El Salvador...day 1

The worship team used slides with all the words for the songs. I can read Spanish, so once I got the tune down, I enjoyed singing too!

 Hallelujah!! Hallelujah!!

HALLELUJAH!

I made it to El Salvador! 

I will admit, I was a nervous, hot mess on Friday night and Saturday morning. I was soooo anxious about so many things, but primarily about the bags getting into the plane!! I worked hard to get as much packed in both the checked bags. I was praying for favor from the attendants weighing in the bags. The first bag with my clothes and extra love offerings (toothpaste, toothbrushes and some more glasses) weighed 50.0 pounds. (the limit was 50 pounds or less) The sweet man looked up at me and said "I am going to have you buy me a lotto ticket!! The second bag went up and went down, and stopped on 50.5 pounds. I looked at him with my best puppy eyes. He looked me and looked back at the scale and said "It ok!" The weight of the world came off my shoulders at that point!

We are staying at Christ for the City International headquarters in Soyapongo, El Salvador. The streets are at all kinds of crazy angles with tons of cars, trucks, pickups, and motorcycles moving at all speeds. We parked right inside the mission gate in an open air courtyard underneath the kitchen...and the bedrooms open right into the garage area. They just installed a large hot water system last week--there were no hot showers or hot water prior to that upgrade. This morning I was really thankful for a hot shower!

We traveled to the church plant of our Coordinator's family. They planted a church 20 years ago in a little neighborhood, and it was fun to hear about all of the things that have changed in those 20 years!! The joyous singing was unbeatable, and I enjoyed reading the lyrics of the songs and figuring out what they meant! Many of the words were easy to figure out when you know what the Bible says about who God is and what He does!! 

No temer! 

That was the phrase today in the service.

NO FEAR is the translation.

 We are nothing without Christ, and when we have Him as our life guide and salvation, there is NOTHING to fear!

NO TEMER!

We enjoyed getting to know Pastor Rudy over lunch! His son, also known as Rudy, is our coordinator for the week. He is doing amazing things for the kids in these small villages and the people. I can't wait to continue hearing about his ministry!

Speaking of lunch, we drove for what felt like forever, hot, hungry, and a little nauseated from the back seat of a van on the twisty, turny roads, we finally made it to the top of a very cool mountain that overlooked the valley that included the town of San Marcas, the place where the Rudy's live. It was outdoor dining with many people enjoying a lengthy lunch and laughter. 

I don't remember what it was called in Spanish, but I enjoyed chunks of chorizo, chicken, and steak bites-along with fresh, thick tortillas, THE best refried black beans ever, and Queso Fresco. We also enjoyed Aqua Fresca. I opted for strawberry. It was refreshing!

We hiked down past a strawberry farm to get another breathtaking view of the valley!

This was a BEAUTIFUL agave plant, the largest I have ever seen in real life!! Actually, the trees are amazingly beautiful. So many different colored flowers that bedazzle them! Purples, yellows, whites, lavenders, magenta, and rosy red! Simply stunning!

We spent about 3 hours just eating, resting, chatting, and hiking. Very refreshing!

Strawberry plants grown in towers along the hillside and covered with white sun shade over top to prevent the berries from burning.

A view of the tiny houses covered in rusting tin roofs

After lunch and goodbyes, we drove back by a souvenir market where we stopped and picked up a few things. I can't WAIT to get home to try the handmade hot chocolate powder that I bought!

For some very strange and random reason, eating Mexican street corn in Mexico is on my bucket list...but apparently they also have this in El Salvador. My new friend Monica assures me that she can make it better than the street vendors...so we will be enjoying this one evening this week! I can NOT wait!!

I am ready to get to work. It has definitely been fun to bond with people on our team!! We were planning on going to a youth prison ministry tomorrow, but due to a plan change, we are now going into a men's prison. Most men, as I understand, are in there for a minimum sentence of 30 years, and the majority of crime is for murder or possession of illegal weapons. It sounds like it will be an amazing opportunity!