El Salvador- Friday, Saturday, and Sunday-June 10-12th

A view from our hostel

Praises and reflections thus far … Friday Night/ Early Saturday Morning: Eliana loved, for the most part, being in the airport.  There were so many people and new things for her to look at.  Between the Burger King and the Starbucks was a half wall with glass on top of the wall going up to the ceiling.  A young guy making coffee danced for Eliana as she laughed and encouraged the attention.  Once we were on board, I nursed Eliana and she stayed asleep for the vast majority of the flight.  I didn’t get tons of sleep, but that is okay.  I prayed that God would multiply my sleep, and I believe He did.  Even though I didn’t get much consecutive sleep that day, I was okay.

Saturday: Pam met us at the airport.  With Pam’s recommendation, we decided to rent a car so that we could have freedom to travel.  We also got a GPS unit to help us get around.  Pam brought us a pack n’ play, a car seat, cold water, food for Eliana, and a lot of snacks for us.  She showed us a few important routes like how to get from our hostel to the church, the grocery store, and the central commercial.  That night we ventured on our own for to find dinner and to pick up a few other items at the grocery store.  We didn’t get lost, and people LOVE meeting Eliana.  I had a conversation with two older ladies in the grocery store while waiting in line.  The encouraged me to learn Spanish.  I said Eliana might learn more first.  They said it is good for babies to know two languages.   I am so glad that Kyle is with me.  His Spanish is better than mine.  It makes ordering food easier as he helps me understand what people are asking.

Sunday: When Kyle was here in January, his team helped to evangelize in an area called Nueva Concepcion.  Since then, a church has been planted.  Another church from Oklahoma donated money to help build a building for the church.  When we came, that church was helping to complete the finishing touches on the church like painting, hanging the ceiling, and putting in electrical lights.  Sunday was the dedication service for this church.

On Sunday morning, we drove a gal named Ruth up to Nueva Concepcion with us.  She knows a little bit of English.  She turned out to be a very patient teacher as we learned and reviewed words we knew.  We laughed a lot as we tried to get concepts across the language barrier.

The Oklahoma team’s leader preached the sermon.  This turned out to be very nice for us since that made the service bilingual.  The leader preached about the church continuing to grow and be a place where the gospel will be preached.

After the service, we ate papusas.  Kyle has been talking about papusas since he came back in January.  Eliana and I liked them.  They are like a thick tortilla that is small and made of corn that is stuffed with cheese, beans, or other things.  The locals eat them with a tomato sauce and a cabbage slaw.  The way they eat them reminds me of when we were in India.  The papusa is torn into a smaller pieces and then you use them to pinch up some of the slaw and sauce.

Eliana is the door opener to communication since people love to talk to her!

Here is the new church building in Nueva Concepcion.