ABOUT US
The Presbytery of Long Island El Salvador Partnership was created in 1993 when a small church in Brentwood, NY—a working class suburb in Western Suffolk County with a population that’s more than 50 percent Latino, many from Central America—took the bold initiative of deciding it wanted to reach out to their neighbors by reaching back to one of their homelands. This leap of faith followed two visits to El Salvador by members of the congregation, where they were introduced to the work of a Salvadoran nongovernmental organization called UCCES (Union of Christian Communities of El Salvador). The earliest years were mostly devoted to learning about this small country that has struggled for so much of its existence with poverty, civil wars, natural disasters, and exploitation from foreigners and the country’s own ruling elite.
A few years in, when participants better understood the country and its people, as well as the talents those in the group had to offer, the work trips began. Around the same time, Brentwood realized that, to carry out what it knew was truly the work God was calling it do, it needed to bring other churches from Long Island into the Partnership. Now, the Partnership is made up of six Presbyterian Churches on Long Island—Brentwood, Presbyterian Church of Islip, Middle Island Presbyterian, Bridgehampton Presbyterian, First Presbyterian of Smithtown, and Community Presbyterian of Deer Park. The Partnership was officially recognized as a mission partnership of the Presbytery Of Long Island in 1996.
In the early days, work trips varied based on the interests of its participants. Early projects included efforts in reforestation, infrastructure, such as bridge building, and educational and environmental initiatives. Out of these early trips grew an overriding theme for the project: that our work in El Salvador would lie at the intersection of participant passions and community needs. Team members asked themselves, “What do we know how to do, and love to do, that can truly help the people of El Salvador?” The latter part of the equation was provided by our in-country partners of UCCES who, several years later, when they were recognized as an official NGO in El Salvador, changed their name to APRODEHNI (Asociación para la Promoción de los Derechos Humanos de la Niñez en El Salvador). From the beginning, we were determined that this was to be a true partnership and, since they were the ones “on the ground” in country, we learned early on to be guided by their knowledge of what the needs were and where help was most needed.
In 1996, the longest running of Partnership project was launched, the Love in Motion traveling medical campaign. The second project, now in its 7th year, is the Youth Theatre Workshop (YTW), a program that brings together Salvadoran and Long Island youth for a week of theatre training, improvisations, and the rehearsal and production of three-act bilingual play. Full write-ups on both initiatives can be found on this site.
In 2005, a “Seekers Trip,” for those who want to learn more about the history and needs of El Salvador was born. This is a starter mission trip, for those who wanted to experience El Salvador before committing to joining the Love In Motion trip. It gives insights into what participants would be seeing on a normal mission trip, and is a perfect trip for interested newcomers. It was out of the Seekers Trip program that a new initiative, called “Family2Family,” was born. On this trip, the first of which will was held in August 2007, in tandem with YTW, family units (mother and/or father, plus several children) travelled to El Salvador to provide services for Salvadoran families. These services ranged from painting a mural, to tutoring students in English, to sponsoring a one-day sports tournament.
Lastly, the Partnership seeks to support existing programs of APRODEHNI. For two years, the Partnership has contributed to the “Blessings” scholarship program which, for $1,300 a year, provides a Salvadoran student everything he or she needs to complete a year of schooling, from books, to tutoring assistance, to clothing, medical care, and regular meals.
For more information, on the “Blessings” program, click here.
Though it does operate under the auspices of the Presbytery of Long Island, the Partnership has always believed that God’s work does not belong to any one denomination. In 2007, a new alliance with Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church in the Bronx led to the participation of three physicians from Lincoln Hospital on the Love and Motion trip. And, throughout its history, the Partnership has been proud to share its support of APRODEHNI with two other organizations affiliated with the Catholic Church: the Aquinas Newman Center of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM, and The Franciscan Center in Greensboro, NC.
If your church or organization is interested in this type of mission work please contact John Hile, Partnership Coordinator, at (631) 495-4055 or e-mail him at jofislip@ optonline.net.
Learn more about the growth and work of APRODENHI by clicking here.
