BLOGPOST EL SALVADOR! Episode #1 – Home Sweet Home?
Welcome to El Salvador! I hope to find you in good health and good cheer as I update you on what is cooking in El Salvador! In the kitchen it’s mainly beans and plantains ….. but in ministry there’s way more!
Home Sweet Home –
After a hot 7-hour bus ride from Lake Atitlan, Guatemala across the borders we make it to El Salvador! As I look out the window the sights of San Salvador are eerily similar to that of a normal American city but with everything written in Spanish. I really felt like I was home when I had a Wendy’s spicy chicken sandwich that tasted so good I thought I needed to repent. Then I am met with a bus full of smiling kids and a smiling guy with a big heart named Bob McDonell, our ministry contact this month. He heads up an orphanage called Mi Casa Kids International. He came down to El Salvador in the late 80’s from Oregon and now lives here with his wife in full time ministry. Here is the link to their website.
http://www.micasakids.org/index2.php
They base out of a small suburb outside of San Salvador called Santa Tecla. Here they have two big houses across the street from each other, one for the boys one for the girls, housing a little over 30 kids in all. They are about even in the boy to girl ratio, and the ages range from 5 months to 26 years old. I walk inside the boys house and immediately feel like I’m back in college with the guys hanging watching sports on TV after a long day at school. I have to pinch myself to make sure that I am not back home. But then again, they say home is where the heart is and my heart definitely feels home here. Each kid has his or her own story, but lot of these kids are victims of a abuse, abandonment, parental substance abuse, and the list goes on. At Mi Casa, these kids and young adults are able to get an education, have a family environment, receive love, and most importantly be exposed to the gospel. I’m really looking forward to my time here!
What’s Going to Happen? –
The main project we will be serving in this month is whipping the houses into shape. There will be lots of painting, cleaning, organizing surplus donations, and helping out with the day-to-day activities with the kids. Then in the evenings help the kids with English homework, hang out, and have fun. At Mi Casa they have a staff they call the Tio’s and Tia’s who work with the kids full time doing everything from cooking to schoolwork to discipline. This month we really get to bless them by taking some of the load off, and allow them to breathe for a while. Our host has planned a camping trip in the mountains for us with all the kids, which is something I really look forward to! Overall it should be a great month of work and ministry for the Lord!
Stand on the Truth, Walk in the Light, and Rest in His Love.
Ryan-Michael Miller
