There are two primary groups of people who I have been serving alongside and ministering with this past month. They are very different groups, but both are in need of God’s love; both can benefit from the gifts and talents on our teams that are working here. The way that that love is acted out though looks very different. One group would be quite puzzled by our use of English and would struggle with any manual labor we were doing, the other might be a bit surprised if we tried to change their diaper or invite them to bible study. They are two bodies in need of the same message. Surfers and babies are who I have been capturing my heart in El Salvador (but not surfing babies as delightful of an image as that it).
It is easy to understand missionaries working with kids. When our social conscience pictures a modern missionary most people conjure a picture of either Americans working at an orphanage or of them doing construction on a building such as a school. Both of these are directly connected to children. Being that I am at a children’s home here in El Salvador, in part my time here does match that picture of do good Americans spending time with kids in the developing world; but there is so much more.
Each and every moment here, 24/7, is an opportunity in the missions field to pour oneself out for these kids. Our actions must represent those of Christ, especially when our language abilities are lacking (either because us or the child is not fluent in Spanish). Most of the time when people talk about orphanages there is mention of temporal needs and how we can help fill the void created by the absence of familial love in their lives. That is all temporary. If our job here is strictly temporal then what is the point of our presence? One day they will hunger again. One day the warmth of our hugs will fade and they once again will be looking for earthly affirmations.
Each day here at Remar (and the World Race as a whole) is about creating an impact which is beyond the limits of the temporal. This isn’t a philosophy lesson so I won’t get into hylomorphism (or maybe even trichotomy), as interesting as it is as an aspect of our humanness to explore, but needless to say in humans exists a soul. To change a soul is to create a lasting change which despite being immaterial is far more real than a full belly or a building project to serve a public need. Each day here is a series of opportunities to faithfully act as Jesus did, setting the stage for Him to fully capture their hearts. “And he that shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me,” Matthew 18:5.
There is no bible verse about receiving surfers, but I am fully confident that Jesus wants us to receive them too. There is a joke among the squad that my calling in ministry is twenty something gringos (Spanish slang for foreigners), which at first I denied, but it became apparent that everywhere we went where we ran into people who clearly were gringos like ourselves I nearly always engaged them in conversation. This was especially true in Antigua, Guatemala which has a huge backpacker community.
Despite not having any of them on the route, my ministry as a missionary has already reached Lithuania, Japan, Australia, Germany, Italy, Argentina, Canada, France, Switzerland, Finland, and England. Some have a call in their heart to work with the indigenous and the communities that permanently reside here, ignoring the tourists or at least not focusing on them, but I am called to, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have,” (1 Peter 3:15) and so why wouldn’t I reach out to gringos in my ministry? Plus, most of them speak English, which makes natural conversation and friendship, plus my preferred style of witnessing all the easier. I am reminded just now of a man who was an atheist and became Christian after meeting a World Race team in Africa. He went on to do the World Race himself.
There is a girl named Elly who is from Canada. She enjoys surfing, but rather than chilling all day between wave sets she felt called to do service projects with her time. She was working with another missions team who was in the area when we met her. Later that same day, while that team was evangelizing with locals one of their team members started talking to her and by the end of that afternoon she was saved. This is why we must include tourists in our ministry.
It gets better though. Elly would encourage other surfers and tourists to join her in doing service during the day. Many of them would join me on the construction team doing manual labor, giving me a great opportunity to form friendships, true international connections that did not feel like ministry but rather genuine and natural, and share my faith with them.
Elly’s story does not end there though, just this morning as the sun rose over the ocean she was baptized by one of my team mates as we all prayed over her. She was filled with so much joy at the experience of her new life in Christ. I am so excited for her when she returns home and is a light for Christ there. I encourage you all to pray for her as she continually gets stronger in her faith.
This lesson on my call to witness to the surfers and backpackers, and my experiences with them is sure to shape what the rest of my World Race, and my life as a Christian looks like. Already I have doubled the number of countries I thought I would reach this year, and I can’t wait to keep increasing that number.
This is the last chance to send me questions for my Question and Answer blog. I already have a solid bunch of questions from Facebook, but feel free to leave a question in the comments or to email me and I will add it to the blog before it is posted. They can be about life in Latin America, the ministry we have been doing, or life on the World Race in general.
Finally, please consider supporting me as I continue to work toward my next financial goal, a goal that I am slightly behind on meeting. The apostles of the early church relied on donations to spread the Gospel, and the same is true of missionaries such as myself on the modern missions frontier. Be it by clicking the support me button on the top menu to the left, sharing this blog, or saying a prayer for my fundraising, it all helps me out!
*Want to help make more moments like the one described here? Without the financial assistance of others, this trip, or any missions work for that matter, would not be possible. Paul requested the early churches to support missionaries financially (Romans 16:1-2) and in fact Jesus himself instructed those going out to witness to the world to have faith be reliant on their communities to support them (Matthew 10:5-15). I need to raise an additional $3,000 in the next two months to stay in the missions field. Please consider making a donation to support my missions work by clicking here.
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