Life her in El Salvador is still as amazing as ever. Everyday I just wake up and thank God for my life. My life quickly became super busy this week and I am loving it.
Saturday was first spent helping La Red with church service. They have it on Saturdays here because Sundays are a big tourist day in town so the community is usually working. 4 of us were helping in the Sunday school classes (or I guess it would be Saturday school classes) and the rest were left to sit through the church service.
The pastor, which is Andrea’s Dad, first asked us if we wanted him to translate and while everyone stared blankly I said, “No, we will be fine.” Which was good because I got to translate for myself and learn more Spanish. It was bad because my head was pounding after an hour of trying to figure out what was going on. But the service was so great and we all seemed to enjoy it.
Right after the service, we ran to the grocery store to pick up snacks for the 75 orphans at REMAR. IT WAS TIME FOR A BEACH DAY!!! You read right. Beach day with 75 of the most beautiful children in the world. So our group and Andreas family including brother who owns a surf company join us for the beach day.
As we walk up to orphanage, I get caught up in my memories. My favorite memories of all are at the beach. Our families best friends are ones that we spend time at the beach with. My heart is heavy to know that these kids have memories of going to the beach only with random gringos. But hey a beach day with a stranger is better than no beach day at all.
We get there and I am bombarded by children all with the best hugs I could ask for and in that moment I realize that I am creating memories with these kids that will last their whole life through. Who cares that I am only in their life for a short time. I vow to make this short month with them one that not only will I remember but they will too. I am so blessed to be put in the position to love on these children in anyway I can.
So anyways… sorry for that tangent but we get on the bus and head to the beach. And yes 60 kids plus 10 of us fit in a short bus all the way there. We get off the bus and sprint towards the beach. After throwing my bag in the sand I am off to the water. A new friend of mine, Fanny, yells “Amiga, Amiga!!!” and grabs my hand. We run into where the waves are. Mind you here the waves are rough so we are getting torn up but every time a wave comes she jumps in my arms. That little girl had a lot of faith in me when she jumped in my arms. Good thing we were only thrown under the waves about 100 times.
My other best friend at the orphanage is a teenage boy. He makes fun of me all the time and we play catch anytime we get a chance. I see him in the water with a surf board and the biggest smile on his face. I all of a sudden hear, “ Mallory, MIRE MIRE.” Oh did I forget to tell you my new names include Maria or Mallory. Anyways I look and he is standing up on the board, riding wave after wave into shore. He was so proud of himself. I wish all of you could have shared that moment with him because it was pure beauty.
After about 1.5 hours of fun in the sun, Andrea comes over and asks us to act out the story of Jonah and the Whale. We were supposed to prepare it but we forgot…good thing we are good at improvising. So after the skit we hand out snacks and with full bellies and happy hearts we head home.
As I am walking home from the orphanage my mind is racing and good thing my teammate Meg is there to unscramble it. Basically we talked about these kids and how we wish we had thousands of pictures for everyone to see the day. But also these kids just wanted to have fun with us. Like they weren’t scared because we stood by their side to catch them when they fell. Childlike faith. This is what I search for and pray I find with God. Childlike faith. BAMMMMM That’s good!!!
This is what my life is. Loving on kids. Playing at the beach. Swimming in the Pacific Ocean. I can’t imagine a better life than this.
So if your still reading thanks I love you guys and cant wait to share more of my life with you all.
Then it was normal:
- Random lady who wears googles without lenses blocking you from coming in your house and screaming about the devil to you. (ok this happened once but still it was pretty weird) Pray for Googs.
- Drinking fresh smoothies all the time.
- $0.15 bananas
I am still looking for a few more financial donations. I am at 82%. Lets knock it out of the park and fully fund me and my whole team.
