Porters Across the Borders: A Christmas Party for Daniela's Family

Merry Christmas! As the clock ticks towards the beginning of another brand new year, we all begin to look at our lives and evaluate where we are, and where we would like to be in the coming year. Fresh starts are what New Year's is all about. I like that. There is something energizing about a fresh start, don’t you think? Well, as the Porter family stands on the precipice of this new year, we are very excited. We can see that God is opening doors and propelling us forward towards the formation of our own non-profit organization, Lupita’s Hope. By faith, we plan to take the necessary steps to found this ministry, trusting that where God guides, God will provide.

Last week, we had a fun day with Daniela's family. Ana, the mom/grandma of the family, and all her brood including her daughters, Nelsy, Denora, and Lupita, along with their nine children, took the two hour bus ride from San Julian to come to our house for a full day of Christmas fun! We prepared Panes con Pavo, the traditional Salvadoran Christmas meal, with our friends Marina, who is a national missionary and dear sister, and Jorge Campos, our ministry partner and ‘old’ friend! Marina showed us the ropes for preparing a Salvadoran style turkey. Very different than the traditional turkey we make in the states, but, DELICIOUS!!! The sandwiches are

Kathy and Marina preparing the food

prepared on large French bread rolls, and include the yummy turkey, cucumbers, radishes, tomatoes, lettuce, watercress, and they are topped with the tasty red sauce that is cooked and basted over the turkey, and a hard-boiled egg. The red sauce is prepared with grilled tomatoes, onion, ground pumpkin seeds, and lots of other spices which are blended up to make the sauce to put over the bird. You drown your sandwich in this sauce, and BOY is it messy! But, sooo good! The kids all played with Jonah and

Maddie’s old toys…Legos, American Girl dolls, and all their clothes and accessories…and Hotwheels that have been collected for years between Sam and Jonah. They had a ball!

After we ate our delicious dinner, we all gathered in the living room where we handed out gifts to each child. Oh, they were excited! What fun we had watching their happy faces! The children were very grateful and we were covered in hugs and kisses. The moms were each given a jar of David’s famous home-made pico de gallo, which they LOVE! (They had all enjoyed eating it many times while we lived in San Julian). Later in the afternoon, we all enjoyed some sweet bread and coffee over lively conversations. At the end of the day, we all piled into our van (yes, 15 people in an 8 passenger van...here in ES, this is completely normal) and carried them home! A lovely day was had by all!