El Salvador - Forever in My Heart

Today is our first day back home and the thoughts and images of the people of El Salvador continue to flood my mind. It is hard to get even the smallest of tasks accomplished without stopping to think about and pray about the multitude of situations we encountered and the people that we met. I'm hoping it doesn't stop - God didn't send us there to spend a week and then put it behind us. He sent us there to change lives - both theirs and ours, and I truly believe he did that. I shed a lot of tears over the past week, tears of sorrow and tears of joy. God melted my heart through the precious people of Los Brisos, San Felipe and San Antonio Camino, as well as through his servants in San Vicente. As God used us to extend his hand to the new homeowners, he offered them the hope of a better future, and more importantly, the hope of eternal salvation. They have been blessed to be a blessing, and we saw clear evidence that that will indeed be the case.
When I signed myself and my son Caleb on for this trip, it was my hope that it would change our hearts and help us to focus on God and what he would have us do with our lives. Caleb is already talking about returning in March if God opens that door, and while I wasn't planning to do another trip for a couple of years (when Aaron turns 16), I'm not too sure that I'll be able to stay away that long either. Our hearts were definitely changed as God has began a work in both of us. All of us first-timers were shown this week why Valerie and Dennis are so in love with these people and so committed to sharing the love of God with them. If you've never been on a missions trip and have reservations about going because of age, health, a lack of confidence in terms of how you could contribute - let God worry about those things and go anyway. I went into this with all of those fears and concerns (and a cold from beginning to end, to boot), and I would go again in a heartbeat. Everyone sacrifices something to go, but it is so worth it.
Before I sign off, I want to send a special thankyou to our hosts in San Vicente who are pouring their hearts into the missions work there day in and day out - I won't mention them all by name, for fear of missing someone, but I do want to thank Phil Hartwig (our homey), Carlos and Patricia for the special friendships we forged with the three of you this week - continue the good fight - we will pray for you daily. And last, but certainly not least, thankyou to all of you here at home who supported us through your thoughts, prayers and financial contributions.