmanuel church; but as we drove out that night through the city, I got the sense that this place wasn’t entirely safe. It felt like there was a predator on the loose – but he was fleeing.

This atmosphere is likely a remnant of the genocidal civil war which began in the early 1980s. The brutal fighting lasted 12 years, and claimed more than 70, 000 lives.

Most who died were poor villagers fighting against elite groups and government military control – which kept them from owning their own farm land, thus making it hard for them to escape from the trap of poverty.

Mass killings began shortly after the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero, a hero to the poor majority in El Salvador.

A gentle and godly man, he stood for peace and justice for the people, and demanded that both government and church become accountable for human rights violations.

Boldly facing the threat of death, Romero was a voice in a dark wilderness – much like the Lord Jesus was in his time.

Tragically the country is still poor, as evidenced by miles and miles of makeshift apartments and run-down buildings and streets in San Salvador.

While the government is now relatively stable, El Salvador can still be a very dangerous place. This hit home for our team two months before we were scheduled to leave.

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Moises Funes, mayor of beautiful Alegria, was shot and killed – along with a young female staff member, named Zulma Rivera.  

It has been reported that his assassins came from a government group which objected to his outspoken anti-corruption stance.

Moises was also a direct supporter of our mission. Despite this heinous act of violence and the fear which followed, our team decided to go forward as planned. We believed that now, more than ever, the people would need our support.

In San Salvador, we stayed in a former orphanage which was built during the war. After a few days of touring and learning the country’s history, we headed up to the worksite in Alegria.

 Accompanying us were many youth and young adults from Immanuel Bautista.

In Alegria, the atmosphere was much more hopeful than in the city.

Perhaps it was the sheer beauty of our elevated surroundings. Our base was enclosed by inactive volcanoes, now densely covered with green trees. It was like something from a painting – perfectly sculpted.

But it was more than the landscape and stunning views which strengthened our spirits in this place of recent tragedy. The bright hope that energized us came from the spirit of God working through the villagers.

Alegria is well-named. The joy of the villagers, despite their poverty, was plain to see in their everyday lives.

We shared that joy with them, as we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus together in a powerful ceremony on the mountainside. Their passion for Christ – and for others – was also very evident.

We entered their community, and bonded in the spirit of building up what had been torn down. Any threat of violence was smothered by the grace of God, and we were free to labour in unity together.

The bright hope of Christ was at work through his church. His light shone – and the darkness fled.

Jeremy Mills is the Vancouver Island advertising representative for Christian Info Society.

May 2008