You're Trash!

Here's a funny story that you might like:    

     So I was helping some of the younger boys at 'La Casa' pick up trash around the orphanage property today when I thought it would be a good opportunity to teach them a little more English. So in Spanish I told them the word for trash in English was 'trash'.
     "No," one of the smart-alek boys replied. "It's called 'Derek'." He went over to pick up another piece of trash as he said "Here's a 'Derek'" and threw it in the trash bag before going back to pick up more 'Dereks.'
     I retorted by calling the pieces of trash by his name instead, and so with each piece of trash we threw in the bag we called it by the other person's name. The funny part was when he picked up a smaller piece of trash and exclaimed in his Spanish accent, "Un Derek Jr.!" It was hilarious! - who knew picking up trash could be so much fun!

Update 8/13 to 8/18

     We just had our last missionary group for the summer leave for the airport today after spending five days serving here in El Salvador. In total, there were nine people in the group and they served and ministered in Apopa, the San Salvador children’s hospital, La Angostura, San Martin, and the Central Church in San Salvador. It’s amazing to think of all the different groups we had these past two and a half months that came down to serve. It has definitely been a busy summer but also one with a lot of ministry and blessing. Pray for this group and all the other groups that have ministered here throughout the summer, that their ministering would continue in the States and that God would continue to use the impact they had here in El Salvador to continue to bear fruit here for His kingdom.

Update 7/30 to 8/6

     This week, we had a group of eleven people (seven youth and four adults) come and minister here in El Salvador. They ministered and shared the joy and love of God in Santiago de Maria, Zacatecoluca, San Salvador, La Angostura, and here in San Martin. They were used by the Lord as they shared their testimonies, led worship, performed dramas, and of course, shared the Word of God. Another successful mission trip has come to a close here in El Salvador; but God’s work is continuing both here and in the States as well as all around the world in the lives of His people; and praise God it will continue to go on until He finally returns to take us home.

Only One Friend Left

Only One Friend Left

     Friday 8/3/12:

      It’s hard at times being on a long mission trip and being away from your home and family and the things that are so familiar to you. At times I do struggle with wishing I was back home instead of here in El Salvador – more than I let on in my blogs if I’m honest. But a few days back, I felt as though God was telling me to give Him these last two months that I’m here in El Salvador and just hang in there; drop any preconceived ideas or priorities that I might have originally had at the beginning of the trip about this trip being about working with kids or serving God. Granted, those things come in a mission trip such as this one, and they’ll definitely continue to be a part of my time here while I’m in El Salvador; but I felt as though God was telling me to set my priority in these last two months here in El Salvador to be focusing on Him and my relationship with Him before anything else – including working with kids and even serving Him. (If you think it might seem weird to set your priority in a mission trip to focusing on your personal friendship with God and not on serving Him during a mission trip, read the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42.) I’d get depressed, homesick, and discouraged at times and want to give up; but God has been telling me to just focus on Him and my relationship with Him – the one Friend who is always with me and is always the same, whether I’m in El Salvador or back home in the States. Today (Aug. 3, 2012), however, God showed me that I’m not the only one who might need the encouragement of remembering that God is a Friend who is always here for me as I’m forced to rely on Him and His promise to never leave me….

     This afternoon, with the group from West Houston who has come down to serve in El Salvador for a week, we went to Benjamin Bloom Children’s Hospital for a hospital visit. With many of the groups that come to minister in El Salvador, we’ll take an afternoon and visit this hospital which is the only children’s hospital in the country. Families from all over El Salvador who need medical care for their children will come to this hospital. Many of the families can’t stay overnight at the hospital with their kids because they have to work or because their kids have been there in the hospital for so many months or years even. The parents that do stay overnight have nothing more than a chair to sleep in. When we visit the hospital, we bring bags of water for the parents of the children and we bring activities (i.e. coloring pages, bracelets, etc.) for the kids in the hospital. During our visit, we usually hand out the things we brought and talk with the kids and their families.

     During this visit, I was handing out water to the parents of the children in the hospital wing I was in. I had seen this boy and his older sister who was with him in the hospital and asked the boy his name and age. He told me his name (William) and his age (15). I said “Mucho Gusto” (“It’s a pleasure to meet you”), and then finished passing out the waters to the other parents. However, noticing that no one else from the team was in that room and wanting to talk to that boy again, I made a mental note to come back to that room.

