Caring for Burdens (Pictures at the end)

When you take a burden off of someone, you free them up to take burdens off others.  Let me tell you a little story that occurred during the recent rains/flooding in October here in San Julian. But first, I must rewind a little. In August, our church in Vancouver sent down a great group of young people and adults for a week of outreach here in El Salvador.  If you have ever questioned the effectiveness of short-term mission teams, keep reading. 

This team, led by Cam and Hannah Silsbee, had a full week with different types of projects keeping them very busy and working hard.  One of the main projects this team had during that week, was to work on the house of our friend, Nelsi.  She and her 3 daughters and one grand-daughter, live out in the canton of Milagro.  Nelsi is a single mom. She works very hard to care for her family.   She has been through a tremendous amount of difficulty in her life.  Nelsi’s house is a metal shack with a dirt floor.  One room, made with tree branches, corrugated metal, and whatever else she can find to keep it together. Before the team came…whenever it rained, (every day for 6 months during the rainy season), water would come pouring in through the multiple holes in her roof.  I mean pouring.  Everything in her little house had to be strategically placed around the holes.  When it began to rain, they would all go running to move things that were getting wet, i.e.: their beds, clothes…and grab whatever they could find to catch water before it hit the dirt floor…which of course, once wet, turns into…yep, mud.  Can you imagine?  Four little girls, mud everywhere…rain pouring in. Try to close your eyes and imagine living like this.  It is constant, exhausting, dirty work. Imagine the worst camping trip you have ever been on.  Remember the one when the kids were little, and it rained cats and dogs the entire week you were there?  Everything in your tent was wet and muddy. The kids included.  Now imagine living like that, all the time.  

When we knew that Calvary Chapel Vancouver would be sending a team down, we decided that Nelsi’s house was the obvious choice for a hands-on outreach project.  Before the team came, David went in to her house, and leveled the dirt floor.  Before this, when you walked into her house, you had to walk down-hill…literally…it was VERY bumpy!  So, here comes the team!  Our hard-working team mixed concrete by hand on the ground and they created a beautiful, level concrete floor in her house. They replaced her metal roof and put on a new, perfect, leak-less roof.  No, they didn’t totally replace her house, but you wouldn’t believe how these things have changed the quality of life for Nelsi and her children.   Let me give you a few comments that Nelsi’s girls made afterwards:

·         Nelsi’s daughter, Rebecca (10) told me, “I GET to mop the floor now!” As she flashed me a huge, excited smile! 

·         Daniela, Nelsi’s oldest (14) told me, “When it rains, my mom starts to jump up and run to move everything and get the buckets, and I have to say, ‘Mom, remember, we are okay, we have a new roof, don’t worry!”  And they laugh together. 

And here is the greatest thing; the thing I alluded to in my opening sentence…”when you take a burden off of someone, you free them up to take burden’s off of others.”

During the rains/flooding in October, Nelsi was visiting with me.  Since her house is now secure during the rains, she doesn’t have to worry about being there all the time to ‘save’ it.  As we were chatting, she mentioned the people in her canton (village) that were suffering so greatly from the flooding.  She was so worried about her neighbors, and she said that she really wanted to do something to minister to them.  I asked her what she would like to do.  She told me that what she really wanted to do, was to make ‘shuko’, a warm, nourishing drink.  But, she said that she didn’t have the money it would take to buy the ingredients to make it…I asked her what the ingredients were.  Black corn, frijoles, ground pumpkin seeds, salt…I asked her how much it would cost to make a large quantity of it.  She said, about 15 dollars.  I told her, “I want to pay for it!  And you and I can make it together and take it out to your village to give out to your neighbors!”  Nelsi’s faced beamed with excitement!  She ran out to the market and bought all the ingredients we would need, brought it back to my house, and she and I prepared the shuko together…well, mostly her, but I watched and learned!  It was quite a process of soaking, rinsing, sorting, grinding…the cooking would come later at Nelsi’s house.  

David was in San Salvador this day, and so I didn’t have a vehicle.  Milagro is about a 20 minute walk outside of San Julian.  Since we were loaded down with our pots of shuko ingredients, and (I forgot to mention) bags of clothes that we decided to take out to distribute to her neighbors, we called a taxi.  Well, here they call them taxis, in the U.S. you would probably be closer to the right description if you called it a partially enclosed golf cart.  We crammed Nelsi, Jonah, Maddie, Ana (Nelsi’s mom) and I, into the ‘taxi’, with multiple bags of clothes and pots and pans. It was pretty funny.  I kept telling Jonah to hold on, and if we started to tip over, to keep his hands, feet and head inside so he wouldn’t get crushed…we were going over roads with giant holes with a little 3-wheeled golf cart!! It was scary, man! But, we made it in one piece! 

We began to cook the shuko in the little covered area that she has by her house where she makes and sells food to earn money.  They started a fire, and put a huge pot over it full of shuko…after cooking until it became thick, we began to call out to passer-byers to come and get some shuko!  Word spread fast, and her neighbors came running to receive a cup of hot, delicious, sustenance.  Many were wet, and covered in mud…they looked so tired.  This cup of shuko could have been the only food they had had that day, as they were spending most of their time trying to save what little possessions that they had.  People actually came running.  I am not exaggerating.  Every single person was full of gratitude and warm thank-yous.  We handed out about 100 cups of shuko, and used every last drop!

