Dani

Noah, our friend and co-worker in El Salvador, was staying with us. He got a call on his cell phone around 11PM on Monday, November 19. I was in the room, and I could tell it was something serious. Cain, who works with Noah in rural Usulután, called to tell Noah that Cain’s son-in-law, Dani, had been shot. Dani and his compañera, Cain´s daughter Carolina, were members of my youth group at church and lived in the neighborhood. She 18, he 21; they had had a baby five months prior.

When Noah told me that Cain´s son-in-law had been shot, I stayed calm and just asked if he was alright. “They’re operating on him in the hospital in the neighborhood.” It took me that long in my fuzzy post-partum mind to make the connection between “Cain’s son-in-law” and Dani. But I still didn’t freak out. Noah was raging about the violence and the randomness and the injustice, Vince was listening sobered; I lit a candle to leave burning, made Noah and Vince pray with me, and went to bed. I felt like everything was going to be alright.

By the next morning we learned that Dani was in a coma, had been transferred to the hospital in Zacamil, over an hour away, and was to be operated on again. By mid-morning he had been transferred a third time to the large public Hospital Rosales in the Centro for surgery. After several calls from Cain, Noah decided to get on a bus to Rosales, about ten blocks from our apartment, to offer some moral support to the family. I decided to go with him.

There was a long line of people waiting with little pieces of paper to get in for visiting hours, but Noah and I, either because of our invisible “gringo pass” or because the gate guard knew the situation was dire, were let right in. We hurried through the tropical landscaped grounds of the hospital, passing open buildings which felt like odd crosses between Victorian wards and military barracks. We finally found the surgery unit, one of the few new buildings on the campus, and were again let quickly through a guarded gate. In the hallway beyond a closed door we found the priest who works with Noah and Cain and several women surrounding Dani’s mother, who was seated and sobbing. We had arrived moments after Dani died on the operating table.

The priest told us that Cain and Carol were outside and could probably use some support. I sat with Carol for two hours after she found out her life partner was dead. I sat with her on the sidewalk, backed up against the wall of the hospital, her baby playing with an older woman a few feet away. I sat with her in the car on the way to her parent’s house, and on the sofa. These are some of the things that she said...

“It’s not true, it’s not true. Dani’s not dead. He’s not dead.”
“My love why? Why? Don’t leave me! Fight! Fight for your son!”
“I love you, Dani, I love you, I love you, I love you...”
“O God, don’t take him away from me!”
“He wanted to marry me.”
“He loved my baby so much.”
“God please take care of him for me, wherever he is.”
“I know he’ll watch over us.”
“I’ll take care of our baby for you, I’ll be his mother and father.”

At the funeral the next day Carolina read a reading. She is one of the strongest women I have ever met.

After the service I dropped Vince and Jacob off at home and caught up with the funeral procession going out to the cemetery for the burial. It’s a lovely, grassy place in the hills above the city, with trees. Out of everything, the burial was the hardest part. The youth from the church, his friends, sang a song about having lost the best one. Irma, the diocesan youth leader, spoke about the youth needing to carry on in his footsteps—those of a humble, gentle, genuine, and good person. Cain spoke eloquently. Dani’s mother thanked everyone for their support. And Carol spoke, and sang a love song over her boyfriend of 7 years’ casket. Even small children were crying as she sang.

I have often thought that Salvadorans get melodramatic at interments, sobbing and wailing over caskets as they are lowered into the ground. The cries that day were real, and they were the most gut-wrenching sounds I have ever heard. Noah said afterwards, “I never want to hear anyone scream like that again.”

I need to tell you why Dani died. He was killed purportedly by a 13-year-old, who was given a gun by the gang in our neighborhood and told to stake out Dani’s mother’s house and wait for his brother. Dani’s brother, a taxi driver like he was, had allegedly refused the gang members a ride at 2AM to commit a drive-by shooting in enemy territory several weeks before. The 13-year-old needed to kill someone in order to become a fully fledged marero, gang member. If he had come back without having murdered, he would have been beaten or killed by the gang. So he shot the first person that drove a taxi up to their mother’s house and got out. Dani was shot on his mother’s doorstep—she saw him shot from within. And Carol and their five-month-old son witnessed the shooting as well; they were sitting in the taxi.

Days after the funeral Carolina and Dani’s families both moved permanently out of the neighborhood where they had grown up. It is not safe for them to go back.

