This December we are living and serving in San Salvador, El Salvador: the capital and most populous city of the country. Climate and temperatures are always warm, late 60’s-70’s in December, and the currency is the US dollar. San Salvador reminds me a lot of California. There is a beach an hour away. Mountains and inactive volcanoes surround the city creating beautiful scenery from a distance. Like every country, however, El Salvador also comes with history that causes inequality and brokenness within the homes and communities of their citizens. Back in the 70’s-90’s there was a civil war between the government, it’s people and gangs. These gangs created child soldiers and terror in the country. Nowadays, the gangs still exist and are prevalent, but not as unsafe as it used to be since the war is over. Unfortunately, gangs still run the streets and use children today to do their work such as delivering drugs, weapons or other tasks. Many children are also abandoned by families left to orphanages or many of these children are arrested and end up in a juvenile prison. However, these orphanages and prisons may actually be safer than the kids being out on the street with the gangs. Thankfully there is a God who sees them, and still has a plan for these kids.
This month we are partnered with a ministry called Sus Hijos – “His Children” in English. The “His” is referencing God’s children. It is an NGO- nonprofit ministry created to serve the orphaned and abandoned children in El Salvador. The goal of Sus Hijos is to show children in many government centers, orphanages and teen prisons that there are people and there is a God who loves them and cares about their future. They do this by spending time with them on a weekly basis, teaching them about Jesus, as well as providing life skills such as work skills, health skills, english, and more. This non profit also has a plan for children who are aging out of the centers and who have nowhere to go- except the streets. They began a program that helps them with housing, security, employment and education through the “Transition House Program” which accommodates teenage boys and girls for two years. This nonprofit also has a restaurant program called States Diner to provide training and real life job skills for the children to work at and receive a paycheck. I have yet to check it out, but I heard the food is American food from the “States.” This nonprofit also builds concrete forever homes and temporary wood homes for families so that they can stay together and safe.
It’s an amazing organization and twice a day throughout the week we go to a different center to visit these children:
Monday am – orphanage for children with special needs ; pm- orphanage for teen moms
Tuesday am- work with older teens in the Transitional Housing Program both am and pm
Wednesday am – orphanage for adults with special needs; pm – orphanage for boys
Thursday am – juvenile prison for teenage girls separated by one gang ; pm- same juvenile prison for teenage girls but visiting the other side from the other gang (if girls are from separate gangs are together, then there will be problems, so they separate them to reduce problems).
Friday am – juvenile prison for teenage boys separated by one gang; pm – same juvenile prison for teenage boys but visiting the other side from the other gang.
Our first week last week we were visiting each center with two awesome men who work for the program: Erik and Stanley. They are the ones who visit the centers and spend time with the kiddos each day. We got to go with them to meet the kids, and get our foot in the door to hang out with the kids. So far, my favorite experience was visiting the juvenile prison for teenage girls. I was a bit nervous at first, since I’ve never been to a prison before, but once I walked in and looked at these girls – I complete forgot I was even in a prison. It’s not like they were locked behind bars or wearing prison clothes. They were out in the open, walking around, dressed in stylish clothes, and just being girls. I actually forgot I was in a prison throughout the time I was there. Erik and Stanley gave us the floor so that we can share with them.
So we first started out by showing them a one dollar bill. We asked them what is this worth? One dollar. What if we were to crumble it up, tear its edges up and stomp the dollar on the ground and now it is dirty and ugly looking. How much is it worth? It’s still one dollar. That’s how God sees us. No matter what we have been through, who hurt us, who made us feel ugly, dirty, bad, shameful – we are still worthy, important, valued and loved by our God. When we believe that, he even makes us feel new again.
We then shared our testimonies. A testimony is a story or our life on how we eventually found God and how we got to where we are today. I shared how I was once their age, and I too was a girl who got arrested. I was fifteen. I used follow my friends and do things for their approval. My parents didn’t raise me this way, but I would smoke, drink, and even shoplifted – which is how I got arrested. I also put my self worth in boys. If they cheated on me, or hurt me, I still went back to them. I had my heart broken and shattered several times. However, I finally saw God for who he actually is and not by what society claims Him to be. I then found FREEDOM from who I was and who I am now. I’m not ashamed of my past anymore. My past doesn’t hold me hostage or hinder me from the woman I have become. However, I learned so much from those experiences, and it helps me be open to those who have or are experiencing similar situations. I didn’t go through the same exact experiences as these girls. I also had not been in prison. But somehow my story – and my teammates’ story – inspired them to be vulnerable, share their stories, their struggles to the point where they even cried. They said they were very grateful for us sharing our testimonies with them, and it gave them hope that things will get better. We got to pray for them and give them hope that their story isn’t over and there is a Father who will never abandon them, who loves them so much, and who will give them the path they are meant to walk in this life.
It was so beautiful. I don’t know what each day will look like moving forward, but being a vessel/tool to give hope to those girls already made this entire month worth it.
Please continue to pray for my team as we visit these centers, that we do the work that God wants us to do, and not just what we want to do. Please pray as we are supposed to lead a performance in front of hundreds of people for their Christmas party this Saturday (and as of now, we have no idea what we are doing). Please pray that I also will be fully funded by end of January so that I can continue to do this work the rest of the year in the next 8 months in 8 countries. I only need $5,000 left to be fully funded. This is out of $18,700. We have come a long way! Thank you so much to those who read this and to those who have already contributed to this fundraiser. You getting me here has already made a huge impact within these last few months 🙂
With so much Love, Jasmine
P.S. We cannot take photos of the children we serve with to protect and respect their privacy, so here are some pictures of El Salvador. 
