SUFFERING RURAL WORKERS
Rural Salvadoran Children Suffer Poverty and War: Death came suddenly, but not unexpectedly.
The poignant scene of Juan, a small, barefooted man, constructing a makeshift coffin for his deceased two-year-old daughter, Elena, remains etched in my memory. As Juan hammered the final nail into the wooden board, completing the small box that would serve as Elena’s final resting place, he paused to quench his thirst with coca water from a freshly harvested coconut. With a heavy sigh, he greeted his two guests and called for his wife, Margot, who was busy washing clothes in a small concrete tub nearby.
In a matter-of-fact tone, Juan informed Margot that the coffin was ready, prompting her to abandon her work and dry her hands on her worn and stained cotton dress. She approached the hammock, suspended from the central support post of their grass hut, and gently lifted the lifeless body of their baby girl. Elena’s frail form revealed the harsh realities of malnutrition and sickness: taut skin clinging to her skeletal frame, sunken closed eyes, and a single brown tooth peeking through tightly-drawn lips. Her ears were hidden beneath a thin shock of yellowish hair.
Margot carefully wrapped Elena’s body in a dingy cloth before handing her to Juan, who tenderly placed her inside the twelve by thirty-inch box. Margot stood beside him, delicately arranging the edges of the cloth to cover their daughter’s face. Lastly, Juan securely nailed the top of the box shut, signaling that Baby Elena was prepared for burial.
As a middle-class North American, this heart-wrenching scene had a profound and lasting impact on me. While I had witnessed death, both old and young, and had attended funerals to support grieving families and friends, Juan and Margot’s sorrowful preparations resonated deeply. It highlighted the harsh reality faced by rural Salvadoran children, who endure poverty and the brutal consequence of war, often resulting in untimely and tragic loss of life.
The Salvadoran rural poor endured a challenging life filled with physically demanding work. Their physical weakness left them vulnerable to diseases caused by bacteria and other harmful germs. Sadly, the high mortality rate among children was a common occurrence, with many succumbing to illness either at birth or before reaching the age of five. The combination of unsanitary living conditions and limited access to healthcare created an environment where the angel of death found numerous victims.
For Juan and Margot, the loss of their daughter Elena was seen as an act of God. These humble rural residents were unaware that there could be a different way of life. They did not realize that simple practices like maintaining cleanliness and making small changes to their daily diets could have saved the lives of their three deceased children while also improving the health of their surviving four offspring.
Juan and Margot Santamaría, Elena’s parents, resided in a rural community known as “Espíritu Santo” (Holy Spirit) in the Zacatecolucas department of El Salvador. Situated just three miles away from the tranquil shores of the Pacific Ocean, this community enjoyed the gentle embrace of the waves upon its white sandy beaches. Juan worked on one of the many newly established collective farms called El Granjero, which emerged as a result of the agrarian reforms implemented in 1980. Having grown up on this farm as the sixth child of a union between his Pipil Indian mother and mestizo father, Juan had the advantage of early literacy skills acquired at the hacienda school. Perhaps due to this skill, he was chosen to be a foreman on the newly organized farm.
Each day, from early morning until noon, Juan worked alongside numerous other men who, like him, had transitioned from being sharecroppers and laborers to become owners and managers of the land cultivating coffee, cotton, and sugarcane. This transition was made possible by the collective farm system. For two years, these workers labored together with the hope of experiencing some of the wealth and joy that the previous owners had enjoyed. However, their new circumstances brought frustration. Although promised a share in the accumulated wealth, the workers found that these promises were not fully realized. The two years of toil as owners left them yearning for the prosperity that had been promised but seemed elusive.
As Juan and Margot prepared for the burial ceremony, the small casket holding their precious child remained on the table. In the proximity of their humble dwelling, the five neighboring families had constructed a communal shower using their combined resources. Though simple, the shower served its purpose, providing a functional and private space. The cool water drawn from a well that Juan and the other men had labored to dig the previous year offered a refreshing respite from the hot and humid climate.
