After approximately 14 hours, we made it from Antigua, Guatemala to Santa Ana, El Salvador. I have never been more excited to see a Burger King in my entire life. As you can see, we just made ourselves at home 🙂
Meet Alberto! This is the man who loved to call me in the mornings just to say "hello. good morning," and then hang up before I had a chance to respond. We spent many days and nights learning how to communicate via google translate, although I'm still not convinced that he doesn't secretly know English. He loved to drive around the round abouts 5 or 6 times with us screaming in the back before actually making a turn. Although he was crazy and quirky and always kept us on our toes, he has such a solid heart for the Lord. He lead us all in a night of praise and worship before we left, sharing his testimony with us and washing our feet. He has such a servant heart, and I wont forget our time with his sweet family.
To say that this month required a lot of flexibility would be an understatement. I don't remember there being one day where Alberto told us our plans, and then we actually followed through with them. Like I said earlier, Alberto loved to keep us on our toes. One day Cathy and I set out on what we thought would be a 6 or 7 hour adventure to retrieve this bus. 12-13 hours later, after about 12 unplanned stops, lots of coffee, long meetings where Cathy and I sat chatting in the car, picking up Alberto's friends, riding through the pouring rain with the lovely smell of dog vomit and poo in the car, we arrived back home…
Needless to say, I'm learning what it looks like to choose joy in all situations!
We had so much fun celebrating Jenni's 23 birthday! You can't really tell, but this cake not only has purple, yellow, and pink icing, it also has soccer balls, basketballs, and flowers in case you needed any ideas for you next birthday cake.
Love our team Shekinah–ready for a night of worship with Tabernaculo Biblico Bautista.
You can't come to El Salvador and not eat Papusas. The orange soda definitely completes the combo.
Alberto loved to serve us. Sometimes I felt guilty for letting him take us to all of these wonderful places, but then I learned how much joy it brought him to just have fun with us. One of the biggest things God is constantly teaching me is to receive and be loved. Let others serve you. Its humbling, but I need it. We spent a beautiful day at these waterfalls. God revelaed His love and power in this place. If you haven't heard the story yet, click here to check out my teammate's blog to see how God literally saved her life in this place.
After 3 planned "paint days" that turned into lake days or rest days, we finally made it to the church to paint! We spent two days painting this beautiful place inside and out.
We had the honor of leading worship several nights in Santa Ana. If you're wondering about the strange piñatas clowns on the stage… so was I.
We were able to go into the streets a couple nights in Santa Ana. We took coffee, bread, cookies, and just sat and prayed with the men and women we met.
After the service on Sunday afternoons, some members of the church go to the hospital to visit sick patients and pray for them, while others go into neighborhoods to invite kids to come out to a VBS type service. We would sing songs and dance with the kids, and then someone would teach a Bible lesson.
I had the opportunity to share my testimony with these high school seniors on their last day of school.
At a soccer game in Santa Ana!
Our team worked with two other WR teams this month. Here, we are with some of the church staff outside of a prison where a few people preached and shared Jesus with the men and women inside.
Mariela-our host mom! She was/is wonderful. She loved us so well and was a blessing everyday.
One of my favorite moments was waking up to the sunrise on the beach..
"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims the work of His hands. Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge. There is no speech; there are no words; their voice is not heard. Their message has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the inhabited world. In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun. It is like a groom coming from the bridal chamber; it rejoices like an athlete running a course. It rises from one end of the heavens and circles to their other end; nothing is hidden from its heat. The instruction of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise. The precepts of the LORD are right, making the heart glad; the commandment of the LORD is radiant, making the eyes light up." Psalm 19: 1-8
One last note: I wanted to let you all know that I am officially FULLY FUNDED! Praise the Lord for this! I still have a few teammates who need support so please be praying for them and feel free to send any donations their was if you feel led. Thank you all again. See you soon 🙂
Also-If you're wondering about the title, this was the verse on braclets some of the kids from church made for us. We still haven't figured out what verse they meant to put on them, but it made for lots of laughter during our last week at the church!
