the construction process

how's that for joy on Noe's face.

over the last 10 years teams have been coming down to el salvador to build homes for families in great need. one of our hopes was to have a team of local guys down here running a crew building homes for their countrymen... now we don't have to wait for canadians to come to keep building homes for families in need.

here is a quick video that shows what a normal day on the job site looks like down here. 4 guys are employed to build the home, while the rest of the community rallies behind them and makes it all happen - lunch for everyone too! please click on the link below...

http://vimeo.com/25247451

enjoy.

trent

king of the castle

i don't like it when the riders don't win the grey cup.

i don't like it when the favorite wins.

i really like it when the underdog wins.

i don't like being on the bottom.

for that matter, i don't really like anyone being on the bottom - but i especially don't like the people who are always on the bottom being on the bottom.

i have a couple brief stories to share. they speak of guys hitting the bottom. of coming back up. of seeing a glimmer of hope in a really dark world down here.

after a few months we are realizing the depth of the depravity of this culture. hope & redemption & love are needed more than we even imagined.

--

story 1
jose is a guy stu wrote about on the blog a while back. he has been living on the street spending his days drinking on the sidewalk a block away from our house. we would see him most days as we walked by. one of our first days after we arrived in san vicente, we talked for about an hour on the street corner in the shade of tree.

he shared his pain.

his story.

his hurt.

we listened and told him he was valuable.

that he mattered.

that we respected him...

bad things happen to guys sleeping drunk on the street -- we haven't seen him for a month.

every single day, we walk by 'his corner' and wonder where he has gone. this morning, stu ran to the bank machine and heard someone shout 'hey!'. he turned to see jose, dressed well, hair combed, lookin classy! real classy ;-) he said he was in town for the day with a couple leaders from the rehab center he had joined in san salvador a month ago. he said, 'i'm doing good. i'm gettin my life back on track. i'm working on my relationship with my family and trying to fix those relationships...'

i think we played a small part in this turnaround. it's a simple joy in the midst of a dark world.

--
story 2

another friend carlos was deported from the states two years ago because of trouble with the law. a while after arriving in el salvador he joined teen challenge rehab center. after leaving rehab he moved to our town san vicente. helped with translating at church and elsewhere. helped with teams from the states cooking, etc... a couple weeks ago he went awol for about a week finally showing up on our doorstep late one night with a fair bit of drink in him. we chatted, prayed and encouraged him. the next morning we got him in to teen challenge in san salvador again, but a few days later i called to see how he was doing, and he had left.

i've been pretty worried.

two days ago, he showed up at our door again. this time with his 14 year old son visiting from colorado. he'd left teen challenge to connect with him. had met him the day he flew in. they had a great week together and then came out to san vicente to connect with us! we were filled with joy and relief to see them both. they stayed in our home for 2 nights. lots of time to talk. laugh. chill out. and let him have some 'normal life' time with his son for a couple days. (michael is staying with his aunt in san salvador, but she won't let carlos stay in her house because of his past mistakes, so the visit had its restraints) we hit the pool with him yesterday afternoon and our kids had a hoot with his son michael. it will be a hard day thursday when he flies home leaving his dad behind. harder still i think for carlos watching his son fly home...

carlos cannot enter the states for at least 8 more years.

but today we see the determination in carlos to carry on. to make things right. to work hard. for his son to find in his dad the man he was made to be the next time he comes to visit.

again, a much needed bit of joy in the midst of a pretty tough week on many levels. we are looking for moments of light in this dark world. sharing those stories. and hoping you know and feel that your investment, no matter what piece you are playing, is not going without a really good return. these returns are in human beings discovering they are loved by a God who thinks about them all the time. these are returns that michael would say are worth their weight in gold. (and carlos is around 350 pounds)

so what more do i say,

but thank you on behalf of those who look, feel and live like they're at the bottom of the pile. those who are scorned by their own countrymen for the things they've done and are doing.

but in the kingdom, those people are on top.