Margot, using a gourd, carefully poured water over her head, allowing it to cascade down her entire body. In the privacy of the shower, her thoughts turned to little Elena, reminiscing about how she would play among the coconut palms, creating imaginary worlds with sticks and stones. Amongst all her children, Elena possessed an unmatched imagination, always filled with chatter and inquiries. Margot couldn’t help but wonder what could have been if they had been able to bring Elena to a doctor. Unfortunately, Espiritu Santo lacked any medical facilities or nearby hospitals.
The pastor from the local church had assured them that God would heal baby Elena if they had enough faith. Margot questioned herself in that private moment, wondering if their lack of faith was to blame. Did they not possess enough faith for God to heal their innocent daughter? Standing alone and soaked in the shower’s water, Margot felt an overwhelming sense of detachment and coldness from the rest of the world. Memories flooded her mind, recalling the burials of their other infants, Xamora and Lizabeth. On those occasions, the pastor had expressed that their beauty and sweetness had drawn God’s desire for their presence, thus prompting their early departure from this earthly existence.
Continuing to pour water, Margot contemplated the pastor’s words and wrestled with why God would bless them with such beautiful children, only to swiftly take them away. Doubts emerged, questioning God’s compassion. Perhaps Elena, along with her brother and sister, would still be alive if there had been medical assistance nearby or if they had enough financial means to travel to a hospital in the capital. Lost in her reflections, Margot had lost track of time, and it was Juan’s tender words that brought her back to the present moment.
After drying herself off, Margot hurriedly walked from the shower to their grass hut. Placing her towel on the table, she unintentionally disturbed the dozing tunco (a Salvadoran term for a pig) that had sought relief from the outside heat underneath it. Startled, the tunco let out a squeal, which in turn startled the hen and her six chicks who had been pecking at the dirt floor in front of Margot’s box of Sunday clothes. As she reached for her dress, Margot couldn’t help but appreciate the luck they had with this hen; it had already hatched three sets of chicks, providing the only source of meat for their family in the past year. Slipping the dress over her head, Margot’s gaze fell on a picture of Jesus depicted in a vibrant pasture, surrounded by sheep. Beneath the image was the caption, “Jesus, the Great Shepherd.” Though unable to read, Margot had been told what the words said, and she briefly contemplated their meaning.
It was still early morning when Juan, carrying the small wooden box on his shoulder, Margot, and their children—eleven-year-old Juan Hijo, nine-year-old Santiago, eight-year-old Graciela, and three-year-old Bette—departed from their home towards the church. They traversed through knee-high grass strewn with scraps of paper, plastic bags, and other discarded items along the pathway beside their neighbor’s hut, making their way to the central part of the community where the church stood. Some individuals had already gathered at the small Pentecostal church by the time Juan’s family arrived. The adobe structure had plain interior walls, devoid of any adornments. In an attempt to conceal the leaky banana roof, material had been affixed to the undersides of the exposed rafters. Roughly hewn six-foot boards served as seats, placed on top of two 12-inch tree trunks as bases. A painted cross adorned the wall behind a simple pulpit, with a chair leaning against the wall beside it, and a five-stringed guitar stood nearby.
Juan and Margot, despite not being legally married, were still accepted as part of the close-knit congregation. In fact, the majority of attendees at the church services faced similar marital circumstances. It had become quite common for people in the community to find themselves in similar situations. Juan and Margot had been together as companions for almost twenty-three years, but due to various complications they had been unable to legalize their union.
Juan’s predicament stemmed from his youth when, under pressure from his family, he entered into a marriage with the young daughter of a neighbor. Although they had a child together, their relationship quickly deteriorated as Juan succumbed to drinking and womanizing while his wife engaged in promiscuous behavior. This led to their separation. During this period, Juan met Margot, and they began living together, forming a family of their own. However, for all those years, Juan was unable to obtain a divorce from his first wife. The laws in El Salvador, which had strong influences from Catholic traditions, allowed for arranged marriages at a nominal fee, but obtaining a divorce required a significant sum equivalent to more than a year’s salary. Sadly, Juan never had the means to afford such an expense, and thus he and Margot continued to live together without the legal validation of marriage.
