Not just the
families we build homes for get to move to a new place! We have moved to a new location on the web. The new website gives you more information
about what are teams are all about, shares more experiences from our trips and
gives you the opportunity to get involved. We want you to share in the journey and continue
to be part of building homes and bringing hope to the families of El Salvador!
Bethany El Salvador Missions Teams
Building houses & building hope. "Act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God" Micah 6:8 www.sheltercanada.ca
Friday, March 6, 2020
Sunday, January 19, 2020
Fiesta Day by Joan Hastey and Dolores Hett
36 Bibles and keys to present at the Key-giving Ceremony |
Our last day with the community; we gather with all the families to celebrate
their new homes. It is always an emotional day. I am amazed how well we bond in
such a short time. When we meet for the first time on Sunday there are smiles
and excitement, but we are all strangers. By Friday when we see each other there
are many waves and hugs and long conversations (with the help of our translators).
The children are filled with joy as they play with our Canadian team, like we have
known each other for years. As the day goes on we worship together, we hear a
challenging gospel message about God’s grace and great love. The families are
presented with the keys to their new homes, a Spanish bible and a bucket of blessings
for their home. Many photos are taken and tears are shed as we say goodbye to
our new friends.
Then we have to say more
goodbyes. Later in the evening we meet with the Shelter team and their families
at the clocktower in the city centre of San Vincente. What a great group of
people who are committed to sharing Gods love with their community, providing
shelter and hope. They work all year to prepare the way for us.
Sometimes in life I think we
can feel overwhelmed by the needs people face everywhere. It can be hard to
know where to start and sometimes we just don’t. That first step is hard, but
Shelter inspires me to just drop those pebbles when I see how God has blessed
and multiplied the ministry here in El Salvador. Shelter was one person’s idea
20 odd years ago, and has now built over 3,000 homes, employs over 20 El Salvadorians
and just keeps growing. The ripples are spreading far and wide.
Each of us turns a page in the diary of our lives every day. The faces
on the pages that I have turned this week will not be forgotten. God’s love and
mercy are present everyday. The Salvadorians’ community spirit, contentment and
perseverance jump off the page.
I will strive to be more like them until by God’s
grace I can come here again.
by Joan Hastey and Dolores Hett
Thursday, January 16, 2020
Compassion – God’s Heart on the Move – by Gerry Walker
The international language of soccer |
While the three
days of building homes are now behind us, God continued to bless us as we developed
new relationships and renewed old ones by visiting our sponsored compassion
children at one of the compassion centres.
Many acknowledged that “Compassion Day” proved to be more exhausting
than our build days….so much emotional connection with our children and their
families. We are certainly part of a much bigger thing that God is doing; there
are over 60,000 children enrolled in the compassion program in El Salvador.
Those who have
been back several times see and exclaim compassion day is like a big family
reunion. We get updates of not only our children
but also parents’ needs. We get the opportunity to pray and speak truth into
peoples lives…and we get to see how God is answering pray and impacting our
compassion family.
Giving money
to compassion is not just helping children and their families materially but we
are seeing deep spiritual impact. The Father’s
Heart is using this program to not only reach children but also bring whole families,
children, parents and grandparents to Christ.
God is on the move to great changes and transformations in El Salvador
in the next generation! It is
remarkable what God is doing by placing burdens on our hearts for these people;
the development of new relationships; and prayer!
Despite the
heat, there were several soccer games on the premises. Echoes of laughter spread throughout the
building as families visited around tables, shared lunch, played more games,
and shared life challenges in the open-air centre. The
language barrier did not stop us from sharing our faith and extending our
support. God’s work was demonstrated by
stories of gratitude, blessing, contentment and happiness despite the many
challenges of daily life here in El Salvador.
One of the other
highlights of the day was God orchestrating the “face time” connection between
Betty and Arie in Canada and their son, Brandon and sponsored children here in
El Salvador. God is in control of the
technology and the smallest detail! He
really wants to bless us!
We are being
used as God’s vessel pouring out to his people around us. The boldness that he is giving us here is
amazing. One of the challenges is how
can we continue to be a willing impactful vessel when we return to Canada reflecting
God’s love and grace!
by Gerry Walker
Day 4 in El Salvador – “Our Last Build Day” by Troy Western
36 homes completed! |
The most prolific writers could craft an epic novel describing the
beauty of El Salvador, the resilience of its people, and the strength of God’s
love within it all and still not capture an accurate depiction of this
experience we have shared.
I have witnessed things I never thought I’d see in my lifetime and have
checked off things on a bucket list I never knew I had. I have stood on an
active volcano next to its hot springs. Then, as if not to be outdone, we
shared church on its hillside.
On our first build day, there was a perfect trifecta that left me
awestruck. In a single moment, I looked up from my work to see how my beautiful
wife, Shari, was doing with hers and was immediately hit with three things
coming together that I never thought I’d see: Shari was (a) on a construction
site (b) in a foreign country, and (c) not only holding a power tool, but was
actually using it! And I couldn’t have been more proud or more in love with her.
We finished building our 36th home today. It was a mix of
emotions as we continued to build friendships as we built houses, knowing we
were approaching our goodbyes. I also had the privilege of meeting the families
we were building for and, in most cases, working alongside them during many of
the builds.
