Not to us.

Saludos! I wish I could update this blog of mine more frequently, but here it is.

Time flew, and before I knew, it was March.

With 2 months past and many stories and joys to share, I don’t even know what to write. My words could fill up many pages yet my mind is tired. But I will be faithful and complete this blog. Here we go, vamos.

As I’ve been away for many months now;,I have experienced growth culturally, personally and spiritually. I love these people and I love this place. My spanish is improving every day, my heart beats stronger for those I have met and I get in the habit of calling myself a Salvadorian. I have pride in this country and I am seeing God move. When a precious soul wonders into our lives, only by the grace of God, it seems like we have a front seat view in seeing magic happen within that soul. I will give you an example.

My teammate Jackie was helping out one of her friends, a student here in the movement, with a photoshoot for a local high school graduation. While there, she met students and families and ended up inviting two students to come play soccer with us. We have adapted the tradition of fútbol y pupusas every Sunday. If you don’t know what a pupusa is, I’m so very sorry and here is the link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pupusa Anyways, unnecessary detraction. These two boys, Ricardo and Carlos started coming to soccer every Sunday, and we naturally built relationships with them on the field. I still don’t know who gave the invite, but Carlos heard about a worship night we were having and he showed up. Carlos was able to experience community with believers around his age who were praying and singing to their creator. We announced that we were putting on a conference and when checking the registration, Carlos and Ricardo had both signed up. Little did we know, this conference would change their lives. The conference was a time to create space to be with The Lord. To talk to Him, to learn about Him, to truly experience forgiveness in Him, and to be around His people. Jesus spoke to Carlos that weekend. Carlos says that he finally saw his brokenness and had time to reflect upon the relationship he thought he had with his Creator. He realized how far he had fallen from the Lord, and decided to recommit his faith. The conference was the first step, and once that choice was made, it seems like God did all the rest. He came to every event, and build solid relationships with students within our movement who have encouraged him and built him up. Today, Carlos is all in it for Jesus. He has taken steps of faith, grown immensely and is involved in loving community. He invited us to his baptism this month and we rejoiced with him and thanked God for his faithfulness in Carlos’ life! Hearing him share his testimony brought tears to my eyes because we really did nothing. It was all God. Such a humbling thought to remember that God uses us in ways that will change lives, and he gets every ounce of the glory as he deserves. Another life changed! Glory to God.

This is one of many stories that I could sit here and recount. My faith in God is stronger than ever before because as I remember each life that has been touched by Jesus this year, it reminds me that when God moves, he moves with power. He opens the eyes of the blind, he heals the sick, he revives the dead, and he shows love to the brokenhearted. We have seen miracles. There are students here in this country that I will say goodbye to in these months to come, but because of His grace, we will, one day, all be together in the presence of our All Mighty God.

Thank you Jesus that you sent me to El Salvador. Not only so that you could use me as your vessel, but so I could see your active power as it restores and redeems.

“Look among the nations, and see
wonder and be astounded.
For I am doing a work in your days
that you would not believe if told.”
Habakkuk 1:5

Not to us… but to YOUR name, be the glory.

Changed Lives

Rafa and Napo are two students who God is using so well in El Salvador. This is one of our favorite stories of what God is doing in and through Salvadorians.

STINT Promotional

The STINTers in El Salvador want to show the world what a “Good Time” we are having serving the Lord and telling others about Jesus!

Stead-fast: adj

It has been an entire month since I have posted! Life has been busy. Wonderfully busy. November was filled with meetings, gatherings, Thanksgiving, dinners, fun time and a lot to love. First Thanksgiving away from home hardly felt like it with the ease of technology. I skyped with aunts, uncles, grandparents and the good ‘ol young parents. I love Thanksgiving season and the way it compels me into a time of remembering blessings and showing gratitude to God and others for the ways they have given so graciously.

As we move into the season of Christmas, the remembrance of our Lord’s birth, God is already showing me so much. With the advent calendar already advancing toward the 25th, the branded words LOVE and JOY flash in my mind. In El Salvador, the weather has not gotten colder, so I miss the warmth by the fire that is a norm at home in the mountains, but the warmth of my family here and good company make up for the differences. I feel excited that this holiday season I will truly cherish the importace of giving over receiving, and of the ultimate gift of Jesus being sent to this earth.

