Co-Existence of Opposing Powers: A Study of the Relationship Between the Evangelical Church and the Gangs in El Salvador

WCIU Journal: Community and Societal Development Topic and Area Studies Topic

January 3, 2020

by Kenton Moody

Kenton Moody has worked amongst the poor in Santa Ana, El Salvador for the past seven years. He is working on a PhD with William Carey International University.

Introduction

“To be honest, I think all of us are a little afraid,” said one of the pastors who had come to discuss the establishment of a transition house for gang members wanting to leave the gangs. A circle of Evangelical leaders sat around the table looking defeated and puzzled at the same time. “We’re here because we want to do something and don’t know what to do,” said another, “Fear has all of us paralyzed!”

The pastor could’ve been speaking for the large majority of the Salvadoran population. Fear is part of life in El Salvador, one of the most dangerous countries in the world. It is the smallest nation in size in the Americas and is the most densely populated. Called the “Pulgarcito” (small thumb) of Latin America, El Salvador and its two neighboring countries, Honduras and Guatemala, are known as the “Triangle of Death” (Gonzalez 2019). This is due to the extreme violence these countries have experienced in the past 10-15 years, exacerbated by gang on gang warfare. It could almost be described as a four-party civil war, with participants consisting of two opposing gangs, the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and the 18th Street Barrio, the government, and the general population who faces the brunt of the killings and societal destruction. Approximately 20,000 Salvadorans were killed from 2014–2017, with thousands more fleeing the country (Editor, 2018a).

But fear is not supposed to be part of the church’s vocabulary. First John 4:17 (NIV) says, “Perfect love casts out all fear because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” Reality of life in El Salvador, however, seems to take precedence over even Scripture. This paper will deal with two questionsL

1. Are the church and gangs actually opposing spiritual, physical, and emotional forces, or are they co-existing institutions within the Salvadoran community?

2. What role can the Evangelical church play to rescue and transform gang members who want to leave their violent lifestyle and be reinserted into society?

To answer these questions this paper will examine the gang’s perspective of the Evangelical church and its perceived threat to their existence and mission. It will also explore the view of the Evangelical church towards the gangs, the insecurity in the communities, and how this affects them directly and their mission which is to make disciples of all people, gang members included. To adequately address these questions, it is necessary to understand what has allowed the rapid rise to power of the gangs and how they have taken control of the country.

Background

Like many Latin American countries, El Salvador’s history is rife with violence, dictatorships, coups, war, and economic instability. The country won its independence from Spain in 1821 and unsuccessfully tried uniting with neighboring countries to form a larger Central American union. With such a small land mass, El Salvador survived by single crop economies—first indigo and then coffee. Fourteen families, who were known as the oligarchy, controlled the politics and economy for most of the 20th and 21st centuries and still are part of the controlling political parties today (Boland 2001).

After subsequent dictatorships for decades, the social unrest in the 1970’s and 1980’s birthed a civil war between socialist-communists supported by Nicaragua and Cuba, and the rightest military government, supported by the United States who spent $4.5 billion over the course of the war (McKinney 2015). Unlike interventions in many other Latin American countries, this was the first time the United States had intervened in the internal political situation of El Salvador. Neither side won the war, and by the time the peace accords were signed in 1992, more than 70,000 people had been killed, thousands more had disappeared, and tens of thousands had fled the violence, many of them immigrating illegally to the United States. Within 17 years, the former guerillas, who had fought for the socialistic-communist group, formed a political party and won control of the presidency for two successive five-year terms.

The resulting aftermath of the population displacement of nearly 10 per cent of the total population along with the massive emigration fleeing the country, led to the birth of the gangs. The large majority of the migrants fleeing El Salvador went to California, settling in Los Angeles. To defend themselves from the racially divided occupants of Los Angeles, the Salvadorans formed alliances and gangs for protection and self-survival. The Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), and the rival 18th Street Barrio gangs were formed. In the 1990’s, the United States, worried about the large immigration crisis and the economy, began to deport many illegal immigrants. Tens of thousands of immigrants were sent back to their countries, many of them young people who had committed felonies and were involved in the gangs (Holmes 1985). They brought their habits and skills back to El Salvador and quickly set up shop. National and local law enforcement were not adequately prepared to respond until it was too late.

