From Our Eyes--Day 6: Breakdancing Boys!

One of the activities at today's club was a breakdancing competition. These young boys killed it! They may not have many years on them, but that doesn't measure how much skill they have on the dance floor! 

Day 6: Student's Perspective (Sarah Smith)

Hello everyone! Today was our last work day of the week. We started out with the usual breakfast and devotional time. Then we had the opportunity to go visit an inactive volcano. It was awesome to see the crater the volcano left as well as hang out as a group and enjoy our morning. After the volcano we headed over to Jose's house to finish painting. It was amazing to be able to help such an amazing and loving family that truly helps the community. 

We also were able to go to the school and participate in one of their Young Life Clubs. It was really cool to be able to see the way they run their club and the reactions of the children. Today was really hard saying goodbye to the kids at the school. We met so many sweet kids who just wanted love poured on them. I really connected with Christopher, a little boy from the school. He was just so silly and loved us so much. He even told me "I love you" after I gave him a kiss on the cheek when I said goodbye.

I saw God's love a lot through this trip through many experiences. Enrique definitely showed God's love through his selfless actions and putting up with all of our craziness. Jose's hard work and caring for the community let God shine through him. 

On this trip I have learned a lot about myself and the love of God. The main thing I am ending this week with is that I need to get rid of the excess in my life and replace it with good. These people get by with so much less than us, yet they never complain or seem sad about it. I also realized I need to allow more time for God in my life. Having devotional time in the morning and journaling at night to debrief has allowed me to see how much I was missing in my day to day life and that I need to start and end my day with God. 

Being able to hang out with the kids has definitely been my favorite part. Two girls gave me a bracelet and one gave me a note in English. Just seeing their selfless behavior helped me realize that I take so much for granted when I am just going about my day to day life. I hope that when I return to the U.S. I will bring what I have learned back and am able to grow in my faith. I am so blessed to have been able to have this experience for Spring Break and am so sad it is coming to an end. 

God Bless!

Sarah Smith

Day 6: Leader's Perspective

Well, its begun to be said: "I am really going to miss those children when we leave." 

Today was our last day at the school in Popotlan, and it was eventful. Young Life (also known as Vida Joven) held club for the kids at the school for 2 hours in the afternoon. The first hour and a half were spent playing games, and tons of them. We divided into four teams, each with flags (red, green, blue, and orange) and did relay races on the basketball court. 

Shawn Petrunak and Ryan Huntziker got to have their faces covered in shaving cream while kids placed cheetos on them. Lucas, Enrique's son, and  another one of the young life leaders came out as gangsters to lead a couple skits and dances. 

There was actually a breakdance competition as one of the activities! After program was finished, Ethan Cahill got up on the stage and shared his life story with the kids at the school, while Lucas translated. He did an amazing job, and later told me it was a significant moment for him as well.

We finished off the evening back at the church, eating dinner with the entire El Salvador Young Life team. They have been incredible at providing our food and serving us so well. I will really miss them all. 

Tomorrow we head to the beach until Saturday morning, for a chance to debrief as a team and celebrate the trip we have just been on. Thank you for your prayers for our time this week. It is not over, and we will have more to post, but it feels as though a big segment (that of serving the kids here in Popotlan) has come to pass. We are all grateful for what this experience has done for us! 

We got to go to the local Young Life club today and some of our team even got to participate in the games!

Oh yah, and we also SAW A VOLCANO today

Local kids asked Jeff for a picture with him

Young Life donated new soccer jerseys to the school that we have been working at over these past few days! It was awesome to see the kids reactions to these super nice jerseys!

A photo of the whole team on the set of Young Life club!

From Our Eyes---Day Five: Crazy Van Rides and Painting a House

The first clip here is just an example of what happens when you have been in a van all week with the same people.. your truest self comes out. Mallory Spence shared a bit of her goofy side this morning.

The second clip is just us painting Jose's house in Popotlan. He was so grateful for us being there, but we are so grateful for the example he has shown us this week of being a servant! Here's the team working hard and enjoying it.

