DAY 2 - 6/21/10

(The view from the garden)

We awoke early to the sounds of roosters, dogs barking and people - before the sun even came up. Our housemates are Annie from Seattle, Savanah from UNC and Jake (Jacobo) from Colorado Springs, CO. Jake is "the baby" of the group and we feel a need to watch over him. Maria Louisa's house is so cool and she has a HUGE garden with a hammock.



We brush our teeth at an outside sink.

Our leaders picked us up for our first mission at 7:15am. After stopping to pray and gather supplies, we went to the place that will forever be burned in our hearts and minds... The houses are one-room homes made of sheet metal with no running water. The people here have limited resources and education. Many of them only own 1 or 2 pairs of clothes. A lot of the kids run around without shoes. When we pulled up in the van, the kids ran up and surrounded us like we were celebrities. They were extremely complimentary, "Senora, me gusta ____" You name it! The kids would tell you they like your shirt, or your hair, or your necklace... one day they liked Jackie's teeth!

We conducted VBS in a tent made out of tarps that was about 110 degrees. This was the "community center." We taught the kids an arts & crafts lesson about "planting the seed" just like Jesus does in our hearts and lives. We used seed packets left over from our friends' wedding: David & Meghan Killingsworth.

Within an hour, we had fallen completely in love with the kids in this community. Bendicion de Dios, also known as "La Communidad", a poor community sponsored by Christ for the City International.

Sunday, June 20th - OUR JOURNEY BEGINS

We made our flights on time and were able to get a good look at the landscape as we flew into San Salvador (the capital... the city where Ryan was born). There were mountains and LOTS of green and hillside homes, shacks made of sheet metal. TeamTacy made it through customs with little trouble due to the language barrier and walked out to where we (were supposed to) meet our team. An hour and a million offers for "taxi" en espanol later, Ryan spotted a guy (one of our leaders, Alexis) with a sign which read "CPCI, Ryam." Hahah, we're all learning, I guess :)



We drove for about 40 minutes to Siloe (Sil-o-eh), the church where our home base was to be. Through the windey streets with garbage everywhere, being feasted on by stray dogs. I asked Alexis about the dogs and he said "No hay control" (there's no control). They don't spay or neuter their animals and they were roaming everywhere... which was very sad to me considering my puppy lives like royalty. There are no lanes on the road and cars fly by eachother dangerously close and dangerously fast!

When we arrived at Siloe and have to be let through a large security gate. (Ilopango, the town, has a lot of gang activity) We met Pastor Javier, some of our team members and our fearless leaders, Elsa and Josue. As soon as we arrived, we noted their hospitality... Ryan and I walked around campus and played with Salvadorean babies. We attended church service and ate dinner as a team.

After an evening team meeting, we were brought by van to our host mother's house in Soyapango - 20 mins outside of our home base, yet much safer to live. Next, we met MARIA LOUISA!!! She is an adorable little woman - probably about 5'1. She has chubby cheeks which makes her eyes squint when she smiles. It had been a long day, so we were shown our rooms, unpacked and settled in for the night. Maria Louisa assured us that "angels are watching over the house."

UPDATE

So, we will probably not be able to upload any pictures due to a lack of internet access,

we are having so much fun with our team ... the kids we are working with are adorable. we are going to be working in 4 different communities while we are here.

today, we handed out bibles to over 100 kids. we are staying with a sweet woman named Maria Louisa who cooks yummy Salvadorean food & takes good care of us!

we hope to post again soon... FYI, we are keeping journals so we can TRULY update the blog when we get back.

thank you for loving us :)

ARRIVAL!

Hi friends!

We made it safely & have taken a long ride through the countryside & ciudad. Ryan saw the city in which he was born!

For now, we are resting at the soccer school & waiting for the rest of our team to arrive. Already, we have met Pastor Javier & Alexis (who we love eventhough we had to wait an hour for him outside of customs.... small snag. HAHA)

We will try to post some pictures soon... Goal for today: Learn mas espaÑol.

It looks like we will have email most days, so keep checking!

SOOO READY....

We've been talking about it for over a year. We've been actively preparing our hearts, minds & bank accounts for months. Now the time is here. We leave for El Salvador tomorrow at 6:45am.

Here are some prayer requests we have:

1) Please pray for safe, uncomplicated travels for us.

2) Please pray for Ryan's heart to be light & grateful for his wonderful life as he sees where he was born.

3) Lastly, please pray that our trip would glorify God.

We decided to post a picture of the (person) we will miss the most ;)
Stay tuned...

OF GOD?

This past week, we've learned..... OVER AND OVER AGAIN.... that there's forces which work against those preparing to carry out God's work.

Whether you know it as "the devil" or "darkness" or "the opposite of God", the name doesn't matter. What we're here to tell you, with complete certainty, is that IT IS REAL.

First, Jackie's passport arrived late. Last Saturday, Jackie found out that one of her friends she grew up with passed away in his sleep. Then, Tuesday at work, Jackie was informed that one of her kids passed away. Lastly, TODAY, with 2 days to go, more information became available about our itinerary for ministry... and SURPRISE!!!! We need malaria meds. While Ryan was at work, Jackie researched travel clinics which are open on Saturday. There's ONE. In Winter Haven.... over an hour away!

MORAL OF THE STORY: We encourage EVERYONE to go on a mission trip and prepare your heart to serve others... but be careful of what starts to happen when you make that decision.

2 DAYS!!!!

Countdown is ON!

Hi friends!

To clear up some confusion, El Salvador is a small Central American country located on the Pacific coast between Guatemala and Honduras.

FOUR DAYS... Count it.... FOUR DAYS until we leave for our mission! God has been working on our hearts and we know good things are going to happen on this trip!

Here's a picture of one of the neighborhoods we will be working in. It's funny/ironic/certain that when you are gearing up to do God's work and you are in prayer/devotion time on a regular basis, there is a spiritual warfare that begins to sink in. Here's the example: We've been doing LOTS of teambuilding and getting excited for the trip, praying every day, packing, collecting supplies from lots of wonderful people... AND BAM... Saturday: Jackie finds out one of her friends she grew up with in MA passed away in their sleep.

So, we put on the "armor of God" & keep moving forward, heavy hearts and all. Then, on Tuesday PM, Jackie recieved the news that one of the kids she was close to at Covenant House took their own life. MORAL OF THE STORY: Caution if you're about to carry out good deeds in the name of the Lord... 'cause there's also "forces" working against that.

PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for the Spielman family of MA, for M.K. to be free from whatever was hurting and for the rest of this week to be prayerful and uneventful. AMEN.