Well, friends, here I am. I’m on the World Race! I’ve been gone for almost a month, and all of this still seems so surreal. I can’t believe that I’m actually here, living this dream that I’ve been working toward for so long. What’s even crazier to think is that my first month of ministry is over. Boom, done, one country checked off the list. We arrived in El Salvador on January 10th after a few days of training in Atlanta, and it has been an absolute whirlwind ever since. Seriously, I’d like to make a public apology for taking this long to blog. We had very spotty internet this past month, and our days were so full that I barely had time to journal, much less blog. But I would still love to share with you about all the wonderful things that I had the privilege of experiencing during my three weeks in El Salvador.
I have put together a list of the things that stand out the most, the moments that I hope to never forget. These are listed chronologically (as best as I can remember, at least), not by importance. In fact, every single moment in El Salvador was a precious gift. So to give you all a glimpse of my time in that beautiful country, I give you the Most Memorable Moments from El Salvador.
Our team with some of the church leadership
1. Being on national Salvadorean media, multiple times
This month we worked with Tabernáculo Bíblico Bautista Amigos de Israel, a megachurch with locations all across Latin America that is headquartered in San Salvador. This place was unlike any other church I have ever experienced. They have more than 10,000 people come to the Sunday services, they have services and Bible studies seven days a week, and they have their own television channel, which they use to broadcast 24 hours a day. Seriously, you can’t even wrap your mind around this place until you see it in person. Anyway, one of their traditions is to recognize visitors at their church services. And guess what? We were visitors. So every church service we attended (which actually ended up being quite a few) they announced us, had us stand, and zoomed in on our faces with their fancy TV cameras. That’s right, I was on national Salvadorean television. Be jealous. And later on in our stay they called us in for a special radio interview where they asked us all about the work we were doing as missionaries and our experiences in El Salvador. So if you happened to be listening that day, yes, that was me speaking Spanish on the radio.
Inside the Tabernáculo Central in San Salvador
2. Setting our ministry site on fire (quite literally)
Our main project for the month was to work at one of the Tabernáculo’s church plants in the city of Lourdes, just across the street from our neighborhood. (Side note: When I say “street,” what I actually mean is “Panamerican Highway.”) The church is located on an old coffee plantation with several rundown buildings, and Sunday services are actually held outdoors, as they are still in the process of building their own facility. Our specific project was to renovate a little building at the back of the property, which we lovingly called the “Casita,” and turn it into a Sunday school building for the kids. Here’s how it looked on the first day:
Clearly, it was a bit of a mess, covered in tree branches, trash, poisonous vines…ya know, everything. So our first major task was to clear out all of the leaves and vegetation, gather them into piles, and burn them. All was fine on the first day, but the second… We inadvertently set our fire on top of a giant ravine full of trash. (In our defense, we didn’t know the ravine was 12 feet deep. And like I said, there was no problem the day before.) We started the fire, went to lunch break, and got a call 15 minutes later letting us know that the property was up in flames. And turns out that the Salvadorean fire department isn’t super responsive, so it was our responsibility to put it out. That’s right, we had to run back to the ministry site and put out a giant fire. We had no water source, so our only option was to throw dirt on it. And of course we didn’t have enough shovels, so we had to gather dirt in our hands and toss it where we could. Here are some action shots:
Luckily we were able to call a water truck to put it out.
And from then on the church leadership team made fun of us for almost burning down the place. I mean, we were warned that ministry on the World Race would always look different, I just didn’t expect it to include putting out a massive fire that we started. You live and you learn, I guess.
3. Driving through the streets of San Salvador, at night, while standing in the back of a pickup truck full of strangers
Let me start by staying that riding in the back of a pickup truck is perfectly normal in Salvadorean culture. Let me also say that riding in the back of a pickup truck is one of the most liberating experiences I have ever had. We were participating in a church ministry that distributes food to the homeless in various areas of San Salvador, and all of a sudden I found myself riding in the truck, surrounded by a dozen Salvadorean church members, speaking Spanish, and driving around who-knows-where. It was awesome. I had to hold onto the metal bar things for dear life, the wind was blowing in my face, and I couldn’t stop laughing. Pure joy.
4. Receiving a prophecy from my Salvadorean host mom
My host mom Mariela was fantastic, and she and I had an instant connection. Our first week there she prophesied over me during a group worship service. This was the first time I had ever received a prophecy, and it was perfectly, incredibly spot-on. She encouraged me in my friendships, my confidence, and my future plans.
Me and Mariela
5. Climbing to the top of a volcano
Our first free day we decided to climb to the top of Volcán de Santa Ana. Now, I’m all about adventure. Generally my travel philosophy is “What will make the best story?” Well dangit, this better be a good story, because I think I left a part of my soul on that volcano. It was by far, hands-down, no question THE most physically challenging thing I have ever done in my entire life. The guide warned us before we started climbing that it would be “bastante difícil,” but really, I cannot explain to you how hard this was. I could hardly breathe the whole time, the hike took four hours total (with no break, might I add), and the last half-hour to reach the summit was in the blazing sun. So on top of almost dying, I ended up with a terrible sunburn. Seriously, my skin was the same color as the shrimp I had for dinner that night. It was terrible, it was awful. But I conquered that stupid volcano! I did it! I made it to the summit! But I never want to do it again.
