We meet Christian Chavarria at Resurrection church in San Salvador. He tells us his story while our own Kari translates.
When Christian was four years old soldiers came into his home. His mother's cousin was shot dead and then chopped in half with a machete. A brother and sister were killed when they cried. Afterward, the family fled into the jungle and made their way towards Honduras. Unlike others the family survived an attack crossing to river into Honduras. They lived many years in a refugee camp there which he likened to a prison.
They lived in this camp for years. When he turned twelve he went back into El Salvador to fight as a guerilla against the people who killed his family. One night his friend was wounded and cried for help. They were unable to come to his aid during the night; in the morning his friend was dead. After that Christian wanted to quit and with his mother persuading his superiors he was able to do so.
After the war the family headed back to their home to work at the banana plantations. But Christian told his mother he wanted an education instead and headed by himself to the capital. Of course there were no jobs. He stayed with the Lutheran church for a while and after a few weeks they asked him to paint a cross. In the refugee camp he learned how to paint, so he painted a beautiful cross. That lead to increasing opportunities. He made enough money to get both himself and his sister an education. Since then he has made 70,000 crosses. Pope Francis has one.
Cross painted by Christian
Another work of art by Christian
Christian has learned to play the piano to help at Resurrection church. Years back he promised Bishop Gomez a new Resurrection church. It is under construction. As is the custom in El Salvador (and many other cultures), it will be constructed bit by bit as money is found.
Christian is always working to help others. He says he senses God in every moment.
One thing Christian told us is that the fragments of the exploded bombs bore the initials "USA". He says he hated the US for supplying these weapons that were killing his family and friends. But eventually he was persuaded to visit the US by friends. He told us that he decided the American people were nice; that it was just the political leaders that were bad. But personally I think Christian is too generous; after all isn't this a democracy? And how often do we contact our leaders to advocate for better policies?
Read Christian's complete story; he tells it far better than me.
http://www.embracingelsalvador.org/christian-armando-chavarria-ayala/
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