Shekina responds to national emergency in wake of record-breaking flooding and landslides in El Salvador

Over the past week, El Salvador (and all of Central America) has been hit with disastrous flooding from a tropical storm.  We ask you to join us in prayer for our friends at Iglesia Bautista Shekina and all people affected by this record-breaking natural disaster. 

A record rainfall of more than 4 feet (with the rain still falling) has been measured since the rains began in El Salvador on October 11th.   This is the greatest accumulation of rain since record-keeping began in 1960, surpassing the previous record set during Hurricane Mitch in 1998.   There have been hundreds of landslides and mudslides which have closed roads.  Flooding has wiped out bridges.  Homes have been destroyed.  Access to many communities has been cut off.  Earlier this month, many farmers were expecting that this year would be their best harvest in years; however, much of this crop will now be lost.  

Reports in the past few days include:

• 150,000 people have reportedly been affected in some way by the rains.  
• The official death toll has risen to 32. 
•  More than 32,000 people have been evacuated from 149 communities. 
•  Some 21,500 are living in 223 shelters across the country. 
•  More than 18,400 houses have been damaged by floods and landslides.
• At least 576 landslides have been recorded
• 10 bridges have collapsed. 

In the midst of this overwhelming situation, Iglesia Bautista Shekina has been responding to immediate needs in their community.  They quickly began collecting clothes and basic food supplies to deliver to an emergency shelter in Santa Ana for families who have lost homes and been evacuated from marginal communities threatened by mudslides.

 Using their experience leading children's outreach programs in their neighborhood, Shekina's young adults stepped up to organize games and activities for children who are staying in one of the municipal shelters.

 To view additional photos of Shekina's volunteer work helping the affected community, visit their Facebook photo album here.  For more news about people and events at Shekina, http://www.facebook.com/ibShekinaSantaAna. 

Please join us in celebrating the strength, confidence, faithfulness, and resilience of the people of Shekina, even as we pray for the many victims of this natural disaster. 

If you would like to make a donation to support Shekina's community outreach programs and other ministries, please use the secure form in the sidebar on the blog to pay via PayPal or credit card.  To donate by check, please make payable to "TSW / Cielo Azul Fund"   and mail to:   Cielo Azul Fund / PO Box 211 / Wayne, PA  19087

Packing Recommendations for El Salvador

One of the challenges of traveling overseas is packing. Some people are able to pack in a minimalist way and only take a carry on even when traveling for multiple months, others pack a whole lot of stuff. I wanted to post a blog entry about what all I thought was worth bringing and share how it was used. Hopefully you might find this helpful. You can click the link to read more.

Day 7 [Oscar Romero]

We spent the last day celebrating the life of Oscar Romero and visiting the major locations where he impacted the world. Our journey began at the small chapel where he lived even after he was promoted to Archbishop. Sister Mercedes gave us a tour of the famous chapel where Romero was assassinated while leading Mass and invited us to the platform where he stood and looked at his murderer. She described in detail what part of the Mass he was and how a red Volkswagen pulled up to the front doors that were open. As we were educated about what happened the sister invited us to share our word that defined how we remember Oscar Romero. We remember him to be a champion, a prophet, pastor, a true follower of Jesus and someone who is not afraid to cross borders.

Day 6 in El Salvador [Gold Mining]

We spent day six being educated about the struggle to keep gold mining out of El Salvador. Our time was spent in San Isidro where the Canadian based mining company, Pacific Rim went in without permission and began exploring for gold after the 1992 Peace Accords. They successfully found the precious metal at a value around 200 million US dollars. The organization we were able to sit with is called ADES which stands for, The Association for Economical Development.

Day 5 in El Salvador

Alex Orantes is the husband of Ruth who is the pastor of the Shekinah community. Ron described Alex as the best teacher he has ever had because Alex takes him to see what Alex is talking about. One piece of wisdom that I may always hold onto was how Alex described that Ruth is the pastor for the people of Shekinah, but he feels called to the people of their city outside those walls. In America we have a very difficult time with religious language. Pastors are sometimes considered the person you see on the stage addressing a crowd, or the visionary leader who is responsible for entire communities, the person who makes decisions, the leader etc. However, in my understanding I have learned that pastors are the leaders who walk with the people in their journey pursuing Jesus. They listen and share in conversations and love well. Alex feels called to walk with the people outside of the building. What a beautiful expression of “Body Life”, two theologically trained individuals who are reaching out in different ways. This is something I have loved seeing.