--

last thought.
ever played 'king of the castle'? i did. i only won when i cheated. i mean i was the youngest of the cousins and i had to pull hair or hit low or whatever to get on top. all alone on top - what a good feeling! even though it only lasted for a moment, cuz someone was coming up to take you out. i look forward to the days where the guys who've spent their lives at the bottom of the pile make their way to the top. sometimes they even make it there in this life. one day though, i think they'll get placed there. and they'll get to stay on top... what a good feeling.

trent

Isabel & House # 2

Today I spent the morning with Isabel from San Antonio.  We sat in the clinic waiting for an ultrasound. This seems to be my norm these days, waiting in clinics. I ask God all the time in my prayers to use me as he sees fit. I guess that this is one of the ways because recently I have a heart ache for the women in San Antonio and especially their health. I have read and been told many times that if we starting taking people to the clinic or buying prescriptions for them, that we will have a line up out of the front door. I have taken that into consideration and decided that I don’t care. All I can think about is what if I was in that situation? If I knew that I couldn’t afford the medicine that was needed to make my child healthy or if I couldn’t afford to see what was wrong with me, so I just had to live with it? There is a free hospital here, but it takes 3 months to get an appointment and then even when you do, you have to pay for your prescriptions which are usually quite expensive. We have found a fabulous clinic here with an Ultra Sound Technician, a lab, a paediatrics doctor and an English speaking adult doctor. They have been very kind to us and are even going to help us out when we host our own clinic in San Antonio on Saturday. It costs money to get a consultation, but they give as much as the medicine for free that they can.                                                                                             

Anyway, back to Isabel. She thought she was pregnant because her period stopped and her tummy was getting bigger. After a few months though, her tummy just stayed the same size and remained soft. She went to a doctor and he told her that if there was a baby in there, it was not alive, and she needed an Ultra Sound. Yesterday we went to visit her and we were with Tomasita, the area Director, and I overheard Isabel telling her this, but that she couldn’t afford an Ultrasound. Thinking again about what it would be like to be in that position, I offered to take her today to find out.  This morning at breakfast I asked Stuart, “what do I do if it is bad news?” Usually I am not very good at handling that kind of thing. He said to take one step at a time and go to the hospital if we need to. I was thinking more along the lines of how to handle it emotionally, but oh well, guys don’t understand that kind of thing J!

 So she had the ultrasound and we found out that she has a large cyst in her stomach. At first I thought she was going to be upset because she was so excited when she thought she was pregnant. I said I was sorry, but then she said, “No, this is a good thing because it is reversible and I will be able to get pregnant again!”  So we went to the hospital and made her an appointment with a doctor to start the treatment to shrink the cyst. While waiting it also gave me the opportunity to chat with Isabel. A few months ago I found out that she used to work with an industrial sewing machine. Since I have been trying to start up this sewing machine project using local people, I thought she would be a great person to ask help teach.  Yesterday I asked her if she would and she said no because she didn’t think the other people here would listen to her, she says that there are other people more qualified. Today I shared with her that I think the Lord has big plans for her and that he uses people just like her to do His work. God you are good!!

                                                                               

This brings me to house #2 Christina and Carlos

Using the screws that Kade and Winnie’s school purchased (Escuela Canyon Meadows), by collecting recyclables, we put together another house. Each of the kids helped, by screwing the hinges to the doors and windows. At first it seemed odd that we were building a house for a couple with no kids, but then we dug deeper to get Christina’s story and it became clear.  Christina 25 and Carlos 28 lived with their mother in a little lean-to shack built beside the house of her mom. Carlos works in a factory hauling bags of sugar cane. They had a child 3 years ago, but two years ago he choked and died. She has been trying to have another child since then and is unable to. It is time like that when I hear these stories that I feel so blessed to be born in Canada. I also can’t help but think what I would do in that situation? Would the St John’s ambulance training would come in handy, or would I just freeze with fear?  Christina is so ecstatic to have a house to call her own. She is taking great pride in keeping it up and I think that Tomisita is training her to take over her “job” as Director because every time we come to visit, she always yells at her , “Christina, let’s go!!” (In Spanish of course)  

Stuart & Trent with Tomasita

Also Christina lives in a different part of San Antonio then the other families we have been building for. Usually it is Stuart and Trent, our 4-man local crew, and maybe if we are lucky a couple of other men. At Christina’s house, there were about 15 young men that came out to help. It was amazing to see the community come together and help each other. This week we are building in that area again, and about 20 men showed up to help. I really hope that this pattern continues so that even when we are gone, we can send money for a house and know that it will be built by a community together with the 4 fantastic men that are part of our crew.

