Porters Across the Borders: 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.