School of Ministry Begins

(Reprinted from September 2011 Newsletter with added pictures)

We have reached a milestone on our ministry here in San Julian. After almost five years of planning, on August 24th we had our first School of Ministry class. The name of the school is, Instituto Biblico Capilla Calvario. (Calvary Chapel Bible Institute) We are very thrilled and blessed by the response. We have almost 40 people enrolled in our first class. We hold it on two separate days to try to accommodate the schedules of the students; Wednesday evening, and Saturday afternoon. The first class Jeff is teaching is a survey of the Old Testament. The Lord has provided two excellent translators for us. Jeff has been doing a great job of preparing and teaching the class. Please pray for direction, translating and the students that they would learn of God’s purpose for their lives.

Jeff teaching the class with Wilfredo (left)
translating to Spanish

Open Doors

Reprinted from our September 2011 Newsletter with additional photos

We are thankful that the Lord is in charge of our lives, and as He leads all we need to do is follow. Sounds easy, huh? Sometimes God requires us to step out in faith before He reveals his complete purpose. We have been earnestly praying for direction as we live and serve here in El Salvador. We know that God brought us here to begin the school of ministry, but we also know that the school is not the only reason we are here. Doors of opportunity are opening and we are seeking the Lord as a family, for wisdom, discernment, and direction. As we stick our toes over the threshold of each door, and take it one step at a time, we ask that you would hold us up in prayer. We know that not every opportunity is necessarily a door we should walk through. But, we want to be faithful to boldly step out of the boat, if God is commanding us to walk on the water. 

Kathy has been given the opportunity to help lead worship at a church that our family and the Pursley’s attend, once or twice a month, in San Salvador, called Union Church. It is a church with a mission to English speakers. Much of the church is made up of missionary families and those who work for the U.S. Embassy. It is a very interesting mix of cultures, as there are people from all over the world who attend the church. The church has a few teams that take turns leading worship each week. Kathy was asked to form a team to lead once a month. This Sunday was her first time. We have been very blessed to be able to get to know Pastor Gary and his family. They started and operate a children’s home in San Salvador, called, My Father’s House (Casa de mi Padre). They are also in the process of building a children’s ranch, which we had the opportunity to see for ourselves. We love the purpose and vision of this ministry. Could it be that the Lord wants us to be a part of it in some way? We are praying and seeking His will.

Finally, you have heard us speak of the Baby House (hospital) in San Salvador, which is called Lovelink (Vinculo de Amor). It is run by our dear friends, Sam and Julie Hawkins. This ministry takes in mal-nutritioned babies, most of whom would die without their help. They nurse them back to health and work with their families to educate and enable them to properly care for their child. Those who are orphans, are at times adopted out to families across the world. Their work also goes into communities…with medical clinics, educational programs, food, clothes, and the love of God. If that isn’t enough, they also have a ministry to one of the men’s prisons. They have a house next door to the prison where prisoners are allowed to come into the program to be introduced to Jesus, discipled, loved on…and very importantly, to learn a trade in order to support themselves and their families when they leave the prison system. They teach the men to make beautfiul, hand-made shoes. This ministry has been absolutely blessed by God from its inception. We have seen for ourselves the work there, and it blows us away. Lives are changed, saved, and redeemed from a terrible pit. It is dangerous work. Many of these guys are gang members. But, each one, God loves and calls there to be given the opportunity to see Jesus, and be changed. That is why the ministry is called, "Metamorphosis". Like a caterpillar that breaks out of his cocoon a beautiful butterfly, these men’s lives are completely transformed. We are also praying about involvement with the ministries of Lovelink, and Metamorphosis.

There is so much opportunity here…everywhere you look…and we want to make sure that we are following our Masters’ leading; fearlessly going where he calls us.

Sunday Morning Service at Union Church

Kathy leading worship

David, Jeff and Gary (left) in front of Casa de Mi Padre

Chapel on a hill at the new children's ranch

Gary's daughter, Whitney, working with horse therapy
at the children's ranch

Deck on a hill where a future guest house will be

Julie Hawkins giving a tour of the Baby House
to our team

Julie holding one of the babies at the house

The inmates at Metamorphosis having their morning
discipleship class before starting work

The inmates making shoes

August Mission Team

(Reprinted from September 2011 Newsletter - with additional Slide Show)