Speaking of which, we are getting a little low on our funds for projects and would like to keep our crew employed building two houses a week. If you find it in your heart to help us and the community we are working in out, PLEASE click on the "Donate Here" button on the side of this webpage and specify PROJECTS when donating. A house costs $2700 to build and every little bit counts. Thank you so much for your support emotionally, spiritually and financially.

*a special thank you to Kerrie for taking most of the pictures and a special hello to all of Laura Martin's co-workers. We appreciate you keeping up with our lives!!

fed a thousand people or made a relationship stronger?

" We feed a thousand people today"sounds better to donors then "We hung out and developed relationships with a dozen people today" This is a quote out of a book that I am reading called,  When Helping hurts by Brian Fikkert. It struck me pretty hard when I read it, wondering how true it really is. This quote causes me to weigh the importance of relationships versus the importance of tangible "stuff". Although in no way am I saying that  the house building aspect of our year isn't important too, I am here to tell you that we are going to fall under the second category most of the time because we feel like God has put us here to have long lasting relationships.

Now that I am done lecturing myself, I would like to introduce you to Pimpa!! Pimpa was one of the first friendships we made upon arriving in El Salvador. She lives in Las Brisas (where World Partners built for a number of years), and is one of the only people from there that still attends church. We had heard through the grapevine that she makes the best pupusas in town. We also learned that she is a single Mom to two beautiful daughters, Guadelupe 13 and Marienela almost 3.

She is trying to make ends meet by selling Atol every afternoon at the Desvio. The Desvio is basically a v where if you drive one way, you head to one side of the country and if you turn the other way you head to San Salvador. Atol is a hot drink made from cornstarch, milk, cinnamon, coconut and other flavors. It is actually quite delicious. Pimpa carries this drink on her head from 2 in the afternoon until 5 selling cups of it for $0.25 a cup.

After hearing about her pupusas, we managed to invite ourselves (remember 12 people in all) to her house so that she could make us some for supper. Well, the rumor was right!! They were amazing. We starting asking Pimpa lots of questions about why she doesn't sell pupusas since she is so good at making them? She told us that she used to sell them, but that she ran into a large medical expense, and health costs outweighed her ability to purchase ingredients. Since that day she couldn't afford to buy enough corn, beans, and cheese to get going again. That got us thinking. We really feel a connection with Pimpa and wanted to help her in some way that would not just be "charity". We started spending a fair bit of time with Pimpa. 

We had her and her girls over to our house for a meal, and as I wrote in a previous blog, we went with her and two other ladies to the river to help them wash their clothes and hang out for the day. We prayed for her and asked God what he would like to see in her life. The answer we received included having her write up a business plan for what it would cost to restart her pupusa business. In order to get going again, she needed a grand total of $70 for materials. We decide to lend her the money with an agreement to pay us back $10 every 15 days.


Yesterday, we were invited back to Pimpa's house for lunch. After eating she brought out her business plan, handed us $10 and asked us to sign off on recieving the money. We were so delighted to see God's plan coming to fruition and we know that the light that Pimpa shines on her community is a bright one and that He will use her for great things to come. After the money is paid off, we also want to sit with Pimpa and encourage her to save a portion of her profits.


Here in El Salvador especially, it seems that a lot of people don't think about tomorrow. They only think about today.  In some respects this is a good thing and we can learn a lot from it.  Our North American attitude is usually based on worrying too much about tomorrow and not living in the beauties of  the day. In another respect it it is devestating to live this way. If an emergency comes up, it can throw a family into a downward spiral of poverty. As Stuart asked the other day, "How do we find the balance of forsight and planning while still living in the moments of today, and not being filled with a stress and worry about tomorrow?" We hope that by showing Pimpa that she can take the money that she would have been paying us and putting it away for the future, that she will be successful no matter what is thrown her way. Very cool to see.