Day Five: Leader's Perspective

It was another day of hanging with the kids at the school and just living life together with the Young Life team down here in San Salvador. The highlight of the morning for me was playing another game of futbol against the El Salvadorians (on their newly painted basketball/futbol court!). I will say, our soccer skills have improved a bit, but we still lost. Fred Hamilton and Ryan Hunziker both found a useful skill as our goalies in throwing the ball from goal to goal (since the court was pretty small). They happened to make up 2 out of the 3 or 4 goals we scored today :) 

The second half of the day was spent painting Jose's house (Jose' is one of the Young Life leaders/ Enrique's helper here in ES). It was a special moment for me when Jose' told us that we were Jesus to him today in simply painting his house--- wow! I was humbled that he was so blessed by that. They have served us more than we could imagine, and yet his heart is so thankful for any service we could do for him. I have learned from these amazing men in El Salvador, as well as their families. 

We will visit the Young Life club for Popotlan tomorrow afternoon and get a chance to see Young Life in action down here. We can't wait. It is planned as a "megaclub," which they don't do very often, but everybody will be together for one big party and hang out time. I'm excited to show you that tomorrow through our own eyes. 

We celebrated Ash Wednesday tonight and took communion together. A part of it was revisiting Jesus' death on a cross, and His challenge to the disciples to surrender their lives to Him if they wish to receive life. We just worshiped, prayed, and reflected together. A month ago we barely knew each other as a group. Tonight it felt like we could be on this trip a lot longer. 

Hard to believe there is only one day left in San Salvador before we move into our debriefing portion of the trip. Be praying for continued health and safety, and a great last day with the kids in Popotlan. Your prayers have meant so much! 

Day Five: Student's Perspective (Mallory Spence)

Today was our third day working with the students at the school in Popotlan. It has been so overwhelming and awesome to see each of their smiling faces when we come each day. Every time we walk into the school, we are surrounded by crowds of joyful children who want to be known and loved. I have gotten especially close with a fifteen year-old student named Monica. She loves practicing her English by singing One Direction songs. It has been a blast getting to know her. I didn't realize how difficult it was going to be to leave until this afternoon. Monica and I both had tears in our eyes as we hugged each other and said "goodbye."

We spent the second half of our day painting the house where Young Life is held here. It was definitely  a challenge for our team physically and emotionally, but it was a great experience overall. After working hard, we ate another delicious dinner, which was prepared for us by such a loving and sacrificial group of women. These ladies work so hard to prepare these meals for us each day and night, and they always serve themselves last. They are truly incredible.

We ended our evening by honoring Ash Wednesday through taking communion as a group and singing worship songs, which was a precious time spent together. Over the course of our trip, we have talked about the life that the Lord is inviting us into and the things in our lives that we can give up as a sacrifice to better our relationship with Him. Being away from the routine and the chaos of my life in Orlando has given me the time to reflect on my life and relationship with Jesus. I am so blessed that I was given this opportunity to slow down, practice patience, serve others, share joy, and see how God is working here in El Salvador. I know that my life is being changed by this trip, and I am beyond thankful for that.

Our day began with painting the trees at the school where we had been working. This sounds weird, but here they paint their trees from the ground up to about 6 feet and it helps keep the ants off of the trees.

A lot of our day consisted of hanging out with the kids and being present. We played soccer (fútbol), arm wrestled them, and just hung out with them in general! 

This is the local club director's house, part of our mission work was painting his house, as his house is where they have the Young Life club at here, and that first impression of the type of house can really make a big difference!

This was the finished product of the front!

We finished up our day with hanging out and admiring the hard work that we had put in!

From Our Eyes--Day Four: Hat Tag (Mi Gorro!)

A a few of us guys were wearing hats today, and the young boys at the escuela found it to be a fun game stealing them and playing keep away. We played along and had an awesome time with them. Through our eyes, this is some of the joy we have been experiencing together with these youth at the school. 

Day Four: Leader's Perspective

"Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6: 33-34 

The kids at the school were a living example to me today about how God provides. We spent another day at the school, and I have actually come to realize that our mission here this week has had less to do with construction and more to do with bonding with the children. The guys were planning to lay compost this morning in the garden, but due to it not arriving yet, we instead spent time introducing ourselves and playing games with half of the classrooms in the school. It was tough not being able to speak spanish, but I was again humbled at how little that actually mattered; every kid was excited to see us, and just hear "my name is Jeff.. Fred... Ryan.. and I like basketball." We did get to plant some trees for the rest of the morning, which was great work. 

I had heard from one of our hosts that it is special for us to be there just so that kids get a break from worrying about the streets, gangs, violence, anything negative in their lives. It reminds me that they, who have far less privileges than I ever did as a child, are still being provided for. 

