The country of the smile

By Eliud Herrera, Intercede International News Service (INS)

During the 1970s a tourist slogan was created in El Salvador. They named it “The Country of the Smile.” The slogan tried to show in words the nature of its people who were jovial, kind, and happy – and certainly the country lived it up to its slogan. 

In 1980 the smile disappeared. Instead of happiness, darkness moved in as the civil war violence started in the country, and it became the most violent nation in the world at one point.

For many years travelling to El Salvador was a difficult decision for people who wanted to visit, but five years ago a new government was elected, and things started to change dramatically. 

Nowadays, El Salvador is considered to be one of the safest places to visit in Latin America. The head of the government has repeatedly stated that the reason for the transformation is God. We thank God for the restoration of the country, and the smile is back.

For some time, I [Eliud Herrera, Intercede International’s Director of Administration for Ministry Relations], had been inviting our Intercede President and my congregation to visit my native country. This past February we had the privilege of hosting him, and a team from our Church in Fort Erie, Ontario.

For a week we were able to testify the love of the Lord with many as we moved around the area sharing the Word, and doing charitable deeds as the Lord also instructed us to do.

For two days we held evangelistic street rallies in my former hometown of Nueva Guadalupe in one of the most impoverished areas of the city. The local church programmed the activities and sent the youth in advance to the community to invite the locals. Around 100 people attended the rallies in person, but at least 800 heard the message via the sound system used during the rallies. We praise the Lord for this event.

During our visit to The Sanctuary, which hosts Intercede ministry partner New Life Ministries’ headquarters, the main Church Building of the ministry, children’s ministries facilities, and their youth training centre located in San Miguel, we dedicated two of the buildings of the complex to the Lord. Pastor James Eagles, the President of Intercede International, and the Mission team had a special dedicatory prayer for the Church Building and the newest children’s facilities. Those were named after Sharon Eagles in memory of our dear sister and late wife of Pastor James who went to be with the Lord last year and who was passionate about the children’s ministries around the world.

We also had two evangelistic rallies with a good attendance. It is good to report that the youth ministry went into the community to invite the population. At least 15 new people came to the meetings, and some of them got saved.

Salvation and restoration

We also offered a glasses clinic for the needy, including free glasses. Our congregation donated the funds for the glasses, and we benefited at least 100 people during the clinic. We also distributed food rations. 

Restoration is included in the plan of salvation. Twelve years of war left El Salvador with huge material losses and thousands of broken lives. The ordeal continued from the 1990s and into the new millennium because of the gangs’ criminal activities.

The Bible teaches us that all things work together for good for those who love the Lord. War does not seem to be a good thing, and is not, but in El Salvador’s case it worked for the good of the Gospel. Thousands of souls repented and sought help from God – becoming followers of Jesus instead of practicing a religion.

Today an estimated 38 percent of the population are considered Evangelicals and are actively sharing their faith. It is projected that in a few years Evangelical Christians will become the majority in the country.

New Life Ministries continues reaching out to lost souls. There is still a lot to do. We lost a generation during the war, then another one was lost during the tenure of the “gang dominance.” Many young people are still lost without hope, and we need to educate these children in the ways of the Lord. To serve as an evangelistic tool, this May the Youth Training Centre was dedicated to the Lord.

The Lord has restored the smile, and the hearts of many in El Salvador. There is more still that we need to do, but the wonder of God never fails.

Joel 2:25-26 (NKJ) reads: “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; and my people shall never be put to shame.”