     So later, when I got the opportunity, I walked back into that room and immediately said “Hola” to the boy and his sister again. The moment I said hi, I noticed that William was upset, his eyes were wet with tears, and he and his sister had been talking. “Oops!” I thought to myself. But it was already too late, I had already interrupted. “Oh shoot, what do I do now?”  I wondered, having put myself and possibly the boy and his sister in an awkward situation. “What’s the matter? Can I pray for you?” I quickly asked. Both William and his sister nodded and, stumbling over my words during my prayer due to my limited Spanish knowledge, I did my best to pray for him.

     After the prayer, still not knowing if I was being too intrusive, I asked them if it was okay if I talked with them or if I should leave. They said it was fine if I stayed, and so we started talking. I asked William about his family and if he had any siblings. He said he had one who was older and that it was his sister there with him (that was when I learned for sure that the older girl with him was his sister, because until that time, I only had a hunch that she was his sister). He asked me where I lived and I shared with him and his sister what I was doing in El Salvador. His sister Paula asked me if I was a Christian missionary and I said yes. I asked them if they were Christians and they said yes. I asked if they had a Bible and read it. Paula pointed to a bag at the head of William’s bed that contained his belongings he brought to the hospital, indicating that it was in there. After that, we talked about so many other things. We talked about our favorite book/story in the Bible; we talked about movies, facebook, our families, video games, and even super heroes. I had asked William who his favorite superhero was, and I couldn’t help but smile when he answered “Jesus.” “Good answer,” I thought. As we talked, I also learned that William’s parents weren’t there with him because they had to work, that William had just got in the hospital that day, that he came at ten in the morning, that this was his second time in the hospital, and that he was there because he had diabetes.

     Later, after we talked some more, William’s sister told him that she had to go. She said goodbye to her brother and to me before leaving. As we were talking, I started realizing why William was crying when I first came back into the room. After his sister left and he and I talked some more, I was more certain of why he was upset. I imagine that he knew his sister was going to have to go, leaving him there at the hospital alone overnight. The two of us continued talking, this time about school. This week in El Salvador is vacation for the schools; so we talked about school vacation and how the school vacations and schedules are different in the U.S. and in El Salvador. He also shared with me that he was in ninth grade.

     Earlier, I had taken a picture of him and his sister, and knowing that I had a camera, William asked to see the other pictures I had taken. So I sat on his bed next to him and started showing him some of the pictures. Soon, his phone buzzed and I stopped showing him the pictures so he could check the text. He told me to hold on for a moment, and then got up, took his pole thing with the IV connected to his arm over to the window with him, looked out the window from the fourth floor where he was, and stuck his arm out and waved. “Is it your sister?” I asked him as I realized that the text was from his sister. William nodded. We then went back to looking at the pictures on my camera until it was time for me to go.

     I didn’t want to go. I would have stayed there for so much longer if I knew it would have helped William not miss his family or feel lonely that first night in the hospital. I was glad I was still able to be with him even after his sister had to leave; but I felt bad that eventually, even I had to leave and William would be left alone until the following day. I felt a little guilty, as if I was abandoning him; but I knew there was nothing else I could do. And so, on the ride back to San Martin, I lifted William up in prayer, asking God to comfort him and to use this time in his life where he might be hurting, missing his family, and feeling lonely, to draw William so much closer to an intimate relationship with Him. I knew that for the rest of the day, there was nobody else left there at the hospital for him; but I also realized the opportunity of God being able to use this time to speak personally to William and show him how He would always be there for him and help him even when no one else can.

     In the end, I realized that William’s situation was not too much different than my own situation and the very thing that God has been trying to show me. And that is, even though we might be away from our families, and even though we might feel utterly abandoned, alone, or homesick, there is a perfect opportunity awaiting us to draw closer to God and let Him be the one Friend who will never leave us – who can’t ever leave us if we are truly His. There are times in our lives when our family and our friends will not be around to help us; but we must never forget that as Christians, that even in these loneliest and most difficult of times, we still have one Friend left – and that friend is Jesus Christ Himself!

     Please pray for William. I didn’t ask him how long he’d be in the hospital, but pray that he would draw closer to Jesus through this time in his life and that he would feel the peace and presence of the Lord, especially when his family can’t be around for him. Also please pray for his medical condition and that the Lord would miraculously heal him from his diabetes and that he wouldn’t have to go back to the hospital a third time.