Howdy y’all!
Today is two weeks since I left Texas for launch and 10 days since I left Georgia for El Salvador. I am currently doing children minisrty that involves lots of cleaning, playing soccer, running after children, and most of all challenging. This month I am working at a children’s nutrition center that feeds underprivileged (below poverty level) kids a decent lunch every week day as well as provides them with a multivitamin, and a toothbrush to brush their teeth after eating.
It’s only been 10 days and God is already at work in my heart. He is challenging me in ways I never though he would. I love kids. I love haging out with them, playing sports with them, and sharing God’s message to the world with them.
What I do not like is cleaning up after them. Everyday week day, my team and I sweep and mop the floors before the kids even get to the children’s center. After lunch we clean the dishes for the 35 kids, the 8 missionaries (my team) and two other traveling missionaries. It has been hard not to want to hit a kid for not eating all of their food, especially since some of them only eat 1 meal a day (the one we provide). It’s been frustrating to know that they do not care for the language lessons, learning the alphabet, and sometimes they do not seem to care about the Bible stories that are read to them.
I say all this because God is breaking me out of my constraints and is breaking my mold of how these kids should act. We’really not in Kansas anymore Todo. I have come to realize that these kids do not ununderstand the value of education because they are kids. They are like I was at their age: hating school and wanting to go play outside, even if it is 85-90. They have little respect for the teachers and the missionaries that are visiting. For good reason too. We represent everything that they do not have. My squad leader said it best, “When someone doesn’t have things, they will do what everthey can do to get things.” He was referring to the Gideon Bibles we have in Spanish. The elder kids can read, and wanted to take them home. Some of them probably only have 1 or 2 Bibles for their whole family, which can range from 5-9 people.
God has been breaking me away from wester socity and the culture I have held to for 23 years. He is forcing me to imbrace the culture of poverty, as well as understand what it truly means for someome to have only a roof over their head.
Education down here isn’t mandatory, but is paid for by the state. Unfortunately, this means that it is also governed by the state. The education level here is poor compared to the US and many countries around the world, but it is slowly improving in some areas. Technology and the ability to speak English are the two things that help people in El Salvador get decent and well paying jobs, and are the focus of some of the schools. This means that 2/3, if not more, of the country are in low paying/seasonal job if they even have a job. This has lead to widespread poverty in some areas as well as poor infrastructure because the government cannot viably raise taxes as most would not be able to pay them.
It is heart breaking to see the level of poverty in such a beautiful place. The people are wonderful, as well as helpful, kind, and caring. They mean well, but are stuck in a place with sometimes only being able to hold onto the hope that it gets better.
Through all of this, God is humbling me and forcing me to show pacience. Not only towards the kids, but towards Him as well. I’ve only been out of the country for 10 days and I’ve done more than I thought I would be able to do. Praise be to God for the blessings that he showers down upon is daily.
Thanks for reading my blog and for the many prayers that I have recieved. I love and miss y’all.
in Christ,
Ryan