In August, our first mission team arrived from Vancouver, Washingtion. They were from our home church of Calvary Chapel, Vancouver. We spent a lot of time planning and preparing for this team. The Lord really blessed as we saw all the details come together. The group consisted of six adults and six high school youth. They spent a very full week here. The theme of their trip was, "Faith in Action", and they had a real opportunity to live out James 1:27 while they were here. They worked on the house of a dear friend of ours, who is a single mother with four daughters. She lived in a house with a dirt floor, and a very leaky roof. Our team covered her dirt floor with a beautiful concrete floor and replaced her leaky roof with a new metal roof. Their hard work was a huge blessing to this family. Concrete is very hard work and especially when you have to mix it by hand. But, all the team pitched in, including all of the young ladies. It was a real accomplishment for them. Also, later in the week, the team visited an orphanage where they worked during the day doing a deep cleaning of the building. Then, in the afternoon all the girls on the team took all the girls from the orphanage to a night of sharing, pizza and pedicures. It was neat to see the team taking the time to minister to these girls and bless them by washing their feet and sharing Jesus. The team also brought with them a large, generous donation of pre-folded cloth diapers (which are unavailable in El Salvador) to give to Lovelink, the Baby House. Julie welcomed us, shared the story of the history of the Baby House, and gave the team a tour. She and the staff were overwhelmed by the gift. Those babies really touched everyone’s hearts. If that wasn’t enough, they also held an outreach at the town plaza with a skateboard demonstration and sharing the gospel through drama and teaching. Another night, we held a youth service at a local church and invited all the young people from every church to come for a night of worship and sharing in the word. Our youth leader, Cameron Silsbee did a great job speaking at both events. The response was tremendous and the time of worship in song, was wonderful. It was such a blessing to see all these youth raising their hands, and passionately praising God, alongside our team. Kathy was responsible for putting together and planning for the worship team, and God really brought great people together to help in this. I know that the team went home extremely tired but encouraged to see how much God can use them to bless the lives of others. Their hearts were touched by the people they came to serve. I don’t think they will ever be the same. Cam and Hannah did a great job leading this team. Jonah, Maddie and Chrisitna had a great time of much needed fellowship with dear friends. We are looking forward to next year! We praise God for this fruitful, blessed week of ministry with this sweet, hard-working group of adults and youth!

Worship in Isuatan

Churches worshipping together

This last Friday our family participated in a multi-church worship service in the town of Ishuatan.  The pastors invited our family to sing a song for the offering.  So, Kathy decided to pick a new song that she was learning and have Maddie and Christina join her in singing it.   Keep in mind that the song was in Spanish.  Kathy decided to memorize the song in Spanish, as well as memorizing the guitar chords; to reduce the chance for major errors! This was Christina's first time singing in front of a crowd.  Maddie has sung a few times, but she was a pretty nervous to sing in Spanish. They both did great! 

Now they have been invited for another gig on July 2. I am truly amazed at how well and how far Kathy has come on the guitar in such a short time.  It is a real blessing for me to hear her lead worship.  It is such a passion of hers.  I added a short clip of them singing.

Can Short-term Mission Trips have a Lasting Impact?

Last week, we had the opportunity to visit an orphanage in Los Planes, called, Hogar Infantil Amor Y Esperanza. (Love and Hope Children’s Home) It is run by a young woman named Rachel Sanson, who has lived in El Salvador since she was 20. She came to El Salvador for the first time, on a short-term mission trip with her church in Ohio, at the age of 14. Every summer after that, she would return again. She fell in love with the hurting children of El Salvador, and determined that, one day, she would return to El Salvador to stay, and that she would open an orphanage. She did just that. I would guess that she is in her late twenties. One by one, she and the staff that God has brought her, have opened their home and hearts to love and heal these helpless ones. I watched her cradle Jeremiah, the little bundle that she in the process of adopting as her own son. He is three years old. As she held him, she quietly spoke to other children, and gave instructions to the ladies that were cooking lunch in the kitchen. God has done amazing things helping this one woman to reach the hurting children whose lives she has touched. He has provided in ways that remind me of George Mueller, and his orphanages in Bristol, England. Her first children were three brothers. They lived on the garbage dump with 7 other siblings, being cared for by their grandma. This family was barely hanging on by a thread. But, then, the government came in and shut down this dump, causing many families living there to be dispersed. They lost the one thing that was keeping them alive…the food people had discarded. This family imploded, and all the children became seriously malnourished. The worst Rachel had ever seen. At this point, the grandmother asked her if she could take the three boys and care for them. She had been working on a project at the dump, and knew this family well. She knew it was God’s appointment, and said, “YES!” She opened the doors of Hogar Infantil Amor Y Esperanza with these three brothers. That was about 8 years ago. Since then, those three boys have been adopted into a family in the United States. Many other children have come and gone, having their lives permanently touched and changed by the love and hope that was shown to them at this home. I was struck by the fact that this ONE young woman has impacted the lives of so many people; simply because of the love of Jesus. He put His love for these children in her heart. Then, she acted on it…she did something about it. She took a giant leap of faith, and moved from her comfortable life in the U.S., to El Salvador…a third world country. Remember, she first came as a young, impressionable youth of fourteen years. Some people ask, “What impact does short-term missions really have? It’s only a week. What can be accomplished in just a week? What lasting impact can you really have?” Well, Rachel’s story is just the answer to this type of question. Rachel’s heart was stirred for others. Her life was never the same. Because of her obedience, when she stands in glory before Jesus…she will stand with those whose lives she has changed for eternity.

So, what impact can short-term missions have, really? Decide for yourself. Next time someone tells you they are raising funds for a short-term mission trip, think about Rachel. Give and pray. You never, never, never know what God is going to do in the heart of the one who goes!!!! If you want to be very blessed, check out Love and Hope’s blog, full of great stories and pictures…www.blog.loveandhopechildrenshome.com

Precious Gifts...Sister to Sister.