The little Pentecostal church they attended acknowledged this unusual circumstance. However, as per the constitution and bylaws established during the church’s formative years under the influence of a North American missionary, a man and woman living together without being legally married could not be officially recognized as members. Despite this, the church maintained a fraternal relationship with these couples, knowing that God, in His infinite justice, would extend His forgiveness for their perceived sins. Among the twenty-five families comprising the church membership, less than half were in legally recognized marriages. The remaining families held a deep belief in God’s grace and found solace within the church community, placing their faith in His mercy.
RURAL CONDITIONS
Espíritu Santo, a typical farming community in El Salvador, was home to nearly five hundred residents within the boundaries of the old hacienda. The majority of these individuals had grown up on the estate known as El Granjero and were familiar with its former landowner, Don Tito. Don Tito had offered crucial support to his workers, including a school for the children and a monthly visit from a doctor to attend to the sick.
During these visits, the doctor would set up a makeshift clinic in the central building of the hacienda, where people would patiently queue for their turn. The most common ailments treated were mal de mayo (a local term for common illnesses during the month of May) and the gripe (flu), along with various minor pains and discomforts. Unfortunately, more severe illnesses often went unnoticed, leaving the affected individuals to return to their modest homes and await the arrival of the angel of death.
The workers’ huts on the hacienda were scattered throughout the property. In general, clusters of five or six houses were situated near the streams that flowed through the property, providing a water source. However, less fortunate families were assigned rocky and unproductive parts of the hacienda.
Regrettably, the majority of these hacienda workers’ homes lacked electricity, resulting in a lack of lighting and refrigeration for food preservation, including milk and meats. However, the absence of electricity was not the only inconvenience faced by these families. The more pressing concerns lay in the poor sanitation practices prevalent within both individual homes and the community as a whole. This contributed significantly to widespread sickness and numerous fatalities.
Most rural families resided in open straw huts, lacking doors or windows. In coastal regions, the walls of these huts would typically end about two feet above the ground, allowing water to flow freely through the dwellings during the rainy season. While the open design allowed for ventilation that was welcomed by hardworking rural farmers, it also created opportunities for chickens, pigs, turkeys, dogs, and cats to enter freely. Pigs, for instance, often sought refuge under the kitchen table for coolness, while chickens routinely scavenged for food scraps on the floor.
Unfortunately, these domesticated animals, though seemingly harmless, posed threats to the children who played inside and around the house. The animals’ droppings and excrement, which were considered normal and acceptable, created an environment teeming with bacteria and parasites. Consequently, young children unknowingly walked or crawled through this contaminated waste on a daily basis. The lack of education among most rural inhabitants meant that the concept of bacteria and germs was foreign to them. If something couldn’t be seen, it was simply believed to be non-existent. Tragically, these unsanitary conditions provided the angel of death with the majority of its victims.
The rural population had long been accustomed to these conditions, unaware that their sicknesses and deaths were often a result of unsanitary surroundings. However, there were other factors contributing to their poor health. Access to latrines was limited to only 25% of rural workers, although this percentage increased to around 40% during the 1980s. In many instances, human waste was left exposed near the houses, or community-designated areas that had been established for communal relief. The presence of exposed waste not only posed health hazards as children frequently stepped on it, but the dried fecal matter, in microscopic form, would also be carried by the early spring winds and blown into houses, onto food being prepared, or onto plates resting on tables.
Unhealthy diets further compounded the existing conditions that contributed to poor health. For instance, meat was a rarity in rural households, while access to milk, especially for children, was only slightly better. Most infants relied on the limited milk provided by their mothers before consuming primarily rice milk (water in which rice had been boiled). Older children and adults had a marginally more varied diet consisting mainly of rice, beans, and corn. To add some variety, they occasionally consumed corn, rice, and beans. While starchy foods with high fiber content and decent protein were abundant, traditional rural culture discouraged the consumption of green foods to supplement other nutritional needs.
These circumstances gave rise to a culture that embraced death and illness as intrinsic aspects of everyday existence. For centuries, rural peasants had been indoctrinated by Catholic priests, and more recently by evangelical pastors, with the belief that the passing of a child meant they would be spared the hardships of life and instead reside in the presence of God. Consequently, they were taught to view the death of a child as a normal occurrence and to passively accept it. This mindset contributed to alarmingly high birth rates, reaching as high as 60 to 70 per 1000 inhabitants, and death rates that, in extreme cases, reached 500 per 1000 births. In customary Salvadoran rural communities, death rates ranged from 125 to 200 deaths per 1000 births. For many modest and rural peasants, their solace lay in the hope of heaven as an escape from the challenges of earthly existence.