For two decades in El Salvador the government and gangs have played what seems like a “cat and mouse” game. Police operations would invade a gang infested neighborhood and “clean it out” by arresting and jailing any suspected gang members. Without a justifiable cause for arrest or space to hold them, many of these young men were out of jail within days. Once released they would move to relatives’ or friends’ homes in another community or in the rural area to set up their gang activities there. This has been a major factor in gangs growing exponentially over the years exponentially to approximately 70-80,000 active gang members. This is much more than the national police force and the FAES (Armed Forces El Salvador) combined (Molina 2015).

The efforts of the new President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, who took office in June 2019, have proved more successful than imagined possible. In first three months of his administration, many gang members have disappeared from the street corners and neighborhoods due to a new security plan implemented amidst great secrecy. Any concessions granted by the previous government to the gangs were revoked, blockage of phone and internet access in the prisons has been enforced, and additional police and military personnel have been mobilized and dispatched to retake communities and neighborhoods overrun by the delinquents. Jails are filled to capacity, but violence is down. Whether or not the government will be able to maintain this type of pressure for the long term remains to be seen.

There are currently very few “gang free” zones in the entire country of El Salvador including the rural areas and even coffee farms. Few families have escaped the effect gang violence in the form of homicide, extortion, and robbery. The gangs and lifestyle have taken root in El Salvador as they provide a “sense of pride and belonging” to the homies (members), especially since most of their members come from very poor, disintegrated families (Editor 2018a, 6). Juan José d’Aubuisson, an anthropologist who spent a year living with a clica (sub-group) of the MS-13, says, “The maras are important when you have nothing, when you are born dead” (d’Aubuisson 2017). This perception of being “born dead” shows the desperation these young people sense in relationship to their poverty-stricken lifestyle and the lack of opportunity for them to succeed.

The government has not been able to adequately provide employment opportunities for youth and those coming out of high school or the university. The number of youths between the ages of 15-27 who neither study nor work has remained at a steady 27% for the past 16 years (Peñate, 2018). Without anything to occupy their time, or in search for some type of income, they become prime candidates for gang recruitment. In addition, rife corruption at the Executive level has stolen hundreds of millions of dollars from the government coffers and left many Salvadorans, especially the youth, disenchanted with the government and authority in general.    The public schools which previously were dependable providers of education, discipline, and structure for the community’s children and youth, now have become gang zones as well. According to the national teachers’ union, between 2014–2016, 29 teachers and 130 students were assassinated by gang members (Notimerica, 2016). Many teachers are afraid to give a failing grade or not pass a student for fear they may be from a gang family and exact revenge on them. The Ministry of Education recently stipulated that students cannot be expelled for disciplinary or moral reasons as that student might end up on the street (Vargas de Quintanilla, 2019).

Local governments many times have to negotiate with the gangs in order to perform even basic functions such as having a community meeting or repairing the streets. They may even have to pay “rent” to enter a certain area. The current mayor of San Salvador admitted to consulting gang leaders prior to entering their area. Delivery trucks, water meter readers, etc. all have to take into account the area they are going into and decide if it is worth the risk or not. The school founded and operated by the author of this article did not have its water meter read for more than three years due to gang activity in control of the area.

The only institution still operating openly and relatively free of gang influence or control in the local community, is the church. El Salvador is one of the many Latin American countries that has seen exponential growth of the Evangelical church, especially the Pentecostals, and a diminishing Catholic church. Reliable statistics place the Salvadoran Catholic church membership around 50% and the Evangelical membership around 40% (Glader, 2015). There are several large denominations with transnational structures, and it would be hard to find a rural community without one or more small Evangelical churches. In contrast, the Catholic churches with on-site priests are primarily in the larger communities. Evangelical churches have a local pastor and local members who know each other and everyone else in the community. Most Evangelical churches, especially in the rural areas have a service almost every night. The Evangelical church service isn’t just a gathering place for worship, but also for social connection.

How Do the Gangs Perceive the Church?

