Hey Family and friends! I hope you are all doing great! I am doing awesome here in San Salvador! I love every second and I’m trying to soak in all of Gods teachings for me while I’m here. El Salvador is much more Americanized that I expected! I still have around two months here with my team but it feels like its going by way to fast. So when we first arrived here we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. But during our four weeks here father God has opened doors to relationships, ministry opportunities, and opportunities to change peoples lives. My team and I live at an awesome place called WIRED. And Wired is a ministry that brings in missionaries to help with the community and churches. And most of the staff here at Wired speak English, they also have really cool interns here that we have come to be great friends with! So the ministries we help with are really fun! We go help at an after school program to teach English. Also we help out the football team Wired started for deported men from the states! And we will occasionally go help clean churches, and paint homes.
My team mates are amazing people that I have come to care for, love, respect, and enjoy more than I could have imagined or expected. Before I explain the ups and downs of this month I will go into more detail of how I feel about my team and how I felt before launch. Before leaving for the world race I started to prepare my mind, and heart that I’m leaving home . One of the reasons I came to the World Race was to learn to learn how to love more extravagantly and live a selfless life I am leaving to be selfless, I want to serve the people with one mindset. Becoming the man My Father God has in store for me. So leaving home came with leaving my bad tendencies and gaining the good ones God wants for me. Father God has taken what I thought I knew and flip it up side down. I’ve learned God knows me better than I know myself. I love each person on my team more than I ever imagined! Christian is my best friend, he is the older brother I have been praying for. We get along great, have great conversations that are motivating, and joke around like I would want in a brother. Riley is somebody that plays a big role in my world race life. Whenever I might be thinking about something to much, or when I feel down Rye is right there helping me out, I enjoy when we hang out because I never know if we are going down the humorous laughing historically road, or a conversation that removes some stress. Taylor is just this bundle of joy that I love to have around! She is so funny with out knowing it and God has blessed her with a spiritual gift that she uses in her day to day life. Maggie is epic, her personality is something that we all need in this team. She is the emotional one in the group, which is a good thing. She reminds me to stop what I’m doing and focus on how I feel, again something I need. And Finally Merrell! Merrell is a natural leader, she is smart but still a huge goof ball just like Taylor. I feel like Merrell is a spiritual gold mining machine. She only takes the gold God has for her, while she throws away the dirt and rough rocks that try to find there way to her. I love each and every one of these people like crazy!
We all have our ups and downs but each of our personalities help balance each other out spiritually and mentally. And small struggles on the race are amusing, random, and odd at times. Like not enough peanut butter, shoving six or seven people in a 4 person car, nothing but eggs to eat, slow missionary days, no coffee and not enough sugar.
So for our first three months we are here in San Salvador the capitol of El Salvador. Just in El Salvador there is around 6.34 million people so this small country is incredibly over populated! San Salvador in a huge city and the people are amazing. Mainly everybody is friendly and being polite and having common curtesy is important. Something that I didn’t think that I would see was when we had went to get gas, there where workers ready to pump your gas clean your windows and check your tires for air. Also when we go shopping the workers that bag the groceries walk your bags to the exit and wait for you to get them on your way out. And when we go to a public place any body that can speak English will come up to us and try to practice their English or just say hello. The food here is amazing! But over all it is similar to Mexican food. Pizza Hut, Mr. Donut, and Coca Cola are really popular here. These three are consumed daily by almost everybody here. Or at least that’s what it feels like! Pizza hut has motorcyclists that delver pizza that you will see almost five every thirty seconds. Mr. donut is a really good donut shop that makes the best donuts I’ve ever had. And the line always consists of fifty people, and the drive through has so many cars it exits the drive way blocked a line in the street. And Coca Cola is like water here, you can get it anywhere for really cheap.
Over all I am in love with this country, its people, its food, and its beauty. I sorry for the lack of blogs I I’ll be posting more soon! Keep my team and I in prayer for unity, safety, and health! Also please help me serve the people that need it most by funding me in this trip!