Work on the Hacienda
Juan was born in 1935. His parents worked and lived on the hacienda owned by Don Tito Gonzalez. Don Tito treated his workers better than many hacendados (hacienda owners) providing a school that taught the children how to read and write. He also provided essential medical care. Don Tito’s provisions for the workers had been carried down from generation to generation of Gonzales. It had always been cheaper to give some attention to the needs of the workers than continuously hire and train new ones. At the time Juan was born, the Gonzalez coffee farm had just passed through very bad economic times. The worldwide depression that struck the United States in 1929 had also affected coffee producers in El Salvador. Production had been reasonably good in 1934 and 1935, but export prices had remained low. Low prices meant low income for the landowners, and this translated into low income for the rural workers. President Maximiliano Hernández Martínez had suggested to the landowners that they treat humanely their workers, but most of El Salvador’s rural workers suffered dearly due to the economic depression. In comparison to other landowners, Don Tito had done well by his workers for the school remained open and a doctor continued to come to the haciendaclinic.
Work on the hacienda was hard especially from December through February. The workers, including women and children, started work at daybreak picking the red coffee bean. They ended the day when the sun went down. All day long they stood around, under, and sometimes in the coffee tree harvesting the bean. For every twenty-five pounds of coffee beans, they received approximately seventy-five cents. During these three months, most workers earned their income that bought their annual supply of clothes or other important traditional necessities. From March through November, their work schedule was different. During these months, the workers were allowed to plant and cultivate their own crop of corn and beans. At harvest, the workers paid Don Tito half of what they had harvested as payment for the land. In addition to cultivating their own crops, Juan and his brothers worked with their father cultivating and clearing the ground underneath the coffee tree. On these days that the family worked for Don Tito, Juan’s father earned a meager 50 to 75 cents per day; his earnings depended on how many children were also working. That also meant working from sun to sun with all his healthy children.
Rural parents gave little attention to their children’s educational needs and only because Don Tito insisted did Juan’s parents send him to school for three years. In that time, Juan learned to read, write, and do basic arithmetic. Juan studied four hours per day and the rest of the day he worked with his father and the other hacienda workers.
The salary was minimal but generally it was sufficient to buy beans and corn at the hacienda store that Don Tito provided. During periods when there was little work, Don Tito would sell essential food to his workers on credit. Having the workers indebted to him also assured the landowner that his workers would be available on demand: Attempts to escape landed the worker in the hacienda jail and no one wanted to spend any time in that hot dungeon. Don Tito also helped the workers by occasionally allowing the campesinos to milk the cows for milk and butter. The workers were appreciative for this arrangement for it added to the families’ nutrition.
Hacienda children led an innocent existence during those years. They were considered an extension of their father and were expected to work along with him. Most of the children had not been off the hacienda property. Only from time to time would Juan’s father take him along to visit a relative who lived on the neighboring farm. Juan was twenty years old before he visited the capitol city of San Salvador even though the capitol was only 35 miles from his home. It was on his first trip to the city that he learned about movies, and of course, he had no knowledge of television. Only occasionally, before Don Tito moved to the city, did he hear a radio and that was generally when the owner’s sons were home from the university in the United States. Life for these rural children was simple with few complications.
Until Juan was 8 years old, he slept on a straw mat on the dirt floor besides that of his parents. Usually, the family went to bed at dark; with no electricity there was no reason to do otherwise. Like most Salvadoran rural workers, Juan’s family’s daily diet was generally rice, beans, and corn tortillas. Tortillas were made from corn that had soaked the previous day and then ground into tortilla massa between two stones. Mangos, bananas, and papaya were also abundant during March through June. During these Spring months, anticipating a large portion of fruit, Juan enjoyed watching his mother prepare the corn tortillas on a round metal grill placed on dried adobe bricks that formed a “U.” A fire was made in the middle of the “U” from wood collected during the day by Juan’s mother. She, like most rural women, spent the greatest part of their day collecting wood to be used as fuel for cooking.
