El Salvador, The Savior

After being stranded in Guatemala for way longer than planned, our team finally made our way to El Salvador.  We had some trouble at the border due to corrupt government officials who wanted one of our guys to pay a ridiculous bribe.  But after hours of waiting and dealing with nonsense, we eventually made it through and drove on to San Salvador.  We met up with a YWAM leader who hosted us for the next few days.  This is the first time our team partnered with a YWAM base, something we hope to do more and more as our trip continues. 

Our YWAM leader told us about the problems El Salvador is currently having with gang violence.  I realized that the name El Salvador means “The Savior” in Spanish, and if any country needs a savior, it’s this one.  The country is pretty much run by gangs, especially the notorious MS13 gang—known for their gruesome ways of killing people.  Yet despite the warnings of gang violence, I somehow felt at ease in El Salvador.  There is just something about the place that won me over.  The need there is so great, and the people I met were so open to give and receive love.  In this country full of gangs and murder, I oddly felt at home.

On our first day, we ran two church services for beautiful and friendly congregations.  The first was at a church of maybe seven adults and ten or so children.  What they lacked in size, they made up for in heart.  I spent most of the service with the children, playing games and singing with them.  In the afternoon, we headed to a second church, this one much larger.  The service lasted for at least four hours.  We worshipped, did a drama, preached, prayed for the sick, and then asked the Holy Spirit to touch the church body.  Shortly, the church service turned into a massive dance party.  People were weeping, laughing, dancing and rejoicing.  An older man I prayed for confided in me that he had lost his home and couldn’t provide for his three children.  His leg was injured, and it has prevented him from working.  I prayed with him as he wept.  Sadly, he was not healed that evening, but I am believing for a miracle for him.  He stole my heart and showed me the gentle humility that can exist in a country known for its murder rate.  Beneath the hype and the fear, there exists a genuine love in the heart of El Salvador.

The following day, my team visited a government-run orphanage for boys aged ten to seventeen.  The place looked more like a prison than an orphanage.  And it felt like one.  Because the orphanage is run by the government, it’s a holding pen, not a ministry.  On the boys’ eighteenth birthdays, they are kicked out.  There is no transition into the “real world.”  The kids are simply dumped and forced to fend for themselves.  With the amount of gangs in El Salvador, I would assume most of them join gangs to be able to survive.  It broke my heart to see such precious young boys headed towards such a rocky future.  It was clear that the boys didn’t get much attention.  We played soccer, basketball, frisbee, football, etc. for hours.  The kids were going crazy, so excited to have some people to play with. 

The following day, we visited a drug and rehab center for men.  Again, I found a softness in the hearts of those men rather than the hardness you would expect.  As a few of my team members shared about their past addictions and the freedom they’d found in Christ, there were many nods and “amens”.  We prayed for the men, and they openly received.  That same afternoon, we assisted the YWAM base with a homeless ministry they run right on their doorstep.  The staff set up an outdoor shower, and homeless people from the community stopped by for a shower, a fresh set of clothes, a warm meal, and a short devotion.  I had the privilege of leading the devotion and simply hanging out with the men who came by.  One of them, Nelson, spoke perfect English and told us crazy stories from his past.  Quite the comedian, he had all of us laughing.  The ministry reminded me so much of the homeless ministry I used to do back in California.  I felt so at home, just hanging out with these men, talking, and laughing.  The more I travel the more I believe people are the same everywhere.  Everyone likes to talk.  Everyone likes to eat.  Everyone likes to laugh.  People are people. 

Our time in El Salvador felt like it went by too quickly, but our team is trying to catch up a bit, since we are already pretty far behind our original itinerary.  We are meeting more people in Nicaragua to join the team, so we would like to get there soon.  Please pray for safe travels and protection over our vehicles.  Thanks for reading along with my journey and for praying for the team!