When loving people is one of my main job descriptions, it, sadly to say, becomes something of a routine. But when God sent his son to live amongst us, it was and is a love that is unconditional and true. I can only strive and pray that God strengthens me to love students in such a way. As the universities here have come to a close, my team and I are praying about how God would have us use our time. We hope to still be involved in our student’s lives and live alongside them without the heaviness and distraction of school.

God has also blessed us with the chance to get away this weekend to the countryside and reconnect with Him and with our team and a few of our close friends. I am excited to be in nature and at a cooler climate (low of 50), but hardly winter. God has impressed upon my heart in these last few days, the word steadfast. Reading through His Word, every time I would come upon steadfast, it would catch my attention. After reflecting upon it, I looked it up in the handy dandy dictionary and was struck by this eloquent definition: “resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering”. A synonym might as well read, “God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” I proceeded to look up other passages in the bible, and the ESV version has the word steadfast 206 times. I started by diving into Psalms and found a glorious pair of verses which I would love to share.

“But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the LORD,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.”
Psalm 13:5-6 ESV

One thing that I will always be growing in is placing my full faith and trust in God, of who he is and what he will do. I can trust in the Lord’s steadfast love. It will never waver. I am a feeler, and my heart does rejoice when I remember the power of the gospel in my own life, and recount the redemption of my soul which has led to my God given salvation. I love to worship and sing to my Father of the ways that he has given me so much when I deserve nothing. There is boundless love and grace that Christ has for you and me, and the promise he has shown me this week, is that HE is STEADFAST.

Bold Faith

Father God of Heaven and Earth, guide my eyes to see you correctly, lead my heart to love you genuinely and train my actions to be more formed to the image of your Son. Open my ears to hear your voice and prefect my steps to follow in your perfect will. I love you. Thank you for the cross. Amen.

I continually learn that being bold is hard. Boldness is something that requires a spirit full of courage and completely absent of fear. I have been on these campuses for 12 weeks, and every time I walk up to a student the feeling of nervousness overtakes me. My flesh is in constant strife against my spirit. Thankfully I am not alone in this; in Galatians 5:17 Paul tells the believers that, “For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.” (NASB) I so easily talk to students about their favorite TV show before I talk to them about their relationship and position with their Father who loves them. My true desire is for them to know their creator with a love that is real and transforming. Yet the gospel is held back, my flesh fights back. I am constantly learning about obedience and I truly believe I will never stop learning about the utmost importance of following the Lord who is all knowing and wise. “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.” 1 John 5:1.

We recently had a training event for our student leaders. It was two days of our Staff team (the 7 of us, 2 part time Salvadorian interns, and 2 full time Salvadorians) giving talks about all sorts of incredible topics. Us gringos were depending fully on the Holy Spirit to speak through us in a language that we are still learning. And of course he was so faithful. We have been praying about starting movements on other Universities and our dear full timers sent letters to various churches inviting them to send students who were interested in starting a Cru/Vida Estudiantil movement. We had 15 new students from other universities. Answered prayer number… 134 or something like that. God is always providing. I think I honestly learned more during that training than the 30 students did. God was slowly revealing the pride and sin in my own heart that he was ready to rip out.

Sessions went until 1, and then we had a lunch break and gathered back together for a day of faith. Faith is what I was lacking. We gathered into groups of 5 or 6 and got into a few cars and caravanned to a nearby park. Our purpose of this mini field trip was to share the gospel. As soon as it was announced that we were evangelizing I looked around at faces of the students and I saw overjoyed excitement! I also saw a few shifty eyes, nerves, and pure terror. My spirit was rebellious. I did not want to go speak spanish to strangers at the park on a Salvadorian holiday (Day of the Dead). On the bus, I glanced at the seat behind me and two students were quietly talking to each other. I asked how they felt about going to talk to strangers about Jesus and they said they had never evangelized before. God’s conviction number… 64 or something like that. I was able to turn from my selfishness in that moment and encourage them and talk through how they were feeling. We reminded each other that God is using us as his vessels to bring people to himself.

We get off the bus, met in a circle and prayed. We then broke off in groups and since we had an uneven number and being the non native spanish speaker and the rebellious non joyful team player, I stayed back to pray for them as they when out. As I started to pray, I immediately had to confess that my flesh wanted to hang out and chat when God was calling me to do that same thing, just with his heart, his love and his purpose. Here’s some learned wisdom: if you ever have a heart so against something, pray about it as if Jesus would, and the Lord will melt your heart. He melted mine. After feeling like the Winter Warlock in the classic Christmas film with a brand new heart, I prayed fervently and in faith that God would speak to souls of dozens in the park.