Basilio and Daniel working on a house

We have been spending a lot of time also in San Antonio lately.  Trent had a run-in with the American Army that you may need to ask him about, but mostly it has been peaceful and we are really getting to know the people in the community. As you read earlier, we have been building houses there as well. We have a 4 men crew of locals that we hire as much as possible to build the houses and whatever else we can think of to keep them employed. These are good men, which, sadly, is a rare find here. Basilio is the forman of the crew and with the help of Trent's leadership they are now skilled labourers and can build a house themselves in one day!! They are all so thankful to have the work, so much so, that they are now looking for ways to give back as well. Basilio was in San Antonio the other day doing some repairs on a house, when he overheard one of the community members talking about their thirteen year old daughter that had a major operation on a hernia a while back. She was having lots of pain and problems. Basilio was so touched by the story that he offered to pay for the ultra sound. The cost of an ultrasound here is about 2 times a daily wage, so that is a pretty generous offer! He phoned up Trent and asked him if we could take her and if  he would deduct money off his next payday to pay for it. We were so touched to see people in the community helping each other.

So this is why we are, and will often fall into the second category from above. The little stories shed light onto why making those long term relationships are so important to us. We know that in the long run these stories, that are little moments of success to us, are huge in forwarding the Kingdom of God.

Thank you for continuing to follow our journey and support us even if  we just hung out with a dozen people today working on our relationships.

Carie

House #1: Edgar, Flor, Fernando & Kimberly

allow me to introduce to you a very special family. Edgar, Flor, Fernando & Kimberly live in San Antonio Caminos on the old train line. i see a lot of beautiful things about this family. the joy i feel in their family is well above the norm. the smile on flor's face seems to light up the world and fernando their son is something pretty special. now eight years old, fernando had a very high fever when he was young which unfortunately caused some brain damage resulting in some disabilities. he is bound to a wheelchair and has limited abilities of speech and general motor skills, but the joy he exudes is astounding. when you sit down beside him his face lights up and he answers your questions in short bursts "bien!" and "Si!" His eyes on the other hand say, "i am so happy to see you! i am filled with joy in my heart because you are here spending time with me!" and "i love my life and this is a great day!" it is never a burden or a chore to spend time at this home and last week we spent a fair amount of time with them building a new home.

the morning we started building, our family was reading about king david and the fact that God looks on the heart, not on outward appearances. we chatted about fernando and it was a cool moment as we talked about what place fernando has in God's ranking system. he has some difficulty outwardly, but i think that little heart in there is one of pure gold. one that loves and has joy and thinks the best of others... i was glad to see the lights come on in my kids eyes as they realized the place fernando has in God's eyes, in God's economy...

daniel, teresa & seth goldstein (carie's brother and family) came down last week to visit and help out in our ministry down here. it was fun for all of us to see someone from home, especially since they brought down little gifts from home for all of us! i was the proud recipient of 5 peanut butter cup chocolate bars. it's funny the little things you miss when away from home... daniel & theresa not only came to work hard helping our efforts, but also graciously supplied the money to pay for this home. so, we showed up on site with the crew from san filipe (basilio, roberto, noe & miguel) who have become quite proficient at the building process. they are close to understanding every part of the building process now and i look forward to the day stu and i cannot be onsite and they do a house without one "white guy" there to be the "boss"! the ground was quite hard so the hole digging was tough slugging, but we had lots of help from Edgar and other family and friends which was good to see. we really want to see the men step up and too often they aren't around to help as i believe it's sometimes too hard for their pride to swallow taking this gift from us. kerrie-lynn said that she was impressed with Edgar for sticking around after their firstborn had this fever. with so many absent dad's in this world, this family again shines some light in this little village. once the holes were in, the rest seemed to fly up without a hitch. the kids were on easter break so they were all out there with us. the guys built, the kids played with the kids in the village and the ladies visited and continued with some interviewing of nearby families. ellis spent the better part of the day up in a tree wacking fruit out with a stick (when not up a tree he was drilling holes into the ground with a 5/16" driver and a makita drill), elias played cars with fernando, kade & ben ripped around and played some soccer in the pasture behind the house, winnie & annah searched for goats, cats, horses, puppies or any other type of animal that they could pet, while isaiah helped out with the building quite a bit (predrilling holes, measuring and holding material in place). by the end of the day their was a sweet new house standing ready for a concrete floor.