The maiz (corn) had been grown on a small patch of rocky soil, known as a milpa, that Don Tito provided for growing of basic grains. Juan’s father had planted beans and corn, but only the corn had produced the past year. Juan’s father sold some of the corn in order to buy beans. Juan’s father worked almost every day, either in the coffee trees or with the hacienda’scattle. There was always work to be done for most of the men of the hacienda. They were happy for the work since most had large debts at the hacienda store.
Juan was twenty years old when Don Tito and his boys decided to plant cotton and sugar cane. This decision changed the traditional hacienda life of the workers: The haciendabecame a modern plantation. The first change was that aging Don Tito moved to San Salvador in order to be nearer his children. The workers missed their relationship with the patronizing but firm landowner. In order to have supervision on the farm in Don Tito’s absence, the Gonzalez boys hired a foreman who also hired three corporales (straw bosses). The foreman or administrator was less personal with the workers than was Don Tito. A certain amount of work was determined for each worker by the foreman. In order to be paid, the taréa (specific amount of land to be worked in one day) had to be completed. In some cases, Juan spent two or three days working in order to be paid for one taréa. Many of the workers complained to the foreman about the increased workload. Often, those that complained were dismissed as a warning to others. Juan missed the easy-going labor arrangement under Don Tito.
All flat and level lands were cleared of the old coffee trees; tractors and equipment were bought in order to work the lands. To maximize production, large amounts of chemical fertilizers were used together with insecticides. The sugar cane required less maintenance but required large numbers of workers during December, January, and February for harvest. Working and cultivating cotton, usually started after the cane harvest, was new for Juan and his colaborers. But they learned rapidly. From early in the morning until late at night the men would plant, plow, hoe, cultivating the crops. Caring for the cotton crop required more manpower than attending to coffee or sugar cane.
The disruption in the family lives of the workers brought about by the changes in the operations of the farm were drastic. Many of Juan’s coworkers felt deep resentment at Don Tito’s hired foreman. In the past, Don Tito had compassion on the workers, but the foreman and his corporales were hard and stern making life more difficult for the peasant families. Due to the increasing number of new families being produced by the farm workers, the foreman reduced the amount of land set aside for the workers. Even older families who had been living for years on small plots were removed in order to make room for increasing crops of sugar and cotton. These workers, displaced by increasing crop production, were relegated to areas of the farm that were rocky and nonproductive. Traditionally, Don Tito had given each family four to six acres on which to raise their corn and some beans. However, under the new management of the farm, each family was given less than one quarter acre on which to build their homes and worse still, each family had to pay fifteen to thirty colonies yearly. This alteration from the traditional arrangement meant that the peasant workers had to depend almost entirely on their salaries to supply the needs of their families. For the peasant families, this meant less food, less nutrition, and more suffering.
THE RURAL EVANGELICAL CHURCH
Juan and Margot started attending the little evangelical church almost ten years prior to Elena’s death. They claimed to be Catholic, but they understood very little of their Catholic heritage. Don Tito had maintained a small chapel where priests occasionally came and offered mass. However, this service to the hacienda workers was discontinued in 1972 because the priests refused to continue offering mass in the El Granjero chapel.
In 1975, one of the hacienda workers, José, returned from a visit to a nearby relative where he had visited a strange new church. The relative had explained that this new church offered a religion more active and exciting than their old Catholic traditions. The relative showed José his Bible and read some of the passages of Scripture that sounded very much like the words read at the occasional mass. The relative invited José to an evening service. He reluctantly went along. The preaching was enthusiastic and lively and when the preacher finished, he invited everyone to come forward to kneel around the front of the church to pray. José saw many people going forward at the end of the service and he also joined in. Some people were crying, others were praying out loud, and still others were kneeling quietly. The pastor came by and laid his hands on José’s head and prayed a long prayer of salvation. The pastor asked José if he wanted to be saved. In response, José shook his head affirmatively. The pastor began to pray even louder, thanking God for another soul snatched from hell’s fire. Soon, José too joined the animated praying and shouting. Several minutes passed before the loud praying terminated, and when order had been restored, the pastor asked José for a comment. José had never experienced this type of religious service previously, nor had he experienced the emotional outburst that he felt during the preaching and praying. José stood and told how Jesus had taken away his sins, just as the pastor had said in the sermon. Now he felt clean and good just as the pastor said he would. His public testimony of salvation had served to link him with new friends.
