It’s been a while since I updated you all – a bit strange since I’ve had almost perpetual Internet access, I know, but I’ve just had so much going on. I’ll try to get a lot more blog posts up in the next few days, as we end our time in El Salvador (we bus out Thursday morning) and move to Antigua, Guatemala, for our second debrief. We’ve spent our time here at the MiCasa (Spanish for ‘My House’) orphanage in another month of extremely focused relational ministry, just living with and loving on the fifteen kids and various staff and adults associated with the home. I’ll have a separate post introducing these beautiful children to you, but for now just the rough details.
I’ve had so many things going on – part of this is because we’re actually in a city for the first time so far this whole trip. Where our previous days off have been trips into the nearest city for relaxing at a coffee shop with free wi-fi, here we’ve been going to the mall (fifteen minutes away by city bus) to relax at… well, the Starbucks with free wi-fi. But it’s still different. We’ve gone on shopping trips to the supermarket a 15-minute walk away, to the malls nearby, and to various other local stores within a short drive, courtesy our amazing contact Bob. We’ve got a park not far away that we’ve been to every Friday to partner with a local organization that’s been working with the kids to teach them teamwork and the value of being both gracious winners and losers. We’ve gone there ourselves for team retreats, soccer games with the kids, and ministry handing out sandwiches and apples and praying for people. We took the kids to the San Salvador zoo one afternoon, we’ve been out to eat for pupusas and ice cream, and we’ve actually seen a couple of movies for not too much at the local theatres. I’ve been blessed to spend time with Robert Paul and Stephen, Bob’s two grown sons who are living with him down here, as well. One particularly unexpected but much appreciated blessing has been English language church services – the US Embassy here is the biggest in this hemisphere and it’s a very attractive place for Americans to visit, and there are a lot of Salvadoreans who speak English as well – so we’ve been attending a church that reminds me very much of the small-town churches I grew up attending in the Midwest. It’s been comfortable and comforting to not have to worry about missing a part of the message because I was busy trying to translate a tricky sentence in my head.
I wouldn’t say I’m truly enjoying being in the city, though. There is so much to just DO here – it’s sometimes overwhelming. I don’t really enjoy having to take the sometimes crowded (and sometimes VERY crowded) city buses everywhere, even though they are very cheap. I don’t enjoy having to clear my lungs every other day of all the diesel smoke I inhale while waiting for the bus, and I don’t really like the lack of open green spaces (the park being a notable exception, of course). I don’t really like the American prices, although if you’re careful you can get by on very little money daily. It’s strange here – car prices are higher than they are in the States, but car repair is much lower. Gas is about the same, fast food is about the same, but movies are maybe half the price I’d pay back home. And of course there’s the convienence of using USD, but it also means I’m less conscious of how much things cost, since I don’t have to do mental conversions with every purchase I make. Last month I woke up to mountains and pine trees, and a giant vista with God’s sunrise nudging me gently awake every morning. This month I’m struggling to go to bed by midnight while the guys watch movies downstairs, and I’m waking up sleepy even at 8 AM with nothing but the inside walls to look at. It’s pretty to the north and south where the mountains border the city, but you can’t really see them as well as we could in Arroyo Cano or even Trujillo.
Overall it’s been a great month, but I think I would have liked it better if we were in a slightly more rural area. I’m a country boy at heart though, so maybe I’m exaggerating the things I don’t like about cities in general. It has been nice to have access to things like a wal-mart to replace toiletries, and a camera repair shop (hopefully I’ll be able to take some pictures yet this month!) Mainly though I’ve spent a lot of time with the kids.
Education in El Salvador is extremely important, with most kids in a pre-K environment by age 4. They aren’t exactly coddled, either – they have homework and tests only slightly less intense than the older elementary students. All the kids are out the door by 6:30, most of the time 6 days a week. They’re home by 12:30 or 1 though, and so they have plenty of time after lunch to do homework and still relax and play in the evening. We spend the mornings either at the gym or in team time, studying Matthew together, or having a little quiet time. The afternoons are spent hanging out with the kids, once they’re done with homework. Bob’s managed to find sponsor funding for most of them to get them into private schools (a little better than the public schools, and a safer environment for the kids) and some of them are even learning at bilingual schools. They’ve had some report cards come back in the time we’ve been here, and we’ve all been quite impressed – most of the kids are performing above average, and some are very gifted in some areas. I’ll talk about their specific skills in another blog, but Bob has every right to be extremely proud of the opportunities they’ve been taking hold of here. Praise God for this place where kids from such rough backgrounds can really stretch out to their full potential. I don’t say this to rejoice in the suffering of children, but I’ve been glad to be able to spend a lot of time with some of them as they’re been home recovering from one illness or another. When we first showed up, little Rosita was just recovering from chicken pox, and within a week or so over half the girls were similarly affected. Add to that a virus (probably strep throat) that made the rounds, and we’ve been able to spend quality time nurturing sick and recovering children for nearly half our time here. They’re all healthy now and I’m glad for that, but it was kind of nice to have them around all day, even if they were only ‘mostly’ healthy.
Most of our non-kid ministry has been painting a swingset, loving on Bob (and Maricela, his absolutely adorable wife), and making movies. Katie has been working like crazy, with of course a lot of help from the rest of us, on first a mother’s day video for all the female staff and Salvadorean sponsors (they call them tias, Spanish for ‘aunt’) and more recently on a pair of short ad videos, one in English and one in Spanish, to raise awareness and support for the orphanage. Overall it’s been a wonderful time, even with the distractions of the city. God has used us a lot to support each other and to really be able to invest heavily in the lives of the people here. We’ve only got a couple of days left here, so please pray that we’ll be able to really pour into the kids with the rest of our remaining time, and also for safety as we travel to debrief in Guatemala. Keep an eye on your inbox – more blogs coming soon!
Financial update: right now I need only another $1450 to be completely funded. What a great God we serve to be faithful this far! I need the money in by the end of June, so please pray for God to lead people to contribute this last bit of money so I can continue on with the World Race. While you’re at it, consider something we’ve been addressing the last few months: are you willing to be the answer to your own prayers? So often we ask God to do something, only to have Him turn around and say to us like Jesus did to the disciples in Luke 9, “You do it!” (paraphrased). There’s no amount that’s too small to help, so please ask God if He would have you directly support missions work in Africa and South America – and do it through someone you know, like me! Just hit the link here and join me in pursuing God around the world!