a couple days later we returned with a couple house warming gifts and did a little key ceremony. when teams come, the key ceremony is a big event with one hundred plus people coming out, but even with just our 4 families standing in front of their 'almost finished' home, it was quite moving. stu said a prayer, daniel said a few words and handed the family the keys. we took pictures of all of us, then seth & fernando posed for some pics! those will be ones the goldstiens will cherish for some time i think...

we build two more this week with the boys from san filipe and we'll share their stories too. outside of building, we are kept busy filling in cracks for pastor jorge, meeting with the mayor two days back to back, helping a single mom start a small business, connecting with some street people, and helping our kids stay on top of schoolwork and spanish. on a final note, if you could, offer a prayer for our friend juanita. her house is bought and paid for, but is under risk of losing it to the previous owner because she never received the deed (kerrie-lynn shared her story in a previous blog). eviction has been threatened and the other morning she came over in tears... her and her youngest daughter have spent a lot of time with us during this time. we have a lawyer and others helping to bring justice to this situation. we are often blown away by the chaos here in el salvador. the lack of order and an honest system. we are so grateful for life in canada and hope in small ways we can work to restore things to the way they ought to be down here in san vicente, el salvador...

trent

after building a house, there is always a line up of women hoping that they will be the next family for a home.....

after the house is built, the concrete is then mixed by hand and poured for the inside

violet's happiest moments are when she can ride with her head out the window

fragile

jorge & maritza

background.

our good friend jorge villeda is the pastor of the church we work with here in san vicente. he has been facilitating our teams from canada for years and does a great job. he often shares stories of life growing up as a young boy in el salvador. his family had very little money and could only afford a house made of used tin and sticks, much like the homes many of the people we are attempting to help live in right now. he tells a story of a storm coming thru one night and a wall of the house coming down on him while he slept! he decided then as a kid that one day no matter what he did for a living, he wanted to help people move out of homes like his and into a safe place for a family to live. well for 9 years now he has been doing exactly that! as a side job to pastoring his church he coordinates teams from canada to come build homes. this year alone over 100 homes will be build under his watch.

the story.

friday night he was driving home from visiting his mother's house in a nearby town around 10:30pm and nodded off at the wheel. no one saw the accident, but by the damage to the car we think it must have rolled at least once before hitting the tree. the police drove by sometime after the accident and called for the fire department as they couldn't get him out of the car. once on sight, the fire department took 45 minutes to cut him out of the car, then brought him by ambulance to the nearest hospital by ambulance. stu and i were with most of the kids at a youth camping trip that night along with his wife (maritza) and two kids when they got the call. the pastor's son in law headed out at 2am and we followed behind with maritza and others at 6am after packing up camp. at this point we become thankful for our health care system in canada despite the long waits. for even though we wait, we get the best care in the world once with the doctor. the public health care system of el salvador on the other hand is not quite the same. 8 hours after arriving: he was lying bent out of shape on the bed, no doctor had seen him, x-rays were not completed, and they said it might be a couple days for a doctor to come in since it was semana santa (easter weekend) and it would be hard to get anyone in during that time. by that time i have no doubt infection would have set in to his life threatening injuries and they would have had no choice but to amputate.

we contacted jim nobel (who heads up missions in el salvador), and decided to get him to a private hospital in san salvador. by lunch we were meeting with an surgeon looking at x-rays of his three seriously broken bones in his legs. (femur, tibia, and hip) later that afternoon he is was in surgery for over 5 hours to put plates and pins in. back home jim sent out emails to friends of pastor jorge and within a couple days the entire hospital medical bill was paid for! i want to say a big thank you to those that gave so generously and so quickly.

today.