Day 4 in El Salvador

Visiting Nueva Esperanza
Today we visited a community of resettled Salvadoran refugees in the Lower Lempa region. It means a great deal to Chava that these women are living a religious life and are regarded as nuns to all those around them when they are not under the umbrella of the official catholic church. Essentially they felt called to do what they do and they didn’t wait to receive approval or direct orders.

Day 3 in El Salvador

San Salvador
On November 16, 1989 six Jesuit priests, a housekeeper and her daughter's lives were taken by the Salvadoran military. This travesty occurred on the campus of the University of Central America (UCA) in San Salvador. The Jesuits were targeted for speaking out against the oppressive socioeconomic structure of the Salvadoran society. The lives of these priests were taken for their steadfast defense of the poor. On this day we honored their memory by visiting UCA. As visitors we visited the garden where the priests were martyred. We heard stories about how many people’s lives were taken and there was no one recording the deaths. Photographs were taken of their bodies and the entire scene so the government could not cover up the death of the priests. Those photos are preserved at the school. Oscar Romero was shot in the heart for his love of the poor. The priests were shot in the head for their intelligence. There is a small museum dedicated to their lives where you can see the blood-stained clothes they wore and see the pictures of their deaths. Turning the pages of those albums is very difficult. During the military’s raid of the school, they used napalm to burn a picture of Oscar Romero and shot the painting through the heart, just as Romero was.

After visiting the museum, we met Soyapa Perez who is a feminist theologian and is in charge of the extension school that educates lay-people. This school is mostly attended by women. Soyapa discussed how the school invites people with any beliefs and thoughts. There is a plurality in the theology department and nothing is prohibited. All focuses are optional but Liberation Theology is emphasized. Each program teaches national reality. For liberation theology to be relevant, the faces of the oppressed must be seen. Soyapa is passionate that the paradigm of liberation theology includes everyone. One fear of hers is that as students pursue different theologies, they will forget what has happened and what shaped who the students are. Everyone we spoke to described a fear that they young people would forget what happened to the older generations. At UCA there has always been students with different Christian backgrounds from all over the globe. We shouldn’t ask the question, “is the Church founded on Jesus” but “what should the Church be like if it is founded on Jesus”. She says that we should not be focused on the Church, but focused on the Kingdom! “Another Church is possible” is a quote that deeply moves Soyapa.

Day 2 in El Salvador

At 8am we began our day by sharing breakfast with our host family. This consisted of chicken tamales, sweet bread and orange juice. Sleeping was somewhat challenging because you can clearly hear all of the street noise, if you come here I highly recommend ear plugs! At 9am we drove to Shekinah where we enjoyed their faith gathering. The music was spectacular. I even managed to record one hymn that they had added drums to, and I have to say, they totally breathed new life into what can feel like aging songs. One interesting moment was after announcements where everyone got up and said hi to each other and gave wonderful hugs to all of us! It was so unique to spend the time hugging every single person in the room.

After the gathering our team was invited outside to share in a conversation about the history of their community. It was a fascinating story beginning with a dream. The women of the group all felt that they were equal with women and wanted to belong to a group that agreed. Unfortunately in many Christian circles women are seen as people who should be quiet and allow the men to control things. The women of Shekinah dreamed of a gathering where their voices could be heard and their leadership could be encouraged, they wanted their children to to have more interaction with the adults and they longed for a gathering that wasn’t so structured so that they could allow the Spirit to move and to leave room for their friendships. This led to many discussions at their early community of faith and later led to a painful separation. The women of the group told us that there are no bitter feelings when they see their old friends. They smile and hug one another but share a deep sorrow that they are no longer close like they once were.

Day 1 in El Salvador

My name is Jon McClay and I will be posting about the April 2nd trip to El Salvador that was partly organized by the Simple Way. Today Caroline and I both woke up at 3:30 am and began our journeys which united us in Houston Texas. There are 7 members of our team and we have all come from different parts of the country.

I am from Greensboro NC where I work for the Habitat for Humanity Affiliate there doing home repairs. This trip attracted me because I wanted to learn more about the events of El Salvador’s revolution and I wanted to hear stories about how the church united to care for those in need and how their communities banded together in order to survive! The idea of Liberation Theology is also completely new to me.

