Our last day in El Salvador was amazing! In this community of Las Dalicias, in a region known as San Martin, with challenges more and deeper than we really see there is The Church and one small congregation called El Buen Samaritano, (The Good Samaritan) which has that very reputation in this area. It has worked hard and continues to do so, fixing roads, digging latrines, releasing children from poverty in Jesus name, and working to bring fresh clean water into the homes of 10,000 people. The pastor of this simple church has a huge heart but only a 2nd grade education, yet he is the leader of his denomination in El Salvador, he is leading this local church and he is leading a community effort to bring this water project to reality. We are so blessed to be in partnership with Pastor Miguel and El Buen Samaritano. There is much for us to learn from them as we serve along side them.
This last week 27 of us from The Crossing came into this community and congregation and were able to:
1. Come along side of them and encourage, help and serve the leaders that work with the children at their Child Development Center (CDC)
2. Tend to the Dental needs of many of these children and some of their parents.
3. Build into the moms and a few dads who dropped off their children for the CDC.
4. Work with our partners on the water project.
5. Facilitate a Leadership Training Program for 40 Salvadorian youth and 10 from our team.
The shear number of interactions, the stories we shared each night as we debriefed the day and the life change that took place in both Salvadorians and Americans, could all never be captured on this blog, but that makes them no less real. I am so proud of the 5 teams that I got to travel with and how they showed up on this journey together.
As we closed out the last day, there was a soccer game, lots of just hanging out with our new friends, sponsored children and others in this community and then a celebration service. We celebrated the teachers at the CDC, we celebrated that it was Jesus who brought us all together, we celebrated the students that completed the week long Leadership Training Program. The exclamation point however was when all the students surprised us with a performance to a song called "Thank You For Giving To The Lord", and they came up to us grabbed our hands and proceeded to express how our time there has impacted their lives. We were all humbled by this, but in my mind as I looked at these students and recalled some of the visions they have for LEADING in their community, schools, churches and homes, I started to imagine the potential that stood in front of me. When God sees us I believe He sees even more potential. I believe He wants to work in and through each and every one of us to show and share His love with others. What we experienced, this week was both giving and receiving that love. There is no doubt in my mind that the ripple effect of this journey will be felt for years to come as not only these young leaders but every single traveler continues to process and live out what God showed them and allowed them to experience this week.
Thanks to everyone who participated, prayed, gave, blogged and supported this mission trip!!! May God bless you all as you were a key part of this journey!!
In His Strength,
Ian Stevenson
Pastor of GO Ministries
This last week 27 of us from The Crossing came into this community and congregation and were able to:
1. Come along side of them and encourage, help and serve the leaders that work with the children at their Child Development Center (CDC)
2. Tend to the Dental needs of many of these children and some of their parents.
3. Build into the moms and a few dads who dropped off their children for the CDC.
4. Work with our partners on the water project.
5. Facilitate a Leadership Training Program for 40 Salvadorian youth and 10 from our team.
The shear number of interactions, the stories we shared each night as we debriefed the day and the life change that took place in both Salvadorians and Americans, could all never be captured on this blog, but that makes them no less real. I am so proud of the 5 teams that I got to travel with and how they showed up on this journey together.
As we closed out the last day, there was a soccer game, lots of just hanging out with our new friends, sponsored children and others in this community and then a celebration service. We celebrated the teachers at the CDC, we celebrated that it was Jesus who brought us all together, we celebrated the students that completed the week long Leadership Training Program. The exclamation point however was when all the students surprised us with a performance to a song called "Thank You For Giving To The Lord", and they came up to us grabbed our hands and proceeded to express how our time there has impacted their lives. We were all humbled by this, but in my mind as I looked at these students and recalled some of the visions they have for LEADING in their community, schools, churches and homes, I started to imagine the potential that stood in front of me. When God sees us I believe He sees even more potential. I believe He wants to work in and through each and every one of us to show and share His love with others. What we experienced, this week was both giving and receiving that love. There is no doubt in my mind that the ripple effect of this journey will be felt for years to come as not only these young leaders but every single traveler continues to process and live out what God showed them and allowed them to experience this week.
Thanks to everyone who participated, prayed, gave, blogged and supported this mission trip!!! May God bless you all as you were a key part of this journey!!
In His Strength,
Ian Stevenson
Pastor of GO Ministries
