$6,661.68 raised so far!
Only $7,638.32 to go until I’m fully funded!
I cannot even express how much I adore the country of El Salvador. We have had the privildge of going to several different cities to various churches, in which we have gotten to see the beautiful countryside here. I am currently living and doing ministry in San Salvador, which is the captiol, so it is a rather largly developed city. I love love love this city! It has life bursting out of all its seams. There are so many fun and entertaining things to do here, the history is rich, architecture is breathtaking, and the people here are so friendly and proud of their country.
This city does have a lot of perks for World Racers, inculding many fast food chains like Wendys and Burger King, Malls everywhere filled with cool shops, nicer resteraunts including Chili’s, TGIFridays, Tony Romas and more, supermarkets on every corner that are stocked full of coke and peanut butter, and even Pupuserias covering the sidewalks! Don’t know what a Pupuseria is? Well that is a shame. It is a place here where they make a special type of food that are an El Salvadorian classic called Pupusas. These are a corn tortilla that is stuffed with cheese, pork, shrimp or beans. Some places even have this stuff called Laroco which is a yummy green filling in the pupusas. [Don’t comment asking what the green stuff actually is, because I honestly have no idea. I just know that you can only find a Laroco Pupusa in El Salvador and it is very, very tasty.] But the best part about Pupusas is that you eat them with your hands, after you see the woman make it for you on the street right in front of you, and then you only have to pay her 40 CENTS per pupusa! SERIOUSLY! So, 3 pupusas make a great meal and including a can of coke your total will be about $1.70! Man, I love El Salvador.
The main ministry that we have been working with here in San Salvador is Teen Challenge. They are a world wide Christian organization that helps people with drug and alcohol addictions. This particular one here is only men, but men of all ages. Ranging from just 16yrs old to…well, older. ;] We have been participating in their night services and have enjoyed worshipping with them. We have gotten to tell them about World Race, shared some testimonies with them, but more importantly we have been able to talk to them about what God is doing in their lives.
The other night I was so blessed to share my testimony with the wonderful men of Teen Challenge. I had earlier prepared a ncie little themed story and verse that I was going to speak about. It was okay I guess, but it didn’t involve much personal sharing (because everyone knows I hate being vulnerable and trusting others) nor did it really come from God since I hadn’t even thought to ask Him what He thought I should say. So we get to the center and we sit down, and I am preparing to go up there right after Brooks prayed. For some reason I flipped open my bible and turned right to
Deuteronomy 31:8 (NLT) Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.
and I just knew that I was supposed to use that verse instead. This verse did not go with my original theme, ya know. So I had to just trust that God knew what He was doing. Have you ever prayed for God to just take over your speech? That you want His words to be said and not your own? Well, that really happened to me! God knew what those men in that room needed to hear, and it wasn’t something fake or ingenuine like I had originally intended. They needed to hear that they were not forgotten, forsaken, abandoned or failed. God was and is always pursuing them. God never left them, and He loves them so much. But really, I think I needed to hear that just as much, if not more.
Dear God,
Thank you for being so good to us.
Thank you for never leaving or forgetting us.
Thank you for always been faithful, even when we are not.
Thank you for speaking through us and using us to bring You glory, even when we don’t realize it.
Thank you for loving us just as we are.
Thank you for pursuing us.
Thank you, God.
Amen.