Day 1: We all met in San Salvador the capital city of El Salvador. We met at the Shekinah faith community with Ruth the Pastor. I should introduce the members of the team and include photos of them.

Study Trip Reflections: Oscar Romero

During yesterday's visit in El Salvador,  President Obama lit a candle at the tomb of Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero in the cathedral in San Salvador, which our group will also visit during our upcoming study trip.  From the moment of our arrival in the airport  (where Salvadoran President Funes last year unveiled a mural between Gate 8 and Gate 9 depicting Romero) we'll begin to see Romero's image all around us -- in photographs and posters hanging on walls in offices, in hand-drawn pictures reproduced on pamphlets and book covers, and in larger-than-life-sized multi-colored mosaics and vibrant murals on buildings we will pass on busy city streets and in quiet villages.  If we're really paying attention, we'll also see his face in men and women we meet, and we'll be surrounded by his presence alive in the Salvadoran people who continue to work for justice, end poverty and oppression, and call for peace.  -- CAROLINE

This brief video(Romero by Romero1) includes archival footage of Oscar Romero among his people, as well as testimonies from people who witnessed the power of his presence and his message.  Note - This is a trailer for a documentary by director Evarardo Gonzalez.

Our third pre-departure reflection, posted below, is the bulletin insert Chava Redonnet wrote for this past Sunday at the newly formed Oscar Romero Inclusive Catholic Church where she says mass each week. Chava is a Catholic woman priest who serves as chaplain at St. Joseph's House of Hospitality in Rochester, NY. Founded in 1935, the St. Joe's Catholic Worker community provides food, clothing, shelter and spiritually-centered care to its guests.

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Oscar Romero Inclusive Catholic Church
Bulletin for Sunday, March 27, 2011 
3^rd Sunday in Lent

Friends,

This week in El Salvador President Obama will visit the tomb of Archbishop Oscar Romero, after whom our church is named. It is said that Romero, who had been elected in the expectation that he would be the sort of bishop who would not make waves, had something of a conversion experience over the body of Fr. Rutilio Grande, the first Salvadoran priest to be martyred. Some people believe that when he realized that his friend had given his life for the poor of El Salvador, he became aware that he, too, had to stand with the poor. After that, his voice grew stronger and stronger. He made many enemies as he fearlessly began to walk with oppressed people and speak in their defense. He said things like, “The church that does not unite itself to the poor in order to denounce from the place of the poor the injustice committed against them is not truly the church of Jesus Christ.” The whole country listened to his sermons. On Sunday morning you could walk down the street and hear his voice coming out of every house, as he spoke about the truth of the situation in El Salvador. Finally on March 23, 1980, he spoke a direct challenge to the soldiers who were torturing and killing people. He told them that God’s law outweighed orders from their superiors. “In the name of God,” he told them, “I beg you – I ORDER you – STOP THE OPPRESSION.”

The next day an assassin shot him through the heart as he stood at the altar at the Divine Providence Hospital offering Mass.

Before he died, Monseñor Romero said, “If they kill me, I will rise again in the Salvadoran people.” And it turned out he was right. His memory is alive and life-giving. There are statues, memorials and murals in his memory all over the country. His name is like a code word for caring about the poor.

In 2005 I visited his little house on the grounds of the Divine Providence Hospital in San Salvador. It is full of relics of his life – all his little possessions, lovingly preserved and on display. Most of them seemed strange to me, kind of foreign. But then something stopped me in my tracks. It was a pair of clip-on sunglasses, very ordinary. I could have bought them at the grocery store here in Rochester. I looked at those sunglasses and felt the immediacy, the reality and closeness of his life and work. His work is not foreign. His concerns are still concerns today. The poor still suffer, in El Salvador and all over the world. That horrible dichotomy between the people who have much materially and have the power to shape the world their way, and the voiceless, powerless poor – that’s still ours, today. What are we going to do about it?

The message of liberation theology is that such questions are appropriate for the church, are in fact crucial to the life of the church. We cannot claim to be following Jesus, and ignore the desperate cries of the people, the poor of Latin America, of Africa and India and our own cities. We need to ask hard questions about economic justice. We need to be willing to suffer, ourselves, to let go of the excess we take for granted. And first of all, we need to leave our comfort zones and walk with people who are different from us, and be in relationship, and learn, and see our sisters and brothers for the people that they are – God’s own beloved children, just like us.

