Wow! Today was our first full day in San Salvador, and we hit the ground running! Our travel day yesterday was so smooth. Our team did a great job of sticking together, looking out for each other, and traveled like pros. We landed in San Salvador around 8:30 last night, made it to our hotel, and settled in for the night.
We started this morning off with breakfast as a team. We enjoyed a meal of eggs, beans, and fried plantains, and shared in a devotional time with our team leaders. Already our team is becoming incredibly close and connected, and being in fellowship together has been so good.
From the hotel we headed to a high school in San Salvador. This school is focused around vocational training- students were studying to be mechanics, computer scientists, and electricians. We were very fortunate to have a stage space to perform on, and a small back hallway to use as a changing room. After dropping our stuff and changing into our first costume, we set off to engage with the waiting students.
Our team is being accompanied by an awesome team of translators who work with Amazing Love Missions. We are so fortunate to have them! Their hearts for the Lord and for this country are so beautiful.
“I think what most impacted me today was all the nice people. Even though we didn’t speak very much Spanish, they still helped us communicate. We also got to know one of the translators and that was awesome because we were able to relate to her.” -Sarah
We performed our program once through, then had an opportunity to pray over the principal of the school and hear from him. This man is so passionate about his students and his school, and was eager to share about it with us! After lunch, he took us on a brief tour of the school and to see the school band perform. They were awesome! We also got to meet the school mascot- a pet crocodile.
“(It was really cool) just seeing how proud of his students the principal was. He was so willing to build relationship with us, too.
I was also able to dance with some of the students during the crowd participation number. It was so cool to get to dance with people from all different backgrounds and know that we were able to understand each other through movement.” -Emmy
After lunch, we headed back to the performance space for another round with a new group of students. This group was so energetic and engaged with us, and we really enjoyed performing for them. At the end, the pastor of a local church who runs outreaches at this school prayed over our team, we said our goodbyes, and we headed out.
“During the first performance, I noticed that I personally didn’t feel as connected to the students and the Lord. But the second time around, I realized we were praying on the side more intensely- we really wanted to make an impact on these kids lives, and I felt the difference in the performance. So I guess [I just realized] the power of prayer and how it impacted our performance.” -Ally
Upon arriving back at the hotel, we had some time to put our things away and talk through the day together. Then, Moriah and Tina took us on a surprise walk to the El Salvador World Trade Center, which is only a couple city blocks from our hotel. We got some ice cream at Boston, a popular ice cream shop. We tried some unique flavors, like Tamarindo, then spent some time exploring the center.
We walked back to our hotel and arrived to a homemade taco dinner, brought to us by our contacts, Wally and Judy Cook. They take such good care of us! We enjoyed fellowship and food together, then finished out the evening with a short swim in the hotel’s pool.
Already, we are seeing the Lord move in such cool ways! We are so excited to get to partner with Him and what He is doing in this beautiful nation. Thank you for your continued prayers at home!
Love, Team El Salvador
