Going into the World Race, one of my worries was food. I’m not as picky as I was as a kid, but I’m still not that great at eating my vegetables, and I really just didn’t know what to expect to have food-wise.
I was prepared to have strange new things. Perhaps even things that I wouldn’t want to know what they were. I was prepared for smaller portion sizes, and to leave the table still hungry at times (or would we even be eating at a table?).
Perhaps these concerns may still be valid in the future, but I can assure you that they were needless in El Salvador. Our host’s mother has done the majority of the cooking for us this month. I didn’t even know her name until a few days ago, because we just call her Abuelita, which can be translated to “grandmother” or even “granny.” I’ve become convinced that this woman is magical, because everything she makes is amazing.
We have had great soups, delicious toasted sandwiches, well-seasoned chicken and beef, and lots and lots and lots of fresh bread. And she is always sure to make plenty of food. (At one point, she informed us that she intended for us to have to roll to our next country).
In addition, Abuelita also introduced us to the wonderful world of pupusas. If you don’t know what that is, it’s basically a stuffed tortilla, but before I go any further, I must take away the image of the flat, white, frisbee-like things that we call tortillas in the USA. In El Salvador, tortillas are much smaller, maybe about half the diameter of an American tortilla, but 3-4 times thicker. And these are made fresh every day. So for a pupusa, in the preparation of the tortilla, you basically put whatever you would like in the middle. Personally, I like mine stuffed with pork, beans, and cheese. This is cooked up, and then served with coleslaw and a thin tomato based sauce. It’s quite excellent.
Pupusas have also been a gateway to ministry here. I mentioned in a previous blog that we gave free pupusas to people in an area strongly influenced by gangs and prostitution. We also held a grand opening for the soccer field we cleared (pics below as promised) by inviting people to eat free pupusas there. Once guests were seated, one of the young people from the church shared the Gospel with each of them in Spanish, and then my team and I prayed over them in English. We were able to minister to about 80 people in this way. 
We leave El Salvador very soon, and I’m honestly sad to go, but I do so knowing that we had a positive influence here, that a difference was made, and that God will continue to move here long after we leave.
