1. Lick the top of our translator's hand.
2. Draw as my ministry.
3. Wear the same shirt four days in a row.
4. Let fish eat the dead skin off my feet.
Month two! We have been ministering in the small town of San Vicente, El Salvador, working with a local missions team called G.P.S. (Generacion Para Salvacion / Generation for Salvation). The squad is not living together this month as we were last month; we are spread across the city working with different leaders from the G.P.S. team. Our contact is Sara Romero. She is the Children's Pastor at the local church, and has been studying English and Bible theology. She is 25 years old, and native to El Salvador. Along side her is 17 year old Jose Daniel, aka "Dani", who is a very talented drummer and heart throb for the locals. Both have such a desire for the Kingdom of God, and a heart for missions. It's been an honor working with them and getting to know them.
Where ministry is concerned, this month has been a little chaotic. Some of that has stemmed from the language barrier between us and the leaders. But thank God for Alejandra, our translator; she has been such a blessing to work with. Which brings me to my first thing I thought I would never do:
1. Lick our translator's hand. I had lost a game. The consequence to that game was upon greeting our translator the next morning, I had to take her hand, lick it, and explain it was an American custom. And so… the next morning when I saw her I greeted her and gave her a loving lick on the hand, explaining it was a greeting in America. She believed me, and kind of kept a distance from me the rest of the day. Finally, she asked again and I told her it was a joke. She was a good sport and needless to say, her and I have gotten really close.
(Alejandra and I)
The team and I have been doing a lot of school ministry: teaching English, sharing dances and dramas, talking about decision making, helping the girls make bracelets, and playing soccer with the boys. Which brings me to numero 2!
2. Drawing as my ministry. God has really been laying it on my heart to start drawing again. I didn't know why, but I started listening. I began doodling in my journal, but not putting a lot of effort in them. Because of my very small knowledge of Spanish, I haven't felt that useful during our teaching times. However, one day during ministry, a teacher gave me a piece of paper and told me to draw the Animals for each letter of the alphabet. I took it and ran with it. I found my purpose in that moment, even though it was just drawing silly little animals on a white board.
Another example of using drawing as my ministry starts with a fourth grader at one of the schools we taught at, Daniela. She saw a doodle I had drawn in my journal and asked if I liked to draw. I told her yes, I did like to draw. She shyly asked if I could draw her and her friend. I couldn't turn down the chance. I began drawing her and her friend. I could hear "Oohs" and "Ahhs" from the crowd forming behind me, and words like "chivo," meaning "cool". I instantly felt like a rock star and my heart melted when the two girls saw the drawing and both liked it so much. They saw themselves as beautiful, just how the Father sees them.
(My awesome illustrations for the Alphabet)
Team R.O.A.R has also visited the old folks' home and sang worship songs over them, gave them loving hands to hold, and eager ears to listen- or at least try. We have visited the poor communities and evangelized locally. The temperature is always consistent: HOT! Hot when you wake up, hot when you shower, hot when you eat, hot when you do ministry, hot when you eat, and hot when you go to bed. It´s HOT!
3. Wear the same shirt four days In a row. With it being so hot, we're constantly sweating. Unlike our contact Sara (who changes about 3 times a day) we can't change into other clothes because of lack there of, and since we'll only sweat again it's pretty pointless. So, I wore my favorite Hurley shirt for four days. Never would I have thought that to be okay in the States.
(favorite Hurley shirt)
The missions team G.P.S. is connected with a local church where we attend services, and also where Sara pastors over the youth. Because of Sara's role in the youth, our team had the pleasuring of working with the young people and sharing our few dances/skits in their services.
At times, the chaos can be very overwhelming, and as a result our team has had issues arise. Having to get over ourselves and deal with the issues in love hasn't always come very natural or easy, but we all have a desire to grow both relationally with each other and to grow as a team. Once a week our team has a day off which we very much need. Ministry can be demanding and will drain you quickly if you don't properly rest. Which brings me to the fourth thing I thought I would never do…
4. Let fish eat the dead skin off my feet. As a team we have had the joy of going and visiting the natural springs and swimming on our first day off in El Salvador. Fish that live in the springs eat dead skin off…whatever has dead skin. Our team had a blast and came out feeling a lot cleaner.
(Day off in the fishy springs)
In other news,
Arrived in Antigua, Guatemala last night. Looking forward to ministry in Coban, Guatemala.
Thanks to everyone who has been praying and lifting our team up in prayer.
Until next time,
BAM!
BAM!
Em.
