Medical Consult Station

As we are finishing up our trip to El Salvador, I wanted to give a quick update to let you know about some exciting things that have taken place here in San Miguel. First of all, I must say that parts of this trip have been very frustrating and in other ways it has been awesome. We are here because we were invited to be a part of a medical missions team by our good friends at Covenant Life Church in Jeffersonville, Indiana. When the team arrived in the airport last Saturday, all the plastic tubs of medicine that they brought to hold the medical outreaches were detained in the airport. There is an extensive procedure involved whenever large quantities of medicine are entered into any Central American country and the locals that were in charge of logistics were unaware. Therefore, we held four straight days of medical clinics based on a promise that the medicine would be released on Thursday. Yesterday, permission was not granted to release the medicine from customs due to one last letter that was missing and this morning at 10:00A EDT the medicine is scheduled to be released. In spite of the difficulties, the team has kept focused on being a blessing to the local Salvadorian people!

Evangelism Station

As a part of each day’s medical consultations, the people pass through several stations including evangelism, blood pressure and pharmacy. The whole week, our missionary Maribel Rice has been serving alongside Pastor Angel Bermeo who is a friend of ours from Costa Rica. They have been using an evangelistic cube that has pictures on it and helps the gospel message to be explained in a very simple way. They were able to lead fifty people in making decisions for Christ in the evangelism station, praise the Lord!! I think this has taught the whole team a very important lesson and one that I know I’ll never forget and that is to keep pressing on when God has called you to a specific task, no matter what the circumstances look like. HE will always find a way to turn a negative situation around so that HIS Word can be spread to non believers. Please pray this morning so that these medicines can be released and the promises that we made to people all week can be fulfilled!

Feeding the Homeless

The De La Comunidad church plant in Coban has been meeting for two months, but it’s already making a difference in the community. The focus is to meet the needs of hurting people in the community and to serve people. Project LASARO is an outreach to Coban’s indigent community. The majority of the homeless here are elderly people who walk around town begging for money and food. Every day, leaders and members of the church serve food to those who so desperately need it. The vision is to organize a building where they can be fed, bathed and cared for. There are also other projects in the works to reach out to children who have a specific need. Lots of people in Coban are excited about these projects that are blessing the underprivileged and the church is growing as a result.

Miguel

On my recent visit to Coban, I joined the team and fed the homeless. We drove around town for an hour and a half with a pitcher of drink and fresh bread. Some of them are sitting on the same street corner every day, but others are harder to find as they wander all around town. Whenever we find them, we park the car, serve the drink in a disposable cup and we love on them. On one of those trips, a disabled man in a wheelchair named Miguel said, “I want to go to your church, you all are close to God because you serve people.” The funny thing is that noone had ever mentioned that we are from a church, he just knew. Don’t you think that makes an interesting lesson? With all the complex strategies that are out there for church building, this church plant is growing rapidly because they are serving people! Please continue to keep this church plant in your prayers and you can visit the De La Comunidad Facebook page in Spanish.

Gustavo is the leader of new extreme sports cell group in Guastatoya, El Progreso.

In the first few months of 2011, our extreme sports cell group in Coban has exploded. The leaders have really stepped up to the plate, while I continue to encourage them by phone, Internet and visits. The Friday night cell group meeting has grown to an average of approximately twenty people each week. In addition, five more sessions have been added to the weekly schedule including two skate sessions, three BMX bike sessions and an all girl skate session every Saturday afternoon. Once a week, the leaders visit the home of someone who has visited the warehouse recently. These visits have already produced results and two skaters have recently joined the leadership team. Recently, a visiting freestyle BMX athlete named Gustavo Morales visited the Friday night meeting and was so impressed that he asked us to help him organize an extreme sports cell group in his city called Guastatoya, El Progreso. Last week, three of us went to visit him and a decision was made to hold a monthly event there. The NorGuat cell group will travel from Coban and I will travel from Zacapa with our mobile ramps and grind boxes to hold the events. There will be testimonies, a Biblical message and lots of extreme sports fun at every activity.