The gang’s perspective of the church is both surprising and complex. There are no written guidelines, at least that any expert or law enforcement personnel have admitted seeing, that guide the gang infrastructure or their view of the Evangelical church. It is an oral-dominated culture with a predominately hierarchal authority.  There are several similarities with the church: Gangs, like the local church, are many times actually extensions of transnational organizations and consist primarily of local children, youth, and/or adults who have been activated into a familial close-knit system (Vasquez, 2003). Just like the church’s evangelistic efforts, there is active recruiting on the part of the gang to not only fill their ranks, but to grow and take more territory. The gangs, like the church, meet almost daily to encourage loyalty, inquire about the member’s daily activities, and socialize.

Do the gangs not see the church as a threat, or possibly even view it as a viable institution in the community? One gang leader said, “The only living force that exists in our communities is the gangs” (Editor 2018a, 7). This statement reveals that quite possibly the gangs do not fully comprehend the mission of the church, which, just like gangs, is to make disciples of everyone possible; or do they view the church as being ineffective in their mission and therefore is not the competitor? The gangs, however, are very respectful of religion in general and those who follow that path.

In various interviews with gang members, the author has inquired how the gangs picture the church. Without fail, the members responded that there is great admiration for the church in general and for God (Interview by author). A common trait, and in many cases a telltale sign of a gang member, is to see the young men wearing plastic rosaries around their neck, although it doesn’t mean they are Catholic. There is also an almost unspoken rule “don’t mess with Curly,” which is the gang’s slang terminology for God (Brenneman 2012). It is also common to see gang members lingering outside of local church services, many times looking in and unconsciously mouthing the words of the songs they have memorized. It may be that their mother or siblings are attending the service and even praying for their salvation. It is important to note that the church service is generally the only thing consistently happening in the community and therefore it is the main attraction.

The local pastor is generally respected, as he is seen as a community leader, although there have been instances of local pastors and their families being threatened with death or kidnapping if they don’t leave the community. For the most part though, the gangs seem content to live side-by-side with the local church and do not seem to view the church as an enemy or a threat to their existence. At times, they may even rely on the church as a friend who helps their families in time of need. It has been the author’s experience as a pastor in a very problematic area that gang members send messages to the church requesting help for families or for their own fallen members. The author’s church has provided sweet bread and coffee for funeral wakes, transport for burial services, and even officiated the funerals for gang family members. In return, the gang members have always been respectful and grateful.

That respect in many cases extends to church property which also seems to be somewhat protected. A number of churches have been robbed during the night of chairs or sound systems. This usually means the local gang element is needing some quick money as the equipment is spirited off to be sold in markets of a larger community, but this seems to be the exception. There have been no reports of offerings being stolen although rumors constantly swirl about the gangs engaging in such activities. Some have reported that Catholic churches have been subjected to extortion, but there are no documented cases. No one wants to say they are being extorted due to the danger involved. So, although gangs can be respectful, they definitely control their area, either visibly or invisibly.

Gangs sometimes lay down community rules, prohibiting certain colors, brand names of clothing, and even hair styles (Pendleton 2015). In some rural communities, some of their rules are similar to the legalistic rules of the conservative Pentecostal churches, prohibiting women’s use of pants or the cutting of hair for women. Many churches in rural areas now hold their services in the early afternoon, in spite of conflicting work schedules, so that the congregants can be in their homes before dark and not have to face danger to and from church. It is common for the gangs to put an unofficial curfew that no one in the community can be outside of their home after a certain hour in the evening.

In conversations between the author and gang members from the 18th Street Barrio gang, who are presently serving time in the El Espino youth detention center, all of them expressed respect for the church and God. “He is the Creator,” said one and another commented that the church is doing the “better thing” (Interview with author). This respectful view of the church is very evident in the prisons where an estimated 25,000 gang members currently pay their debt to society. The author has been present in meetings where more than 1,000 prisoners, the majority of them gang members, have gathered to worship God. In the Gotera prison in 2016, an estimated 400 men “left the gang” to be part of the church and petitioned to be allowed to live separately from active gang members (Maslin 2018).  There is a general belief that Christians get better treatment in the prison, both from officials and other prisoners.

