Dear Friends,

Greetings to you in the name of our Messiah Yeshua (Jesus)! In September CARP began its eighteenth year working with families in El Salvador – almost a generation! We thank the local pastors of Iglesia Cristiana Cristo Centro, Francis and Zulma Batarsé (San Salvador), Luis and Susy Paz (Sonsonate), Lupita Martínez (Agua Santa), and Néstor and Isela Herrera (Nahuilingo affiliate church) for their leadership and oversight. These faithful servants are on the front lines, and it is our privilege to help them. We are thankful for God’s blessings and the support of our sponsors and friends throughout the years, and we look forward to continuing His work in 2019.

If you are not familiar with CARP’s School Sponsorship Program, it helps students of low-income families finish their high-school education in a Christian school, when possible. Sponsors here in the U.S. help pay for registration, tuition, and school supplies, in addition to vitamins and a monthly food basket. The pastors advocate for those students from their congregations who are in need. We require students to have good attendance and participate in the activities of their congregations. They must also submit report cards and write letters to their sponsor. We visit the homes regularly to assess their progress and pray for the family.

Pastor Francis Batarsé visited Maryland in February 2018. He shared this at El Shaddai: In El Salvador we have an insufficient investment in the area of education; thus, it is deficient. For this reason, there is a high degree of school desertion, which is more evident in the seventh grade. This has generated the opportunity for private schools with the greatest commitment to raise the quality of education and avoid desertion. This improvement has its costs in textbooks, bilingual studies, computer training, the commitment of teachers in the development of the student, and above all, physical safety. The country lives in moments of much turbulence; the youth are the target of gang violence. To be young in El Salvador is almost a crime.

Significant efforts have been made to help the students progress in their studies, as well as their personal life. Recently, a group of teens participated in the Ropes Challenge Course. This is an outdoor activity focused on group dynamics and interpersonal skills, leadership, problem-solving, teamwork, and trust. We feel confident that this experience will be a stepping stone in their spiritual development as they grow and mature in the Messiah.

I recently read a verse from Zechariah 3:2, and compared it with our life: We are “brands [sticks] plucked out of the fire.” Before we knew the Lord, we were rough around the edges, fighting God, disregarding His instruction, flaunting our sin, and ignorant of His grace, love and mercy. Now our sin is covered by Yeshua’s blood; it’s forgiven and wiped away. We are free and clothed with rich garments of salvation, robes of righteousness to the glory of our Father.

It’s gratifying to see how far some of the students have come. By faith in Jesus, they endure abandonment, hardship, separation, and suffering in life; but trusting that the Lord is on their side and works all things for good, they thrive. We can’t even compare their life to ours; theirs is not one of convenience and comfort. But the more they persevere in their studies and life as believers, the more victory they see. We are proud in the Lord when we look at their lives, their overcoming spirit, and persistent tenacity.

“My Community My Space,” a rehabilitation and restoration plan for the neighborhood around the San Salvador church, has started up. At present they are still working on a design to create a recreational “green space” near the busy avenue. In addition, a group of twenty-one youth are being trained in the cultural and entrepreneurial dimensions of food systems and cuisine.  

Our thanks to four schools that donated children’s and adults’ shoes this year: Frederick Country Day Montessori; The Children’s Center Montessori in Germantown and Rockville; and the Calvary Day School, Frederick, MD (photo below). 

We continue our visits to Benjamin Bloom Children’s Hospital, FUNCIR, where we donate vitamins for the kidney patients. Our prayers bring hope and relief to the director and his assistant. Please contact us if you would like to help them.

Each December the nursing, med students, and some professionals of Cristo Centro’s San Salvador Church help conduct a health fair for members and the public: height, weight, blood pressure, and diabetes testing. We usually see from 50 to 100 people; and for some in the community, this is the first medical attention they have received.