El Salvador, is among the three poorest countries of the Western Hemisphere, with 44% of the children living in a poverty situation. The gangs violence is a general problem in the North of Central America, with children being the recruiting, abuse and including homicide target. According to UNICEF, in El Salvador, 365 children were killed only in 2017.
Currently our country faces many risk situations. The population has the need of decent inhabitation and worthy meal. High rate of violence and unemployment reached strongly the Salvadoran people. All this has forsaken the early childhood, therefore in the high risk areas their parents die due to the violence, and in the areas where it doesn’t happen, they are “figuratively orphans” due to the existing migration. The families disintegrate seeking for jobs, food and home until they reach the reality lived at the border’s areas. The insecurity is latent, the people leave their houses to look for more safety for their families.
PEPE arrived in El Salvador in 2014, being a great impact and blessing for our country up to now. It was born with the purpose of taking hope to hearts of the children through Jesus Christ, taking advantage of the best stage of physical, cognitive and spiritual development of the child, besides promoting social values for them to become changing agents and future missionaries. Currently we have 53 missionary-educators acting in different areas of the country. Supporting a total of 447 children distributed in 20 units. We count on 5 area coordinators and 4 members in the administrative area.
PEPE walks holding hands with the Church and also the community thorugh community projects where the parents can sow and harvest, in medical journeys where not only the children are benefited, but also their parents and the nutritional program that includes the brothers of our children up to 14 years old. The National team work has many dreams and goals for the following years, for example, that the Program be inserted in the Studies Program of the Ministry of Education. Other of our goals is that one of the units might be strengthen to reach the basic level. Help us in prayer to reach these goals.
We have started a campaign with a evangelization plan for the children in our PEPEs. By the divine faithfulness in less than a month we reached 17 children for Christ and we keep sharing the gospel not only for the pepitos to open their hearts, but also for the parents, thus impacting immediately the community. There is a lot yet to be done in our country for the 100% of the population to be reached for Christ. Many have encouraged us to keep up this work that the Lord has trusted us and we are sure that PEPE is the future of El Salvador. We know we are sowing in fertile soil, we have seen the results and we will hold on.
