Anglican bishop’s son denied asylum, deported back to El Salvador

From Christian Post-

The son of an Anglican bishop in El Salvador who fled his native country for the U.S. following death threats from a gang was recently deported, according to his father.

Josue Alvarado Guerra, the 34-year-old son of Bishop David Alvarado of the Diocese of El Salvador, was deported back home after being detained in Ohio by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last November. He had been in the U.S. since October 2016 and worked as an undocumented day laborer. 

Bishop Alvarado sent a letter to Ohio Bishop Mark Hollingsworth Jr. confirming that his son was back home, according to Episcopal News Service.

“We thank the God of life for allowing us to have Josue back in our house and share with him the difficult experiences he lived in detention,” wrote Alvarado, according to ENS.

More here-

 https://www.christianpost.com/news/anglican-bishops-son-deported-back-to-el-salvador-us-denies-asylum.html

Anglican Bishop’s Son Faces Deportation To El Salvador

From Huffington-

The son of El Salvador’s top Anglican leader is facing deportation from the U.S. back to his home country, where his father says gang members have threatened to murder him.

Bishop David Alvarado’s son, 34-year-old Josue Alvarado, is currently in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a detention center in Ohio, Reuters reports. The bishop told the Episcopal News Service that his son sought refuge in the U.S. in 2016 after being kidnapped and receiving death threats from gangs in El Salvador. 

“We are sad and worried because he can be deported and he is in great danger here in the country,” Alvarado told ENS on Friday.

Gang members forced the bishop’s son, who worked as a taxi driver, to drive them around and distribute weapons and drugs, his father told Reuters. When the younger Alvarado refused to continue, he received death threats, the bishop said. His son eventually filed a complaint with the police, Reuters reports.

More here-

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/josue-alvarado-el-salvador-deportation_n_5e208cdcc5b673621f72149d

Juan David Alvarado elected bishop of El Salvador

From ENS-

The Rev. Juan David Alvarado (left) was elected bishop of the Anglican-Episcopal Church in El Salvador on Aug. 23 at St. John the Evangelist Church in San Salvador.

His consecration/installation is scheduled for Jan. 24, 2015.

Alvarado, 52, will succeed the Rt. Rev. Martín Barahona who is retiring.

It was the second time the church elected a bishop in its 84-year history, according to news reports. During El Salvador’s 12-year civil war that ended in 1992, then Bishop of Panama James H. Ottley. Long considered a missionary diocese, prior to Ottley, El Salvador was overseen by bishops from Northern Mexico and Nicaragua back to 1969.

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2014/08/25/juan-david-alvarado-elected-bishop-of-el-salvador/

Habitat trip to El Salvador builds more than homes

From Central New York-

"Anybody can volunteer. The first trip I went on had people from the age of 18 to 75. Male or female, no construction experience is necessary. (I'm looking for) someone who is eager to learn about another country and to be involved, and willing to get their hands dirty," he said.

The experience will involve working to construct a three-room 450 square-foot house, with the future homeowner working alongside the volunteers. But the mission trip won't be all work. The week includes experiences to foster cultural learning of the nation's different aspects, such as a day at a beach resort and a potential trip to a coffee plantation.

A bilingual host assists the team to remove the language barrier.

Coerper serves as a worksite coordinator in Syracuse, and trained as a global village trip leader. He joined similar trips to Dominican Republic before moving to Skaneateles nearly three years ago, and had hoped to set up a similar mission. That didn't pan out, so he took advantage of strong connections between the community and El Salvador to establish one in the densely populated nation.

The Episcopal Diocese of Central New York supported the concept and worked with the other diocese to make it happen.

More here-

http://auburnpub.com/news/local/habitat-trip-to-el-salvador-builds-more-than-homes/article_f3472666-cc6c-59c0-90eb-dc091c884f7f.html

El Salvador church partners respond to 'unparalleled' flooding catastrophe

From ENS-

Severe flooding and mudslides caused by tropical rains throughout El Salvador have affected about 150,000 people, cut off dozens of communities and resulted in almost 40 deaths. It has been described by Anglican Bishop of El Salvador Martin Barahona as "a catastrophe unparalleled by other disasters" in the country in recent history.

