Dear Friends,
Though I have been woefully remiss in posting a blog since my last update, I hope the presence of photos in this post will remedy at least some of that. The last five weeks since my most recent post have been busy, to say the least. In the fifth week of my trip, the Summer Interns arrived. These students were committed to a seven week internship in which they studied the Bible and served in various locations stateside and abroad. By the time they came to us, they had been serving for 3 weeks already facilitating a youth camp for low income youth in Nashville. They had traveled for a week straight, driving down through Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador to finally arrive in Suchitoto. They were tired, but they were ready to serve.
I myself was originally supposed to be an intern, and became one when they arrived. It was at that point that I realized the difference between the experience that I had this summer and the one that I would have had if I had merely gone on the Summer Internship track. Though being an intern for the latter half of my trip was an incredible experience, I was really grateful to have had that extra time to build relationships, learn language, and become familiar with another culture that I hope to someday adapt to more permanently (more on that to come later!). I found myself protective, even, of the small community of Sitio Nuevo. Though I still have much to learn about culture, I was especially worried that we might offend with our lack of cultural understanding. One of the things that I had to learn was to be mindful of what it means to partake in God's culture, which supersedes other cultural norms. Though we are to be culturally sensitive, we must be careful not to sacrifice our adherence to Biblical values in favor of pleasing people.
After leaving El Salvador, we drove for five days through Guatemala and Mexico. We arrived stateside in Texas and drove directly to Raleigh, North Carolina, where we would spend a week facilitating a SLAM (Students Living A Mission) week. It would be a time for us to process our own experience, though still being pushed and challenged in continuing to serve.
Words can't express how grateful I am for this summer. As I return to a new semester and many demands on my attention and time, I continue to reflect on the people I met and the experiences I had in El Salvador. I have joined the Latin America team at my school, and plan, to the best of my ability, to work in that region long-term. The LORD has begun something in my heart for this place and these people, and the experiences I had this summer only served to advance that.
Though I have been woefully remiss in posting a blog since my last update, I hope the presence of photos in this post will remedy at least some of that. The last five weeks since my most recent post have been busy, to say the least. In the fifth week of my trip, the Summer Interns arrived. These students were committed to a seven week internship in which they studied the Bible and served in various locations stateside and abroad. By the time they came to us, they had been serving for 3 weeks already facilitating a youth camp for low income youth in Nashville. They had traveled for a week straight, driving down through Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador to finally arrive in Suchitoto. They were tired, but they were ready to serve.
I myself was originally supposed to be an intern, and became one when they arrived. It was at that point that I realized the difference between the experience that I had this summer and the one that I would have had if I had merely gone on the Summer Internship track. Though being an intern for the latter half of my trip was an incredible experience, I was really grateful to have had that extra time to build relationships, learn language, and become familiar with another culture that I hope to someday adapt to more permanently (more on that to come later!). I found myself protective, even, of the small community of Sitio Nuevo. Though I still have much to learn about culture, I was especially worried that we might offend with our lack of cultural understanding. One of the things that I had to learn was to be mindful of what it means to partake in God's culture, which supersedes other cultural norms. Though we are to be culturally sensitive, we must be careful not to sacrifice our adherence to Biblical values in favor of pleasing people.
After leaving El Salvador, we drove for five days through Guatemala and Mexico. We arrived stateside in Texas and drove directly to Raleigh, North Carolina, where we would spend a week facilitating a SLAM (Students Living A Mission) week. It would be a time for us to process our own experience, though still being pushed and challenged in continuing to serve.
Words can't express how grateful I am for this summer. As I return to a new semester and many demands on my attention and time, I continue to reflect on the people I met and the experiences I had in El Salvador. I have joined the Latin America team at my school, and plan, to the best of my ability, to work in that region long-term. The LORD has begun something in my heart for this place and these people, and the experiences I had this summer only served to advance that.
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| Lisbeth, the 4-year-old daughter of Carmen, one of the best friends I made this summer |
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| Jose, nicknamed Fefo; Carmen's son. |
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| Stephanie on the left, Carmen middle, baby Nadia and myself. |
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| David, my friend Ruby's son. I stayed with him, his mother, and his brother Lazaro for over a week at the end of the summer. |
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