History of the Church of Christ Ahuachapán Downtown
-By: Rolando Artero.
The Church of Christ in the city of Ahuachapán Centro, El Salvador (formerly known as Colonia IVU), began on Wednesday, April 23, 2003, as part of an evangelistic project called "Misión Occidente" of the Churches of Christ in the western region of El Salvador. It started with approximately 15 members with whom the church began its work, and gradually the membership started to increase, leading to the need for a larger space for worship services.
Although our dream was to acquire our own building, we couldn't afford it, so we had to search for a rental space. A few months later, the church moved to a location on the main street of Colonia IVU, where we had the opportunity to grow not only in members but also in activities that helped us mature as Christians in our faith. The rented space had rooms for children's classes, a main hall for meetings, and other ministries. By June of the same year, the church had a facility that met the most essential aspects of worship and accommodated the growing number of members. As the number of brothers and sisters grew, more ministries were established within the church.
Some of the initial ministries with which the church started included evangelism, worship leading, children's classes, preaching, evangelistic campaigns, and benevolence. By the year 2009, the church had approximately over 60 active members, including youth and adults, and around 20 children and teenagers, making an average of over 80 people.
One of our first meetings
Rented venue in IVU neighborhood
Worship service.
From 2003 to 2012, the church in this locality was known as "Church of Christ in IVU Neighborhood." However, in early September 2012, we moved to a new location in the city center. This allowed us to expand our fellowship and preaching of the word of God, reaching many more people, and we began to be known as the Church of Christ in downtown Ahuachapán. We grew in membership as well as ministries, developing worship services, training for servants, classes for children, preteens, and youth, visitation ministry, benevolence, and communion, preaching to other congregations, among many others. A couple of years later, we moved to another nearby location, where we stayed for a good while.
In the year 2020, we were hit by a pandemic and faced strong difficulties. However, we saw the hand of God in the plans we had as a congregation from the beginning. We were given the opportunity to acquire land for the church, and after some searching, we found the place. With the help of some brothers and the committed congregation, we acquired the land during the height of the pandemic, something impossible for the difficult times that were being experienced.
"The congregation gathered in our previous buildings.
In May 2021, we began gathering on the church premises. A temporary shelter was erected, and the membership began to experience the blessing of meeting in our own place. The church organized itself, and from that moment, weekly contributions started to be made to gather funds for construction. This fund has allowed us so far to build restrooms, install electricity, and raise a temporary shelter. There is still much more to build, and we are grateful for the effort made by families, brothers and sisters, and other congregations to help in the work of this place.
There is still a lot to be done, but we are doing our best, knowing that with God's help, we will fulfill the dream of constructing our meeting building. Blessings to all!
Current group of servers at the Church of Christ.
One of our first gatherings on the church grounds.