Well, I can start off by saying I am a wimp compared to Salvadorians. These past three days have been an adventure I will never forget! Rafa’s family graciously opened up their home to all 34 of us for our 3 day retreat as Vida Estudiantil and Summer Project merged to become one. We were told that no other El Sal summer project team has gotten the opportunity to stay at a local Salvadorian home before---So yes we jumped at the opportunity! This week is a vacation week for the students so we use this time to refresh before the Lord and keep our focus on our mission. So the first part of the week…adventure time on Rafa’s farm!
Monday morning began with cramming our 17 person family and our things in the microbus to the Campus Crusade office to meet the VE crew! There we integrated our groups and our things into 3 microbuses and caravanned to Rafa’s house. Rafa’s home is in the town Chalatenango which is about an hour and a half from San Salvador. It was a nice change of scenery to be in the countryside and to get some fresh air. We arrived around lunch time and had a quick meal before walking down to a nearby river. The river was moving pretty quick but the boys on the team decided to go in for a nice swim anyways. The countryside is even more humid and hot than the city so it was nice to be near the river where there was cool breeze. The rest of the day was spent playing games and getting to know the VE students better. We ended the day with some testimonies and worship.
Tuesday was the big day when we went to the Home for the Elderly!! Miles, a guy on our team, led a devotional that morning which helped to focus our minds on the Lord and then we set off! We walked to the elderly home which was only down the street and up a small hill. There were maybe 12 elderly men and women and they were all very frail and small. We took them all outside to the open area where we did worship, sang songs, and put on the “Lifehouse” drama skit that we performed at Evangelica. We had time to eat snacks and talk with them to the best of our abilities. I was able to talk to the cutest woman named Victoria (she is 95!) who I could barely understand but she kept smiling so big and kept saying “Dios” which means God so I knew she was talking about the Lord. Carlos, one of the VE students, came over and helped translate what Victoria was saying and he told Alissa and me that she was blessing us. This woman just warmed my heart so much! I also talked to another woman, Julia, who was just all smiles (no teeth) but she just exuded joyfulness! We also had a piñata for them…which at first I was very confused about since I didn’t see how they were going to hit the piñata. But man was I wrong…those women and men could hit a piñata!! It was a sight to behold! They were hilarious!! They used all their might to take it down! I have some great photos and video of all our experiences which I will put up on facebook at some point!
After our fun times at the Elderly Home, we went back to Rafa’s home and went to visit his cows, horses, and guava plantation! He had calves and a baby horse!! We had the opportunity to milk one of his cows, and I am happy to say I tried to the best of my abilities but I definitely did not get any milk out of that cow. Later that night we had a bonfire (fogata) where we did worship and a time of confession and sharing. It was a very good bonding time for both groups to be open and vulnerable with each other and to share whatever is on our heart and what we have been learning.
Our last morning before we left, Joe led a devotional time for us all and we went through James 1:19-20—“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” This devotional very much speaks truth into what I think a lot of my team is learning while doing missionary work in a different culture. Being slow to speak and quick to hear is crucial in allowing for people to be heard and for them to feel known by others. It is so easy to become frustrated under tense or tiring circumstances in another culture and it is good to be reminded of the patient and understanding nature that Jesus had and that we need to display as well.
The time at Rafa’s home was one I will never forget: sleeping on a tile floor, milking a cow, getting up at 6am, sweating all day and not showering, being in the most beautiful countryside, having bugs bite you all night, eating Salvadorian food, hanging with the cutest elderly Salvadorians, and creating even deeper bonds with the VE students…it was a priceless experience and I wouldn’t have changed one thing about it!!
The next couple of days we will be going to two different orphanages and I CANNOT wait!! I can’t wait to tell you all about those experiences!! I also wanted to share with you all something my leader, Joe, shared with our team that I think is motivating and inspiring:
A Meditation
God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another, I have my mission- I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next.
I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for nothing, I shall do good. I shall do His work.
Therefore I will trust Him. Whatever, wherever I am. I cannot be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity my serve Him; if I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me- still He knows what He is about.
--Cardinal Newman
Love you all!
Meg
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