On a Mission to Serve

Today's post is from Nate 

The past two days here in El Salvador have been absolutely amazing.  It has been filled with many emotions, and I have loved every second of it.  So far I have seen some things that I never experienced before in my life.  Both days impacted me in different ways, and I cannot wait for the rest of the week.
The first day I was so excited to get off that plane and start doing something.  Most of the day consisted of settling in and meeting some amazing people who are behind the whole mission.  The best part was getting to prepare food for the homeless and riding in the back of a truck through the streets of San Salvador that night.  This was a very humbling experience for me, and also made me think about how blessed I am for never having to worry about getting food.  Watching the homeless, which consisted of both young kids and adults, running to the back of the truck just for a sack of some food made me so sad.  I have thought about that over and over today, thinking about how the only time I ever run for food is when mom says that dinner is ready.  That may seem like I am trying to be funny, but I do not mean it that way at all. It just made me think that these homeless people are running to the food because they are desperate and in need, and I run to food without even questioning if I will actually have food to eat.  I have never had to worry about food, and seeing the people here just tears me apart.  It was a quick slap in the face from God that I take so much for granted, and it opened my eyes to how much God has blessed me.

Day two here in El Salvador was even better than the first.  Today we went to church, and I did something that I thought I would never do. Now if you know me, I am not much of a public speaker.  However, today was the day I got up in front of the church along, with my fellow mission team, to speak about how thankful and anxious we were to work with the kids.  During Sunday school we got to spend time with the kids at the church.  We told the story of Jonah and the whale, played Simon says, and we even had a puppet skit.

Later today we went to a boys orphanage, which definitely had a big impact on me.  It was sad that these kids had no home, but praise God they are off the streets and with great people.  It felt so good playing soccer with the boys because seeing how joyful they were from us being there made me so happy.  If I could take all the orphanage boys home I would, and it kills me on the inside that I can't.  But I am so thankful for serving a God that provides for these kids at the orphanage through the workers there.  I could really tell the workers there had a heart for the boys and serving God, and that made my day.  I honestly did not want to leave, I would have played soccer all day with the kids.
El Salvador is already having a special spot in my heart, and it is only the second day.  I am so thankful God put me on this trip. I was not sure what to expect but it has already left a huge impact on me.  I cannot wait for the week ahead. I know it'll be hard and tiring at times, but I know God will give us strength.