Learning to Lead

Today was the first day of our AGM (Annual General Meeting). Most years we have a guest speaker to share in one or more of our sessions. This provides some necessary reminders, some equipping and usually a challenge that relates to the privilege of being called to lead these short-term teams. This year we invited Tyler Pelke to be our guest speaker.  As a fourteen year old he endured incredible suffering, which almost took his life and left him with 25% of his body covered in 3rd degree burns. The short version is he faced several choices over the next number of years, either to remain a victim of his past circumstances or courageously make choices in spite of those circumstances. He continually chooses the latter and that's part of the message he shares: know your purpose, be quick to forgive, adapt-ability. With the God as His helper Tyler provided an inspirational message that speaks encouragement into the often confusing world that we live in as leaders of these teams, as well as speaking hope into the lives of those among whom we serve in El Salvador. We don't have to remain a victim, we don't have to just survive, but by knowing our purpose we can actually thrive no matter what our circumstances may bring.

Every house has a story

Today we built six houses. The first family my build team built for was for a man named Gustavo, his wife, Rena, and their son. Both Gustavo and Rena had been abandoned at a young age by their parents. Their parents moved to the United States, keeping contact for the first few months but that soon stopped. Gustavo and Rena have heard through friends that Rena's parents have separated and have new families. During our interview with the family, one of the questions asked to them was, if they could go anywhere in the world where would it be? The response, they each want to go to the United States so they can tell their parents how much they love them. Crazy. 

The second family my team built for had a great grandma who was 92 years old, grandparents around 50 years old, and a 6 year old grandson. You could tell that this family was truly loving and caring, which is something so rare to find here. The little boy, Joseph, was so energetic and intelligent, another rare finding. When he found out the Canadians were coming, he made his grandma buy him a book in English so he could learn to speak it. He hopes to become a doctor one day due to an experience he had at the hospital where no one was available to help him. 

It was hot today, but nonetheless I love building and hearing the stories of families. 

Aynsley

Stronger Together

It's a strange feeling to be lifted off the ground inside a winged metallic cylinder. There we sit suspended in the air for a few hours, reading books and watching movies, until we gently descend back to the ground. It's not the same ground, for while we were suspended in the air, the earth rotated, rolled and reconfigured itself so that we exited our craft in El Salvador.  Just like that it seems the Lord has made the distance, language and culture shrink into manageable proportions. We leave home and we are welcomed as though we are home. This week (April 9-16, 2016) we, Aynsley and I, are again joining with almost 30 other people from Canada to celebrate and share about how the Lord is working through our Shelter teams. We will be building 11 homes this week, to bring this season's total to an even 300!!  That is something to celebrate...not the number of homes, but the number of lives impacted by a tangible expression of the love of Jesus...but don't stop your counting at 300 El Salvadorian Families. Please also consider the over 300 Canadians that have been down here this season and their families; and their church families, businesses or organizations. And then think about how each of their communities are impacted not just in supporting before, but in celebrating after each team returns. And don't forget to add in the people in the communities and the churches here in El Salvador.  How's your calculation coming?

Your prayer, financial support and encouragement for the work that we are part of in El Salvador gets stronger as we work together, following the rhythm that God establishes. I am thankful to be caught in that rhythm, learning to move according to His impulse among these aforementioned people which includes you!

Two things, from our church service today in San Vicente: first they have a new pastor (Amilcar) and he seems to be a refreshing answer to prayer as he shares our desire to disciple the people of the communities in which Shelter is working.

Secondly, these verses in 1 Peter 5:18-19 - they tell us that with the Lord as our strength we are stronger together and He is calling us to run to Him with great determination.

Thanks for praying for us this week.


Deve