I made it to El Salvador!
I have officially lived in El Salvador for five days! Saying that doesn’t feel real! I don’t think it’s truly hit me that I am on this trip, for nine months, serving God, and living with my team. My new life and home are absolutely beautiful! I am living in a small tourist surfer town on the coast. The locals are so nice and inviting! We are staying at the location of the church my team and I are working with, which is only a 3 minute walk to the beach! Our ministry host is amazing and quickly became the team’s favorite person. We have been so blessed to work with her, her family, and their church for the next 3 months.
All that sounds super amazing and fun, right? Well don’t get me wrong, it is amazing, but there have been hard moments! There have been moments of wanting to go home, wondering if I’m insane for going on this trip, and thanking God that He brought me to this place. The first day, we found out we were not living in the orphanage or even working with them like we thought. I felt super disappointed and confused as to why we were here. Then, the first morning I was completely overwhelmed by being in El Salvador; I was ready to go home no matter what it took. But instead of freaking out and overreacting like I usually do, I gave it to God. I knew from that moment that I could NOT go through this race without His strength and I need Him. So from the first morning, I have been praying for God’s strength, joy, and peace to come; He has not failed to do so. I’m not saying there won’t be more moments of disappointment, being homesick, or doubting myself for being here, but now I know where my source of strength and comfort come from.
Like I previously said, our ministry does not look like what any of my team thought. We were expecting to be busy all day, everyday and only getting breaks on our off days. It is not like that! My team and I have a lot of down time throughout the day. We have a few tasks to complete this month(weeding and painting), visit the orphanage on Fridays, and help at church on Saturdays. Other than that, we are free! Many people would see that as a good thing, so we could go explore the land and do whatever we want. For racers on their first month of their adventure, it’s terrible! We almost feel useless and doubting why we are even here. My team and I have decided to look at our downtime as a blessing though. During this month, we will seek the Lord more and become closer as a team. God has obviously given us a month like this for a reason and we will not take it for granted!
Overall, I feel incredibly blessed by God to be living in such a gorgeous country with my team and doing ministry with a fabulous host! I am excited to update you more on how God is working in my life! But for now, this is it!
ALSO – I am making videos about my adventures while on the race, especially while I’m in El Salvador! Look out for those whenever they come. The wifi here is not the best and videos take forever to load so have patience. (:
Much love,
Bailey