Here at Oscar Romero Church we hope to do that in our small way by bringing Mass in Spanish to people who are not attending church because they are afraid of deportation. You are welcome to join us in that project, which will begin later in the spring.

My prayer for President Obama as he visits the tomb of Monseñor Romero this week is that he, too, will have a conversion experience, and be on fire for the poor. May we as a nation become aware of our neighbors to the South as our neighbors, as people with the same desires we have for life, for education and health care and houses, for hope --- and not as the possessors of resources to take for ourselves, or as a threat to our own well-being. May our relationship change, for better and for good.

I am so grateful for the example of Monseñor Romero. A newspaper headline called him a “human rights activist” – which is kind of like calling Gandhi a community organizer. He was a priest, a bishop, a shepherd, a martyr and a prophet. Above all, he was a pastor who walked with his people, who gave them his voice, his energy, his life. Saint Romero, pray for us.

Blessings and love to all,
Chava

Oscar Romero Church
An Inclusive Church in the Catholic Tradition
Mass: Sundays, 11 am
St Joseph's House of Hospitality, 402 South Ave, Rochester NY 14603

Study Trip Reflections: Incarnation

Ruth has been finalizing details of our itinerary with Ron, and our study group participants will take part in a conference call on Sunday evening to talk with each other for the first time.  From Santa Ana to Philadelphia... From Rochester NY to Greensboro NC... From Lubbock TX to Takoma Park MD... the anticipation is building!

Our second reflection posted below comes from Barrett Smith, missionary-pastor of the Carpenter's Church in Lubbock:  "We are a diverse group of people located mostly in the Overton area. We've been here since 1998 trying to be a place of belonging to all who find themselves here. Whether we've been pushed to the fringes of society or find ourselves wandering there, we come together to find something different, something authentic, something divine. And we believe we're finding it together, on our journey with God." 


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Mzungu Syndrome, I began to call it. A sort of coping mechanism perhaps. It became my term for the terrifying tendency that I encountered and perpetuated during a brief visit amongst the Giryama people on the east coast of Kenya. I was alarmed as we drove through the countryside - past a large group of children outside their cinder block school. “Ciao!” “Ciao!” They yelled with their hands raised as they ran after us longing for the candy that was supposed to come sailing through the windows. However, the reality of this syndrome penetrated most deeply as I talked with Christian Ministers in the area. They would often describe their difficult living conditions and then turn towards me. With a hint of a sparkle in their eye they would say, “If only I could be in America…” Flustered, I would scramble to defend their way of life and point out every American foible that I could think of while sharing all the good that I saw around me. Still, their pain was often too deep and the “good life” that I proclaimed by my presence was too tantalizing. This presence, despite my counter desires and efforts, tended to bring attention to their lack rather than their wholeness. It tended to point out their communal brokenness rather than their communal health. It tended to mark them as inadequate rather than God’s chosen people. Simply because I had the ability to be there for a short time.

Let’s make a VERY rough parallel and meditate for a few moments on the incarnation of Jesus. What does it mean for Jesus to “pitch his tent among us?” What does it say about who God is? What does it communicate to us, you, me, and the rest of creation?

God’s material, physical entrance as Jesus could not help but point out the difference between Himself and Creation. After all, God was the one who made the move. However, Jesus was determined to break through this false chasm between Creation and God. In Matthew 20 James and John come to Jesus asking to sit at his right and left in the kingdom. One could say that they wished to move to America as reward for the difficulty of life in Judea following Jesus. However, Jesus responds by calling on his disciples to become servants and slaves. After all, he didn’t take advantage of his equality with God. Rather, by his own humanity and his service to creation, he spoke to its goodness. He moved for its wholeness. We are reminded of this today each time that we take the mundane and earthy elements of the Eucharist – bread and wine. It is this world that God entered. It is this world that God served. It is this world that God works to redeem. And he calls all of us into participation in that activity. In so doing, he reminds us that we are all made in his image, and all of creation is good.

Now, I did say that this was a rough parallel! Our identity and action is far from that of God’s; unfortunately, in our world the movement can be interpreted similarly by some.

So, as we visit our sisters and brothers in El Salvador, may we seek relationships that affirm rather than critique. May we in our language, action, and attitude acknowledge wholeness rather than lack. In so doing, may we travel together as we all learn to more fully embrace God’s claim that we are His children, made in his image, loved, valued, and valuable.