6 days later he is still in the hospital with some new complications we were told this morning. they are keeping him in until monday at the earliest. prognosis: he has to stay flat for quite a while, cannot put weight on his legs for 2 months, then rehab... we hope and pray that his bones will mend well. we will keep you updated.

reflections.

life is fragile. the human body is no match for steel, concrete, speed, tree trunks or any combination thereof. we are fragile beings in many respects. emotionally and physically and spiritually. we are a second away from being here no more. pastor only remembers heading home and being tired, the next thing he remembers is the hospital. in the blink of an eye - life changes.

i told the kids this morning at breakfast to make the most of today, to enjoy it b/c you never get to do it over again. you only have one chance to live today so make it good. life is fragile, and yet so precious, isn't it?

precious

trent

Plant sequoias

Although I’m told that it is getting cooler here, my sweat-soaked pillow every morning tells a different story.  Rain is lurking on the horizon as we move into May.  That will be another new experience; one of the many.  But life is good, and God is good.  We have had a number of ups and downs over the past couple of weeks, but we do not lose hope or faith, and we are content in the fact that this is where we are right now, and this is where we are supposed to be.  Some days feel like not a whole lot gets accomplished, or that not many things get checked off of the to-do list, but we are being taught (and hopefully learning a little) that we need to redefine our picture of success.  I read a poem by Wendell Berry recently, and I think that a couple of lines in speak to this redefinition:

                “Ask the questions that have no answers.  Invest in the millennium.  Plant sequoias.”

I hope that we have begun to sprout some seeds for results that won’t be seen for a thousand years.  But when they do, what an impressive sight they will be.  And if we get the chance to see some glimpses of that future along the way, we will be thankful for every single one of them.

                As I stated before there have been a few ups and downs over the last couple of weeks.  I’ll start with the frustrations, as I like to receive the bad news first.  If you like the opposite please skip down to the next section entitled joys, and return to this previous section at a later date.  It will be a little like a choose-your-own-adventure.

Frustrations:   When you travel to El Salvador and you pass through customs, you will receive a nice shiny sticker in your passport in exchange for a crisp $10 bill.  This sticker lets you do whatever you want in the country (with the exception of influencing the country’s political process) for a maximum of 90 days.  After this time you can face fines (I asked if you can be deported, which would mean a free plane ticket back to Canada, but haven’t received a firm answer yet) for remaining in the country.  Those wanting to stay longer than 3 months can alleviate this problem by applying for temporary residency for a 1 year period.  We were well aware of this process before arriving, and as such had prepared all of the necessary documentation, under the guidance of the El Salvadorian consulate in Vancouver.

                When Trent and I went to San Salvador last week to formally apply, we were informed that our understanding of the documentation requirements was not exactly correct.  In fact everything that we had done in Canada over a period of at least six months was wrong and unusable here.  Also, in order to evade culpability in the situation, the Immigration department ensured us that they have no connection with the consulates in other countries, and can’t be held responsible for misinformation.

                So, after trying to pull my hair out, but not being able to due to a new haircut that week, we drove to the Canadian Embassy in San Salvador, in order to plead our case.  We learned that this is not the first time that this happened then informed us of their rates to start the process again.  With a little more pleading, we received a glimmer of hope (maybe).  The Embassy is going to have a meeting with El Salvador’s Immigration, in order to see if we can use what we have, as is.

                With only a week left on our 90 day tourist sticker, we had to return the next day to San Salvador, this time with everybody.  We were able to beg for a ninety-day extension (we were told this is a one-time offer), and now with a charge of $25 per person we each received a less-shiny extension stamp.  We can definitely stay until July 23^rd, but after that...we’ll see what happens?

                Generally we have been pretty healthy over the last two months, but we have had a few clinic visits over this time.  Trent has been suffering continually with allergies to the dust and pollution in the air.  This has caused ongoing breathing and coughing problems, as well as sinus infections.  The doctor has prescribed a few different things but nothing has had a long-lasting result.  We continue to pray for relief for him, and hope that with the rain coming; maybe some of the allergens in the air will be removed.