Hurricane Jova made landfall on Oct. 11 as a Category 2 hurricane over Jalisco, Mexico, where it is responsible for six deaths, but El Salvador "has been the most affected country in Central America," according to the Rev. George Woodward, vice president of Fundación Cristosal, a church partner and nonprofit organization that is working with Episcopal Relief & Development, the local Anglican diocese and other organizations to respond to the disaster.

According to a report from Fundación Cristosal, as of Oct. 17 the flooding had forced 32,243 people to evacuate from 149 communities, caused the contamination of more than 2,200 wells and destroyed almost 3,000 acres of crops. The report said that 261 emergency shelters were operating to serve those in need.

Woodward, rector of St. Edmund's Episcopal Church in San Marino, California, wrote in an Oct. 19 email that the floodwaters have completely cut off access to two of Fundación Cristosal's four partner communities, as well as the international airport.

More here-

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_130257_ENG_HTM.htm

EL SALVADOR: IARCA primate, two others survive gunfire

From Episcopal Life Online-

The Anglican Episcopal Church of El Salvador March 18 publicly denounced the attempted murder of Bishop Martín Barahona and two others, according to a news release issued by the church.

The incident happened in Santa Tecla, El Salvador, on March 17 when an unknown man approached and fired upon Barahona, a church musician and Francis Martínez, the bishop's driver, according to news reports. Barahona was unharmed, but Martinez was hit in the stomach and his arm was broken by one of the gunshots. He is in "grave but stable condition," said the Rev. Lee Alison Crawford, rector of Trinity Church in Rutland, Vermont and a member of the Episcopal Church's Executive Council, in a telephone interview with ENS.

"At this point we don't know if there was a particular motivation or whether this was random, which is symptomatic of the pervasive violence that affects all sectors of daily life in El Salvador," she said.

Crawford, who is the canon missioner of the Anglican Episcopal Church of El Salvador, said she had been in touch with church members in El Salvador after receiving word of the shooting.

The ongoing violence in the country, she said, comes from a "complex combination" of factors, including gang and other criminal activity, a "profusion of arms floating around the country" since the end of the civil war in the early 1990s and the country's economic stresses.

More here-

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_120953_ENG_HTM.htm

Ida Wreaks Havoc in El Salvador; ERD responds

From ENS-

Hurricane Ida hit El Salvador late Saturday, Nov. 7, fed by 145-kilometer-per-hour winds and causing heavy flooding. The country's civil protection authorities reported that 91 people were killed, 60 missing, and hundreds injured.

Following Ida's assault, Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) has been in contact with its program partners, the Anglican Diocese of El Salvador, Asociacion CREDHO and Asociacion Mangle. ERD says it is standing ready to support the partners with emergency relief to devastated communities.

"We are working with our local partners to collect information, contact affected communities, and assess the current situation," said Matt St. John, ERD's program officer for Latin America and the Caribbean.

"Once the assessment is complete, we will formulate a response based on the needs and available resources," St. John said. "In the meantime, the Anglican Episcopal Church of El Salvador is providing pastoral care in several affected communities, including in the area of Bajo Lampa and the department of San Vicente."

El Salvador's central region was hardest hit, with the Chinchontepec volcano causing a mudslide near San Vicente that claimed several victims. According to Civil Defense Chief Jorge Melendez, the number of fatalities could rise as rescue services continue combing the eastern regions. Major roads into the country are blocked, five bridges have collapsed, and thousands of people are in emergency housing.

The Most Rev. Martín Barahona, primate of the Anglican Church of the Region of Central America (IARCA), said, "We are praying for the families and are in communication with other institutions and sister churches at the national, regional and international level to plan our level of action right now and after the emergency."

Barahona considers Ida "the worst natural event of the year to strike El Salvador. It intensifies the social and economic problems with which we live. We pray to God for the life of our families, communities and countries."

http://www.episcopal-life.org/81808_116597_ENG_HTM.htm