How has it been 10 days that I have been in El Salvador already!!!!! Not to mention the fact that Christmas is in 5 days as well- CRAZY!!!!!
Anyways, my team’s and I ministry this month is serving the girls at the Mi Casa children’s home here in Santa Tecla which is about 20 minutes away from the capital of San Salvador. The home is run by Bob McDonnell and his wife, and they have taken in 30 kids who range in the ages from 4 to 19 who have been rescued from some pretty messed up family home life, and have given them all of the basics of a good life, and a good education at various private schools here, as the public schools are totally unsafe. To give you an idea of just how bad the public schools are here as not only are the public schools run by gangs, but the boys will be forced into gangs if they aren’t in a gang already and the girls live in fear of getting raped at any time, and no adult can stop it from happening as the gang members know where the teachers live, and could threaten them if they interfered in anything or refused to give them grades that they didn’t earn.
During the months of November & December and into early January, the kids have their long term break, so that’s why my team is here this month. Our ministry is pretty much living daily life with them, helping with their fundraising for their education, as well as just be a source of a positive female role models for them, and show them that despite someone’s past and their struggles in life that anything is possible, and not to let the bad stuff from your past hold you back from your future.
As I mentioned above, my team and I are living 24/7 with the girls in what we have dubbed the Barbie dream house for the house is painted in various shades of pink, which for a tomboy like myself who dislikes the color, it has been a adjustment. Our day to day life varies throughout the week, but we have time set aside each day for just us as a team in both quiet time & team time. Our “days off” are Thursday & Friday with the exception of next week with Christmas being on a Tuesday which we are taking off to celebrate our American Christmas on the 25th (I’ll be writing a separate blog about spending Christmas here). Five of the six of us are sleeping in the living room, sleepover style,with 3 of us on couch while 2 others are sleeping on the floor, and the other is sleeping out in the yard in her tent. So yeah its a good thing that I got practice last month being crammed in a small room with 5 other of my squadmates to help prepare me for this month’s sleeping arrangements
So yeah, life is pretty good this month for us.
With that being said, El Salvador along with Honduras is the one of the most dangerous countries in the world today, and I am not gonna lie for I was a little worried when I picked this route because I knew that fact going in that El Salvador had a bad rep. I prayed to God about this fear, and I also remembered something that was said to me that was “worry is just lack of faith.” soon I realized that God wouldn’t have called me to a place if there wasn’t a reason no matter how dangerous it was going to be, and I knew that I would have his protection over me while I am doing his work, and that I shouldn’t be worried about the any of the countries that I am going to this year. While yes there is barbed/razor wire surrounding all the houses in this neighborhood and gang controlled streets around the street where Mi Casa is, and we don’t go out at night or travel together whenever we do go out during the day, I know that compared to a few of the teams on our squad who don’t have as much freedom that we have here, if any at all I feel so lucky to be in this ministry even if it can be challenging at times. I know that God has got my back, and that he will protect my team and I, but prayers are always appreicated.
If you want to learn more about this ministry, just google Mi Casa El Salvador, and there you can click the link to each kid’s page to learn their story as well as find out more about their mission statement.
Til next time your fellow sister in Christ,
Bonnie
Team Surrendered
P Squad
Psalms 18:2
YOLO