Most of our workday was spent repainting the basketball court where the kids also play futbol and handball every day. There were more workers than their were paintbrushes, so several of us just spent time playing with whichever kids came by to say hey-- and there were many of them! 

Perhaps the most memorable part of our day--our trip even-- came after the workday. We rushed back to the hotel to change out of our work clothes and were planning to rush to dinner and a bible study with the young life group in Popotlan. On our way back we got caught behind a major accident that blocked off all lanes of traffic. It became a 3 hour adventure of traveling just a few miles. I prayed earlier in the day for us to have stronger community and bonding as a team, and well.... it looks like God has a sense of humor :) We had the most incredible time just singing, laughing, and sharing our last life stories with the group. We eventually made it to dinner, had amazing food, thanked Enrique so much for his patience, grace, and his family's service, and made it back to the hotel in time to worship and debrief the day together. 

We are getting deeper and deeper into this thing. With God's leading. So thankful! 

Day Four: Student's Perspective (Cale Maddox)

Today was a great day! We were really able to spend a lot of time with the kids at the school playing tag, giving piggy back rides, and just enjoying each others company. It was really amazing to see the love these kids had toward us and how much they just wanted us to show them attention. It was really amazing to be able to get to know these kids without being able to speak there language. Later, the group was heading to bible study from the hotel, but missed it due to being stuck in traffic for three hours. It was cool to see God bringing us closer together through this kind of circumstance. I personally never thought I would have that much fun in a van with 11 other people for that long. This experience really showed me that we cant control are lives and we just have to trust in Jesus that he will lead us through what ever complications come about.  

Got to visit with kids in their classes today and introduce ourselves!

They think we're the coolest

The majority of our day went to repainting this basketball court. This court actually doubles as the courtyard of their school!

Again, the kids think we're the greatest!

This picture came when we got stuck in traffic for 3 hours today. In three hours, we drove approximately two miles.

We planted a ton of trees today

Here is a market near the church where Enrique is the Pastor.

Really cool street art that we found

Summing up today in one big picture!

From Our Eyes--Day Three: Hanging with a Hoola Hoop

Toward the end of the afternoon one of the El Salvadorian girls was showing off her hoola hooping skills. In this courtyard, about 2 hours earlier, there were 50-60 kids all hanging out with us! In this video are Sarah Smith and Mallory Spence.

Day Three: Leader's Perspective

We are really starting to get settled in here as a team. I have been so humbled by the service, and gratitude that our hosts and their families have shown us. Not to mention all of the kids we have met and played with. Today was our first day of work, and we spent it at one of the schools in Popotlan, San Salvador. We were first introduced to the principal, who brought us into his office and shared with us how thankful he was to have us there. He also mentioned that he loves Young Life, and the Young Life team has done a lot for the kids at their school already. 

The girls spent time working on baskets which are to be planted in a garden at the school, and the guys dug a few small trenches to place bricks in and create a new garden. We all worked close by each other and were working while school was in session, so in between classes we would be met by the kids and had a chance to hang out with them. It is overwhelming to be a "gringo" at the school, because we stand out so much. The kids literally swarmed us saying "hola" and asking our names. But it feels very special to be welcomed there with such enthusiasm. 

(Girls with some of the kids)

(Fred and Jose' doin work!) 

After our work, which ended in the late afternoon, we played futbol and basketball at the court in the school (they had soccer goals attached to basketball hoops on both sides. This game seemed more serious than the one we played last night, and they even had a referee! We got smoked (again) in futbol, but we held our own and won in basketball. Callie Lazja and Jessi Tobin held it down for the ladies in the basketball game, and Ryan Huntziker drained a three at the end. The El Salvadorians were impressed :) 

We have been learning from Enrique about the civil war that took place in this country 25 years ago, and the overwhelming gang activity that has been present ever since. It is cool to see so many kids just showing joy while they are inside the walls at the school. We are so happy to have the chance to be with them in person. Already there are a couple El Salvadorian girls attached to Jessi, Mallory, Sarah, and Callie. We will be back at the school tomorrow and can't wait to spend more time with all of them. 

We had a great time together tonight as a team and have been laughing a lot. So praises for joyful attitudes and hard work! 

