WASHINGTON — A Baptist peacemaker in El Salvador’s 1980–1992 civil war, who for the past 18 years has ministered to fellow expatriates in the United States, is entering a new chapter as ambassador of El Salvador in Canada.
Edgar Palacios, associate pastor of Christian education at Calvary Baptist Church, Washington, said his goodbyes to the congregation at a reception at the church Aug. 28. According to MetroLatinoUSA, his appointment awaits approval by the government of Canada.
Winner of the Baptist World Alliance Denton and Janice Lotz Human Rights Award in 2012, Palacios served in the 1980s as executive director of the Permanent Committee of the National Debate for Peace in El Salvador, a nongovernmental organization that worked to stop fighting between the nation’s right-wing
military government and a coalition of left-wing groups.
During the conflict, Palacios’ life was at constant risk. In 1989 he took refuge in the German Embassy and a United Nations safe house in San Salvador after being informed that he and several other clergy members and social leaders were on a government hit list.
He came to Washington in 1998 with his wife, Amparo Lopez Palacios, who died in 2008. In addition to his Christian education duties, Palacios has served as missionary pastor for the Latino fellowship at Calvary Baptist as well as in the greater Washington area. Church leaders recently renamed the church chapel the Edgar and Amparo Palacios Chapel in recognition of their years of service. (BNG)
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