<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Santa Cruz al Salvador]]></title><description><![CDATA[Articles]]></description><link>http://www.santacruzalsalvador.org/</link><copyright><![CDATA[Copyright Santa Cruz al Salvador]]></copyright><generator>sNews CMS</generator><item><title><![CDATA[Three Cups of Tea Santa Cruz]]></title><description><![CDATA[  Santa Cruz al Salvador is sponsoring the 2010 fundraising event for the Central Asia Institute popularized in the book   Three Cups of Tea   by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin.      When:   Thursday, February 11, 2010 from 5:30PM to 9:00PM     Where:   Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Avenue, Santa Cruz  Tickets will be $10 in advance, and $15 at the door.      Schedule:    5:30 - 6:45 - Preview Art/Silent Auction  7:00 - 8:30 - Guest speakers Julia Bergman (President of the Board of CAI)  and Lou Renner (International Mountain Climber/Guide)  8:30 - 9:00 Final bids for Silent Auction & Artwork pickup        More Information      ]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 24 Jan 2010 00:01:08 +0000</pubDate><link>http://www.santacruzalsalvador.org/events/three-cups-of-tea-santa-cruz/</link><guid>http://www.santacruzalsalvador.org/events/three-cups-of-tea-santa-cruz/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Tom and Judith]]></title><description><![CDATA[  Tom and Judith Dunham joined the November 2009 delegation as first-time travelers to El Salvador.  They are members of   Advent Lutheran Church   in Morgan Hill, California.  
  Tom and Judith are both practitioners of "watercolor journaling", and I was pretty amazed by their dedication to the craft.  The finished product is just gorgeous. Below is a sample page from Judith's journal -- click it to see the whole journal uploaded to their blog.  
          
  As it has been said, a picture is worth some large number of words. The combination of words and artwork in this journal is very powerful. Besides the great journal, Tom and Judith helped a lot with the craft activities we had.  Judith's Spanish skills were also very helpful, especially on our two health clinic days.  ]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:22:43 +0000</pubDate><link>http://www.santacruzalsalvador.org/delegation-2009-november/tom-and-judith/</link><guid>http://www.santacruzalsalvador.org/delegation-2009-november/tom-and-judith/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Centro Arte para la Paz 2009]]></title><description><![CDATA[  One of our favorite activities during delegations is to visit Sister Peggy at the Centro Arte para la Paz in Suchitoto.  We made one such visit during the trip just ended. We had a great talk by Sister Peggy and a great lunch in the comedor at the Centro. Below is a video by a group from Canisius College that tells the story of the Centro Arte para la Paz.  
    Thanks Lee Duffus for the pointer to the video!    
                    ]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov 2009 23:13:19 +0000</pubDate><link>http://www.santacruzalsalvador.org/delegation-2009-november/centro-arte-para-la-paz-2009/</link><guid>http://www.santacruzalsalvador.org/delegation-2009-november/centro-arte-para-la-paz-2009/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[November 2009 Delegation]]></title><description><![CDATA[        The November 2009 delegation, our thirteenth since starting in 1994, is now history — and what a delegation it was!  
  The 24 delegation members returned home yesterday, Saturday 11/28/2009. The time we spent with the people of the ciudadela Guillermo Ungo was filled with lots of activities — but also much love and emotion. We heard and saw messages of hope, from the worship service on our arrival day, to the moving graduation ceremony (photo above), to the awarding of 2010 scholarships, and finally, to the message from Bishop Medardo Gomez of the Salvadoran Lutheran Synod.  
  There were several firsts on this trip. We held our first clinic days (two of them) where many children and adults were seen by the medical personnel who were part of the delegation -- two doctors, a chiropractor, a physical therapist, two nurses and a nursing assistant. We also had the first movie night. We scheduled two childrens' activity times in addition to the major craft project. Due to the size of the delegation, we split into two groups for many of the meals.  This meant that more families could be visited at mealtime.  
  We spent most of the delegation time in the community (six days) and had a short time in San Salvador on the last full day. Most of us visited some of the important historical sites in the city, while a smaller group visited the San Salvador volcano.  Our delegation closed with Bishop Medardo Gomez, Pastor Abelina Gomez and Pastor Martir Vigil sharing their thoughts with us after dinner. Now, we return to our daily reality here on the central coast of California, our memories rich with the sights, sounds and experiences of El Salvador.  
  We thank everyone who contributed time, money or gifts to help make this delegation special.  

]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 29 Nov 2009 23:05:39 +0000</pubDate><link>http://www.santacruzalsalvador.org/delegation-2009-november/november-2009-delegation/</link><guid>http://www.santacruzalsalvador.org/delegation-2009-november/november-2009-delegation/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[El Salvador Day]]></title><description><![CDATA[  Officially on the church calendar, today is All Saints Day, when Christians "celebrate the victory won for all the faithful dead, but we grieve for our beloved dead as well, knowing that God honors our tears." (from the   Celebrate   introduction to the readings for November 1, 2009.)  

  However, today at St. Stephen's Lutheran Church, we also celebrated   El Salvador Day  , as I'm calling it, since several activities highlighted our work with the Salvadoran communities in the ciudadella Guillermo Ungo:  
  
  It is the beginning of Sister Parish Month, where the special benevolence gifts for November are directed toward this project;  
  We held the 16th annual Pupusa Meal, which celebrates this special food of El Salvador and is one of our significant fundraisers;  
  The Sunday School children learned about our communities in El Salvador and assembled 20 health kits for the children in El Salvador;  
  We kicked off our   See's Candy Winter Holiday Sale  , another significant fundraiser for our health and education projects in our communities.  
  ]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:55:52 +0000</pubDate><link>http://www.santacruzalsalvador.org/mission-musings/el-salvador-day/</link><guid>http://www.santacruzalsalvador.org/mission-musings/el-salvador-day/</guid></item></channel></rss>