MISSIONARY SHOT IN NECK VALENCIA MAN WAS AIDING EL SALVADOR'S POOR.Byline: ALEX DOBUZINSKIS Staff Writer The missionary Missionary Aubrey, Father converts savages to Christianity. [Fr. Lit.: Atala] Boniface, St. missionary to the German infidels in 8th century. [Christian Hagiog.: Brewster, 271] Davidson, Rev. was in El Salvador El Salvador (ĕl sälväthōr`), officially Republic of El Salvador, republic (2005 est. pop. 6,705,000), 8,260 sq mi (21,393 sq km), Central America. , giving his time to help the poor. In return, Peter DeSoto, 32, suffered a gunshot to the neck last month in a mysterious surprise attack. But the married father of four from Valencia remains dedicated to the people of rural El Salvador, asking on a Web log that people pray for the people of Abelines, the poverty-stricken town near where he was shot. ``He's recovering well physically, but it will take some time to recover emotionally, but his spirits are really high,'' said Larry Kasper, director of the U.S. office of ENLACE, the Christian group for which DeSoto was working. ``He's a great guy and a very talented individual,'' Kasper said, adding that DeSoto left a lucrative career when he moved to El Salvador more than two years ago. DeSoto was released from a hospital in El Salvador on Wednesday, friends said. He is with Copper Hill Community Church in Valencia, which has a picture of the DeSoto family atop its Web site. ``Peter, he's one of my best friends, and I just love the guy,'' said the Rev. John Allard, assistant pastor An assistant pastor is a position which assists the pastor in a Christian church. The qualifications, responsibilities and duties vary depending on church and denomination. at the church. ``He's a guy who really trusts God. He's the sort of guy where if you were in a foxhole, you would want Peter next to you because Peter knows God.'' According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. an online account from fellow missionary Dave McGee, De- Soto was shot Jan.18 as he and other ENLACE workers were traveling on a dirt road dirt road n (US) → camino sin firme dirt road n → chemin non macadamisé or non revêtu dirt road dirt n after leaving Abelines. A masked A state of being disabled or cut off. man approached their vehicle and opened fire, striking DeSoto in the neck with a .22-caliber bullet and shattering a couple of windows. With the help of the U.S. Embassy, a Salvadoran military helicopter flew DeSoto to El Salvador's capital city for medical treatment. Hours before the shooting, DeSoto was in Abelines talking on video about a project to build a medical clinic there. The motive for the shooting was unclear, but it might have been a robbery attempt or a gang initiation, Allard said. At RunningOnWater.com, the De- Soto family's blog blog, short for web log, an online, regularly updated journal or newsletter that is readily accessible to the general public by virtue of being posted on a website. about their experience in El Salvador, Peter DeSoto asked that people, ``pray for the community of Abelines, where I was shot.'' ``They have met a couple of times as a church and community since the incident,'' he wrote. ``They feel ashamed that this would happen to me in their community.'' |
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