So here’s my first informative blog, aren’t you excited, lol? We arrived in El Salvador last Friday night and made our way to our first ministry location. My team and one other team from our squad are staying in Apastepeque, in the mountains just outside of San Vicente. There is also one team actually in San Vicente that we see on occasion. We took some time to get settled in then attended two church services Sunday. One was an hour away and was held in a very poor community with about 15 members, the other, in San Vicente, was larger (about 50 people) and more modern. Both services were amazing, it is a joy to see the people here worship with all their hearts.
Mondays are going to be our off day, so our squad, minus one team, met at a black sand beach for a wonderful afternoon. It was wonderful to explore more of the country and spend time getting to know the rest of our squad better before we dive into the thick of ministry. Tuesday was our first day of ministry and we kind of eased into it. We got a late start due to a few issues with the plumbing and transport, but we ended up visiting a poor village about ten minutes away to prayer walk the streets. That was a great experience, and so humbling. The people live in tin houses, built recently by some humanitarians from Canada, with either concrete or dirt floors, hammocks for beds (if they have any), and no electricity. And yet, in the midst of all that, the people are so 
happy, especially the children. It doesn’t seem to bother them in the slightest what they don’t have. Later in the month we will be doing some dramas there for the kids, which I am really looking forward to.
Yesterday was much the same. We went to another village thirty minutes away which was also very poor. In this village we spent a lot more time with the people. We split into two groups and visited the houses of the villagers, volunteering to help with anything and sharing Jesus with them. My group visited two homes, one of which was that of a mother with seven children. As it turned out she was a Christian and had visited the church we are partnered with, but her daughter was not. It ended up being an amazing time of sharing the Gospel with her and fellowshipping with her mother. Manuel was not completely receptive to the Gospel yet, but I am praying that by the time we leave she will be. The second family was mostly out, but we were able to talk and pray with a 15 year old girl. She was very quiet but listened intently, and before we left she prayed with us and our host Sara. We were not with a translator, and therefore I cannot tell you how much she understood or what background she came from, but we will be visiting many times throughout the month to check on her and see how she’s doing.
That is kind of a synopsis about ministry so far, but of course, many things are going on behind the scenes. We have two amazing hosts, Sara and Victor who work with the organization Generracion de Salvacion, which has partnered with a local church in San Vicente. They cook our meals, arrange for our transport, teach us Spanish dramas, help us with our Spanish and provide any supplies we need. We have also been blessed to have our three squad leaders with us this week (we are losing them to another team today), and my teammates are amazing. I can’t wait to get to know them better and see what God does through them.
How am I doing personally? I was struggling at first, I missed my family greatly and felt lost in the middle of a crowd of 40 people, but God is so good, and through the last two days my spirit is reviving and I have had an amazing time of fellowship with Him. I just look at where I am and stand in awe. How great is our God, and how blessed are we? We get to travel the world sharing the love of Jesus. And even if it’s hard with the language barrier and culture differences, there is nothing greater in the 
world than being able to see someone’s life changed by the Savior. And while it can be frustrating when things don’t happen as fast as we would like and more time ends up being spent waiting than we’d like, it is so worth it. Thank you Father. And thank you so much for your continued prayers, they are a continued source of comfort and encouragement to me; I could not do this without all of you. Please pray that I keep my eyes on Him and never try to do anything in my own power. I can’t wait to see what God has in store and share more stories with you soon!