Jacob´s Baptism

The Bishop baptizes and Amy annoints Jacob

Jacob Ruben was brought into the Body of Christ, hecho miembro de la familia de Dios (made a part of God´s family), at a little less than a month old, on November 18, 2007, at San Andrés Apóstol. Bishop Barahona baptized Jacob, Padre Richard Bower, director of Cristosal, preached, and his momma got to put holy oil on his head and say in two languages, "Jacob Ruben, you are sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism, and marked as Christ's own forever." His godmothers are Marta Muñoz, engineer and revolutionary, and Suyapa Pérez, liberation theologian, both Salvadoran friends, and his godfathers are Noah Bullock, a friend and fellow missioner in El Salvador, and José López, director of the Anglican Church´s human rights office. We are grateful to God for such wonderful compadres and comadres! (This is a special term signifying a special relationship that doesn´t exist in English-- the relationship between parents and godparents-- they are ´co-parents´.)

The godparents and parents hold the light of Christ for Jacob after he is baptized

Padre Bower holds Jacob during ´baptismal preparation´ on the eve of his baptism

He's Here!

Just out!

Our son, Jacob Ruben Zuniga, was born at 8:30p.m. on Tuesday, October 23rd at the Hospital Centro Ginecológico in San Salvador, El Salvador. He was 7 pounds 8 ounces and about 20 inches long. He is healthy, beautiful, and has a lot of hair on his head! Thank you all so much for your prayers, congratulations, and well wishes. The world feels new for us with Jacob in it.


On our way home

News!

Amy and Vince in front of the new mural painted by San Andrés kids and members of our companion parish (yes, that is a tiny blond ´Reverenda´standing in the church door on the mural!)

We have some exciting news to share... Vince and I are expecting our first child this month! He will be born in El Salvador, and so will be both a Salvadoran and a U.S. citizen (this is our Salvadoran friends' main concern-'If he's born here will he be able to go to the U.S.?'). We plan to spend a couple months around Christmas introducing our little one to California family and friends, and then will return to El Salvador to finish our third year here, Sept. 2007-Aug. 2008. We will continue our work here with the Anglican Episcopal Church of El Salvador as Volunteers in Mission of the Episcopal Church, supported by Foundation Cristosal (www.cristosal.org.) Many, many thanks to all of you who have donated to our mission fund and helped make this year (2006-2007) possible for us! We feel called to continue growing in this crazy, difficult, wonderful place... both in our work and ministry, spiritually and as human beings, and now as a family. -Amy

Group Visits

Delegation of clergy and laypersons from the Diocese of Massachusetts and members of Iglesia San Marcos, Izalco lay down some road up to the Villa Anglicana San Marcos.




All Saints Episcopal Church, Jacksonville Florida enact the story of Noah's Ark with students from Colegio Episcopal San Andres Apostol










Members of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Mobile Alabama join the chapel service at Centro Educativo Anglicano San Mateo.
















UC San Diego students from the Episcopal & Methodist United Campus Ministry, youth from San Juan Evangelista, and Amy gather at the Plaza Salvador del Mundo for the Romero march to the Cathedral.











Members of St. Michael's, Brattleboro Vermont share nuegados (ground, fried yucca) and bible study with members of Santa Maria Virgen.

Members of St. John on the Mountain Episcopal Church, Bernardsville, New Jersey participate in a youth stations of the cross service at San Andres Apostol.

A visit from our companion parish

The children at San Andrés painted a banner for our companion parish

Amy and Arrington Chambliss, Associate at St. Andrew´s, shared in the service


Our new bell was dedicated after the service

In mid-July, members of San Andrés shared a few packed, grace-filled days with members of our companion parish, St. Andrew's in Marblehead, Massachusetts. We visited some of the pilgrimage sites of San Salvador together, including the cathedral where Monseñor Romero is buried and the UCA, the Jesuit university which was the site of the 1989 massacre of six priests and two women; members of San Andrés were able to share some of their memories of El Salvador´s past with members of St. Andrew´s. We played, sang, made and ate pupusas, painted a beautiful new mural on the side of our building, and dedicated a bell donated by our companion parish at the end of an incredibly joyful, bilingual Eucharist. We also re-told the story of this relationship, which goes back more than 15 years, re-kindled friendships between church members, and re-affirmed our companionship, a commitment between members of our two parishes to continue walking beside each other, as sisters and brothers, despite our very different backgrounds.

The mural takes form! Romana, Dulany, and Judy prepare pupusas

Goings-On at San Andrés

Amy celebrated her first wedding, of church members Jhoni and Alejandro, who have been together for 10 years. Being "accompanied" rather than married is very common in El Salvador, because of the cost of a wedding.

Children's sermon at Pentecost


Shelley, Amy's mom, hosted a t-shirt painting workshop for the women and children at San Andrés while she was here, at their request

















The reining 'Queen of the Flowers' for San Andrés School led the parade of this years´candidates

A messy desk is a sign of... well, something good we hope.

