El Salvador
El Salvador continues to be in a nation-wide lockdown due to the coronavirus. Schools and most businesses are closed. The agroferreterrias are closed, so those workers are without any income. Only one person per family is allowed to leave the house to go to the store; everyone else is expected to stay at home. There is a lot of fear about the virus and people who lived through the civil war are used to having to stay home and go without in order to stay safe, so there has not been much unrest about the lockdown.
The federal government has promised a one time emergency payment of $300 per family and most families in San Jorge have received their payments. Some families do not have current government ID cards, so they are still waiting for their payment. While $300 is a lot of money for most families in San Jorge, the cost of food in the local Super Selectos grocery store is the same or more than in our stores here in Wisconsin. The $300 will not go far. The municipal government is doing what it can to provide families with emergency supplies of food. As of now, the nearest case of coronavirus is in Santa Elena, about 8km from Usulután and 18km from San Jorge.
Pastor Julio and Pastora Blanca are beginning to use Facebook to share worship services and mid-week Bible study since many families have at least one smartphone. Neither one of them is familiar with technology, so their children are helping them. During this crisis, evangelical churches are loudly proclaiming that the end of times is here and people must join their church in order to be saved. These churches are beginning to grow as people continue to be afraid.
Tanzania
The good news from Tanzania is they are having sufficient rain and the crops are growing well. However, a recent report from Facebook tells us that the rains have intensified in the Meru area. On April 23, the floods destroyed over 50 homes and took two lives.
As of the writing of this article, there are 147 people in Tanzania with the coronavirus. Crowded markets and places of worship are still open, but schools and many other businesses are closed. There is no online or homeschooling. The markets have started to have some scarcity due to border closings. Their president continues to rely on prayer as the best method of preventing the spread of the virus. He has said that all worship services should continue and declared April 17-19 as days of prayer for people of all faiths against the virus. In spite of the president’s declarations, attendance is beginning to lessen at Samaria due to both fear of the virus and lack of transportation as many independent transportation operators have stopped driving people.
Pastor Makenge and other church leaders are traveling around the community, educating the members of Samaria about the coronavirus. Samaria leaders have shared concerns with us that people are not taking the virus seriously enough and worry that if the virus spreads, their country does not have the medical capacity to deal with an epidemic. Pastor Makenge has used some of the funds from Ascension to purchase hand sanitizer, handwashing stations, face masks and other medical supplies for Samaria and the other preaching points.
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