tuesday, really?

I´m not quite sure what to write about. I am so overwhelmed and moved by the things I have experienced today. I feel so sheltered, so unaware, so numb, like I´ve been stuck in the Matrix for my whole life.

The day started off in a great way. We had a great breakfast and devotional together this morning. Because of some details that don´t bear explaining, we did not go to the university today. Instead, we went to the church building and spent time preparing several suitcases worth of clothes so that we could take them to some families in the church who really needed them. We put left the rest of the donated clothes to take to Suchitoto this Saturday. More on that later.

Then, we drove up to a volcano that overlooks San Salvador called El Boqueron. It was beautiful and amazing. We drove down the mountain then looking for a place to eat, and stumbled onto a restaurant called Las Brumas that was absolutely amazing. The view was to extraordinary and the food was some of the best I have ever had, for hardly any money, relatively speaking.


Both of these experiences, combined with our wonderfully self-indulgent day yesterday, served in stark contrast to what we experineced next.

We drove into San Marcos, a neighborhood in San Salvador, where one of the families in the church lives. The famiy was a single mom named Gladys, with her two kids, Tato and Ana, with their grandmother Maria. The level of poverty that they lived in is hard to describe. The house was two rooms, and their kitchen, bathroom and laundry room were combined outside behind the house. It was the most shocking thing I have experienced in my life. I have, of course, heard about situations like this and seen things on film, but nothing compares to the experience of seeing it first hand. I was overcome with emotion and didn´t quite know what to do. So, I started watching the people we were visiting. They were so incredibly happy and grateful that we were there. I know this sounds like a cliche, but I can´t help it. We gave Tato and Ana each a stuffed animal, and their faces lit up in a way that defies description. They insisted on serving us soda that they had, and were so happy to do it. Josue, who leads the church here, was visiting their house for the first time as well, and he was just as shocked and overwhelmed as we were. We were all in tears afterwards.

Next, we drove to another house that belongs to Angel and Inez, and their three kids, Wendy, who just gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, and their two sons Angel and Rodrigo. Angel recently lost his job and his wife was diagnosed with cancer. However, the joy that they expressed and the gratitude that they showed to us was unexplainable, unless you know God. We are trying to figure out their exact financial situation because their house is being foreclosed on. I know that we can figure out a way to help. I asked Angel Sr what meant the most to him about being a Christian, and he said that it was the way that God had helped him to change over the years, and how much more he knew that he could change his life, and that God had given him a chance to help others to change. How humbling that he never once mentioned the situation that they are in. He only talked about his faith in God and his gratitude for us.

I know other people have experienced this before me. I know that I have heard others talk about this kind of moment and I wanted to understand it and experience it with them, but I was just unable to do so. I thank God that he has chosen me and my family, along with the rest of our friends who are here, to be here to experience this, becuase it has changed our lives already forever. I am praying for inspiration from God about how we can help, and not just by sending money. I am praying for the church here in San Salvador to grow, to explode with faith, to reach many, many souls who have a passion for living like Jesus lived, and changing lives every day. I am praying for our church in Los Angeles to grow every day in their convictions about the need to serve the poor in other areas of the world, as well as reach the spiritually poor where we live. I am praying for an explosion of compassion that will inspire disciples of Jesus everywhere to throw off the sin that so easily entangles and run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

We serve a great God, and he wants for us to serve others as he served us. It becomes more clear every day, if I choose to see it.

Tomorrow we will prayerfully go to the university to share our faith. Then midweek tomorrow night! Thank you for your prayers. We can feel them here.