At the summit with my teammates Justin and Karissa
6. Getting to hang out with my dear friend Mauri
Mauri is my Salvadorean friend whom I met almost two years ago during my semester abroad in Argentina. He lives in Argentina full-time, but by complete coincidence he is spending his summer vacation at home in El Salvador with his family. And by an even bigger coincidence, my team and I were staying in a town only twenty minutes away from his house. So praise the Lord, he and I got to hang out on numerous occasions. He joined us on our team excursion to the town of Ataco, came along to the Paseo El Carmen, invited us all over to his house for dinner and karaoke, came to my teammate Justin’s surprise birthday party, and joined us at El Tunco beach the day before we left. It was great. Now, let me clarify that being on the World Race is not about me getting to hang out with my long-lost friend. But God taught me so much about friendship, restoration, and redemption by giving me the opportunity to see Mauri, and that is something I will always cherish. Mauri, if you’re reading this, thanks for everything. It was a blast.
Me and Mauri in Ataco, El Salvador
7. Coming home to find an iguana in our living room
Yeah, that happened.
8. Seeing the Pacific Ocean for only the second time in my life
Until last month, I had only seen the Pacific Ocean briefly off the coast of Washington State. Now I can proudly say that I’ve seen it from El Salvador! How cool is that?
9. Ministering at a children’s cancer hospital
Two times the team and I were able to participate in a ministry called El Mundo de los Sueños, which grants wishes to children who cannot leave the hospital due to illness. We went to the children’s hospital, led VBS sessions, gave away toys, and prayed with the families. I’m not going to lie, I cried. But it was a great experience that showed me God’s omnipresence and how people all around the world are relying on Him as the Great Physician.
10. Giving my testimony at a church service
Week two the pastor at the church plant asked for one person from our team to prepare a testimony for the mid-week service, called the “Culto de Milagros.” We spent some time asking the Lord who should present, and (to my initial dismay) I was chosen. I spent all afternoon praying and preparing my words, and that night I had to conquer my fear of being vulnerable in front of strangers. It all went well, and I am proud of myself for doing something new. Luckily I got to present in English (shoutout to my teammate Katrina for translating), but my new goal is to give my testimony in Spanish by the end of the Race.
11. Hanging out with neighborhood kids
Our host family lived in this great little neighborhood that was full of high school kids. Lucky for us our host siblings (Cristian, Tania, David, and Danny) were a wonderful resource to reach out to the rest of the neighbors. We were able to build relationships with several of them, and one night we hosted a cookie social for everyone. These neighbors were one of those unexpected blessings that radically changed our experience in El Salvador. Please pray for their continued spiritual development.
12. Meeting precious little Jevi
Ok, so anyone who knows me knows that I adore Spanish-speaking children. I can’t really explain it, but there is something that just brings my heart joy when I hear little kids speaking the language that I am passionate about, and I absolutely love any opportunity to talk to them. God provided me a special opportunity to do just that at a church in Santa Ana, El Salvador. We had unexpectedly gone to a church service there, and as the entire auditorium cleared out, my eyes caught the gaze of this little boy across the aisle. He was all alone and wouldn’t stop staring at us crazy-looking Americans. I approached him quietly and introduced myself. “Hola, me llamo Betsy. ¿Cómo te llamas?” “Jevi,” he answered. And from that moment that little boy stole my heart. Unfortunately our group got wisked away, and I didn’t to finish my conversation with him. But just a few days later we found ourselves heading back to the church in Santa Ana, and I prayed that little Jevi would be there again. And guess what, God is good, because Jevi showed up. This time I got to talk to him more in-depth. I found out he is 11 years old. He is one of 7 children. He comes to church every day because the pastor told him to. Throughout that conversation I told him that Jesus is our best friend and that we have a family in His Kingdom. I even got to pray with him. I know that I will probably never see little Jevi again (at least here on Earth), but he will always be in my prayers. I ask that you all pray for him, too, specifically that he will trust and believe in Jesus.
Praying with Jevi
13. Finishing the casita
So while all of this other craziness was going on, we were continuing to work at the Casita almost every day. Once we recovered from the accidental fire, we actually did some pretty miraculous work on the place. We started by tearing down all the growth and vegetation inside; then we scrubbed the walls (which, by the way, included scrubbing off toxic mold); then we painted every single inch of the walls, multiple times, with homemade paint. (Personally, my favorite part was spending hours scrubbing the word “KEVIN” off of a back wall.) It took us three weeks, but we turned that place into something beautiful. And our next-to-last Sunday there, when our work was pretty much finished, we got to show the brand new Casita to the children of the congregation. Seeing their eyes light up made every moment of manual labor worth it. I love knowing that even though our group is no longer in El Salvador, our work is making a lasting impact. For a better insight into the Casita, check out this video made by my teammate Karissa and squad leader Kathryn.
So there’s my month in El Salvador in a nutshell. As we drove way from our host home on Sunday and began the trek to Guatemala, I was overwhelmed by the emotion of leaving this place behind. But I know that God had me there for a reason, no matter how brief the timeframe. As I sit here typing this in Antigua, Guatemala, preparing to head to our next ministry site tomorrow, I am praying for another month of ministry as impactful and meaningful as Month One. Praise the Lord for El Salvador, the country that bears His name.
My team and our host family on our last morning in El Salvador. Thank you, Lord for these precious people.