About an hour later, I lost my team. They were moving all over the park. I caught up to them and they were even sharing with the armed security guard. That is boldness. I ran into a dear friend of mine, Rafa. He studies Engineering at Matias and became a Follower of Christ a mere month and a half ago. God is transforming his life and I love having a front seat in watching that journey! But anyways, I asked Rafa how his time had been talking to people in the park about Jesus and he began to tell me a story. He and my teammate Mack walked up to a middle aged couple and they sat down with them and started talking about their spiritual lives. Salvadorians are very open and receptive to talking about spiritual things, it’s one of the many blessings of this place. I cannot remember all the details but Rafa was bold in asking if they truly had let Christ take control of their life. The man and the woman both agreed that their life was not in God’s hands, and they wanted it to be. Rafa shared the gospel to them, the same gospel he had heard 6 weeks ago on campus, and he led them to rededicate their lives to Christ. How beautiful is that. The boldness of Rafa’s actions and the strong faith he had to approach two people having lunch, changed those lives forever. And he didn’t just share and walk away; he told them his story and how he has grown and gave them resources and tools to find Christian community and how to live their life seeking after the Lord. I am telling you… God is good.

As Rafa (pictured sharing above) finished telling me the story, my eyes filled with tears of joy, just as they did when Rafa told me he had asked “Jesus to be his Savior.” This is only one story. We gathered at the end of the two hours, and almost a dozen people had either rededicated their life to Jesus, or accepted him into their life for the first time. SO NUTS! Without the boldness of these students, without sacrificing their comfort, God would not have used those students to touch the lives of the dozen people sitting in the park that afternoon.

God wants to use me. He wants to use you too. He wants to use us for his glory, to bring people redemption, and for his kingdom to come on this Earth. This past week on campus was different for me. Once my perspective was centered on Christ and centered on the power of his gospel and when we have the faith to be bold, I saw students with God’s heart and genuinely talked to them about the love that Christ has for us. Pray for my heart to continuously have the perspective of our Creator, and for my actions to be bold and in the power of the Holy Spirit. While you’re at it, pray the same thing into your life. I guarantee God wants that for you too.

“In these bodies we will live, 
in these bodies we will die
Where you invest your love, 
you invest your life

awake my soul…
awake my soul…
awake my soul…
You were made to meet your maker.”

-Mumford & Sons

Thoughts without Thinking

I am anticipating that this blog post will be short, but oh so sweet. I am sitting, once again in a coffee shop (I can’t help it. The coffee is so good and today is buy one get one free. Yes. I brought a friend.) and we just got done on the campus of Matías. Matías is a jungle of tropical plants and unfortunately bugs to accompany them. I wish I did a better job of taking pictures.Lucky for me, my teammates are great at taking pictures of everything!

The weather in El Salvador has recently been windy. They call it the “Viento de Octubre” and it reminds me of home. Tehachapi home that is. I have felt 3 earthquakes in the past week or two. Calm earthquakes, nothing to worry about. My team and I have met so many new friends and I often forget their names. That is a skill I am praying God grants me divine ability in.

We recently had another planning meeting with our involved students in leadership. What an encouragement to through out ideas of how we are going to continue reaching the universities for Jesus. Our ultimate prayer and goal is to give students ownership of the movement so that it naturally multiplies for years to come. Our team has felt encouraged by student’s desire to be a huge part of planning events and thinking ahead to the next steps.

One constant headache is going to immigration. In order to stay in this country, living life and doing ministry, it is required that we apply for a working visa. Every time we attempt to turn in our papers, there is a minor error that prevents us from succeeding. Taking time off campus is hard to do for something so trivial as visas and the constant joke is that we can just be illegal immigrants and the worst they can do is deport us back to the states. The many hours we have spent in the dreaded Migration Office has taught us to have patience and we are trusting in God’s perfect timing and sovereignty. For those of you who don’t have access to my instagram…

Jackie and Mack have their temporary visas, but I was denied. Oh well. Next week it is!

I gave you fair warning, this post is short and without any thought or plan. I love to plan and prepare. On the MyersBriggs test for those of you who love personality tests, I am a ESFJ. Fun being a J in a country of Ps. Ok. Now I’m rambling. Until next time!  ¡Hasta luego!

Yearning

God has given me so many opportunities to rejoice in his blessings. I have been praying that he would renew within me a passion, a refreshed passion for Him and for his children. God continues to answer me and shows me his never ending faithfulness. Whenever I again, come face to face with the reality of his faithfulness, I seem surprised. I should not be. He does what he is, and he will never fail.