Who Do Gang Members Fear?

It seems the gangs fear God, but don’t fear the church. Their fear of God is not a holy one, as the unceasing homicides, extortion, and sex crimes attest, but their fear seems to originate from an inbred religiosity inherent to many who live in Catholic dominated cultures. There is a fear of dying and knowing their lives are doomed. Many gang members realize that they will never grow old. They are in danger of either being killed by the police or opposing gangs, incarcerated with little hope of release, or killed by their own gang for some infraction. In an interview with nine gang members, eight of the nine said they were to blame for their current situation and had inflicted a lot of harm to their family and others. Six of them felt that God couldn’t forgive them for all the evil acts they had committed, and that redemption was virtually impossible in their case (Interview by author).

The church is not seen as a threat either to the gang itself or their enterprise of violence and control. It is not viewed as an enemy or with animosity as there is no direct confrontation. The proclamation of the local church is based on their views of the Bible and tends to focus on living a holy life through obedience to set rules of personal conduct and a detachment from the worldly temptations and vices. Since the message of the church is not specifically directed at the gangs and the subsequent violence, drugs, or extortion, they don’t feel singled out by the church as a cause and effect for the delinquency of the youth. Sin and Satan are the enemy of the church and the gang can live with that message.

The Evangelical church, however, is a means of leaving the gang. There is an unwritten law among the gangs, that no one can leave except hasta la morgue (via the morgue or death). But there seems to be an allowance for those who want to “deactivate,” by becoming a 100 percent Christian, preferably Evangelical-Pentecostal (Brennenman 2014). Gangs, however, demand that anyone who takes the conversion route be a Christian who follows all of the rules laid down by the local church. Brenneman says the gangs view religious conversion and the church becoming a refuge in the barrio as two very individual but very serious undertakings. (Brenneman 2012). This is analogous to the same demands they place on gang members following their code of conduct and the authoritative command structure within the gang itself.

Several recent studies confirm the previous research of both Brenneman and Wolseth that leaving the gangs via the church is a viable way out of the gang. This is an unwritten rule, and at times it is viewed differently by the gang member and the gang leadership. The gang member sees himself out of the gang entirely, but the gang leadership may still view him as part of the gang family which one never actually leaves, he is simply calmado (calmed) or deactivated (Cruz et al. 2017 53). The decision to leave the gang may be individual but must be approved by the local clique and possibly by the leaders up the chain of authority. Generally, the gang member is warned that he forfeits any protection or rewards that the local gang may provide for him and his family.  Those gang members who chose the route of the Evangelical church for their pathway out of the gangs are more likely to actually leave (Cruz et al. 2017, 57). God plays an important role in their decision. The options, death or prison, don’t leave many alternatives and the stress and difficulty of the gang lifestyle is a contributing factor. One gang member from the sub clique Mirada Locos said, “The life of a gang member is miserable. You have to endure hunger and crying by yourself knowing you can’t leave. Where ever you go, they are going to kill you” (Cruz et al. 2017, 59).

For the gang member desiring to leave the active gang lifestyle, there is an abrupt adjustment socially, emotionally, and spiritually. Most Evangelical Pentecostal churches have a legalistic/authoritative structure, with expected attendance at multiple services weekly, and strict codes of conduct and dress for both women and men, regulating who are allowed “privileges” of serving in the local church. Those who don’t comply, are placed on discipline. The gangs can identify with this type of top-down structure and see one choosing this path of deactivating from the gang as not being in direct competition with them as long as the ex-gang member follows the straight and narrow path of commitment to God (Cruz et al. 2017, 16). For the gang member to leave a life of drugs, immorality, and dishonest gain is a difficult path to follow without missing a step or two. However, the sense of family, albeit the gang, can also be found in the church.

How Does the Church View the Gangs?

The Evangelical church in El Salvador, with a few exceptions, seems to view the gangs with ambivalence or fear. There are churches and pastors who have taken upon themselves to reach out to gang members, communicating hope and acceptance, but those are the exception. On a national level the Evangelical churches are not unified nor organized to develop a strategy for evangelization, peace, or reconciliation with the gangs.