Don Adrian Landaverde, a patriarch of the church, passed away this year. This is the altar that remained for 9 days in the family home after the wake (during which over 300 people filled the small house and surrounding neighborhood) and funeral.

La Casa de la Solidaridad

San Andrés has been blessed this year to participate in La Casa de la Solidaridad, a college exchange program between Jesuit universities in the U.S. and the UCA (Universidad Centroamericana) in El Salvador. College students from the states spend four months learning in El Salvador--in the context of classwork in liberation theology, Spanish, and other disciplines, living in community with Salvadoran and U.S. peers, and spending two days a week in marginal community around San Salvador. Two wonderful people, Adam and Amy, spent from January through May with us in Amatapec-- assisting with English classes, playing at recess, hanging out in community members homes, teaching (and learning!) dance, interviewing community members about their experiences during the war, and even spending Sunday mornings and weekends with us outside of their scheduled community time. Their presence was a true blessing for the children and adults of San Andrés, who came to love them like members of their families. I believe this was because Amy and Adam were willing to step outside of their comfort zone and be vulnerable enough to receive hospitality. For more information on the Casa program, check out their website: www.scu.edu/casa/.

Newly Baptized

Ronnie and Katya say their Baptismal Vows

Ronnie and Katya, siblings in the sixth and fifth grade at Colegio San Andres, decided they wanted to be baptized. When Amy asked Ronnie, during baptismal preparation, "Why do you want to be baptized?" he replied, "I want to be closer to God."
With all that has been going on in the Anglican Communion lately, it may seem like the Church is about to come to a standstill, at least that's how it gets reported sometimes from what we read. Bishops posturing, priests and congregations leaving or threatening to leave one branch of the Communion for another, news reporters framing the whole conflict as if the Episcopal/Anglican Church is about to fall apart! But, maybe they should get out into the streets and barrios where church is happening-- the places where the State Department tells Americans absolutely not to go. There is some church happening there- Anglican Church. What they'll find is the Episcopal/ Anglican Church growing, people being baptized, people joining the Church, filling it up, and celebrating the resurrection of our Lord until 2:00 in the morning.
Whatever the outcome of the current debate in the Anglican Communion, Christ's church will continue to grow, despite those who threaten to tear it apart in the name of God, in the name of their opinion, in the name of power... All we really need are people to say 'yes' to what God is calling them to do, which takes them out of where they're comfortable and into where Christ abides, with the poor. There is no salvation outside the Church, I've heard it pronounced-- but the truth is, as Jon Sobrino says, there is no salvation outside the poor, because that is where Christ is to be found. If this is indeed true, then those that say they have found Christ in some other context may need to examine themselves in light of this hard truth. Like a sledge hammer it can shatter your preconceived notions about your own faith and relationship with Christ, and bring about a renewal based in reality. -Vince













Katya is baptized



A very nervous Ronnie is baptized

Alegre Los Anglicanos!

A "convivio" at San Andres Apostol celebrating Anglican Women in El Salvador.

Esta es la Luz de Cristo- Happy Easter!

Members of San Andres gather around the fire, which the women from the church had prepared, and wait for the vigil to begin.


Members of San Andres Apostol listen to the Exsultet during the Great Vigil

New church member Yanile gives her interpretation of the reading from Genesis and of what it has to say to the people of Amatepec.

Diocesan Youth Campout- Alto Lempa

La Reverenda gets an explanation on how the game is played

On the rocks listening and not listening to the charla.













Jamming with Don Mario Peraza











Lay Missioner in the region, Eric, works with his group concerning their dramatization that night.













Gathered for a game








Amy rests after suffering from a bout of Pica Pica (It's a stinging pod from a vine and made her leg feel like it was covered in red ants that were biting her)

Images from Johannesburg: TEAM 2007

LEFT: Amy with Diana, chaplain of the conference, an amazing priest from Uganda and its future bishop!
RIGHT:Brian from the Seychelles modeling a Salvadoran stole













Amy with other young women clergy:
Sally Su from Mexico and Irene Ayallo from Kenya,
currently studying in New Zealand













Amy con-celebrating the Eucharist planned and lead by the Latin American delegation with Bishop Julio Murray of Panama and Bishop
Maurício Araújo, primate of Brazil, with transitional deacon Sally Su from Mexico City.
Our tri-lingual liturgy (English, Spanish, and Portuguese) included music, dance, and was accompanied by artwork depicting some of the issues the conference discussed as lived in different parts of Latin America


Some members of the Latin American delegation grabbed a photo op with Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori


Members of the Latin American delegation and staff of the Episcopal Church center enjoyed themselves at a fiesta hosted by the Anglican and Global Relations office of 815.