José returned to his home and soon he was sharing his new religion with several families. A few days later, Hermano (brother) Juan Ortega García, an elder from the neighboring church, came and started a prayer meeting attended at first only by José, his family, and one other farm family. These new evangelicals soon began sharing their new faith with other neighbors and within two months over fifteen families had joined the prayer meeting. Neighbors and family often chided newly converted evangelicals for having abandoned their traditional and cultural Catholic faith. However, these families wanted more religious expression in their life. Catholic priests offered mass only three or four times per year. In contrast, religious meetings of this new religion were almost nightly. José led the new mission in prayer, Scripture reading, and singing when Hermano Juan did not come. The elder came two or three times a week for services and on occasions, he would bring with him a North American missionary who often taught lessons of the gifts of the Spirit. Although Don Tito had, at first, threatened to dismiss the new members of this Protestant sect, he was convinced to alter his threat when he saw these people’s sincerity, and some of the nearby hacendados spoke to Don Tito telling him how these new religious sects encouraged work and honesty. Instead of dismissing them as religious fanatics, he offered a place to build a small church building. At first, there was nothing, but a square wooden frame built with banana leaves spread on top to provide relief from the sun and rain. Within a year, adobe walls were formed around the outside and a cross was placed at the roof’s apex. With the placing of the cross on the roof, the name Iglesia de Dios Universal de Zion Pentecostal was painted over the door.
Juan and Margot were never able to join the church, but they were always present at the nightly meetings. Often, they discussed whether they were sinning because of their participation in Protestant meetings. Some of the priests insisted that all Protestants were heretics and worthy of hell fire for having taken people away from the mother church. But Juan and Margot felt good attending the services. The people always seemed happy and the loud singing and praying gave hope that present difficulties would soon be past, and heaven would be gained if they persevered.
Prayer meetings continued for almost a year. During one of these prayer meetings, the elder announced a special Sunday service with a North American missionary to be held the following weekend. The missionary and elder spent the whole weekend in the community. They visited families and talked about a special divine healing service and meeting that would be held in the church on Sunday afternoon. On Sunday morning, a slow rain started. The missionary voiced his concern about the attendance that afternoon, but the elder countered that Salvadorans are very used to rain in the rainy season. At two o’clock the gentle rain was still falling, and no one had arrived at the little building. By 2:30 people started arriving and by three the building was full. The service started at three with the elder leading several choruses and hymns. The singing was lively, and people clapped their hands in joy keeping time with the rhythm of the songs.
The missionary preached how Peter and John had healed the crippled man outside the temple. He emphasized that God answered prayer for healing only when people lived holy lives, totally free from sin. In return for a sinless life, a life without “spot or wrinkle,” God would reward the Christian with spiritual power. The missionary continued by pointing out that spiritual power resulted in answered prayer for divine healing and that special power was gained by following certain behavior standards. These standards had much to do with honesty, integrity, hard work, abstaining from liquor, tobacco, dancing, and many games. He vigorously insisted that a drop of guara or alcoholic drink would send someone to hell as quickly as murder. These standards demonstrated one’s commitment to God while also reflecting the presence of the Holy Spirit who dwelled within the individual. The missionary pointed out that these standards, rigidly upheld, confirmed one’s personal holiness. He told the people not to be concerned with the cares of this world, the hardships of life, or the temptations of wealth. Submission to church leaders as well as to the government and the farm’s management would be honored by God and eventually blessed. He told the congregation that if they maintained their vision only on Christ, looked only to him to meet each daily need, not be concerned with what their neighbors had or didn’t have, then God would supply all their needs.
When the preaching ended, the missionary called for all those who were sick or needed a special blessing from God to go forward and stand near the pulpit. Almost all of the congregation had needs; some were sick, some were weak, some didn’t have food, and others, looking for some kind of a blessing just went forward. After a long period of prayer, the missionary announced that the pastor and church elders had requested permission for the church to join the international fellowship of churches. The congregation, however, needed to vote and approve the union.
