The Mission of the El Salvador Ministry is to promote accompaniment,
solidarity and mutual exchange between the Good Shepherd Parish community,
Shawnee, Kansas and the Comunidad El Buen Pastor, Aguilares, El Salvador.
Joined together on August 23, 1987!
In May 1985, 16 families moved to La Esperanza, Tres Ceibas, El Salvador on
3 manzanas (71/2 acres) of land. The people of this tiny community were all
refugees of the civil war that started in 1979. They had been living in church run
refugee camps, prior to moving to Tres Ceibas after the Catholic Archdiocese of
San Salvador purchased this land for refugees.
The community of 79 people lived off the land at Tres Ceibas for two years.
The only crop the land could support without irrigation was beans. The
community had a honey production, 2 cows and 2 calves and a few pigs. There
was a governing body called the Directiva that coordinated community life among
the families.
In 1987, individuals from Good Shepherd Parish traveled to El Salvador with
the KC SHARE sponsored delegation. These individuals responded to the call of
the Salvadoran Catholic Church to come and accompany the people who had
members of their families tortured, disappeared & killed in the war. Their homes
and entire villages were destroyed.
After a 5-month discernment, Good Shepherd Faith Community voted to
enter a sistering relationship with the people of La Esperanza in Tres Ceibas, El
Salvador. Celebrating the first anniversary of twinning, a parishioner made this
observation: “As we look over this past year, we realize that we have given and
received. New sensitivities have taken hold in us….sensitivities about poverty,
about injustices, about the awful ravages of war. And our faith has grown, as
we’ve begun to live as “one in faith” with our Salvadoran sister community in El
Salvador.”
Under the leadership of the Pastoral and Finance Councils, Good Shepherd
Parish made a commitment to support our newly founded sistering relationship
with 2.5% of the annual offertory collections. This amounted to $10,000. The
Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth contributed $1,000 to Tres Ceibas the first year
of our twinning.
In November, 1988, a discernment process took place involving the
community of Tres Ceibas and the Archdiocese to relocate the community. The
new location bordered the Carretera Troncal del Norte highway north of the town
of Aguilares. This piece of land would have access to electricity and water. The 16
manzanas of land (about 28 acres) had 2 humble buildings on the property where
the families could be sheltered. Cost of the land was 10,000 colones per
manzana. ($1.00 = 8.7 colones). The funds from Good Shepherd, Sisters of Charity
of Leavenworth and other organizations collectively helped the community
purchase the land.
In Spring 1989, our sister community officially changed its name to El Buen
Pastor. They did so in honor of Good Shepherd Parish, Shawnee, Kansas, who had,
and continues to accompany them over the past thirty plus years in solidarity and
mutual exchange!
Good Shepherd partners with SHARE FOUNDATION and UCRES (Union de
Comunidades Rurales del Norte de San Salvador y La Libertad) to support youth
leadership training/scholarships and women’s empowerment to 21 communities
in Northern San Salvador and La Libertad provinces.
Good Shepherd also supports the Martyrs Scholarship Program at the
University of Central America (UCA) that covers the cost of tuition, education
materials and basic needs of low-income students during the academic year.
The twinning relationship between Good Shepherd Parish and the
Community of El Buen Pastor has resulted in these life changing achievements:
Support for the youth not only allows the children in El Salvador to continue their education,
it strengthens the communities in which these scholarship students reside. Middle school, high
school and university students are required to participate in a variety of community projects
that are designed to teach leadership, community involvement and promotion of human rights.
The goal for the scholarship program is for students to make significant contributions to the
development of their community and their country.
In 2020, Good Shepherd is funding the following scholarships:
El Buen Pastor: 4 university, 4 high school, 9 middle school
UCRES: 20 high school
UCA: 2 university
A scholarship for 1 year of middle school is $250.
A scholarship for 1 year of high school is $350.
A scholarship for 1 year of university is $1200.
The SHARE Foundation has accompanied Good Shepherd’s delegations for the past 33 years.
Delegation visits to El Salvador offer parishioners the opportunity to learn and experience the
reality of El Salvador. 3-4 days of the 7-8-day delegation visit is spent at our sister community,
El Buen Pastor.
Due to COVID-19, delegations and tours have been cancelled through the end of 2020.
Delegation dates for 2021 are pending.
Annual El Salvador Ministry Appeal – Weekend of March 6/7. 2021
Twinning Celebration/Awareness & Craft Sale – Weekend of April 10/11. 2020
Contact: Teresa Aley, teresa.aley1@gmail.com, 913-481-1120
Photo taken of the Comunidad El Buen Pastor on the 30th twinning anniversary, June 2017