Day Three: Student's Perspective (Callie Lajza)

We are really here, and it is great. How sweet it is to be welcomed into a new culture and community! Today was our first day of work and our team traveled to a school to work on a garden and making baskets for plants. It was amazing the students just sitting and watching us work. It is a very strong language barrier but playing games makes it null. These children are so full of energy and life. I was lucky enough to play "micca" with them which is their version of tag and get chased by fifteen ten year-olds. So much fun! Each member of our team had their own great encounters and games with the children. Also, we played some basketball and soccer with the older kids that attend the school. Their skill in soccer is far better then ours but in basketball we were able to come out ahead! Our team is still forming relationships and becoming one unit but the growth with each other in the past couple days has been exponential. Being outside of your comfort zone allows for such great experiences. Just to be here and actually living what has been planned is more than imaginable.
More to come!

-Callie "Doozer" Lajza

Quiet time is a great way to start the day

The students were very eager to watch us work

After working we got the privilege to hang out with some kids!

Beautiful statue in the city

More hanging out with the kids! They were all super fun to hang out with and thought that we were the greatest people ever!

We actually did work today, we promise!

From Our Eyes--Day Two: Street Futbol

This is a peak into our evening playing soccer with the El Salvadorian youth in the middle of the streets! You see in this video Fred Hamilton, Ryan Huntziker, Shawn Petrunak, Blake Smith, Cale Maddox, and Jeff Lehman.

Day Two: Leader's Perspective

Today we had a chance to see authentic El Salvadorian culture, and we were invited into the homes and lives of many people who are involved with Young Life here. It being Sunday morning, we were invited to Enrique's church in Apopa. There, we sang a few (spanish) worship songs, and had a chance to break into small groups and share our stories with each other, as well as some of our favorite bible verses. It was fun to be engaged with their community in that! 

After a great lunch at (wait for it) Pizza Hut :), we got a chance to visit one of the big cathedrals in Popotlan. It was absolutely gorgeous. Huge ceilings, amazing sculptures, and lots and lots of history. We then went to Apopa, where the majority of the El Salvadorian Young Life community lives, and met several of the families in their homes. Blake's thoughts go deeper in this, but it was so cool to see the community that authentically. Everyone was so generous and thankful for us to be there, it blew me away. At the end of the neighborhood tour, they asked if we wanted to play futbol. I thought it was just a low key game, but when we got out to the street, the El Salvadorian teenage guys were fully decked out, soccer jersey's, soccer shoes, the whole deal. It was meant to be USA vs. El Salvador. The girls chose to cheer us on from the sidewalk, and us guys rallied together as a team. It was a valiant effort, but the home country got the best of us, 2-0. (Looks like they went easy on us :) 

We got to build relationships with these teens through playing soccer, and for that I was really thankful. It was cool to play in the street as well. 

We finished off the evening with dinner at the church, and then stopped near the hotel for some ice cream as a team, which really hit the spot. All in all, it was a fantastic second day. We will start our work tomorrow, and are planning to do a garden project at the main school in Apopa. Please be praying for our time, and of course, for continued health and safety! 

Day Two: Student's Perspective (Blake Smith)

The day started off seeing how the culture went about living their religious lives. In our culture we are accustom to going to church at a certain time and it starts when they say it starts but here it is quite different. Seeing that we started about a hour later than expected no one even thought twice about the service being later. I was lucky enough to meet the children of the church community and hear about their lives and how they met Jesus. After the service, we went to lunch to meet some new people from the community. Being that they love soccer, I felt right at home, it being my favorite sport. I could have talked for hours on end with them. Also, the mountains, some of which are volcanoes, were something I had never seen before in my life. The housing community was something that I had seen in pictures before but seeing these kinds of homes was surreal for me.

After lunch, we took an even deeper look into the community. We got to meet some of the families that live in Popotlan, the general area of where we have been visiting. It humbled me to see what they call a home compared to what we do. For instance, a family had a piece of sheet metal that they called a roof and that is where they slept. They had a kitchen that consisted of some wood that they had found from trees and some cinderblocks that was a stove. They had no doors, no separations between rooms, just wide open space. It really puts a perspective on what really are "necessities". The thing that caught my eye the most is the fact that they were so welcoming to us. They were giving us the impression that their home was our home and their food was our food. We then got to interact with the community by the means of playing soccer. The kind of excitement and form of welcome was something that you really don't get a chance to experience in other cultures. Even though we couldn't match up to standards   that they play at, it was such an honor to get to know these people today. In reflection, it really made me notice that even though they might speak a different language and live in a different area of the world, we are all quite similar; We are all about community.