The Isolated Church
Salvadoran country peasants always had needs. Sickness caused by unsanitary conditions was the principle need of these pleasant people. But confusion and frustration at the changes in traditional lifestyles produced more uncertainty and emotional stress. When this writer first visited Santo Espíritu and the community Pentecostal church, it was most apparent that these poor people had needs and problems; their lives were being challenged in ways for which they were unprepared. Some families complained for the lack of medical attention, other for the lack of land to plant their small milpas (garden of corn or beans); other families saw their young teenage boys give up hope for a future and joined newly formed armed revolutionary groups; union and rural activists were constantly in the rural community encouraging the men to join FECCAS (a regional association of farm workers) saying that rural workers who united together could pressure landowners to be more compassionate and pay the workers justly. Neither the pastor nor the people knew how to deal with these pressures that the social unrest and a changing world had placed on them. As working conditions changed on the farm, many workers joined FECCAS, some of the younger men disappeared from the community, but their families knew they were in the hills with the guerrillas.
Most rural evangelicals pastors had little or no formal training. They felt that God would lead and guide them by “His Spirit.” Questions and problems to which God had not given Biblical answers were left unattended. For instance, if God had been silent regarding the questions of justice and equity for rural workers, then they too had nothing to say. Besides, God had given to nations government which was to assume responsibility for the problems like those that occurred in El Granjero. Consequently, rural evangelical churches’ reaction to these stresses was to internalize the pressure by cutting themselves off from other institutions, organizations, and even other churches. By isolating themselves from the world of landowners, the foreman or the plantation administrator, from the Catholic church as well as other evangelicals, and the warring factions, it relieved itself of all responsibility for anything other than the spiritual life of its members. Most rural churches, following the advice of missionary teachers and pastors who considered politics sinful and those who participated in politics as sinners. Other churches, Catholic and evangelical alike, practiced false doctrines, therefore, it was better to remain isolated and protected from “false” teachers that could creep into the church. As the missionary had preached, “if they maintained their vision only on Christ, looked only to him to meet each daily need, not to be concerned with what their neighbors had or didn’t have, then God would supply all their needs.”
The little Pentecostal church that Juan and Margot attended was very similar to the hundreds of other evangelical churches scattered throughout El Salvador. The pastor preached personal salvation and piety: The Holy Spirit would only help those who resisted the temptation of evil thoughts, read their Bibles, and prayed. Members were encouraged to pray, live honestly, and work hard. They were encouraged not to get involved with politics nor join any of the rural organizations. Church doctrine also taught that cigarettes and liquor were sinful and economically wasteful. The teaching emphasized that only God could help the community, that outside people would only corrupt the members’ daily lives. Too much involvement with people who were not members of the church would pack their heads with thoughts and ideas that were not godly.
Conclusion
The story of baby Elena was not uncommon, rather for Salvadoran rural workers, it was somewhat common; many families lost their children by the age of three. Also common were the living conditions of the rural workers who understood nothing about an unseen world of bacteria and germs. Living in the proximity of farm animals, dogs, cats, and chickens was a normal life pattern for most people who lived and worked on large haciendas. Also common for rural workers was the short life of many children. They simply did not understand that life could be different.
Also common for rural workers from the mid sixties and forward was an increasing number of evangelical churches that spread throughout the country. The Salaverría family’s experiences were normal. By the early 1980s, Protestantism, according to CIA’s Worldwide Statistics, had won the hearts and minds of 50% of Salvadorans. Pentecostal churches accounted for 60% of all evangelicals. The consequences of the civil war cost the country thousands of lives, but the involvement of the Catholic hierarchy with the FMLN paid a heavy price to the many evangelical churches now dotting the countryside. In many cases, citizens joined evangelical groups as protection against the atrocious right-wing death squads.
The story of Elena also pointed to a conclusion that Paralife was developing in the right direction with its needed preventative medical programs.
Revised January, 1991
Revised January 2024
Pages 21 Words 6,216
. Juan and Margot Santamaria are fictitious names. Espíritu Santo, the community where they lived as well as El Granjero and El Limón are also fictitious names chosen to protect the real characters who lived this very real-life drama.
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