Beginnings and Ends

Today brought an end to our time here in San Vincente, but a new beginning for many families. While having sadness in our hearts as we said goodbye to so many new friends, there was an abundance of hope in how God has and will work in their lives.

Today was the key giving ceremony and an impactful day for our team. The relationships made throughout this week were a huge part of what made this day so special as we got to reconnect with our work teams and families that recieved houses. We were given the opportunity to present each of these families with a verse as well as keys to their new homes. God's work was evident through the gratitude and the joy of the people during the ceremony. The bone-crushing hugs, the gifts, and the kind words given to us were a reminder that we have also been blessed this week. It's amazing the trust and connections that we have built, simply after short interviews, a common goal, and even just a few smiles.

We can be assured that going forward, communities will grow closer together and become a safer place for families. We were blessed to see two people accept God into their hearts today, and we hope that this will ignite a spark in their communites. Having said goodbye to the families we met, and our amazing Shelter team, we can now leave knowing that these families are in good hands. God is not finished working here.

Kiara, Chloe and Isabel

El Salvador: Day 4

Today was an emotional rollercoaster. We were able to spend some unexpected extra time together as a team because the compassion team got a flat tire on their way over to our hotel. It is crazy to see how much the team has already connected in such a short period of time.  The compassion intrepreters arrived and they were all introduced to us. After the introduction we got on the buses and headed over to the compassion center that was only 10 minutes away! A very short ride.

We arrived, and the children all ran to their sponsors and some were very excited to see familiar faces, and other children were happy to meet their sponsors for the first time. The compassion center then had everyone gathered in a big room for a welcoming ceremony. We introduced ourselves with our name and then had to make our favourite animal sound. Uncle Eldon and Aunt Rose then said a big thank you on the behalf of our whole team. After the welcoming ceremony we went outside and we did two dances. We then had free time with our compassion children where we played and caught up with our compassion children.

Lunch then came around and we had some chicken and fries. It was very good. We finished and then went to a WATER PARK with our compassion children! The water was really refreshing but most importantly hanging with the compassion children was amazing. The people who do not have compassion children in El Salvador also blessed some other school students and played with them. Everyone was being blessed by each other and it was an amazing sight to see. Playing in the pools with the children was just an experience that no one will forget. All the children were ecstatic to be at a water park for the afternoon. The time came that we had to say goodbye. There were some tears, and prayers over everyone. Hugs were shared and everyone said till next time.

We got back to the hotel and had some down time. Some people took naps because the children tired them out. We left for dinner and had noodles and salad. It was fantastic, the cooks are amazing and we are blessed to have them prepare the food for us. We took our normal stop at Texaco for a snack. We came back to the hotel and shared our favourite thing that happened all day, or something that caught their attention. It was really hard for people to choose one thing to say, but we somehow we kept it under an hour. It is amazing that our team is so connected that we have the opportunity to share with people and not be afraid of being judged.

After everyone shared, we had two amazing people share their testimony. They are amazing people that spread the light of Jesus. The way they talk and the way the smile, you can tell that they are filled with the holy Spirit. Their testimony was inspiring and amazing to listen to. We appreciate these two people with all of our hearts. Their oldest child sang us a song because she knows that God gave her that talent and she wants to spread the light of Jesus with the talent he gave her.

Today has been an amazing day. We were blessed to get to know more of our brothers and sisters in Christ. We learned today that it is really important to listen to what God has in store for us because he has a plan for you no matter how young or old you are. We just need to learn how to listen because it is going to be hard and scary sometimes but so worth it in the end.

Our third and final build day is complete!  I got to spend the equivalent of two days in children’s and women’s ministry, and one day on build sites, handling sheet metal, drilling, and hammering without using a single bandaid. This is quite the accomplishment for me! Seriously, I got bandaids for my birthday, and a note on a shelf of accomplishments at my previous job when I went a whole day without using one. During church on Sunday Ely prayed there would be no cuts, and this prayer seems to have worked for me! 

Early on this trip one of my teammates told me how they feel that while here they feel God gives them the willingness and ability to do things they would never think about doing back home. I experienced this yesterday in women’s ministry. I offered to help paint nails, and promptly had a foot stuck directly in my face. I don’t like feet at all, I don’t want to touch my own feet, let alone someone else’s, but I wasn’t bothered at all painting this woman’s toes. She was particular about the polish and excited about her colour choice. And I did it! Without worrying about her foot pressed against my leg, which may seem small, but for me it was big. 

My comfort zone has been stretched this week, but every aspect has surpassed my expectations. I’m so looking forward to the next few days. 

Day 2: Knowing and Being Known

When Jesus went to the pool called Bethesda in Jerusalem, he healed a paralyzed man. In John 5:6 it stares that Jesus “knew” he had been ill for a long time. The Greek for “knew” in the verse can mean to become acquainted - to know personally.  Jesus got to know the man before he healed him - he found out about him - he built a relationship.

We can fall into the trap of thinking that we are in El Salvador to build houses to help the poor, and that is good enough. But that is not what Jesus modelled. Jesus values relationships; he values people - all of us regardless of our backgrounds, experiences, or where we were born and raised.  And these families that we have been building homes for are not just a statistic. They are mothers, fathers, children and families - they all have value.