Since January 2010, the author has attended more than 100 Assemblies of God pastors’ meetings in El Salvador on a local, departmental, and national level without ever hearing the leadership address topics such as gang violence, security issues, strategic plans on how to reach this people group, or testimonies of transformation. Instead the focus is on proclamation, church planting and growth, and liturgical functions.

In a survey given to both Assemblies of God Executive leadership and to a select group of pastors from the Department of Santa Ana, 95 per cent acknowledge that it is the church’s responsibility to reach out to all people, including the gang members. They also acknowledge that it is not being done currently. (Asambleas de Dios, Comité Ejecutivo, 2018). What strategy can propel the church towards the church’s primary goal, which according to the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19 and Mark 16:18 is to share the gospel from their “Jerusalem” to the uttermost parts of the world and make disciples of those they convert, reaching the gang members at the same time?

Social interaction in the local community has not traditionally been promoted as a primary goal of the church although in recent years the Evangelical churches have been more involved in community development efforts. If those who benefit from these efforts are gang members or their families, it is not necessarily intentional. Even visits to prison are to win souls, but not necessarily rescue them from their social quagmires. There are no half-way homes for exiting prisoners, nor do most churches participate in the probation programs offered by the national justice system to allow former prisoners to work off their debt to society through social hours in the local church.

Not being open to change nor accepting those rejected by even the poor in society has hindered the church on some fronts. Evangelicalism in El Salvador is very conservative and in rural areas even more so. The very ambience of the church reflects separation from the culture in general and is reminiscent of the holiness churches in the early days of the Pentecostal movement in the United States.

On the surface, the legalistic set of rules to follow may seem cumbersome to some and unattractive to many, but this strict adherence to a “holy lifestyle” punctuated by ecclesiastical discipline or removal of privileges by the pastor, appeals to gang members wanting to deactivate or leave the gang lifestyle (Brenneman 2012). It is also an integral part of the Salvadoran religious culture. Deactivating gang members know their weaknesses and inability for changing or stepping away from the gangs without a confining set of rules to follow and close supervision. One young gang member getting ready to leave prison and go back home, confessed to the author that he was worried about “falling back” into the gang lifestyle because there is no Evangelical church in his community. “The only church where I live is a Catholic one. My homies go to the mass and then go out and smoke marijuana or drink all afternoon. That is what got me in here and I don’t ever want to come back. I need a church that will help me stay away from that lifestyle (Interview by author, 2019). Legalism is a double-edged sword, however, to children and youth struggling to find their identity. The same rules that later might help a gang member walk the pathway of Christianity, are the rules that chafe on the youth wanting more freedom and seeing the call of the street as a way to have it all.

Fear of the Enemy

Surprisingly enough, fear seems to be a much larger issue to the church than to the gang. Although the Bible instructs the believer to “fear not,” church members and pastors have seen too much violence to not be afraid. Some see the gangs as the enemy, even though the gang member might have been in their children’s ministry as a child. Many pastors worry for their own children and survival. Church members worry their children may be recruited or made to obey demands by the gang. Many have had their homes broken into, others have experienced beatings and extortion, and many others death.

There also seems to be fear that gang members will not have a true conversion experience and will go back to the gangs causing strife for the church reverting back to previous lifestyles. It is not uncommon for any new convert, but when dealing with the ex-gang members, there is fear they may see the church as competition for those the gang wants to recruit or those wanting to deactivate. There is the worry that the gang will try recruiting church youth or that gang members are really coming to keep watch on them. There has been the fear as well that the police will see the church as aiding the gangs when in reality, the church is simply completing their mission.

To leave the gang and its lifestyle of drugs, violence, immorality, and accompanying “respect” within the neighborhood, is extremely difficult and many attempting to change, are pulled back slowly, but surely (Brenneman 2012). The gang influence is strong as they have been like family, brothers, co-conspirators in crime, and suppliers of drugs and women to the gang member. Transformation is more straightforward when there is opportunity to leave the circle of influence within a vicinity or neighborhood and start over anew. For the average Salvadoran, however, this is not an easy task since gangs control more than 90 per cent of the country, there is virtually no place to hide.