With our first house today, I met Maria. In a slightly unusual turn of
events, we finished building before meeting with her, so we spoke with her (with
help of our amazing interpreter, Miguel) in her new home instead of off
somewhere nearby. There was a brief moment where everyone else left to find
chairs and the two of us were left alone in her house. I turned to her with
great excitement wished her “Felicidades!” Although we were in the shade of the
indoors, her face lit up the room like nothing I’d seen on this trip. Her smile
beamed more radiantly than the sun itself and then she wept with sheer joy. That
moment will surely live with me for the rest of my days.
We have made many amazing friendships, which for me includes Marie, a
beautiful little girl in an equally beautiful white dress who, during one of
our Kids Ministry afternoons, kept asking me to blow up balloons for her. Each
time I did, she would disappear with it, only to reappear moments later asking
for another. I quickly realized she was stashing them somewhere in her house,
so I like to imagine she had a fantastic fiesta last night with them! Next, we
played for a long time with a beach ball, just bouncing and passing it back and
forth. Her laughter and smile stole my heart. Then I invited her to come with
us to see the spectacular view from up the hill. Another bucket list item
checked off I never knew I had. Marie sat serenely on a rock while the rest of
us were speechless with the magnificence of the El Salvadorian landscape spread
out before us.
Then there’s Franklin, Oscar, Jose, Roberto, Maria, Karla, Miguel, Levi,
Walter, Mauricio… the list goes on and on. Each one of them, whether they
realize it or not, have impacted me in ways that this blog will never, ever be
able to convey. And my heart will never be the same.
By Troy Western
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
Day 2 of building – by Julie Engel
My morning started
off with an amazing first build. My team and I arrived at the build site around
9am; we saw the locals and the shelter construction workers were almost finished
the house so we quickly joined in and did as much as we could to help. My mom;
Shannon, Julia, and I interviewed the homeowners and quickly connected with the
wife, her husband, as well as their four-year-old son. We were able to share our
stories as well as listen to theirs. The husband has family that lives only
minutes away from their home and shared with us that he has 6 brothers that he
is very close with. The family asked us to come and visit their new home next
time we are in El Salvador because they were so excited they could share a
piece their life with us.
We finished
the first house and got to see the amazing smiles of the families as they put
up their house number and saw the new home God blessed them with. After, we finished
the second house around 2pm. During that build I found myself very connected with
the family and very excited to learn about their lives and what this home means
to them.
When we got
to the build site, I noticed a little 4-year-old boy named Antonio. He was hiding
behind his mother, Dema, and was very shy. I picked up his toy truck and ran it
down his back while saying, “Vroom”, he laughed and quickly opened up to me. He
brought me all of his toys one at a time to play with him, and every time I
would walk away to see what needed to be done to help build, he would act all sad
and ask me to stay with him.
Dema invited
us into her home to make tortillas with her mother. It was a very cool experience
to be able to make and eat our own tortillas, no matter how awful and square
they looked. I felt so connected to their family and was very happy to find out
they are believers of God and see that he is the reason they can get their new
home. I got to pray over their family which was the perfect way to end the
afternoon with them. At the end of the building some of the locals showed us a
spot where we could see an amazing view of El Salvador and got some cool team
pictures. It was overwhelming to see how beautiful this country is and how
blessed we are to be able to experience Gods creation.
by Julie Engel
Monday, January 13, 2020
DAY 2 – FIRST BUILD DAY by Shari Western
Working together! |
I am in awe, yet completely
overwhelmed by the events that have so far transpired. This is my first time
coming to El Salvador or even being on a mission trip, so I am busy trying to
take everything in.
Yesterday we met the families that
we will be building houses for. Today we built 12 of those houses in the
village of Apastepeque. I had the privilege of doing both kid’s ministry in the
morning as well as helping to build a house in the afternoon. Also, during house building we get to do
interviews with the specific families that our team is building for.
The kids were a bundle of energy!!
We had approximately 15-20 kids come out. Lots of games and activities were
played. A “crowd favourite” was face painting - especially when another team
member and I became the canvas!! 😊
In the afternoon, along with working some power tools (another first
for me!) my husband and I interviewed a mother who, along with her husband and 2-year-old
daughter are receiving a house. She met her husband in 2008 when both he and
she had to move to this community because their previous houses were destroyed.
They had a huge storm with a tonne of rain which created a mud slide down the
side of a volcano. Much devastation occurred with many lives lost. Those whose
houses were destroyed were given temporary housing in a nearby village but are
no longer allowed to live there. This house means the world to Carla and her
family. She said it will be nice to not have random animals wandering in and
out and that it will be a safe place for their daughter to grow up.
All in all, it has been a tiring but equally rewarding day. Looking
forward to what God has in store for tomorrow!!
By Shari Western
Sunday, January 12, 2020
Day 1 - by Cynthia Richards & Caleb Loewen
Church at the Volcano - our view |
After meeting the families we went to Bacillo’s house for lunch. Bacillo
is the man who manufactures the house kits. He employees a crew of local men to
weld and fabricate the kits that we put together on the job site. Bacillo is always
open to meeting with us and spending time together.
In the evening we had church with the local shelter team at the volcano,
that is near San Vicente. We worshipped together and heard the testimony of one
of our teammates, which was a good way to end the day.
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