Now, remember what I said about short-term missions trips?  Are they worth it?  Do they have lasting impact?  Well, if it wasn’t for the hard working team giving Nelsi a real floor, and a new roof, Nelsi would have been one of those people working hard to save her own house.  As it was, her house was secure and dry, her children safe and clean.  Nelsi was freed up to minister to others.  And THAT is a beautiful thing.  I watched Nelsi serving up the hot, nourishing drink to her neighbors…she was a woman on a mission.  A mission to give back, to pay it forward.  And she is doing just that. 

 

Soaking the black corn, as Daisy keeps watch.

First, you roast the 'pumpkin' seeds (Not really pumpkin, but something similar to it)

Nelsi grinding the corn into a paste. It turns purple, pretty!

This is where the mommas bring their corn every day to be ground to a paste for their tortillas and pupusas.

And, we grind the seeds as well....

At Nelsi's house getting ready to give out the clothes. That is her daughter Daniela to her left, and our little friend, Diego, to her right.

Maddie snuggling with Nelsi's daughter, Lupita (left), and grand-daughter, Fernanda.

The kids chillin' out on the hammock at Nelsi's.  The hammock is her 'couch'.

Two sweet ladies whose houses flooded...we gave them blankets that we had saved from when our team from Vancouver brought them down...Thank you church!

We took a walk down the street to visit a little girl that has a brain condition which causes her head to swell, and has caused some mental retardation...her house had flooded, and Maddie wanted to give her one of her dolls to cheer her. We also gave her mom a warm blanket. 

Ingrid LOVED her doll!!  That's Nelsi's daughter, Rebeka, on the right

After grinding the corn, you have to strain it, and you just use the liquid for the drink.

Nelsi, and her daugher, Danila and her mom being silly!  Poor Diego, he just doesn't get it!

Nelsi cooking the shuko, and using a Salvadorian flashlight to check it...that is, a piece of corn husk that she caught on fire!

Cruz enjoying his shuko!

Come and get it!

Rebeka and I ~ the shuko was yummy!!

Happy, sweet boys!

A very grateful family!

Maddie and Fer, enjoying their shuko

And the Rains came pouring down….

What happens when you get 60 inches of rain in 9 days? You get earth that doesn’t want to hold any more water. You get rivers that become raging torrents of destruction. You get ruined crops, flooded homes, villages whose roads are cut off, peoples homes completely destroyed, mudslides, death. This was the scene in October. The area around San Julian was one of the areas hit hardest because it sits low, surrounded by mountains, and has rivers that run through it. The city itself had some damage…due to leaking homes, and water seeping up through floors. But, just at the edge of town, the damage became much greater. With whole homes being swept away, and occupants barely escaping with their lives. Some villages were cut off from transportation. In one of those villages, Agua Shuka, lives Pastor Eduardo, a dear friend of ours. He lives and works on the premises of his church. We wanted to find out how they were doing, so we and the Pursleys decided to trek out there. We got across the river, partly on the footbridge, and partly on tree branches…slogged through deep mud, waded the entire way in a river that once was the road. It took us about an hour. Once there, we found that Pastor Eduardo was housing over 150 people in his church, day and night. These were people whose houses had been flooded, or completely wiped out. They were cooking for them in open fires, trying to cloth them, the people were sleeping on the floor, without mattresses. Many were suffering with fungus on their feet from the nasty mud and water they were living in. We asked how we could most help them. He told us: food, clothes and medicene for their fungus. We and the Pursley’s pooled our money and purchased what food that we could in San Salvador, and then went back in, on foot, carrying the food. During this time, we were tremendously blessed by our church in San Salvador. The Union Church put out a request for food, clothes and blankets to be donated in order for us to distribute them here in San Julian. We were truly blown away by the kindness and generosity of the church. We filled and re-filled our van with the food and clothing. And then, one of the gentlemen in the church who has a factory that produces clothing, decided to produce 500 blankets to be donated. WOW!! We took about 250 of those blankets and gave them out to the neediest families we could find. Those people were so excited to receive those great blankets to keep them warm at night. We were blessed to be able to be a blessing. We also had a bridge en route to San Salvador wiped out…so traffic can be very slow going that direction, as they have diverted traffic to the other side of the highway where the bridge is still in tact. Another bridge was compromised, and unusable just down the road from that one. Although there were no deaths in San Julian, there were many deaths from mudslides and flooding rivers around the country. Here, and around the country, many are still trying to put their lives back together. Our church in Vancouver Washington raised over $2,000 so we can help some of these families rebuild their homes and lives. We are so thankful for these gifts to aid us in ministering to the needy here. We have also seen many people here in El Salvador come to the aid of their fellow countrymen. We see people that have lost so much, just facing each day with determination and strength.   

