Our trip to El Salvador during Spring Break was awesome!
I was excited because Hunter (our youngest) joined our team. Last summer, Ashley (our oldest) came for a week. It is so wonderful to have our kids minister alongside us on our family mission trips.
We met at Central Baptist at 6:30am and rode the bus to Houston Intercontinental. Since we were divided into teams, check in was smooth & easy. Once we landed in San Salvador (capital of El Salvador), we headed to the pupuseria for some delicious pupusas. If you haven’t had pupusas, they are like a quesadilla with beans & cheese. Hot, yummy & thick.
When we arrived at the orphanage, we were welcomed by the kids and confetti eggs. Each of the girls on our team received a flower. We hung out with the neighbor kids and I introduced Hunter to most of them.
As usual, on Sunday morning the men on our team made breakfast tacos for the orphanage. They don’t have strong male models & this is a way to be a good example for them.
Next, we attended Sue’s church. I was surprised that some of the teens remembered Steve & I. One of them mentioned that Steve plays & sings back home. She’s on facebook 🙂 🙂 This time, I understood more of the sermon. Since we had a translator, I tried to see how much Spanish I understood on my own.
On Sunday evening, we played games with the neighborhood kids. They enjoyed Musical Chairs & Charades. Then, Katherine led Simon Says. For dinner, we had homemade pepperoni rolls. One of our team members, Aaron, worked at Napa Flats making pizza. He became our pizza maker & chef in the kitchen. Pepperoni rolls were a big hit with the team members, as well as the neighborhood.
Work Day #1
Our VBS team met right after breakfast & we easily divided into 3 teams. Sharla led the craft team. They spent the day organizing our supplies for the week & making a sample of each craft. Miranda led the memory verse team. They printed flashcards for each memory verse and discussed ways to teach & review the verses. I led the Bible story team. Courtney & Megan both studied Spanish & were willing to read the Bible story for one of our days. Gisella (our all-time translator) taught the 3rd day. I was excited to see each team work together to present lessons about serving God.
Steve’s work crew began demolition on our next door neighbor’s roof. His team planned to demolish the roof, build metal walls & add a metal roof. When I arrived late in the morning, they had pulled off the roof and were setting posts for the walls. Since they were working with wet cement (mixing it themselves), they at lunch on the job site.
Robert’s work crew began smoothing a hill to prevent erosion and digging the ditch for a water run-off.
Late Monday afternoon, we had our first teen girls Bible study. Miranda shared her personal story of making a decision to follow God, when Cody was not following God. I found out later the high school girls on our team were working nearby and heard learned from Miranda, as well.
Monday night we hosted game night for the kids in the orphanage. They had never played Musical Chairs or Charades. It was so much fun to see a wide range of kids enjoying such simple games. It really is the small things in life that bring joy.
For dinner, we had the kids’ favorite – lasagna! I loved hosting the orphanage kids on our porch. They need to get out every once in awhile. It is a different dynamic when we eat on the porch than when we eat at the orphanage. The kids stayed for a long time, playing & visiting with our team members. Again…simple things bring joy!
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