Barrett Smith
Carpenter's Church
Lubbock, Texas

Study Trip Reflections: Rutilio Grande

The April 2nd departure date for the Cielo Azul Study Trip in El Salvador is drawing near!  Our participants will be considering brief reflections each week to begin to enter into this experience prayerfully together.  We'll be posting those here on our blog so that you can share this with us.

Our first reflection comes from Ron Morgan, whose enduring relationship with the people of El Salvador began in the late 1980s, during the civil war.  Ron is a member of the Cielo Azul advisory board and member of Central Baptist Church in Wayne, PA.

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Rutilio Grande memorial on the road to El Paisnal

This morning I attended a session of the Alternative Seminary here in Philadelphia. The subject was “THE CROSS OF CHRIST: A Justification for Redemptive Violence Or a Call to Gospel Nonviolence?” One of the themes of our discussion was the “scandal” as theologian Jon Sobrino put it, that by being nameless and faceless, poor people suffer--are ground to bits by structural injustices--without attention being paid to their lives and deaths. But, Sobrino continues, it was the contribution of murdered Archbishop Oscar Romero and Jesuit Ignacio Ellecuria that began to “give a name” to these hundreds of thousands when they referred to them as “Christ crucified in history,” or as “the crucified people.”

We also talked about the historical fact that Jesus was executed by Rome as a subversive threat both to the power of Rome and to the power of the Jewish Temple hierarchy, both of whose authority he undermined with his call to “announce good news to the poor, to proclaim release for prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind; to let the broken victims go free.” (Luke 4: 18-19)

As I have been anticipating our trip to El Salvador next month, I couldn’t help remembering that March 12th is the anniversary of the murder of the Salvadoran Jesuit priest Rutillio Grande. A friend of Romero’s from their student days, he was murdered for his advocacy of peasant workers and his attempts to “give names” to those who were being oppressed by landowners. Many people think that Rutillio’s death had a profound impact on the more cautious, bookish Romero, pushing him to begin to listen to the stories of the poor.

Here are some of the things people remember Rutillio Grande saying:

• “Some people cross themselves in the name of the father (money), and the son (coffee), and the spirit (especially if it's cane liquor!). That's not the God who is the Father of our Brother and Lord, Jesus, who gives us the good Spirit so that we can all be sisters and brothers in equiality, and so that we, the faithful followers of Jesus, can work to make His Reign present here among us.”

• “Don't be like fireworks—all noise and hullabaloo towards the heavens way up there! We have to fix this mess here on earth. Here on earth! God isn't in the clouds lying in a hammock. He cares about thte way things are going so badly for the poor down here."

• “I've said many times that we have not come with the sword—or the machete. Our work is not that. Our violence is in the Word of God, the Word that forces us to change ourselves so that we can make this world a better place, the Word that charges us with the enormous task of changing the world.”

• “Brother and sisters, I fear that if Jesus were to return today, walking from Galilea to Judea, which for us is from Chalatenango to San Salvador.... I dare say that with his words and actions, he'd never get as far as Apopa. They'd detain him around Guazapa, and they'd beat him up, even silence him or have him disappeared!”

• “The orioles have the conacaste tree where they can hang their nests so they can ive there and sing. But the poor campesion is not allowed his conacaste, or even a little patch of land on which he can live or be burried. Those who have money and power organize themselves, and they have plenty of resources to do so. But campesinos don't have land, or money, or the right to organize so that their voice can be heard, so that they can defend their rights and their dignity as children of God and of this nation.”

• “We are children of this Church and of this country which is named after El Salvador – the Divine Savior of the World. We can't just say: “It's every man for himself, as long as things go well for me!” We have to save ourselves together as a whole ear of corn, a whole cluster, a whole bagful. We have to save ourselves in community.”

(quotes from Memories in Mosaic by Maria Lopez Vigil)

Ron Morgan and Ruth Orantes
during a meeting at The Simple Way

I can honestly say that it has been one of my greatest joys to help folks to visit “the children of this Church and of this country....” I am anticipating our time together next month!

Ron Morgan
Cielo Azul Advisory Board

Updates for our Cielo Azul study trip! Join us April 2 - 9, 2011

Click here to access pdf brochure with complete information about the Cielo Azul study trip.

Join us for our first study trip this April.  Alex and Ruth will be planning our itinerary, and members of the Shekina community will be our hosts while we are in Santa Ana.  We will stay in guest houses for the rest of the visit.  The size of the group is limited to 10-12, so it is important to reserve your space. (Download the full study trip prospectus from our blog.)