Joni & Friends

The first week of November, Jonah, Maddie and I (Kathy) volunteered to work at the Joni and Friends Family Camp for disabled children and their families here in El Salvador. Founded by Joni Erickson Tada, this ministry is an opportunity for families of disabled children to come to a safe place to be loved on, ministered to, and to just plain have fun! This year, 25 families were invited to attend. Each family can bring a total of four family members for a completely free retreat for 4 days at a lovely hotel at the beach. These families are usually from the poorest in El Salvador. Here in El Salvador, disability is treated like it was many years ago in the U.S. Hiding disabled people away, neglecting them. Acting like they have a disease and being repelled by them. I could tell you so many stories of these families. It would melt your heart. I was so thrilled that both Maddie and Jonah wanted to volunteer to be a buddy to a disabled child, or to a sibling for the retreat. That meant that they were with that child almost 24/7. After long days of go, go, go, Jonah and Maddie would just drop into bed each night exhausted. I was sooooo blessed as I watched my kids extend themselves and sweetly serve these beautiful children. Maddie was assigned little Jennifer. She is severly handicapped and non-verbal. She is nine years old, yet, so tiny she wore diapers the size of an average one year old. Jennifer always had a smile on her face. She grabbed everything she could get her hands on…faces, hair, jewelry, clothes…so Maddie really had to watch her flying hands! I don’t know that I’ve ever seen Maddie so content as when she was with Jennifer. Maddie loved on her, carried her, played with her, spoke to her, swam with her, and by the end of the retreat, Maddie shed tears as she had to say good-bye to this sweet little one. Jonah was assigned Kevin, the 12 year old sibling of one of the disabled children. The siblings of the children who are handicapped can have a very difficult life with many challenges. Usually, they take a back-seat to their sibling. The disabled child takes so much time, energy, and focus, that the sibling gets lost in the shuffle. This can cause resentment, confusion…these kids need to be loved on and told how important and special they are. At the retreat, they have ministry sessions just for siblings. They are loved on, and taught how to process what they are experiencing in their lives in a healthy way. Watching Jonah hang out with Kevin was a joy. Kevin had a constant smile on his face, and a twinkle in his eye. He was just so happy to be there he couldn’t stop smiling. All day, Kevin and Jonah would run around to all the events: games, singing, crafts, bible stories, swimming, flying kites, worship services, meals,…they were buddies. I loved watching these families as they were presented with three beautiful meals each day. The families that came were just so overwhelmed and blessed by the abundant, delicious food! One family rarely has enough food for everyone. If there is only a bit of money for food, they buy milk for their disabled child, but everyone else goes hungry, including the 5 year old little brother. One family just could not understand that they would be given food at the retreat. Three meals a day, for free. (How could that be, that would be like heaven?) They were concerned that if they came to the retreat...if they took those days of work to come, how could they supply food for their family for those days? But, they desired so greatly to come that they saved up enough bread and Coke for 4 days, and brought it with them so they would have food to eat at the retreat! Can you imagine their reaction when they understood that, truly, three times a day, a delicious, bountiful meal would be put before them!? Another family, desiring greatly to attend the retreat, could not afford the pampers for their disabled child to wear on the bus ride to the retreat. (This could be 2-4 hours) At home, they would use cloth diapers, (without plastic pants, which aren’t available here) but on the bus, they would have to have something to prevent ‘spills’. Joni and Friends provides pampers for the disabled children during the duration of the retreat, but this family had to GET THERE first! The only way they could pay for those pampers? They took all their dishes, and went into the street and sold them. Then, took that money, and bought pampers for the bus ride. Well, needless to say, the retreat was an amazing, special four days for all the families, and for those of us there serving. What a priviledge. Also, seven family members accepted Christ during that retreat, which is open to Christian and non-Christian alike.

Fall 2011 Pastors Conference

September found us hosting a conference here in San Julian for pastors and leaders entitled, "Marriage and Ministry". Pastor Daniel, his wife, Karen, and Pastor Mike and his wife, Jeneane, from Las Vegas, New Mexico, joined us to teach during the three day conference. During that time, we also had a night of ministry for women, inviting the women of the churches to join us. I, (Kathy) led the time of worship, and Karen shared the Word with the ladies. It was a great night of ministry. Also, we were able to take them out to visit Nelsi and her girls and see the work that the team did on her house in August. During that visit we had the opportunity to spend some time ministering to Nelsi’s oldest daughter Daniela, who is 14. During that time, Daniela prayed to accept Christ as her Savior. It was a sweet time. After the conference, we were able to spend a few days with Daniel and Karen talking about our time here, processing, debriefing, crying, praying, sharing, planning, setting goals for the future. It was sweet. We were all very grateful for this time with our beloved Pastor and his sweet wife. We are thankful for their hearts of care and love for the missionaries sent out by Calvary Chapel Vancouver. 

Karen Gettemy spoke at a Women's Service

Kathy led the Worship

Pastor Daniel Gettemy speaking at a Wed. Service

Pastor Mike sharing at the Conference

Pastor Louis praying for the Gettemy's and Herrera's