In many ways, the story of the relationship between Heartland Presbyterian Church and the people of El Tablon is an example of that good old Presbyterian doctrine of "providence." "Providence" (from the words 'pro video') literally means 'to see ahead' and refers to God's way of providing for us long before we realize what's going on. "Providence" is God's story, which is at work in, around, despite, and behind our own stories and decisions. What follows is my story, which is a small part of Heartland's story, which is a small part of God's providential story.

 

Back in 1985, during the war in El Salvador (ES), when I was a seminary student, I felt a call to go to El Salvador with an organization called "Witness for Peace." Obviously, to enter a war zone as a peace advocate is hazardous. One of the requirements of the "Witness for Peace" program was that my home church or denomination would support my activity. Unfortunately, I was serving in a church at that time that was not committed to peacemaking. Therefore, my request for support was denied and I was unable to go. For me, it was a frustrated dream, because I really felt as if God were leading me to an active interest and desire to serve the people of ES.

 

Over a decade later, at a weekly Bible Study, I happened to mention to a minister named Bob Cook that I had a special place in my heart for ES (here's that providence thing). Bob had gone down to ES on behalf of the Presbytery of Des Moines, in response to a request from a small community that needed funds for an economic project. In the end, Bob became very close friends with the priests who were serving the Parish of San Jose, in Berlin, and especially with the people in a small canton called El Tablon. The short cut to this story is that Bob and I had lunch the next day and explored the possibilities of Heartland getting involved in a long-term relationship with the people of El Tablon.

 

Heartland was at a special place in our lives at that time (providence, again). We had been internally focused on surviving as a New Church Development for all of our short life. But, many of us felt that it was time to put the question of 'will we make it?' aside and to simply start being the kind of church we felt called to be. With that in mind, I approached Heartland's Session (15 ruling Elders) and requested permission to invite two members from Heartland to spend a week in ES with Bob Cook, exploring the possibility of our relationship with El Tablon. It was important to me that I was not one of the two, because I felt that we needed a more objective point of view than my own. In the end, the Session invited Bill Fischer and Joyce Hoffman to make a trip in the fall of 1999 on our behalf.

 

Bill and Joyce returned from ES with hearts hopelessly in love with the people in the community of El Tablon, and especially the Pastoral Team (see the 'who' page) in Berlin. They shared their stories in our worship services, and shortly thereafter, we had a congregational meeting at which we make a 5-8 year commitment to the community of El Tablon, focusing primarily on building relationships and working alongside of them on projects related to education, potable water, and developing economic opportunities.

 

The next February, I made my first journey to ES, along with a delegation from First Presbyterian Church in Newton, IA. It was the culmination of a 15 year old dream and it was everything that I had hoped that it would be. Part of that trip was my friendship with Leslie Schuld, the executive director of a Non-Governmental Organization called Centro de Intercambio y Solidaridad (www.cis-elsalvador.org) whose wisdom and sensitivity about relationships between wealthy countries and poor countries was a valuable beginning for us. Leslie strongly encouraged me to ensure that our delegations would always leave our assumptions behind and enter ES with openness and humility, so that we could truly "walk with the people" instead of simply trying to come in and fix things.

 

Since those first trips that Bill, Joyce, and I took to ES, we have had two delegations a year and several long-term service trips to ES. Our relationship with El Tablon has grown, changed, been challenged, and thrives. Our primary focus has moved to a smaller community just outside of El Tablon, sometimes called El Tablon Cerna, but now officially just Cerna. And the Pastoral Team has moved from being a branch of the Parish of San Jose to being an independent organization, with its own house of hospitality and service. As of 2008, we are in our 8th year of being a 'sister parish' and it has been a mutually life-giving relationship.

 

So, the question arises, "Why El Salvador?" To be sure, there are other places in the world as needy, perhaps even more needy, so this is an excellent question. For me, the answer is "providence." Perhaps, it was simply a coincidence that the place where I was frustrated and unable to go during Seminary is the place where Bob Cook had a vision for establishing a sister-parish relationship. Perhaps, it was simply a coincidence that the Presbytery of Des Moines and several other non-Presbyterian churches in our area have joined a network (Companeros: www.oursisterparish.org) of sister-parish relationships, many of which model themselves after the relationship that we have with El Tablon. But my explanation is that El Salvador has been the right place at the right time for us. This relationship has enabled us to move well beyond our initial internal focus and to experience what it is to be involved in relation-centered service, a model that we have been able to duplicate in many of our local missions. And, in many ways, by focusing so closely on El Salvador, we have become more sensitive to the rest of the world, not less. Given our natural limitations - the needs of the world far outweigh any church's capacity to respond - the decision to invest time, money, and energy into a long-term relationship has been a wise one.

 

Heartland's ten-year ministry vision includes the goal of establishing a second sister-parish relationship in another country. Without forsaking our relationship in El Salvador, we feel that God may be calling us to extend our focus to our neighbors in Africa. Perhaps, we will turn to Egypt in the north where the Presbytery of Des Moines has a missionary and ongoing relationship. Or, perhaps, we will look at some of the more drought and extreme-poverty-stricken countries in southern Africa. We have not yet discerned where God is leading us or what kind of relationship this will be. That's the beautiful thing about providence - all in God's time.