article by KARY ELLEN BERGER | photos DEACON DON MEYER

In El Salvador, nearly 3,000 miles from Cincinnati, is a municipality called Soyapango. While few people locally have heard of it, many from that community know of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. More precisely, they know of St. John the Baptist in Harrison through a twinning relationship between the two communities.

Deacon Don Meyer was integral in making this partnership happen. When his son T.J. was a Maryknoll Lay Missioner in El Salvador, Dr. Mike Gable, Mission Office Director of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, led a mission trip to El Salvador and Honduras to visit missionaries from the archdiocese. Meyer attended not only to visit his son, but to connect with others in that country. Maryknoll Sisters shared their stories of serving in El Salvador, and Sister Terri introduced the group to the Santa Cruz parish and its pastor, Padre Luis Salazar.

“He was a young, energetic priest and we were very much attracted to him and to his parish,” said Meyer. “We decided that his parish would be a good parish to twin, considering his dynamic leadership and the … six Maryknoll nuns in the parish who could assist us in reaching out and meeting parishioners and helping us to translate.”

A few years later, St. John the Baptist committed to serving the Santa Cruz parishioners by signing a covenant between the parishes. While Deacon Meyer and others signed the covenant in El Salvador, Padre Luis and three of his parishioners signed the covenant at St. John the Baptist.

For over 20 years the twinning relationship continued—and grew. When Santa Cruz divided into two parishes in 2004, St. John the Baptist expanded the twinning relationship to include the new parish, Our Lady of Guadalupe. The two parishes’ leaders collaborated the following year to identify additional ways St. John the Baptist parishioners could support them and saw the children in Soyapango had an immediate need with their schooling.

“We had been made aware that while there is a universal public education in El Salvador, the children must wear uniforms and pay for them, and they must pay for their books and supplies” or they cannot continue in school said Deacon Meyer. “As a result, we established a scholarship program where members of St. John the Baptist [become a child’s sponsor], a ‘padrino,’ who could connect with that child and walk with them to get an education.”

Scholarship amounts were designated for children in elementary, high and trade school. Deacon Meyer shared that last year St. John the Baptist parishioners supported 150 children with $62,500.

“It is amazing to see what this support has done for these children,” reflected Meyer. “This poor parish has a greater percentage of students who have completed high school and college than the country as a whole.”

Meyer added that when going on these trips, everyone’s faith grows deeper in their relationship with God.

“One of the beautiful things about our visits, is that every evening we spend time reflecting on how we experienced God’s presence in the activity of the day,” said Meyer. “I’ll never forget what a gentleman shared with us during his first visit… ‘Our Salvadoran friends have very little, but they are very happy compared to us, who have much more, but are not quite as happy.’”

“Their faith is contagious,” continued Deacon Meyer. “We love to get together to not only celebrate Mass, but to share in their faith communities, meet with their pastoral council, get to eat, have music and fun with the children, and … visit in their community. Those in St. John the Baptist Church who have had the blessing of taking this trip have grown very close to the Salvadorans, particularly, the children that we have sponsored.”

Another trip to El Salvador is planned for February 2024.

This article appeared in the July 2023 edition of The Catholic Telegraph Magazine. For your complimentary subscription, click here.