My consciousness is wrapped up in my life in El Salvador. Often times, my pride engulfs the scope of my sight and I focus on myself, my life, my surroundings. God, in his loving rebuke, gently but swiftly pointed me toward the vast horizon of this world and away from myself. Two things illustrate this redirection of focus.

On my Sabbath, the day we set aside to deeply reconnect with Jesus, rest and rejuvenate for another week on campus, an opportunity arose to help at a program called PANA. (Translated as: Program of Support for Children and Adolescents) A team of 7 university students came for the week from Oral Robert’s University to assist with ministry and experience the rich culture of El Salvador. We squeezed with them into two microbuses and drove a few miles into the more central downtown area of San Salvador. Mind you, at this moment, I thought we were going to an orphanage to hold babies. We unload the cars and walked through the gate of what would be a day full of unexplainable joy.

I am detracting and adding muchas detalles (much detail). Let me refocus. Wonderful. In we walked and were greeted by staff persons in brightly colored shirts. They shared their vision with the group of gringos. Every Saturday, they take a huge truck into El Central and collect kids whose mother’s sell handmade items or goods in the streets. Most of these children live with a single mother and have little or no exposure to the message of the gospel. So onward my team went on this truck to go find kids who were able to come back to PANA to play. I chose to stay and hold a newborn. Yes. I did find the only baby in the whole place and was ecstatic when the mother smiled and placed him in my arms. Oh I was happy.

30 minutes later, 70 kids came running in and immediately a group of girls came over to me and started braiding my hair and asking me if the baby in my arms was mine. I was ready to play! I stayed with the “chiquitas” (little ones) and was blessed by their childlike joy, without preoccupations and hungry for excitement. They made the gringos dance to silly songs and we worshiped and played games and brought out a piñata (an instant hit). These kids longed for love. We gave it to them. They needed a place to go. It was provided for them. I was taken out of my bubble of busyness and tasks and was immediately reminded that there are people who need prayer, love, and ultimately Jesus.

At the end of the afternoon, we said goodbye with sweaty hugs and kissed the painted cheeks of these children who thanks to PANA, have a place to belong from 9 to 12 on Saturday afternoons. I thank God for places like PANA that desire to serve and show love. No agenda, no lists of goals, just love. I want to live my life with a love like that.

There are so many things I could spend hours typing out as I sit in this coffee shop in San Salvador, but one thing I will not leave out. God has power. If you are reading this and know that truth, stop and thank our creator for all that he is. If you have not discovered that, I pray that you do and hope you will read my excitement as I recount a mere moment of this power.

No need to share names or extravagant details, but this is a tale about a friend of a friend. My dear friend who I love so much, has a friend who we have been praying would know the truth of who Jesus is. I prayed frequently and in great faith that God would reveal himself to this individual. I and others, prayed for months upon months. And I am so excited and praise our powerful God that our prayers were answered and God revealed himself in huge ways to said friend. We celebrated as another member was added to the family and the inheritance of Jesus!!

There are times when you hear stories of real encounters with God, and that is the proof and the hope that we can rest assured and confidently place our faith that God is real, I mean really real and he is to be trusted, and I mean really trusted. We called, and he answered. I spoke to a student on campus yesterday and was able to share with him the empirical evidences that I have seen in my own life to prove the validity and faithfulness of God. When I recount those things, I am pushed into a place of worship and thankfulness for the life I have in Christ. I rejoice that God has given me the opportunity to proclaim hope on a daily basis in a place that needs to hear that hope.

These words have been on repeat in my headphones when I have down time. I pray it moves your heart to worship our powerful and faithful God.

I want to yearn for You 

I want to burn with passion

Over You, And only You

 

Oh, You give life and breath

And in You we live and move

That’s why I sing

Lord, I want to yearn

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdoxR94amLo

Abundancia

“Show me more of your glory God.”

My teammate shared this prayer with my team today and my soul wanted to shout the same. God is ever greater and ever more powerful than I can image. In the same moment, in the same reality, he is ever more loving that I can hope. I want to experience more of God. I want to hear him more clearly and I want to feel him more nearly. Last week was our day of prayer, and I heard God and I felt the Holy Spirit moving in that place.

We had 33 people in attendance for a day full of prayer and adoration. Of those 33, 15 were students who skipped school to lift up the country of El Salvador, the university students, and the world. I was moved by the dedication to prayer and to the unshakable faith that God can and will move in El Salvador. During our time together, we split into groups to sit and listen to the voice of the Lord and respond to the call that we has giving us. We read through the first section of John 10 and spent time asking God to reveal himself to us.