Reservation deadline: $200 by February 15

Full land fees payment : $550 by March 15.

You will be responsible for making your own airline reservations.  Please schedule your airline arrival time for 11:00am to 2:00 pm on April 2.

If you cannot join this trip, you can download a selection of texts that will help inform this group here.

Please remember all of the participants in your prayers.

For more information, or to discuss your participation, call Ron Morgan 610 220 1317, or  send us an email through our contact form in the sidebar of this blog.

Thank you to our contributors!

Thanks to all our 2010 contributors for your support for the Orantes family and their ministries. Thanks to your response to our end of the year note, we achieved our goal. Soon you will be receiving a statement of your 2010 contributions from our fiscal sponsor, The Simple Way. Remember that you can now continue your support through an online contribution. Just use the secure donations form in the sidebar.

Your ongoing, regular support is greatly appreciated. In 2011, the Cielo Azul fund will able to provide scholarship funds to help cover a part of the costs for Victor Hugo as he begins study in a high school that focuses on architectural training. Also, in this coming year we will we help to channel two larger grants totaling nearly $10,000 towards ongoing programs and new facilities for ministry at Iglesia Bautista Shekina. But the heart of our mission is to give Alex and Ruth a secure, regular stipend for ongoing family expenses that they cannot meet in any other way. Our goal is a minimum of $500 per month.

Fiesta de Maiz -- Everyone Comes with a Special Gift

The people of Iglesia Bautista Shekina have been working for several years towards their vision for building a community center on land adjacent to the church to enable them to expand their ministries to serve children, youth, and senior adults in their neighborhood. They are making steady progress in deliberate stages – clearing the land, building a wall around the property, installing a drainage system to prevent flood damage during the rainy season, and constructing a large kitchen space. The next phase includes plans for adding bathrooms, which will be funded in part by the 2011 Bridges of Hope grant from the Alliance of Baptists.

Shekina's community center space is already being put to good use for fellowship gatherings, youth meetings, outdoor worship experiences, and the church's highly successful annual community outreach program “Puertas Abiertas” in which teenagers and adults from Shekina offers a month of workshops and provides safe space and healthy relationships for neighborhood children.

This fall, thanks to the vision of a recent church member, Shekina celebrated a totally new experience in the community space. Never had anyone dreamed of using the community space for planting corn – but all of that suddenly changed after Pablo Rodriguez married a member of the church last December and joined Shekina. When Pablo, who was from the countryside, saw the space at the side of the church where the community center is being constructed, he announced that he would like to plant corn. And so began the big new adventure.

People recognized that planting corn was a way for Pablo to feel like a part of the church community, and his idea was quickly embraced even though most of the members of the urban church had no experience with gardening. The youth were especially enthusiastic about getting started, so Pastor Ruth Orantes canceled regular Bible school classes one Sunday morning and sent them outside with Pablo to begin tilling the soil and planting the seeds.

 And finally, in September 2010, the people of Iglesia Bautista Shekina celebrated their first harvest of corn from their property by throwing a day-long party and inviting friends and neighbors to join in both the work and the fun. Everyone, from youngest to oldest, men and women, teenagers, boys and girls, divided responsibilities to spend a full day helping with the harvest, with cooking, and with clean up. All the guests at the “fiesta de maiz” feasted on freshly prepared tamales, elotes locos (grilled corn on the cob), riguas (sweet corn dough mixed with fresh cheese and beans and cooked on a hot skillet in banana leaves), and atol de elote (a traditional ground corn, cinnamon, and milk beverage).

Enjoy this slide show of photos from the day of the fiesta!  Thank you to Bernhard Voegeli for the pictures.

Reflecting on the experience, Pastor Ruth feels great joy to know that Shekina is a church where everyone can feel comfortable and where new people are welcomed into the church community:

“I think about the first Christian community described in Acts, and how people began to notice and say 'Look how they love!' At Shekina, everybody wants to be involved in church life, and that picture is good for the community around us to see. Neighbors and visitors see how we share life together, and they say, 'We want to be with these people!' It is good that Shekina is a church where everyone feels comfortable and welcome. We are a place where everyone can increase our friendship and we can improve our our life together. And everyone comes with a gift to share with the community.”

--- Ruth Rodrigues de Orantes