 

Brian is on the left

                We also spent a bit of time this week at the clinic and hospital, but not for one of our group.  Our truck, as shown in a previous post has now been outfitted with a steel cage for hauling people.  Our kids, along with most of those in the villages view this structure as a jungle gym, and hang from the top sides and back at every opportunity.  We had a little accident as we were driving in San Antonio Caminos.  A little boy named Bryan (about 10 years old) was hanging on the outside of the cage (unbeknownst to us) as we drove down the road.  Somehow his leg got pinched between the wheel and the fender, bruising and scraping him pretty badly.  In the end nothing is broken or damaged badly, but little Bryan could use prayer for a speedy recovery.

                The final thing that I want to include in this section is the frustration that I feel as meet more people and hear more of their stories.  There is so much pain here!  We will include more detailed stories over time, but as a general statement so many people are carrying the burden of traumatic events in their lives.  In fact it becomes a bit surprising to hear a story that doesn’t contain hurt from death, abuse, war, poverty, addiction, or all of these things.  Trent and I have become quite friendly with a group of local drunks.  They spend all day and night sitting semi-conscious on a corner one block down from our house.  It’s easy to judge this group for the state that we find them in every day.  That is until you hear their stories.....  Jose lived in Houston for a good chunk of his adolescence where he was told by his mother that he would be a failure if he didn’t reject his language and culture, and become more like the white kids.  Later in life he became a father, but one of his sons was killed at age 13.  He asked us as coherently as he could, “How can I fill this hole in my heart?”.....

Jose

  Julio (aka Coolio) lost one of his best friends last week.  After returning from the funeral, just as he sat down to drown his sorrows he received a phone call that another close friend had just been murdered as well. No wonder they keep drinking.

I’m frustrated with the pain, with the darkness of the situations that people have gone through, with my inability to do more, and with myself for the times that I grumble and complain, and for when I’m not thankful.  The difference between me and Jose and Julio is not as big as I may think it is.

Joy – We have started a process of getting to know our friends in San Antonio Caminos.  We are meeting each family, house-by-house, and learning names, taking pictures, and asking them to give us pieces of their histories, as well as hopes for their community.  This has been an amazing opportunity to hear the dreams and goals of different people, as well as finally starting to attach names to faces and visualize family trees in the neighbourhood.  We are feeling welcomed and accepted in this process, and have even been invited to help with a little farming at the end of May (The majority of the community rents small sections of farmland in an area about a 1 hour walk from their homes).

                I also find joy in the fact that we are being invited by people in the community to do things simply as friends and neighbours should.  Winnie, Ellis, and Elias are in the same kindergarten class as a brother and sister named Joelito and Daniela.  The kids have quickly become good friends, and Carie and Kerrie have become friends with their mother Carmen.  Carmen works in the market selling underwear and socks at a small both, and she is very bubbly and kind.  Along with her husband Alex (who drives buses occasionally between San Vicente and San Salvador) they live with their two little children in Alex’s mother’s house about a 20 minute walk from our house.  Two weeks ago they invited us for dinner (all 12 of us!) in their small home, which is no small feat considering that Carmen earns between 2 and 3 dollars on a good day, and Alex only can get work occasionally.  After a delicious dinner we were invited to stay for a small church service in their home with 3 other couples.  To me it is such an honour to be included in the lives of others here, without agenda, but simply as friends.  As I sat there that evening I reflected on the journey that has brought me to this point.  This is not how I pictured my life 5 or even 2 years ago.  I’m joyful that somebody had a different picture for me.

                Finally, I’m joyful for the changes that we see God making in people’s lives.  If you started at the ‘good news’ section first, this will make more sense when you go back to read the previous section.  Our new friend Jose came to us for help the other day.  He told Trent and me that he was at the end of his rope.  He is physically, emotionally, and spiritually at rock-bottom.  He doesn’t want to drink any more, and knows that it is killing him.  His life needs to be mended.  The fortunate thing is that we live for the one who can truly mend us.  We invited Jose to come with us to church, and after assuring him that he could come in the clothes he was wearing, he came.  And he listened.  And he napped for a bit.  But he came, and we pray for his redemption.  The next day I saw him asleep on his usual corner, but that’s okay, I’m still joyful anyway.  We’re all taking baby steps.

               

Stuart