These past 7 months have been very discouraging.
As you all know, I came to El Salvador to help the music school that I started last July. However, when I came, the music school didn’t start. So I tried starting my own music school in another city. The first month I had ten students, but two months later I only had one. I also tried starting a women’s bible study but no one showed up. In six months, I led worship in church only twice. I taught English at a local school to misbehaved students that didn’t care if I showed up or not.
After six months, I felt like quitting. Everything I tried to do, failed. I felt like I had no purpose in being here. What good was I doing here in El Salvador? I wanted to pack my bags and go home.
But I didn’t leave. I stayed. Prayed. And continued to seek God. And now My life has changed overnight.
In July, just six months after living here, I got married to a wonderful man of God and we moved into our house in Apastepeque. After getting married, the church plant we had been working with finally had their first Sunday service! A few weeks later, the pastor asked me to be in charge of leading worship for the church. I was ecstatic! I am able to lead worship every Friday and Sunday. I also have begun training other youth in the church to be apart of the worship band. The music school I started is growing and one of my students was able to play in church last week!
The pastor also asked Victor and I to lead a discipleship training every Saturday for the leaders of the church. Victor and I have been so honored to mentor the youth of the church and teach them about baptism, leadership, and evangelism. We are going to have our first baptism service this month!
Last month I started a girl’s night at my house. This past Monday I used a scripture recipe that the Canadian missionary, Carie, gave me to bake cookies with the girls (send me an email if your interested in the recipe). Eleven girls ended up coming! This has really been an answer to prayer. Last week I was able to share my testimony with them (in Spanish 
). I wanted to be vulnerable with them and allow them to feel like they could come to me at anytime. The girls seem to really enjoy this time together and I enjoy being able to make new friendships.
Also, I am very happy to announce that Victor and I will be hosting our first World Race team this October! This is a whole new journey for us. Before we got married, we dreamed of hosting teams and doing evangelism in El Salvador. Now our dream is finally coming true. I am a bit terrified about cooking for eight people instead of just two. But I’ll be a professional after October. Right now we are in the process of scheduling ministry for the team and preparing lodging. I am so excited and nervous. I pray that we can be a blessing to them and they can be a blessing to the ministry here in Apastepeque.
I think that many times when we follow God’s calling on our life, we must go through many failures. It is easy to become discouraged and maybe even doubt the calling that God has on our lives. I know that I doubted God’s calling and it was so hard to continue to trust that He had a plan for me. But here I am 8 months later and I can finally see parts of His plan. I can see purpose and opportunity. Finally this is starting to feel like home.
