Remembering Vilma

One of the first people I identified at Santísima Trinidad was Vilma Claros. She and several other women from the parish were attending the Annual Women's Conference held little more than a month after our arrival in El Salvador and before I actually took up duties at the parish. I identified Vilma because of her high-volume passionate voice, her capacity for argument on any subject without ever wavering on her position, and the full-throated song with which she would belt out the Salvadoran hymns about making our journey to the New Jerusalem.

I must admit, that when I realized that Vilma was one of the Junta Directiva of Santísima Trinidad, I was alarmed. Where, I thought to myself, is all that advice I received at the Working with Difficult People workshop? How am I going to cope with this woman? I cannot imagine I will be the cool, calm management officer who continues to say the correct thing and gently manipulate this person into seeing my point of view. I was right about that, at least. The only difference in Vilma's behavior and mine when we were at cross-purposes was that I learned to back off, but only because I knew she would never budge.

Vilma was one of those large, buxom women who cared a lot about her family, the community, and the church. (Not saying, of course, that large and buxom are prerequisites for these attitudes!) Motherly. Warm-hearted. Good. These are all words I apply easily to Vilma, whose emotions could be close to the surface.

Vilma's life was not easy. She had a small business - a sort of confectionary or corner store that she operated from her house in Colonia Santa Teresa. Even so, the debts accumulated from buying the right kind of fridge and keeping up the stock, caused her huge anxiety. She had great difficulty keeping her head above the water on the economic scene. She also suffered poor health. Many people will gloss over their ailments, but not Vilma. When I asked how she was, I always learned in detail just exactly what part of her anatomy was causing her pain today. She suffered from diabetes, renal disease, high cholesterol, and arthritis. This was not, in my opinion, neurotic pain. This was genuine, physical pain that rarely abetted, partly because the medications that she needed were so expensive and she probably didn't buy them, or when she did, she didn't take enough. Her health and her fight for survival could overwhelm her, and she struggled with depression.

Nevertheless, most of the time she came to the Sunday service, and her strong voice and her love of singing carried the rest of us along. When Vilma sang, her song was a heart-felt prayer.

My personal reflections on Vilma's death are that the specialists decided that this simple woman with her limited education was not worth their charity, for to get the treatment she needed, charity would have been necessary. There may be health nurses who visit the Santa Teresa Housing Co-op, but if there are, no one has ever told me about them. A person who is depressed and upset needs help to make sure they do not confuse their medications - if they have managed to obtain any medications.

There are public health clinics in El Salvador, where medications are sold at low cost. Yet is any cost low when one lives on less than $100 U.S. a month like many people here? I question how good the services are. I once took Vilma to a hospital and sat with her in the tasteless plastic chairs through the long wait until she could be seen. Yet even these government hospitals are in the process of being privatized. My mind boggles. People who operate hospitals for profit are not likely to help the thousands and thousands of people like Vilma in this country. When you in Canada think about privatizing health care there, please remember the people like Vilma!

Suicide was ruled out by the government autopsy. Vilma died of pneumonia that resulted from her not taking her medications correctly. She was the spouse of Armando, the mother of Isabel, her daughter and a son, and the grandmother of two beautiful grandsons, Eduardo and Emerson. She was 38 years old.

Theological Education

The Church in El Salvador has has maintained a strong commitment to theological education through the School for Women. This programme has been educating laywomen in the faith for over eight years. This programme is continuing; however, the need for other areas of education for ministry has also emerged. In response to new models for Church leadership a training programme for Lay Evangelists has been developed. (see Evangelists) This programme is conceived as one element in a continuum of theological educational programmes necessary in the Diocese. The present plan is to offer another intensive intake programme of training for lay ministry in 2003. As well, those persons who are presently in the Lay Evangelism programme are in a process of vocational discernment. During the one-year initial fieldwork the students are taking a Bible Survey course at the Lutheran University in San Salvador. The Church in El Salvador sees this university as an on-going resource in training.

Ed Schmitt recently visited the Biblical University of Latin America (UBL) in San José, Costa Rica, in order to investigate the possibility of working more closely with the theology staff at UBLA. This ecumenical University has an important role in theological education in all of Latin America and Spain. It is an accredited university. Much of its programming is given in the various local communities in cooperation with resource people in the area. UBLA is committed to education within the social, spiritual and political context of the students. UBLA encourages the various traditions within the Church to develop programming that expresses the faith from that space. An Anglican approach to Church History, Liturgy and Spirituality would be an integral part of such programme. Ed Schmitt has been invited to spend a month at UBLA preparing him to work with programming in El Salvador.

Also in Costa Rica Schmitt attended a Provincial in-service training course on ecclesiology at St. Mary’s Church, Siquirres. The programme was set in the Caribbean coastal area in which Anglicanism has had an important presence for more than one-hundred years. One of the tasks of the Anglican Church in this region is celebration of the multi-cultural, multi-linguistic nature of our community. Workshops such as this provide an important opportunity for interaction between groups.

