2006 Music Mission to
El Salvador

porch of theestate where music lessons were given

Bill teaching guitar to Ricardo and Vanessa

Bill teaching guitar to Ricardo, Ceci and Vanessa

In 2005 members of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church donated guitars and keyboards to their sister church, Iglesia Luterana Cristo Redentor, in Cabañitas, El Salvador. In July 2006 a team of six traveled to El Salvador to deepen the relationship between our two churches by teaching children from Cristo Redentor how to play those instruments. The team consisted of Kathleen Hays, Kathy Hays, Pastor Ana Langerak, Bill Leahy, Tony Schumacher, and Katherine Veil. We were blessed to share time with the people of Cristo Redentor Church.

Teaching Guitar, Keyboard, & Recorder

Our "music classroom" was outdoors on the porch and court yard of a vacant house. The property had lush vegetation and plenty of room for the children to play. The caretaker of the estate, Jose Antonio, gave each of us a gift of fresh coconut milk after he had cut the coconut open with his machete. Jose Antonio is a founding member of our host church.

Tony teaching note reading to Melena and Brenda. Kathy watching.

The children wanted to know how to tune their guitars and how to play basic chords. They were eager to learn and wanted to continue playing even when their finger tips were so sore from pressing down on the strings that it was hard for them to form a chord. Despite his poor Spanish, Bill enjoyed teaching them and he and the children laughed a lot.

At the beginning of the week there were two keyboards (a large one and a one small one). But there were many children who wanted to learn to play them and one of the electrical adapters did not work properly. So during the week, Tony bought another large keyboard and Katherine bought an additional adapter. With the help of three beginning music books (one in Spanish), Tony and Kathy taught the basics of reading music to several children.

One of the children, Gloria, asked if any of us could help her learn how to play her recorder. Katherine and Gloria worked throughout the week on the fingering of the recorder and Gloria learned a few simple songs such as “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

Before the music lessons began, we got to know the children by going to a park that had ponds fed by natural springs. We all had a good time swimming and playing in the water. The children practiced their English by asking us questions such as "what is your favorite color?" and "what is your favorite sport?" (they were all big soccer fans).

inside of Iglesia Luterana Cristo Redentor

Worshipping with and Enjoying the Generous Hospitality of the Congregation of Iglesia Luterana Cristo Redentor

On Sunday, we worshipped with the congregation of Iglesia Luterana Cristo Redentor. It was a joyful occasion to be united in expressing our faith and love.We celebrated the baptism of an adult member and sang in front of the congregation.

The women of the church were extremely gracious and brought us fruit and cooked meals for us throughout the week. They brought us fresh fruit, and they spent endless hours to gather, prepare, and cook tasty meals for us throughout the week.We enjoyed the traditional foods of El Salvador such as pupusas and warm drinks of chocolate, maize, and oatmeal.

women of Iglesia Luterana Cristo Redentor who cooked

Traveling to San Salvador & Suchitoto

We also visited various parts of the country. We saw one side of San Salvador, the capital city, that the wealthier people inhabited, and the suburbs where the poorer people lived. One day we went to the hospital church where Monseñor Óscar Romero, who spoke out for justice during the civil war in the 1980’s, was assassinated while offering Mass. We also visited his living quarters which has been made into a simple museum by the sisters of the hospital. It was a moving experience for all of us.

On the same day we went to Suchitoto, a beautiful unrestored village in the country whose buildings are almost entirely constructed in the Spanish colonial style. We dined at a restaurant on a hill that had an amazing view of a lake. We went to that lake and took a boat ride to two of its islands. One of those islands was the nesting area for hundreds of birds. Pastor Manuel's brother, David, spoke fluent English and went with us to give Pastor Ana a break from translating.

children at Lutheran school doing a skit

children at Lutheran school doing a parachute dance

Visiting Bishop Gomez & an Assembly in the School in Cabañitas

Bishop Gomez of the Lutheran national church of El Salvador invited all of us to his home for a traditional Salvadoran meal. He was extremely kind to us and served a meal of at least 15 different dishes that were very delicious. We also sang for him and he invited a Salvadoran music group, Tojil, to perform several songs for us. It was a very enjoyable evening.

On the last day of our trip, we attended the school assembly at the Lutheran school in Cabañitas. When we entered the schoolyard, which was decorated with American flags, we felt like celebrities; the children had lined the entryway to greet us and were clapping and cheering as we walked to the stage. The children stood for most of the program while we sat in plastic lawn chairs on stage. We sang some songs, then they sang songs or did a skit, then we sang, then they performed, etc. They used the parachute that Gloria Dei! members gave to them on a previous trip to perform a dance. The older children raised and lowered the parachute to music and the younger children, with excitement and laughter, ran under it.

Pastor Francisco with Ceci holding guitar

Pastor Fransico at gate of Lutheran school

The Inexhaustible Pastor Francisco & Gracious People of Cabiñitas

Pastor Francisco Aguilar, the pastor of Cristo Redentor, was an inexhaustible source of hope, energy and good humor. He was very involved with everybody in the church. He not only dealt with the congregation’s spiritual needs, but with many of their basic needs as well, such as arranging health care and transportation. He has many dreams, hopes and goals for the church.

Although the people of Cabañitas work extremely hard to fend for themselves and their families, they are very poor. We were deeply moved by their faith in God and their graciousness. The same goes for the children. Their joy and excitement, whether learning the musical instruments, or playing with Katherine and Kathleen, will not be forgotten.