It’s been over a week since I last wrote a post and I have SO much to say! Sorry for my delay! After our first full week on campus our team got some good bonding and relaxation time and then started our second week on our separate campuses! Some exciting news!--We found out that Evangelica's bible studies have grown from 1 to 3 in just this past week! There is the normal bible sudy for anyone and now there is a nursing one and one for athletes! God is moving so much here :)
So..Last Friday we had lunch with the VE (Vida Estudiantil) students at Evangelica and prayed specifically for the Evangelica team like we did for Matias the day before. We also played games and just hung out with the students! That day we also got to visit an Artisan market and did a little gift shopping. To top off the day we went to a place called Shakes! Shakes is similar to your Jamba Juice back home but WAY BETTER. They have really unique fruit flavors--like sour grape!—and you can have it mixed with sugar or honey and THEN you can decide if you want your mixture to be like a smoothie or in sorbet texture! They just take fruit to the next level here.
Saturday was our first visit to the beach!! We drove to Playa de Tunco which is about a 45 minute drive from San Salvador. One of the VE students was so kind to allow us to use his family’s membership at Club Tecleno and stay there at the beach…they had a pool and hammocks! The water was warm and very salty…very different from Cali. Like I mentioned before, El Sal is known for its surf and there definitely was some sick waves! This beach was crawling with surfers from all over the place!
On the drive to and back from the beach our team was able to really see the giant gap between wealthy and poor. It was a scary site. It seemed like the only kind of place to live was either a slum or mansion. We drove by locals who were bathing and washing their clothes in a sewer river. It is horrible to see how excruciating some people can live but I pray those people are rich in spirit. Sometimes it is hard to remember that God is bigger than all the pain on this earth. This life on earth may not be fair but we have a Just and Sovereign God!! [Romans 8:33-39] When Jesus returns, Justice will be given and we will live for eternity with our Father!
I read Psalm 23 the other day and it just reminds me of God’s true nature:
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
In the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
On Sunday, instead of visiting a church in El Sal, our team listened to a sermon online by Francis Chan called “Living to Display the Gospel.” If you have time I really recommend this sermon… It is an awesome reminder of our purpose here on this earth and how to love others like God loves us. For dinner that night the boys held a little appreciation dinner for us girls! They cooked everything themselves and dressed up! To get these boys to dress nicely is a big deal. The group of guys we have on this team are so respectful and great men of the Lord. I could speak for all the girls here in saying that we felt very special!
This past week was the first full week at Matias for the Matias team!! Vamos a Matias!! Matias is very different from Evangelica not only in the structure of the campus but also how open the students are in talking about their faith. It was a little more difficult to bring up spiritual conversations with the students at Matias but the Lord always provided in giving us people to talk to. Most of the VE students go to Matias which is a blessing to our team because none of us speak very good Spanish and the VE students are always so helpful in translation. It seems that the VE students are less willing to go sharing at Matias because it is a little more intimidating… these students are also their peers (who they see in class everyday, walk by everyday). I have to put myself in their shoes sometimes when I am confused why they are so hesitant to go sharing with us. If I was on my own campus and had to go sharing with students who couldn’t speak the language, I would probably be nervous and intimidated too. I have been seeing more and more that our team’s main ministry is to really build up and encourage the standing ministry. Both teams (Evangelica and Matias) have equally important missions but just look different… both serve the God’s kingdom and both are just as important to the other. Every time we go sharing, we try and bring a VE student with us to get help them become more confident in their faith and more reliant on the Lord instead of themselves. The VE students are amazing and love the Lord and I am so happy that I can help them in their walk with the Lord and give them the extra support and affirmation that they may need.
On Tuesday, I was able to talk to one of the main leaders of VE one on one and just see how she is doing and feeling. Fiore, led weekly meetings last year, helped with the bible study, and discipled other students. She was very very very BUSY! She is going into her last year before she graduates and this year she is taking on less responsibility to focus on graduating and working. I love talking to Fiore. She is so loving and easy to talk to. Fiore and I are at very similar points in our lives and it was really cool to talk to her about things I am struggling with and for her to encourage me and I the same to her. God is doing so much through her and I can’t wait to see where he takes her next.
The HIGHLIGHT of my week: meeting Alexia Cardoza. How I got to meet Alexia—On Monday, Shannon and Kristen went into an English class and gave an announcement about Vida Estudiantil and that if anyone was interested in learning more or practicing their English they could write down their name and number down for us to call. Well, later that day I was given Alexia’s number to call and so I did… As I was talking to her on the phone she kept giggling and telling me that she was looking at me. I was so confused and didn’t understand what she was talking about but then I turned around and there she was one table away! Alexia was still laughing and I walked over and introduced myself. She is always so full of joy :) We planned to meet up on Tuesday to just hang out. That next day she met up with me and we got to talking about VE and I found out she is a Christian but never heard of VE. We talked further more about her faith and I could tell she needs to be a part of VE and VE needs her!! I introduced her to our team and we all got to talk and just hang out for the rest of the day! She met up with our group again on Thursday for lunch and brought her older sister. It was such a great day…Her sister (Fatema) also is a Christian and we got to show them what Soularium (a sharing tool) is and how we share our faith. They both were very interested and loved Soularium. After we practiced with them, Alexia went sharing with us for her very first time and helped translate!! She is unlike anyone I have met, in a time when I thought we were going to be giving her extra encouragement she was encouraging us! She knows how to love people well and it can only be because she loves the Lord so much.
This week was inspiring to me in many ways…all the conversations with students we had were awesome and the Lord has been teaching me so much about myself and growing me more than I ever thought. A few prayer requests: PLEASE pray for the students that we talked to on Matias and just that they will be receptive to the conversations we had and desire God. Also, pray for the Vida Estudiantil students in that they will feel inspired by the Lord and not discouraged by being too busy or intimidated. Pray they will feel the strength of the Lord urging them on. Lastly, pray for my team and that we continue to unify and love each other well :)
We go into this next week with a crazy start…we will be going on a 3 day retreat with the VE students to Rafa’s home in the country (3 hours away) and doing all sorts of crazy things! Pray that we don’t get sick on the food (who knows what we could be eating!) and that the Lord will provide plenty of rest (Salvadorians don’t know what the word “sleep” is). It is going to be an exciting start to the week! Can’t wait to share what happens when I return! Love you all so much!!
Meg
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