Hello friends and family, sorry that my first update – and crazy story – has been delayed. We are still figuring out our internet situation and recovering from a full week! *Also, make sure to read the fundraising update at the end.*
We arrived on Saturday the 10th and have been staying with our wonderful host family in Lourdes, a suburb of the capital city of San Salvador. Alberto and Mariela are incredibly hospitable and have four great kids. Our local church, which is only 2 blocks away (and also involves a daily crossing of the Pan-American Highway), is part of a large network of churches under the umbrella, Tabernáculo Bíblico Bautista Amigos de Israel (www.tabernaculo.net). The central location in San Salvador is enormous and has four services every Sunday with thousands of people. We have visited the central church several times and learned that there are 8-9 THOUSAND volunteers serving in all areas of ministry, from working the cafeteria, to cleaning between services, to ushering, to security to manning the television and radio studios. Amazing to see so many people invested in their church community. Also, they broadcast all of their services and being that we always get invited to sit in the front, if you are not busy at 9, 11, 3 or 5 on Sundays, you are welcome to go on their website and see if you see us on TV! I know we have already been on a couple of times, haha.
Our work at the local Las Arboledas location involves helping develop the church property as it is a new location. Currently, services are held under the large trees in an open area of what was once a large coffee finca or plantation. The owner of the property has permitted the church to build whatever they need, because the presence of the church discourages the gang-activity that had overrun his property to the point it was unusable. We have been involved in demolition and renovation of the old workers’ quarters into a children’s facility so that they have a covered space for children on Sundays. We removed the sketchy – aka I’m convinced asbestos-filled – roof and cleared out the building of overgrowth/weeds/small trees/mice/hornets. My new nemesis is a plant affectionately known as pica-pica, or, in English, Plant-that-when-touched-burns-shooting-pain-throughout-your-skin. This is where the excitement began. We had a series of small fires to burn the junk/vines/trees we cleared. The fires from the first day burned themselves out pretty easily, with no problems, as it’s so humid here that nothing else really caught fire.
But then the second day, after setting our fires and leaving for lunch (even though my Eagle Scout-self asked about the safety of unwatched fires!), we were notified via telephone that we had actually uncovered a 12-foot deep, flume-like pit of garbage under our small fire, a pit that was currently an inferno of flames. Oops.
The above picture is of me, trying my best to be a first responder. I don’t think this picture quite does the situation justice as there were flames shooting up trees to the left! The soles of my shoes melted a bit and I’m pretty sure my feet got a little burned, even on the inside of my shoes. After an hour or so of using a garden hose with minimal pressure, a water truck arrived to finish the job.
So to say that the first week has been an adventure is an understatement, haha. Nothing like starting a wildfire at your first ministry!
In other exciting, adventures, we have also had the opportunity to explore a local, active volcano. After 2 hours of treacherous hiking, our guides led us to one of – if not the most – awe-inspiring natural sights I have ever seen. The mouth of the volcano was 3 km across and 300 meters deep, a canyon of beautiful rock layers with a steaming, teal lake in the bottom. It was beyond beautiful and I couldn’t help just staring and trying to take it in as the clouds formed and rolled over us at the peak.
On Saturday Alberto and Mariela were excited to take us to the Jovenes (Young Adults) service at church followed by an afternoon in their favorite mountain city of Ataco, known for artisans and handiwork. I bought an awesome new shirt, which is a lightweight, pullover-type shirt with a white background and blue designs. I’ll try to get a glamour shot with it soon. I enjoyed having the chance to get to know our hosts and team better throughout the day.
My next blog will cover some of the other ministry we have been involved in in the City of San Salvador as well as more on our hosts.
I love you all so much. Feel free to send me updates from your lives and/or prayer requests via e-mail, as I would love to take part in your lives as well this year.
FUNDRAISING UPDATE: Thank you so much to all who have partnered with me this year in fundraising. I am excited to announce that I am 100% funded for the World Race. I am overjoyed to spend this year fully in ministry and look forward to updating all of my supporters from the field. For those of you who have signed up to give monthly, you will need to use the same system to declare an end to your giving. Many have asked how you can continue to support my team; several of my teammates are still seeking financial partners, including Jarrad Ellis, Karissa Rodriguez and Katrina Palazuelos-Rico. You can check out their blogs via the sidebar on the right. I will get a post up soon to tell you more about my team.