This is what has been so amazing about our past 3 days here in El Salvador- it has been the relationships we have been able to build. The people we have gotten to know and the amazing stories we have been able to hear and be a part of.

Yesterday the team took over a school yard to play parachute games, skipping, bocce frisbee and of course soccer as well as face painting with 40 local kids. The teacher thanked us for bringing a moment of joy to their lives. Today the play area was in the middle of the road with blankets and towels for shade.

Today we built a home for Marta and Dennis who stated they would never be able to afford a house.  They hope for a good path and education for their child. And there many more stories like theirs.

We have built relationships with the local families we worked alongside, team members have been prayed for by the family they built for, and local families have given freely from the little they have to bless us.  

Yes, we have built homes for 24 families so far - and that is so important.  But we have been so richly blessed by the relationships that we have established.

Dan and Rachelle Mohr

Monday: The First Day of Work by the Song Family

For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Jeremiah 29:11

Today was the first day of construction. It started with a short van ride to the local community in which we are building. Unexpectedly, Eldon's morning devotion was briefly interrupted by a herd of cows walking peacefully through our group. This was one of few minor setbacks throughout the day. Otherwise it went remarkably smoothly. We completed 12 of the 36 houses we came to build.  We built so efficiently we even had time to enjoy an impromptu game of soccer with some naighbourhood kids. Overall it was an amazing experience to be welcomed so wholeheartedly and lovingly by an entire community even though we were complete strangers

This evening, we all shared what was most impactful to us during the day. Many of us highlighted the interviews with the families receiving their homes. Each interview had their own unique stories that moved us and reaffirmed the reasons why we come on these trips. We are from completely different parts of the world with different ways of life, but today we saw how we are still brothers and sisters in Christ.

For these few days God has converged the lives of the missions team with the lives of these people receiving homes. The directions of each of our lives will be dramatically affected. This crossing of paths didn't happen by chance. It was part of God's plan for each of us. We are blessed by these experiences as much as the families are blessed by their new homes.

by the Song Family

Off to a Good Start

Buenos Dias!

After a day of smooth and safe travels we have arrived once again at the Hotel Don Pablito  Tesak.

After a much welcomed breakfast (though noticeably short on real maple Syrup) and a devotional by Stephanie Geisbrecht, we began our most important work for the week. No, not building homes - but building relationships with the people who will fill them. After, we had a Sunday Service and Jeff Riley bravely shared stories of surrendering wants and self righteousness in his own life, before dinner at Pollo-Campero and a return to the hotel for debrief.

In discussing the day, we shared an experience of the word gratitude. Gratitude seems to go two ways - in both giving and receiving. Giving is important as it promotes the detachment that Jeff and Stephanie shared. Giving away our wealth, time and effort teach us that what we have is not ours to keep (it's a gift from God to us in the first place). Equally important is learning to humbly recieve gifts from others. Receiving is difficult, awkward and embarrassing. Today, the community we are building in purchased every team member a bottle of pop - no small thing for an already destitute group of People. A powerful gift we have to make sure we are truly and deeply grateful for.

Tomorrow we build and tomorrow we'll be grateful. Grateful for the time we have. Grateful for the people we meet. Grateful for the lessons they have to offer us and the lives they are willing to share. Grateful for bringing glory to God. Grateful to be able to serve God.

Not all the families we are building for are families with our same faith. Hopefully through our good works, these families will come to know Christ in the same way that we know Christ, and that relationship building is our most valuable work.

"I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do."

- Edward Everett Hale


But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.

- Acts 20:24

More than just a change of scenery

Bethany El Salvador Mission Team - March 2019

Bags are packed (almost), months of prep and fundraising are done and our team is excited to get going.  An unlikely group of 36 people who are together with the common goal of building houses in El Salvador.   This is the “before” picture of our team – we hit the road this Saturday.

This week in church we were challenged with the questions “What if your life could actually change?”  and “How do we find freedom and life?”  Our hope is that in going to El Salvador we find some insights into these questions and possibly find some answers.  Our hope is that we use the opportunity of getting out of our familiar setting where busyness and distraction can keep us locked into a way of life that becomes status quo.  This trip gives us the chance to see a different way of life and has the potential to give us a new perspective for living back home.

And the cool thing is that as we go to El Salvador and build homes for families in need and work alongside them and get to know them; this is exactly what we desire for them – that their lives would be changed and that they would find freedom and life.   It is clear that the family’s lives will be changed by receiving a home – it means they will be dry in rain season and out of the mud, it means that they can lock their house for safety and security of their family.  But even more so we pray that they would be touched by God’s love and be changed by the message of hope in Jesus Christ, and find freedom and life in Him.

Thank you to all who supported this mission team in fundraising, in prayer, and in many other ways!  We continue to be blown away by all that God does through these trips.  Our team will be building 36 homes with 36 people going on the trip, joining the families and a team of Salvadorans (the Shelter Team) on the job-site.  Crazy and exciting at the same time! 

Stay tuned for more updates on this blog for the week we are in El Salvador.  And stay tuned for the “after” picture of our team where we may look a little weary, probably not as clean, and hopefully with hearts full of what God has done.  We appreciate your prayers for the week we are in El Salvador!