El Salvador
It's not that I haven't wanted to write about the trip, it's just that I've had a hard time figuring out how to write about it. So, throwing all caution to the wind, I'm just gonna write. I might ramble. You might get bored (I hope not!). It might suck. But these are some of my experiences and some of my memories.
In El Salvador (ES), we worked with the missionaries at a ministry center called 'Wired.'
And before I forget, here's a quick shout out to the team I went with in '09 to ES, Peru, and Guatemala. Do you remember when we went shopping for groceries for families at a store, and saw parking for pregnant moms? One of the last days, we drove by a store and I saw this sign again and realized it was the SAME store, AND I had been staying just three blocks from it! I thought it was cool anyways :)
The first ministry we were a part of is called Church Partnership Evangelism (CPE). It was tough. The format of CPE is that you go meet with a person/family (pre-arranged was the plan.. but we did a lot of door-to-door too) and get to know a little bit about them, share your testimony, and then go over some basic Gospel questions and Bible verses. Our end goal was to partner them with a local church for further discipleship. It was just us and a translator. The first CPE visit I had was 'challenging', as we (my translator Rodrigo and I) called it. We spoke with an elderly woman and her husband. He was a Christian, but she was a Jehovah's Witness. It was frustrating because she knew and agreed with parts of the Bible, but then she just wouldn't believe other parts. Rodrigo and I were tested because we really didn't know what to say at so many different times in that conversation! I wanted to share this story for a few reasons. As a team, we actually encountered many Jehovah's Witnesses. We were surprised! But I also felt that I was supposed to share it for some reason to show that missions isn't always perfect, or easy. There are times when we've done or said all we can, but we don't feel like we've made a difference. We have to remember that we are just a tool God is using. Everyone has their own personal choice; we can't make them choose and neither does God. For all we know, maybe we made her question a few of the things she believes.
<< Rodrigo and I
For about the first three days of CPE, nothing too crazy happened, but I had some good conversations and was able to pray with and encourage other Christians. Then, we went to another village. (Oh, I forgot to mention, the whole time we did ministry in ES, we were in a little town/village called Quezaltepeque.. aka Q-town, which was about a half an hour away from the Wired ministry center.) The vans dropped us off, and the group started walking down the dirt road. Right away, we came across a group of 3 or 4 guys hanging out, and our team was trying to figure out which three groups to send to them to talk one on one (group= team member + translator). Well, Rodrigo and I were right there and it was suggested that we go, but I just wasn't so sure about it. Something inside of me was hesitant, so I didn't volunteer and let others go instead. Come to find out, that was definitely the Spirit guiding me. Travis (our team mentor from Simpson and the campus pastor at Simpson), James (from the team from Montana that was also there with us for the two weeks), and Samuel (the local pastor whose ministry we were helping with) and their translators talked with them, and soon discovered the 'interesting' situation they had walked into. They were talking with the dangerous gang members of the area, one of the men in the group being the self-proclaimed hitman in the area. I really can't tell the story about this situation, because it is kind of confusing, but it wasn't a very good one to be in. Yes. SO GLAD I followed my gut feeling! They talked with the men for awhile, but because they were drunk, really got nowhere. While all of this was happening, I was over talking with a family just a few houses down. I met the mom and son, and she introduced me to one of her daughters, Catalina. My heart soared! Catalina was my name in Spanish class in high school, and I ironically remembered the fact just the day before. For some reason it made my heart really happy. Then, another daughter came out of the house and was introduced. Make a wild guess at what her name is. JESSICA!!! They were both around my age too. I can't really explain the feelings I had or why. Maybe it was because of their names, but I felt a strong connection to this family. I was a little lost in translation on the family's situation, but from what I understood, the dad was a co-pastor at a church in a dangerous area, and because of that, the family doesn't attend church. It sounded like the kids new about Christ, but hadn't accepted him yet. I ended up just praying for the family, and we gave the son (in his 20s) the name of Samuel's ministry to look up online. I left feeling like something was missing. Like I needed to talk with that family more. As we went back and sat in the van, I was going crazy. I wanted to see them again! We hadn't gotten any contact info to come back or invite them to church. A little kid and one of the daughters came down the road and talked with Rodrigo, and asked him to come back because they had something for him. I went with them, and they had something for me actually. Jessica gave me a teddy bear :) It was probably one of the most touching moments of the trip. Once again, I don't know if I can give a good explanation of why, I just felt a connection for this family! We got their contact info this time, and they said "they would wait with open arms for us to come back." Oh, how I didn't want to leave! As we left that day and were all talking in the van, I heard the story with the gang members. I also heard that 2 people received Christ in another group while all of this was happening! But because of the potential danger, the missionaries decided we would not return to that village. My heart sunk. I never got to see those girls again. I have no idea why God led me to those girls, but just for that short visit, and nothing more.But as you just read about them, I ask if you wouldn't mind lifting them up in prayer. That the family would ALL come to know God.
I could write forever, but I doubt anyone wants to read forever... so you'll have to wait for another post of more stories!