Many churches and ministries prefer concentrating on prevention programs as opposed to directly involving themselves in gang member intervention or rehabilitation. Prevention programs may include education, job training, outreach to children and youth, or child sponsorship programs run by World Vision or Compassion International. Many of these programs focus on children or mothers rather than the youth at risk. Although there are no obstacles in most denominations or fellowships for starting rehabilitation and reinsertion programs, generally there is little or no support financially or encouragement to do so. (Brenneman 2012, 133). In the “Triangle of Death,” which is the name given to Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, due to the violent record for the past decade, there are many little non-affiliated churches or micro-organizations who try reaching the gangs, but have little structure or staff and are not able to access government or NGO funding. There can be hesitancy to get more deeply involved in gang members’ lives, such as providing legal help, job assistance and family counseling, due to fear of police retribution or simply time consumption.

The Local Church’s Unique Resource

The local church may not have financial means necessary for a rehabilitation and reinsertion program, but they do have a resource that no other institution is able to provide. One of the main points in the study done by the University of Southern Florida and USAID states that “Spirituality is more consistently protective against delinquency in terms of its relationship to social developmental mediating factors and its direct associations to particular delinquent behaviors.” (Salas-Write, Olate, and Vaughn 2013). The structure of the spiritual combined with firm values and rules provides a path for the potential gang member’s transition back to a normal life.

The church, especially Pentecostals, have a strict set of values which can help shield the former gang member from the gang threats, family abuse, and the temptations of the vices which can destroy their progress. Unfortunately, in many cases, the local church is not prepared to vocationally train or provide job opportunities to former gang members. (Cruz et al. 2017). Snodderly recommends the church focus on what the church does well, welcoming, rather than rejecting the stranger, which is a concurring theme in the Old Testament (Snodderly 2018). Rehabilitation and restoration, however, will only be truly successful if there is a goal in mind and a pathway to a new life.

Rehabilitation centers for drug addicts and alcoholics are common in Latin America, but do not focus on specific problems relating to gang members. Rehabilitation is known for encompassing the complexity of helping the mind, body, soul, and spirit to change. Restoration is also used to qualify what God wants spiritually, restoring the man or woman to his original purpose. Ephesians 3:10 (NIV) says, “His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” It is apparent that God’s instrument for rescue, rehabilitation, restoration, and transformation is the church. Those born into a gang culture, feel as if they have nothing and are born dead with little or no value (D’Aubuisson 2017). The gang offers value, but spiritual restoration doesn’t depend on getting value from another human being, but rather value is given and transformation provided from the Creator.

Transformation is “the process of restoration to God’s intentions of all that was broken when humanity rebelled against God at the Fall. It is not the same as spiritual conversion, although it begins there. It is God’s work” (Moffitt 2005). Moffitt says that both conservative and liberal churches have missed the boat on true transformation. The conservatives believed that salvation alone would have an impacting change on societies and bring about transformation, but it is obvious in the case of El Salvador, with Evangelical churches on every corner that although individual lives are rescued, society in general has not been transformed or restored. Liberals believe that through social action and intervention society can be transformed, but this has been a failure as well. In order to realize the rescue and transformation of gang members, it will require the church to acknowledge it is God’s will to forgive all men and direct them in following his path and will. By turning from evil ways and following God, His forgiveness begins restoring and heaingl the society (Moffitt 2005). J. Todd Billings agrees and says, “Redemption restores God’s good creation (Billings 2018). The church’s responsibility is to be an advocate for those who are suffering due to injustice in a broken world. (DeLonn Rance, email to author, February 16, 2018)

Conclusion

The surprising aberration is that gangs do not see the church as an opposing force. The church is looked upon with a great deal of respect. Gang members who were surveyed about the possibility of rehabilitation, chose the church 58.6 per cent over government institutions with only 9.8 per cent (Cruz et al. 2017, 69). The gang member sees the church as a refuge, with less discrimination, and more willing to look at their soul rather than their tattoos and baggage. It is an interesting phenomenon that Satan, rather than breeding hatred or antagonism in the gangs against the church, has instead chosen to use the violence and chaos fomented by the gangs to breed fear and abhorrence in the church towards the gangs. It is obvious from the field research the church sees the gangs as an opposing spiritual force that is difficult to be reckoned with.

