Travel Troubles
When
our team arrived in Guatemala City after our long day of tearful goodbyes, we
were expecting to load up on a TICA bus for our 2-day journey. We met up with
two other World Race teams there who had been doing ministry in other parts of
Guatemala for the month. Within minutes we realized that our bus to San
Salvador (the first leg), was full and that even the other team had not made it
on the bus. They had plans of taking some sort of “chicken bus” though. Pretty
soon we discovered that even the second bus was full and that option was gone.
Option number three was to return to LIFE for the night and come back the next
day and try again (and just be a day late or so to our next ministry). Of
course this option seemed the worst of all because emotionally we didn’t think
we could handle another set of goodbyes. Fortunately, there was an option 4.
To make a long story short, we
decided to stay the night in a small hostel that was connected to the TICA
station next door. When we went to check on availability though, there was only
one room available for the 7 of us. The room fit two twin beds pushed together
and then walking room and two sides of the beds. The whole situation seemed
like a joke, but it was honestly so funny and ironic that we didn’t even care!
It was kind of fun imagining how we were all going to get any sleep that night
with 7 huge packs, even more gear, and of course our own bodies all piled up in
the room!
Staying
the night at the small hostel ended up being a huge blessing. We were all
exhausted and emotionally drained, so having a night to relax and recuperate
was needed. There was a small common room outside which we camped out in for
the rest of the day. The internet connection was great (and free!) so we were
able to chat with our families. There was even a Dominos Pizza across the
street, so we had a little American food to enjoy after our month of rice and
beans J
The sleeping situation ended up working out with some people sleeping in the
hall and one of our guys staying up most of the night looking out for us.
We
decided to take the early morning bus the next day in hopes of having some time
to explore San Salvador while we were passing through. We had plans to stay
with a college friend of mine (who is doing missions with Campus Crusade) for
the night in San Salvador, but we were having trouble contacting him and we
knew he was going to be busy till later in the day anyways. We wanted to hang
out and see the city a bit, but we didn’t know what we were going to do with
our bags or where we would even go. (Not to mention the fact that we had heard
San Sal was very unsafe…) Fortunately, there was a more amazing plan already
set out for us, than we could have imagined.
When
we arrived at the TICA station in San Sal, we found yet another one of the
World Race teams on our squad there! They had been doing work in the city for
the month and were leaving for Honduras. They introduced us to their ministry
contact, Oscar, who is the coolest guy, and works for a ministry called Teen
Challenge. He was so gracious and offered to store our bags for the day and
take us around to eat and see some of the city. It just so happens that he even
knew my friend Taylor, who we were supposed to stay with, and said he could get
a truck to take us and all our bags to his place later!! What are the odds
right?
A
couple taxis later we dropped off our bags at some church, grabbed a local bus,
and were at the mall. We hung out there for a while, ate lunch, and then met
some Teen Challenge staff who picked us up in their truck and took us to the
ministry site. There we got to wander around and learn more about their heart
for the teens and their mission in El Salvador. We talked for a while with
their cook, who shared his awesome testimony about life under bondage of drugs,
alcohol, and prison time and the grace and peace he found when he surrendered
it all to the Lord. He actually lived in California for most of his life but
was deported back to El Salvador after years of trouble with the law.
We
were having a tough time getting in contact with Taylor later to meet up with
him and our phone wasn’t working. Oscar was driving us around to find internet
so that I could leave Taylor a message, when Taylor called Oscar’s phone!
Within the hour, I was looking at one of my best friends from college face to
face in the middle of El Salvador. J Him and his team
blessed us so much that night. Their “Abuelita” cooked us an amazing dinner, we
played games, shared testimonies and stories, and even got hot showers! They
even blessed us with their own snacks so that we would have food for our next
12-hour bus ride to Nicaragua.
(Tay and I finally reunited!)
The
whole experience with our travel troubles ended up being the best thing that
could have happened. It was so awesome to see the whole team have such a good
attitude about the whole ordeal. The situation was beyond our control and not
how we had planned it, but everything turned out so much better than we could
have asked for. We had time to rest, saw several teams on our squad (at the bus
stations), met an awesome ministry contact in El Salvador and learned about
Teen Challenge, spent time with one of my close friends from home, and were
blessed with free food, lodging, and great company. There are hardly words to
describe how happy I felt, even after 3 days of travel and little sleep. I was
encouraged, uplifted, and more in love with God for his protective hand in our
travels. Things could have gone so differently for us if we would have followed
our own plan, but God had something even better and more special for us.
Thank you for all your prayers throughout our time of
travel. They were more than answered.