The Holy Spirit opened my eyes to the ways I have been depending on my own strength. As I have chosen to follow the Lord’s call and serve him here, I am being asking to pour out his love on those around me. Unless that love comes from the Father first, the love I am giving will eventually run out if I am not connected to the source. I spent my Sabbath at the beach and as I looked out over the ocean, God reminded me of his abundance. Jesus ”came that they [me, you, us] may have life, and have it abundantly.” John 10:10 The amount of water that fills the sea will never begin to compare to the infinite flow of life and love that comes as living water, the Son of God.

So flawlessly put by Frederick M. Lehman, in my most beloved hymn “The Love of God” :

 ”Could we with ink the ocean fill, And were the skies of parchment made,

Were every stalk on earth a quill, And every man a scribe by trade,

To write the love of God above Would drain the ocean dry.

Nor could the scroll contain the whole, Though stretched from sky to sky.”

In John 4:14, Jesus says, “whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” My prayer is that the Word of God will be the water that my soul needs to be sustained. Words like substance and portion echo in my mind as I desire for His daily bread to be the thing that brings me life. The idols in my life, the things I place above God, hide in the corners of my soul. They steal and rob my affections for Jesus. They need to be plucked from the depths so that Jesus may be the only One my soul longs for. The only One my soul finds complete satisfaction and joy.

As my thoughts are disjointed and my ideas mesh as one, I want to share an experience involving my growing love for this culture. Today my team and I were invited to lunch by some students in our movement. 3 siblings, all wonderful and completely unique. I have been craving an experience in a true Salvadorian home surrounded by raw spanish and food I cannot have elsewhere (such as the quesadillas featured below). This family opened their home to us and we ate, laughed, sang and attempted to even dance a bit. After the dishes were done, the girl sat together and we were asking “mamá” about her life. The precious saint that she is, brought out her worn bible and read to us passages from her favorite parts of scripture. I was so touched to hear the way God has been so real to her and the ways he has spoken to her. Her faith and trust in the truth of Jesus is as genuine as it gets. My heart was overjoyed to experience the God of Latin America. The God of the world. Not just the God of America, California, and even more specifically San Luis Obispo. God is so vast and has facets that have the power to touch every corner of this universe. That is one big God. What a mighty God we serve.

On Wednesday of this week, we are hosting a big meeting involving students from both campuses we are working on. I have invited every Salvadorian that I have added on the ever useful Facebook. We are praying that God will use this event to bring students who are seeking truth, to hear the gospel and to find satisfaction in Jesus. God is vast enough in love and power to change lives and create revival in hearts. His abundance is enough.

Transformed into Sheep

I sit here on a sofa infested with ants, listening to my spanish worship tunes, and relaxing in the presence of the weekend! This is the life. Literally, this is my life. After completing our first six weeks, life finally seems normal and routine, but God is constantly throwing things into our path to grow us and stretch us to trust in Him. I have named this blog “Momentum”. I have been quickly learning that God has a plan. This plan is better than mine. It always will be and I can and with God’s grace, will trust it. But once God starts to move, he MOVES! We are in a place where no matter when no matter how, God is moving and will continue to move until Jesus returns to restore all things. I am brought to my knees in humility, thankful for the gift of redemption and the righteousness to be used by the King of Kings.

I feel loved by God’s presence, by my supportive team and by the students who justwant to love! Some snapshots of our time so far. Pizza party with our 22 bible study leaders. Awesome and encouraging! Fútbol every Sunday and Pupusas for dinner. I am often the time keeper. I like that job. Four of us girls had birthdays in September, and the students thought it would be hilarious to bring a Mariachi band to our house. They were right, it was hilarious. Awkward spanish mishaps coupled with joys when we are able to communicate something really important or even trivial. The coffee is riquísimo (roughly translated to really really really good) and the culture has parts that are beautiful, but also broken. We are reminded of the indifference to Jesus’ name, but we trust in the hope that is all around these unique Salvadorians.

I want to share a story that is so dear to my heart. Before I begin, I just want to rejoice and thank the Lord that 3 students have decided to place all their hope and desires in Jesus!!!! In the past few weeks, we have seen students transform and shape into lovers of the Lord who are yearning after Him! Here is one of those exciting and marvelous examples.

