Every Tuesday, we ditch the hustle and bustle of San Salvador to do ministry in the rural farming community of Usulután. The days are long and the sweat is plentiful, but we are making memories to last a lifetime. Here is a look into what Tuesdays are like for Team Vessel of Peace in El Salvador:
We rise with the sun and load into the back of the church truck. We mentally prepare for the pain that is sure to ensue on our backsides from sitting on the wooden benches for 5-7 hours that day. We manage to cram up to 10 people back there in addition to ministry supplies. We’ve shared the space with everything from piñatas to food to bicycles.
I have a love/hate relationship with this truck.
I love that it allows open air views of our commute. I love people watching on the streets of San Salvador and animal watching on the dirt roads of Usulután. I don’t love the wind that creates crazy knots in my hair or the city smog blowing onto my face. I don’t love the lack of seatbelts as we hold on through the crazy traffic patterns (or lack thereof). Despite the negatives, it’s usually a sweet adventure and I love the authentic experience!
Speaking of adventure, we never really know all of what’s in store for the day.
Sometimes our host will pick up a hitchhiker and give them a lift down the road. I choose to see this as serving people as Jesus would!
P.S. All of our parents need not freak out. We’re fine. 🙂
Sometimes we pull over on the side of a bridge so we can stretch our legs and take in the enchanting views of the nearby river.
We even stopped at a shrimp farm one morning. It was beautiful!
Traffic jams are a given. They look pretty different from San Salvador, where we are locked between cars, and Usulután, where livestock have the right of way.
One of the best surprises on our Tuesday commute has to do with coconuts! Whether it’s stopping at a roadside stand for coconut water or getting one fresh off the tree, I’m always up for the coco!
Our partner church has planted a daughter church in Usulután. We have been evangelizing and preaching during our time there this month, but as I said, we don’t always know what the schedule is.
One day, the pastors drove around and invited people to the service we would be hosting later that day. When we stopped at a house, I wasn’t sure what the plan was (language barriers, gotta love ’em). Next thing I know, I was being asked if I like coconut water.
“¡Claro que si!” I replied.
I turned my head to see a teenage boy climbing to the top of one of the many nearby coconut trees, machete in hand. From thirty feet above, he chopped down our mid morning snack.
Now this brought whole new meaning to the idea of fresh fruit.
I promise, we actually do ministry every Tuesday. We start by visiting local schools to evangelize and invite the students to the afternoon service. There are usually five to ten kids waiting at the modest church building when we arrive. The congregation grows to about 25 kids by the time we start singing together. They are so full of life and their joy is contagious. They teach me more than I could ever teach them.
After ministry, we hop back into the truck and make our way home to San Salvador.
Our Tuesday commute has given me so much. It’s been full of serendipitous encounters that I hoped the World Race would provide me. It’s shown me a different side of God’s creation.
It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that we only have one more Tuesday in El Salvador. It makes me appreciate the big and small of the race so far.
Love always,
McKenzie