“Because the gospel is a message of hope, the poorest (or most violent) must see some concrete reason for hope before they can understand the gospel” (Snodderly 2018, 338). She advocates applying Ralph Winter’s missiology to an appropriate approach for the church in El Salvador, which is to lead in developing and implementing special structures to restore God’s reputation in the eyes of the gang members. Getting people reconciled to God and to His Kingdom need to go hand in hand. It is important that the church recognizes its foe and knows its strength. Winter advocates “organized good works” as opposed to simply “good works” (Snodderly 2018, 338).

A main thrust of these “good works” in El Salvador would be for the church to take advantage of the sense of hopelessness gang members feel and their favorable view of the church, and actively seek to assist them through rehabilitation and transition programs with the goal of encouraging them into leaving the violent gang lifestyle and being reinserted back into the Salvadoran society. The church holds the keys of trust and favor both with the gangs and the society in general. Founder of Maras para Cristo (Gangs for Christ), Pastor Luis Arreola sees the rescue, rehabilitation, and restoration of gang members as a spiritual work. He says that God gave the local church authority on both a spiritual and economic level to solve this issue (Brenneman 198). Most pastors or churches have the training or education to help them recognize the psychological complexities of liberating gang members from their vices and troubled pasts, and their faith, front line training, and ability to view the social issues the gang members face through the eyes of grace, redemption, and transformation, already works in their favor (Brenneman 199).

The best role for the evangelical church to play in the reconciliation and restoration of thousands of potential gang members who may desire to leave the gangs is to see the gang problem as an evangelical church problem, one for them to solve. Friar José María Morataya said of the gang problem, “The church cannot respond as a church! The problem is with society and only by responding as a society can we begin to address this issue” (Brenneman, 189). This may be true, but so far, no one within the Salvadoran society has come forward to take the lead. This is the Evangelical church’s opportunity to be instruments of transformation through shalom and the gospel of peace as mentioned in Ephesians 6. The Evangelical who truly believes in the mercy and grace of God believes that all things are forgiven, forgotten, and God allows each one to start anew. The fulfillment of the mission of the church by “reaching the least” of these will only be possible through the conquest of fear and willingness to engage spiritually in the one-sided battle for gang members’ soul and life.

References

Asambleas de Dios El Salvador, Comité Ejecutivo. 2018. Interview by author, San Salvador, El Salvador. October 11.

Beltran Luna, Jorge. 2018. La trágica historia del pastor que fue asesinado por sacar a jóvenes de las pandillas. El Diario de Hoy, San Salvador, July 21.  https://www.elsalvador.com/noticias/nacional/pastor-fue-asesinado-por-sacar-a-jovenes-de-las-pandillas/502459/2018/.

Billings, J. Todd. 2018. The New View of Heaven is Too Small. Christianity Today, February 16.

Boland, Roy. 2001. Customs and Cultures of El Salvador. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group.

Brenneman, Robert. 2012. Homies and Hermanos: God and Gangs in Central America. New York: Oxford University Press.

______. 2014. Wrestling with the Devil: Conversion and Exit from Central American Gangs. Latin America Research Review: 115-16. https://lasa.international.pitt.edu/LARR/prot/fulltext/vol49noSI/49-SI_112-128_Brenneman.pdf.

Campos, Francisco. 2019. Pandilleros dejan escrito “No pagó la renta MS-13 en escena de homicidio de sacerdote. El Diario de Hoy, May 18.

Cruz, José Miguel, Jonathan Rose, Luis Enrique Amaya, and Yulia Vorbyeva, 2017. “La nueva cara de la las pandillas callejeras: El fenómeno de las pandillas en El Salvador.” Paper presented at the Office of International Affairs of the Narcotics and Law Application Center of the US. Department of State, Washington, D.C., March 22.

d’Aubuisson, Juan José. 2017. Ver, Oír y Callar: Un Año Con La Mara Salvatrucha 13. Mexico City: Surplus Ediciones S de RI. De CV.