When my team and I came to El Salvador on August 19th, we were greeted by a massive “HELLO STINT” and “GOODBYE SUMMER PROJECT” party. At this fiesta, we met a majority of the students who got involved during the 6 weeks of summer. I met a sweet and crazy ball of energy named Antony. (Anthony, but the secretary messed up his name when he was born, so Antony without an H it is!) He had met some STINTers 3 years back but was not very interested in getting involved with these Christians. God, actually had a different plan. Emily, one of my dearest friends from SLO spent the summer loving and serving students and she ran into Antony.

On Monday of this last week my teammate Brittany and I went out to go sharing on Matías campus. We were praying and thought that the first two girls by themselves, we would go introduce ourselves. We walked the whole campus, and saw not one pair of girls. And then we saw Antony. The giver that he is, he ran up and presented us with a box of the ever so delicious Pan Dulce and gave us a huge hug. I was prompted to ask him if he would like to sit and chat. Antony didn’t have any class, so we sat in the garden and out came his testimony. In the past, Antony explained that he had this image of Christians as being totally boring. Like, sitting looking at a while wall, boring. Antony has so much joy and wants to show that joy at all times. Once he experienced the community of believers in Vida Estudiantil (Cru), he saw them dancing and laughing and loving each other and seemingly having loads of fun without drinking or going to parties. He was intrigued. He was interested in spending time with the gringos, but there were more to them than fun. Antony says that our interactions with each other were so genuine and kind and he knew there was something driving the love. Antony was invited to a bible study by one of his buddies, and long story very short, he realized that he wanted to give Jesus all of his heart and live a life transformed by the gospel.  He wanted to experience freedom in Christ, but realizing that it means living for the Lord and not for himself. Seeing Antony in 7 weeks, I can see a difference in him. That difference is Jesus and he will tell you, your mother, and anyone else he meets. He goes evangelizing with us when he has free time and he wants to lead a bible study one day. He presented Philippians 2 on Tuesday, and I was so blessed by his challenge to share the love of Christ with everyone and to be willing to sacrifice things so that God would use your life. SUCH A TRANSFORMATION! As Antony ended his testimony, tears welled up in my eyes as he asked if he could pray for us and thank God for bringing us and his Summer Project friends to Him.

God is doing things here in El Salvador. Not just ordinary things, big crazy unexplainably perfect things. I cannot wait for the next 30 weeks. Pray for students like Antony who are looking in. Pray that their eyes would be opened to the beauty and wonder that is God. The God who loves with an unconditional love. On October 2nd we are having a day of prayer. The passage we are focusing on is:

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” John 10:27-30

Join with me in praying in faith for the university students who are not yet sheep, but who will be.

The First of Many

“Hello world” was the subject that WordPress kindly chose as my opening line, and I believe it fits perfectly. I sit here in my cocina (kitchen), writing (or typing if you will) to my friends around the World. Here goes blog post numero uno.

I have received requests to start up a blog as I live, breath and love here in El Salvador. For those of you who are reading this because I sent you an address to type into that thing on the top of Internet Explorer, a blog is (noun) : A Web site on which an individual or group of users record opinions, information, etc. on a regular basis. (That was primarily for my mother. Hi Mom!)

I may not update this blog on a regular basis, as Merriam Webster may suggest, but I will strive to stay current on  sharing things going on in my life, in God’s ministry here in Central America and also about the ways that you, the reader, whoever you are, may be specifically praying that the Holy Spirit is active and moving.

My grammer will not be correct, as I am constantly switching from spanish to english in any given conversation or circumstance. I over use commas and carry on long sentences, so bare with me.

I leave you with a passage from scripture that my teammate Jackie read to me as we were about to talk to some students on the University of Evangélica.

Isaiah 41:17-20

“When the poor and needy seek water,
and there is none,
and their tongue is parched with thirst,
I the LORD will answer them;
I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
I will open rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the midst of the valleys.
I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
and the dry land springs of water.
I will put in the wilderness the cedar,
the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive.
I will set in the desert the cypress,
the plane and the pine together,
that they may see and know,
may consider and understand together,
that the hand of the LORD has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.”

Our prayer is that God would be quenching the thirst of souls on the universities of El Salvador. Even in a land so seemingly rich of gospel truth and Jesus’ name, we have sensed a desperation for living and flowing water that only comes through Christ. I invite you to pray along with us that God would lead us to those souls who are thirsty and are waiting for the river to spring forth in the wilderness and quench this profound desire that is satisfied by our Creator alone.