Sister Parish

San Jose Ojos de Agua, El Salvador and St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Burien, WA USA

October 2026


Committee News

We have had our final quarterly collection for the year. Many thanks to those who have donated. If you missed our last collection, you can donate on our parish website under “Give.  Sister Parish”. Padre Eduardo plans to use the funds to pay off the remaining loan from their archdiocese for the new truck, which they purchased this January. They are also hoping to provide some funds for a young family whose baby was born with birth defects, to help with travel expenses to/from San Salvador (about a 4-hour bus ride away) to attend therapy sessions assisting with the baby’s development. These funds also go towards helping to provide extra food for the elderly and poorer families during the holiday season.  Thank you for your continued generous support and prayers for our sister parish communities!


Family to Family News

The children are completing their final trimester for their school year, ending in mid-November. They have now received new shoes, medical, dental and vision check-ups. They also will be receiving food baskets for Christmas through the program. We will be sending Christmas email greetings in December to them. Thank you for your support and prayers for these children and their families.

Below: an advertisement for the sale of tamales to raise funds for the parish truck loan


San Jose Ojos de Agua, El Salvador and St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Burien, WA USA:

Celebrating two parishes, one people of God, this program was started in 1996 to assist the villages of El Salvador in rebuilding their communities, churches and schools following a devastating civil war.  Over the years, this relationship has grown to include a reciprocal sharing of time, talents and treasures.  Our Sister Parish community includes 14 villages in the rural mountains of the district of Chalatenango.  We have one parish priest supporting these villages along with dozens of community members who assist him.

We send a delegation to visit our Sister parish every other year. On alternating years members of our Sister Parish come to Burien and visit with our parish. Many members of our parish have participated in these trips, along with many families and youth, as we travel to the villages. When we visit, we stay with kind families who graciously open their doors to us and meet with all of the children, families, and pastoral councils involved in our programs, which include music, art, dance and college scholarship programs.


Family-to-Family Program
We have an educational support program which was started in 2008 to assist families, primarily farmers, so that their children can attend local public schools. We have dozens of children and families in the program in nine villages. Cost is only $300 a year to support an entire family, purchase school uniforms and supplies, provide medical, dental and vision exams for the children and their families, along with providing nutritional supplements. Please consider participating in this exciting relationship, as the families and children enjoy being able to develop personal relationships with the families here!

We collect letters to send to the families at Christmas, along with letters and small gifts to send when the delegation visits us or when we visit them, alternating yearly. 


How do I get involved with the Sister Parish?


There are many ways to get involved and participate in this exciting and enriching ministry: we need families and individuals to sponsor children in the family-to-family program, donations to the general ministry of the many programs our Sister Parish puts on within their communities, help translating letters to and from Spanish, and help supporting our quarterly collections and special collections, which occur at times to assist with rebuilding damaged buildings and expanding parish and youth programs.. If you are interested in helping, please contact Maria Balsiger at 206-242-3837 or smjdbalsiger@msn.com. 



We publish updates in our Parish Bulletin/Newsletter (please see the latest in the above menu "Bulletin" and subscribe)



We take a collection quarterly, to support the sister parish. Your donations go directly to help with funding religious education and assorted ministries of our Sister Parish and their communities in El Salvador. We also have Sister Parish envelopes included in monthly parish collection envelopes that are sent to our parishioners by mail along with a donation link on our parish site.  Any and all donations are greatly appreciated.



Thank you to all for your support and prayers as we continue to grow as people of God.