Let Your Light Shine - Wednesday

    

"Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Words cannot do justice to our experience thus far in El Salvador.  A little blood, a lot of sweat, and a few tears have been shed in our service to the people of El Salvador and to our Lord.  It was amazing how a bunch of “gringos” and some local interpreters could piece together some rough cut pieces of wood and somehow turn it into a home for a gracious mother.  Even with the language barrier, I could see her graciousness for our help.  She worked just as hard as the men of the group as well, helping to carry wood up the mountain and sealing half of the house on her own.  Meeting her family and seeing how much they appreciated us is an experience that I will never forget.  Another experience I won’t soon forget was today at the beach with kids from CIPI orphanage.  Hearing kids asking “uno mas!” (one more) over and over again as we tossed them into the pool was a highlight of my day.  These kids don’t get out of the orphanage much, and personal interaction with outsiders is just as rare, so it was an awesome experience seeing their eyes light up as we interacted with them.  All throughout the week, I keep thinking of the words from a Jack Johnson song, “I can change the world, with my own two hands.”  That line pretty much sums up our week so far."- Alan

    Today we took kids from CIPI Orphanage to the beach. It was such and blessing and privilege to be trusted with these children. God has called each person on this trip for a specific task. Many of the woman couldn't help with it the building of the house, but it is very evident as we go throughout the days that each person is on this team for a reason. What one person does well another may not, but everyone here is needed and being used.

Loading the children to the buses at CIPI presented an opportunity for each person to use there special skills. The older girls, teen moms, and little boys all loaded up. All that was left to get onto the bus was the special needs children. The busses that we were taking are not handicap accessible. So just pushing the child's wheelchair onto the bus wasn't an option. It was such a blessing to see how God used people to help these beautiful children.  People of all ages where helping. Many of the men would pick to a child that needed to be held and carry them to the bus, despite the urine and slobber that the children had all over them. They held these children as any protectant father would their own child.

      Arriving at the beach we had activities set up for the children to participate in the first half of the day. The woman of the team set up an area full of stations to pamper the young girls with us.  These stations included a nail, hair, stick on tattoo, craft area, each girl received a neckless and shirt. It was such a blessing to see how excited these young girls got over being pampered. Its the same things in life many times that we take for granted, make up/being able to paint our nails, while these girls where going crazy over it. The little boys, special needs, and babies, were also being played with an taken care of. We spent a lot of the day at the pool, which the kids loved.

      During the second half of the day Marcy spoke with the girls of the group. "Today I had the privilege of sharing my heart with a group of teenage girls.  As I sat with them I was convicted about all the times I questioned God for allowing such circumstances.  For the first time I was able to see the faith that He has in me knowing that I would not remain a victim but would be transformed into a survivor.  Now that my scars are fading away I pray that He will continue to use me to reach others.  I will never know if I was able to make a mark on the lives on those young ladies, but I already know they have left a mark on mine."- Marcy

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.  Proverbs 3: 5&6

     God is good and He is doing amazing things in this country. This team of diverse individuals has been a blessing to work with, side by side, serving The Lord. God is working in the lives of the people here but He is constantly working in ours also. As we go into the last two full days of the trip we ask that you be praying for us as a team and all the people here. The children, homeless, translators, Kurt/Susan and family have all effected our lives this week.