Nathan Wendt , S.J.

Finding Faith & Friendship in San Salvador

Mr. Nathan Wendt, S.J. is in the First Studies Program at Loyola University/Chicago.  Part of his Jesuit formation includes visiting other parts of the world during the summer to offer service. Nathan traveled to San Salvador in the summer of 2006 to work with Latin American Jesuits.

Summer in El Salvador was full of the gifts of faith, friendship, work and study. The greatest of these gifts that I experienced was friendship with the scholastics of the Latin American Province. Through their hospitality and joyful spirits, the other gifts unsurprisingly followed. Myself and nine other North American scholastics spent our
mornings studying Spanish at La Universidad Centroamericana, (UCA) in San Salvador. I was quite moved and invigorated by the legacy of Archbishop Oscar Romero that remains in the people of El Salvador. A visit to the place of his assassination and his tomb prompted a call within me to respond generously to the opportunities I would be given in language study. Not only do Jesuit scholastics study hard, but they also work hard at their
ministries.

For several weekends I accompanied two scholastics to the small community
of Coatepeque, where in October of 2005, the largest volcano in El Salvador, Santa Ana, erupted sending flows of boiling mud and water towards the lake that sits in its shadow. The “hot mud” destroyed many family homes. The scholastics, working
through the social development organization Fe y Alegría, help the community rebuild amidst hardship. I also assisted on a retreat with UCA students. We spent a few
days in the small northern border community of Arcatao, where we bonded with the confirmation candidates of the local Jesuit parish and learned first hand about the devastating violence of the country’s war and the hope that accompanied it which persists today. I found it to be a powerful experience of how stories retold maintain peaceful unity among people while challenging the youth to Christian leadership and service. Our days were filled with prayerful reflection exercises, good meals, and socializing. I find that community life is a key aspect of a healthy Jesuit vocation. Friendships were fostered between scholastics of Latin and North America. Living under the same roofs, and being together for meals, studies, prayer, and ministry opened up avenues to share our dreams for the Society of Jesus and the world. Every now and then we took a day away from studies and ministry to recreate together. Sometimes we would discover each other’s unconventional talents like making origami canoes or perfecting your balance in hammocks for sound napping.

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