Our partners in El Obraje
Pastor Alejandro and his family are healthy and doing good. They are enclosed in their village but with a little more freedom than they have in bigger towns. They have been praying in small groups with families and neighbors and those that want to read and pray at the end of the day for a short time. Alejandro does the sermons on WhatsApp for the rest of the congregants so that they can do the same in their homes. Alejandro’s daughter has a job in IT and is able to continue working from home.
The church is still selling water from their purification system. They have two guys in charge of it and Alejandro delivers it to the different places in the community.
The school in El Obraje is closed and they are trying to send homework to those they can. Most of their teachers are from Danli and so are able to send homework on the internet.
In the case of Las Minas (a remote village up in the nearby mountain where our teams often visit) where Alejandro’s sister in law that lives next door teaches, it is more complicated. Only a handful of people there have smart phones and there is no signal there. The road into Las Minas is closed as well, so she really has no way of communicating or collecting assignments even if they are able to watch their classes on the government channel. Shortly after the schools closed, Alejandro’s family was able to deliver some food that donated from another program to the kids up there, but they closed the entrance to the village the next day.
The entrances to most towns, including Ciudad Espana and El Obraje, are manned with town leaders that take turns stopping all incoming vehicles (food and water) and community members spray them down with a disinfectant spray. Click here (https://youtu.be/uUTalzkL_A4) to see a 1:40 video with subtitles in English of the marvelous pastor Alejandro on duty at the gates of El Obraje. If you don’t recognize him by his posture and well pressed and pleated dress slacks, he’s the guy in the light blue long-sleeved button-down shirt.
This week Alejandro’s family has been gathering more food using funds provided by Church of the Resurrection for this relief. They are able to source the food directly from producers that they have established relationships with. Click here (https://youtu.be/wwDKD-z16RM) to see the 30 second video with subtitles in English of all that was delivered the next day.
