Hope

Well, today was got off to an exciting start, as we travelled back up into the mountains to hold a medical clinic and an eye glass clinic. If you ever heard talk of the way we get transported, then you'll know that most often we are in the back of a pickup truck that has steel rails on either side, kind of like a small cattle truck (in fact they transport animals in these same trucks here). Anyway, confusion on the highway ( a truck two vehicles in front indicated that he was going left when instead he was actually stopping on the right shoulder). The ensuing domino effect left: long black skid marks...on the road, a pile up of people in the back of the pickup (fortunately there was only six of us) and gratitude for excellent brakes and no injuries...that's life in El Salvador.

The clinics were amazing. At the medical clinic hundreds of people were seen by 2 local doctors and one nurse. They were given prescriptions and were able to receive free medication for their various ailments. Can you imagine waiting in line for 3-5 hours with no water or no food, to receive a free bottle of tylenol? Yet that's what dozens of people did, without complaining and in an orderly manner.

The eye glass clinic was also a tremendous success and a great blessing. Well over 200 hundred people came through, most of them we were able to help. So many happy faces. One of our guys, said that when they leave the clinic, it's like on "American Idol Auditions", where they leave the building and run to their friends and family to tell them they received help. A wave of joy was spilling out into the streets. By the afternoon, we had the leaders of the other teams helping people with their glasses, two line ups of people being seen. And to top it of, Felix (the man we built the house for) came and we were able to provide him with some replacement glasses. The Lord is so good!! None of the other teams had experienced this before so we it exciting to share this piece of the Sarnia contribution with them. Thanks especially to Dr. Gordon Warren, Amanda and Pim & Coby for preparing another batch of glasses before I came!!

Each person who came to the clinics had their names and addresses (or approximate geographical location) recorded and will be visited by the local church after we leave. Please pray for the continued work of God's Spirit among the people of this town Victoria in the region of Cabanas.

Thanks for your continued prayer and support. Tomorrow (Thursday) we have meetings to discuss and discern what the next steps will be for the EMCC's involvement in El Salvador. It should be a very interesting time as we now have a greater understanding of each other, the love the Lord has given our respective churches for this country and the needs of the people here.

Astaa luego,

Deve

Along The Road

Yesterday (Monday), on our winding, twisting, bumpy, sometimes scary, ride back to the village, we had offered to also take 3 teachers along with us in the back of the truck, plus all our equipment. That made for fairly tight quarters on this wild, slow, 20 minute ride. One question that we asked to the teachers: "How do you normally get back and forth to work at the school?"...their answer, "we walk". It takes them forty five minutes to walk this road, they do it twice a day, when it's hot like it is now, and when it's rainy like it will be in a few weeks. That's dedication and love for their community! I am humbled by their willingness, and the evident joy they possess for what they do.

Along the road of life you also pick up alot of "people" that affect you one way or another. Tonight in our debrief meeting, we all were asked to take a turn to share a significant moment from our day and a personal prayer request. Interesting...would we embrace this time or because of our unfamiliarity with each other would we let it slip by. Those were my thoughts, but I'm sure I wasn't alone.

I am learning to see El Salvador through the way God has worked in the lives of these leaders, but I'm also learning what these leaders are carrying along their road of life. So many deep hurts, burdens for close family members and disappointments. And yet God is continuing to call them and use them in their local communities and church families and in El Salvador. I was humbled by their willingness to serve, and the evident faithful joy in the Lord they possess for what they do...may it be so in my life too.

Deve

A New Beginning

Cabanas (pronounced Cab-an-yas) - that's what they call it, in english it means "cabins). 93 families, almost 1000 people, considered by the El Salvadorian government to be the poorest of the poor, tucked in a valley between two mountain peaks. One road in that hugs the mountain, barely, and gives way on the other side to a vertical drop of 700-1000ft. We inched along this trail to build the first house in this new location. We couldn't get near the site by truck and therefore had to carry all the building materials and tools in by hand, down a narrow, winding, rising and falling, rock laden path.

Is it worth it? I think we all asked ourselves that, as we drove the 1.5 hours to get the area, and then drove the mountain pass, and then carried everything in slowly by hand. Did I mention it was hot? Really hot? I even wore a hat!!

Three things that stand out for me today. The first, was hearing from a man named Adonai, who has worked with Campus Crusade for Christ for 35 years in El Salvador. Among the many things he shared with us, this stood out. They (CCC) have realized the importance of not only sharing the message of salvation, but also demonstrating the gospel message. They have recently begun work in this area and the EMCC is hoping to partner with them, and a local church to bring the message, verbally, literally, and physically to them. I was blown away by what the Lord is doing globally. Creating an awareness among Christians all over the world of the need to bring good works with the good news. The second highlight, therefore is all the more awe-inspiring, because with this message being shared, the first home owner of this area - Felix ( a man twice a widower, who is raising three children)- accepted Christ as His Saviour. They have lived in their "cabin" for years, they barely eat two meals a day, one meal consists of half a bowl of salt, with a jalapeno pepper and a tortilla. His daughter has had an ear problem, he has poor eye sight and old glasses that no longer have the arms, but he strings them around his head in the hopes that they will work. Is it worth it? You should ask Felix who also, in addition to receiving a new home (from the Lord), was also told that there was a medical clinic and an eye glass clinic happening in the town on Wednesday. Amazing!!

The third thing is that it turns out the typing for a living does not toughen your hands up, and forgetting your work gloves in Sarnia really makes that obvious. I have blisters on top of blisters and blisters on places on my hands that I didn't know it was possible to have blisters, and it turns out that carrying aluminum sheets that have been sitting in 40 degree sunshine without gloves is really painful on your blisters, and that all the contractor, builder guys that are on this team find that a source of amusement.

One more thing...I was asked this morning to preach at the Wednesday night church service. The Lord had impressed upon me last week, the passage in Genesis 21 about Hagar and Ishmael being sent away by Abraham. So hopefully between tomorrow and Wednesday, I can figure out why. Thanks for praying...The Lord is at work here and it's a privilege to be one small part of it.