Editor. 2016. “Las pandillas controlan la educación en El Salvador.” Notiamerica (April 25).

Editor. 2018a. “Life Under Gang Rule in El Salvador.” International Crisis Group (November 26).

Editor. 2018b. “Nuevas formas de trabajo infantil.” Organización International de Trabajo.

Editor. 2019. Asesinan dentro del templo a joven miembro de Iglesia EDC Filadelfia AD en Santa Ana. La Prensa Cristiana, San Salvador, May 24.          

Glader, Paul. 2015. Christianity is growing rapidly in El Salvador along with gang violence and murder rates. Washington Post, April 8.

Gonzalez, Rafael. 2019. Interview by author, Santa Ana, El Salvador. January 29.

Gonzalez Silva, Eduardo. 2019. “El Salvador, Guatemala y Honduras, el triángulo de la muerte Sin tanto rollo.” Mexicampo (16 October). Accessed October 17, 2019. https://www.mexicampo.com.mx/el-salvador-guatemala-y-honduras-el-triangulo-de-la-muerte/.

Hernandez, Francisco. 2019. 110 Pandilleros se infiltraron en la Fuerza Armada en últimos cuatro años. La Prensa Gráfica, July 22.

Holmes, Steven. 1995. Large Increase in Deportations Occurred in '95. New York Times, December 28.

Luna, Oscar. 2018. “Radiografía de un sistema educativo en ruinas.” Elfaro.net(January).  Accessed June 22, 2019. http://escuelas.elfaro.net/post/radiografia-de-un-sistema-educativo-en-ruinas.

Martinez, Sofia. 2018. “Life Under Gang Rule in El Salvador.” International Crisis Group (26  November). Accessed October 17, 2019. https://www.crisisgroup.org/latin-america-caribbean/central-america/el-salvador/life-under-gang-rule-el-salvador.

Maslin, Sarah. 2018. “Can Religion solve El Salvador's gang problem?” The Economist (April/May).

McKinney, Cara. 2015. “Twelve Years a Terror: U.S. Impact in the 12-Year Civil War in El  Salvador.” International ResearchScape Journal: An Undergraduate Student Journal 2, no. 5 (January).

Moffitt, Robert. 2005. Transformation: Dream or Reality? Evangelical Missions Quarterly (October).

Molina, Thabata. 2015. “Pandilleros de El Salvador superan en número a efectivos de seguridad.” Panam Post (October 28). Accessed October 17, 2019.  https://es.panampost.com/thabata-molina/2015/10/23/pandilleros-de-el-salvador-superan-ennumero-a-efectivos-de-seguridad/

Orantes, Diana. 2019. “Los árabes son una raza, musulmán es el que acepta el islam”. El Diario de Hoy, September 21.

Peñate, Susan. 2018. Deserción escolar ronda los 13,000 estudiantes. La Prensa Gráfica, July 22.

Pendleton, Karen. 2015. “Blondes and Redheads in El Salvador Are Dyeing Their Hair Black for an Absolutely Disturbing Reason.” Independent Journal Review (June 22).

Snodderly, Beth. 2018. “A Conversation with Ralph Winter About Missions in a Secular Society.” Ralph D. Winter Research Center. November 27.  https://www.rdwresearchcenter.org/single-post/2018/11/27/A-Conversation-with-Ralph- D-Winter-about-Missions-in-a-Secular-Society

Vargas de Quintanilla, Eva. 2019. Interview by author, Santa Ana, El Salvador. May 25.

Vasquez, Manuel. 2003. “Saving Souls Transnationally: Pentecostalism and Gangs in El  Salvador and the United States.” Research Gate Publication. Accessed July 2, 2019. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242389987_Saving_Souls_Transnationally_Pentecostalism_and_Gangs_in_El_Salvador_and_the_United_States.

Wolseth, Jon. 2011. Jesus and the Gang. Tucson: University of Arizona.

______. 2019. Interview by author, Ahuachapan, El Salvador. March 14.