It's not that I haven't wanted to write about the trip, it's just that I've had a hard time figuring out how to write about it. So, throwing all caution to the wind, I'm just gonna write. I might ramble. You might get bored (I hope not!). It might suck. But these are some of my experiences and some of my memories.
In El Salvador (ES), we worked with the missionaries at a ministry center called 'Wired.'
And before I forget, here's a quick shout out to the team I went with in '09 to ES, Peru, and Guatemala. Do you remember when we went shopping for groceries for families at a store, and saw parking for pregnant moms? One of the last days, we drove by a store and I saw this sign again and realized it was the SAME store, AND I had been staying just three blocks from it! I thought it was cool anyways :)
The first ministry we were a part of is called Church Partnership Evangelism (CPE). It was tough. The format of CPE is that you go meet with a person/family (pre-arranged was the plan.. but we did a lot of door-to-door too) and get to know a little bit about them, share your testimony, and then go over some basic Gospel questions and Bible verses. Our end goal was to partner them with a local church for further discipleship. It was just us and a translator. The first CPE visit I had was 'challenging', as we (my translator Rodrigo and I) called it. We spoke with an elderly woman and her husband. He was a Christian, but she was a Jehovah's Witness. It was frustrating because she knew and agreed with parts of the Bible, but then she just wouldn't believe other parts. Rodrigo and I were tested because we really didn't know what to say at so many different times in that conversation! I wanted to share this story for a few reasons. As a team, we actually encountered many Jehovah's Witnesses. We were surprised! But I also felt that I was supposed to share it for some reason to show that missions isn't always perfect, or easy. There are times when we've done or said all we can, but we don't feel like we've made a difference. We have to remember that we are just a tool God is using. Everyone has their own personal choice; we can't make them choose and neither does God. For all we know, maybe we made her question a few of the things she believes.
For about the first three days of CPE, nothing too crazy happened, but I had some good conversations and was able to pray with and encourage other Christians. Then, we went to another village. (Oh, I forgot to mention, the whole time we did ministry in ES, we were in a little town/village called Quezaltepeque.. aka Q-town, which was about a half an hour away from the Wired ministry center.) The vans dropped us off, and the group started walking down the dirt road. Right away, we came across a group of 3 or 4 guys hanging out, and our team was trying to figure out which three groups to send to them to talk one on one (group= team member + translator). Well, Rodrigo and I were right there and it was suggested that we go, but I just wasn't so sure about it. Something inside of me was hesitant, so I didn't volunteer and let others go instead. Come to find out, that was definitely the Spirit guiding me. Travis (our team mentor from Simpson and the campus pastor at Simpson), James (from the team from Montana that was also there with us for the two weeks), and Samuel (the local pastor whose ministry we were helping with) and their translators talked with them, and soon discovered the 'interesting' situation they had walked into. They were talking with the dangerous gang members of the area, one of the men in the group being the self-proclaimed hitman in the area. I really can't tell the story about this situation, because it is kind of confusing, but it wasn't a very good one to be in. Yes. SO GLAD I followed my gut feeling! They talked with the men for awhile, but because they were drunk, really got nowhere. While all of this was happening, I was over talking with a family just a few houses down. I met the mom and son, and she introduced me to one of her daughters, Catalina. My heart soared! Catalina was my name in Spanish class in high school, and I ironically remembered the fact just the day before. For some reason it made my heart really happy. Then, another daughter came out of the house and was introduced. Make a wild guess at what her name is. JESSICA!!! They were both around my age too. I can't really explain the feelings I had or why. Maybe it was because of their names, but I felt a strong connection to this family. I was a little lost in translation on the family's situation, but from what I understood, the dad was a co-pastor at a church in a dangerous area, and because of that, the family doesn't attend church. It sounded like the kids new about Christ, but hadn't accepted him yet. I ended up just praying for the family, and we gave the son (in his 20s) the name of Samuel's ministry to look up online. I left feeling like something was missing. Like I needed to talk with that family more. As we went back and sat in the van, I was going crazy. I wanted to see them again! We hadn't gotten any contact info to come back or invite them to church. A little kid and one of the daughters came down the road and talked with Rodrigo, and asked him to come back because they had something for him. I went with them, and they had something for me actually. Jessica gave me a teddy bear :) It was probably one of the most touching moments of the trip. Once again, I don't know if I can give a good explanation of why, I just felt a connection for this family! We got their contact info this time, and they said "they would wait with open arms for us to come back." Oh, how I didn't want to leave! As we left that day and were all talking in the van, I heard the story with the gang members. I also heard that 2 people received Christ in another group while all of this was happening! But because of the potential danger, the missionaries decided we would not return to that village. My heart sunk. I never got to see those girls again. I have no idea why God led me to those girls, but just for that short visit, and nothing more.But as you just read about them, I ask if you wouldn't mind lifting them up in prayer. That the family would ALL come to know God.
Here is a picture with the family
With Jessica :)
I could write forever, but I doubt anyone wants to read forever... so you'll have to wait for another post of more stories!
Thanks for sharing! My heart misses ES so much and I love reading about your experiences and reliving them all over again! Love you, Jess!
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