The Diocese and the Province are moving to autonomy. A high quality, appropriate educational preparation is essential for the mission of this Church. The connection with the Lutheran University and The Biblical University provides for this important work by giving a wider context and more resources

Ministry with Men

Anglican men celebrated a seaside retreat at the Diocesan Conference Centre, Cielo Mar, on the weekend, 17 - 18 of August. 35 men from around the Diocese participated. The theme of the retreat was Commitment: God’s commitment to me - My response. The Rev. David Alvarado was chaplain and The Rev. Ed Schmitt gave talks on commitment and male sexuality. Prayer, reflection and relaxing were all part of the event. With the centre’s seaside location free time was spent with swimming in the surf and games of fútbol. Cielo Mar (Heaven and Sea) conference centre also has quiet places in which to have conversations or to be alone with Christ.

This programme took place on the same weekend that the Anglican Church in El Salvador had planed for its first Cursillo de Cristiandad weekend. This initial Cursillo was to have been presented with the support of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, California, in mid-August; however, because of decisions made by the US Cursillo organization, it was postponed to August 2003. The intention of the retreat was not to replace the Cursillo experience; but to work in preparation for the upcoming Cursillo.

Return to top of page
Return to Home Page

Evangelists at Santísima Trinidad

Two youth evangelists have now joined the staff of Santísima Trinidad, the parish where Kay Schmitt works as priest. Flor Hernández and Claudia Castro arrived at the beginning of September to begin work in evangelism in Colonia Santa Teresa, San Martín, where the church is located.

Outreach to families with children is their first project, covering a short list of such families within the parish, and reaching out to the families of children who have attended the Vacation Bible School during December of last year. Flor and Claudia will also work with parishioners in contacting families known to the members of the church. Flor will have the responsibility to maintain an ongoing relationship with these families, particularly those who respond with interest in the various programs of the church. She will also go from house to house to pick up the children, escort them safely to the church, and then home again after the program.

Also important to the program is the development of the youth group. When Santísima Trinidad's new building is constructed, hopefully this fall, an important part of its function will be to house a youth centre. While both Flor and Claudia are involved in this group, Claudia will have the responsibility to work with the group on being open to newcomers, to bring in friends that may benefit from the group, and to be aware of newcomers' needs as they move into the parish. She will systematically follow up on persons who do join the group or show an interest.

Both young women are taking an 8-month Bible survey course. They will participate in ongoing education which will help to strengthen their ministry.See Theological EducationThe new phase of ministry at Santísima Trinidad includes a new teacher of the children's program, Cristina Brizuela, who has completed a teacher training course on a professional level. As well, Alicia Áviles has accepted the role of Director of the Youth Program, which gives stability and organisation to the work of that group. She is able to consult the diocesan Youth Worker, Irma Alvarado, in planning and implementing programs with the young people. The group currently has 15 members. After the initial phases of the evangelism program, the ministers will begin to visit prospective individuals and families from a list drawn up by the parish Junta Directiva, a group of women who know both the people and the area well. Claudia and Flor hope to teach a literacy class at the local school.

Return to top of page
Return to Home Page

Women´s Ministry

A new Women's Ministry Committee was struck at the Annual Meeting of the diocesan women in May. The new chair person is Doña Betty Barahona. The new officers will lead women's work for two years. Kay Schmitt is the Chaplain and an interested participant in the committee activities.

Since May the Committee has designed a diagnostic tool to give to the women of the various parishes for information on how the various groups organise themselves, what their program needs are, how many members they have, and any suggestions they might have for the central committee in its planning stage. The committee has distributed this questionnaire, and now is in the final steps of analysis and planning for the two-year period. The theme of the committee's work, drawn from the comments by women all over the diocese, is Unity and Spiritual Growth.

The Committe has learned some things unsurprising: we are women, Anglicans, most of whom have scarce economic resources, and have families and responsibilities. We are all sinners. Some of the things that pose obstacles to unity for women in the diocese are the difficulty of transportation -- by bus which is time-consuming and reduces motivation of women to participate in diocesan activities. The scarcity of economic resources means that almost everyone is struggling to survive, and it is difficult to find energy for other activities. The majority of women do not have telephones, which slows communication considerably. The women in six parishes are organized with a Junta Directiva; two are not organized; and two are newly organized. Around 160 women attend parish group meetings, and of those about 125 are permanent members. There is strong interest in the central Committee to visit in the parishes and to offer leadership in that context. There is interest in learning more about the diocesan canons, having workshops for leadership development, Bible study, and the building of self-esteem. As well, a number of needs for support by the parish clergy were expressed.

The next task the committee members face will be that of detailing a calendar for the coming two years.

Caín and Miriam: Evangelists in the Country

Their community is at the end of a dusty or muddy trail, depending on the season, in the Department of Usulután. At least one resident in each household was a combatant in the revolutionary forces during the civil war. In addition to extreme poverty the members of the community are suffering ongoing spiritual and psychological effects as a result of the terror of the war and that have remained unresolved since. Miriam and Caín witness to the redemptive and healing message of the Gospel. They provide pastoral care, Bible study, weekly worship and services to the community. This is only one example of the important ministry that is being performed by these two vital lay ministers. The area is lacking in social infrastructure. A two-room school is the only public building. Residents lack health care and many live with malnutrition. The level of violence within the community and the families is high.

Caín and Miriam are members of this group of ex-combatants who, like many other residents of the area, must work in urban settings in order to earn the income necessary to live and pay off the mortgage on the land. Before The Anglican Church founded la Iglesia de San Marcos, in San Juan de Latr%aacute;n opened no church had been established in this remote area. The evangelists have committed themselves to serve in this community, through proclaiming God’s Reign.