I think you all know that that we returned from a trip to the states on March 2nd. We had been there for a time of rest, loving on our family…sharing about El Salvador with everyone we had a chance to…hanging out with our friends, and being at our home church with all our brothers and sisters. It was a sweet time! While we were there, I had the opportunity to share with the ladies of our church at a women’s breakfast. At that time, I told them about the precious ladies, and children that God has put into our lives in El Salvador. Janet LaPore, the director of the women’s ministries, gave the ladies an opportunity to give a love gift to our friends here…as a way to encourage them, and show them that they have sisters in Washington that are praying for them and loving them from afar. The ladies responded in an amazing way, and their generous gift was sent down to be used in whatever way that our family felt was best for each one.

I want to report to you, that so far, we have given three ladies gifts from the offering that was sent. I want to tell you about them!
First, you know, from my last blog-post about Nelsi…if you don’t, read the last blog! Last week, I was able to deliver a container of necessary food stuffs, a large bag of nice clothes, (most of the clothes were from Susy’s sister, who lives in San Salvador, and Esther!) and a bag of gifts to this precious family.

Maddie, Susy, (our translator and friend), and I had the privilege of delivering all of the goodies together. Nelsi and her children received them with joy and tears. She said, “I can’t believe what God does with me, sometimes….I give Him so little, and He gives me so much…” It was a delight to watch them exclaim and giggle and screech over the little toys and the clothes. I also gave her a copy of a picture that was taken of the whole group of ladies that were at the ladies breakfast that Saturday morning in Washington. Janet had had some copies made and blown up for me to give the ladies.
I showed Nelsi and her children the picture and told them about their sisters in Washington. She was so moved. Shaking her head in wonder, she said, “Oh, please send my greetings and my thanks to these sisters!” They enjoyed looking at all the sweet faces in the photo…and were just delighted!I gave them the picture, with a plastic cover on it, to save and remember that they were loved and that they were being lifted up in prayer all the way from the state of Washington, in the good ole’ U.S.A!

NEXT! I also shared with the ladies at the breakfast about Lupita and Grecia. Two sweet young ladies that I meet with on Monday nights for a bible study. The week before I left to go for our visit to the states, Grecia gave her life to Jesus! Hallelujah! Lupita and she have been friends for a long time, working together every day at a little store. Lupita has been praying for a long time for her salvation! Grecia had been borrowing a Bible from a relative for our studies. Lupita has had a little Precious Moments bible that she received when she was a teen-ager. It is very special to her, but tattered and torn and falling apart. She has something going on with her eyes…haven’t pursued that yet, maybe she just needs glasses…anyways, she can hardly read the tiny print. Soooo….I expressed to the ladies in Washington that I would LOVE to buy them each a nice, beautiful study bible. Last week, Susy and I went to San Salvador and found two beautiful study bibles….and last Monday night, we presented them to Lupita and Grecia. What a joy it was to watch their faces! They were very overwhelmed and touched. Lupita kept clutching the bible to her chest and sighing with a huge smile on her face…at one point, she said…”I NEVER thought that I would have a bible like this…it is a dream come true!” She could read the print perfectly! Then I presented them with one of the photos of the sisters in Washington and told them all about their generous gift. Grecia asked me, “Can you please give me the names of all the ladies? I want to write them in the front of my Bible.” These two precious sisters were encouraged and blessed by the hearts of my dear friends in Washington. Bless your hearts, ladies! Bless your hearts!

A Headless Woman, A Witch, Salt & Water

Yesterday, we experienced yet another confirmation of why we need to teach the Word in San Julian, El Salvador. I had gone to visit my friend Ana, at her home, to see her new baby grandson, along with Maddie and my friend, Susy. Her daughter, Denora, who she lives with, gave birth last Thursday, to Sebastian Alfredo, a darling cherub. During the course of the visit, Ana asked me when I was going to visit her daughter Nelsi's home, which is just outside of town. Nelsi is a single mom, raising three children, and her two- year old grand-daughter. Her oldest daughter, was sexually assaulted by her step-father, and became pregnant at ten years old. Nelsi is the sister of my dear Salvadorian daughter, Lupita; and Ana is Lupita, Nelsi and Denora’s mom. Occasionally, I go out to Milagro, the canton in which Nelsi lives, (canton: village) to visit her and her children.
What a sweet bunch of kiddos!! They live in a corrugated metal shack with dirt floors, and chickens running in and out of the house. Well, Ana had been hoping that I would go out to visit them soon. She told us that Nelsi was very afraid, and didn't want to stay at her house. When asked why, she said, "Because she has seen a women come to her door , that doesn't have a head." (She said this very matter-of-factly.) Really? "And what did you think when she told you that she saw a woman without a head at her door?" I said. "Well," Ana said, "I told her, I never see her when I come to visit!" Hmm... Then, she told us that all kinds of weird things have supposedly been happening. However, Ana said, "Whenever I am there, nothing happens!" She also told us that Nelsi's neighbor wants to have a relationship with her, but she has turned down his advances. Supposedly, this man is a witch. Now, Nelsi believes that this man is using witchcraft against her. She and all her children are terrified and don't want to be at their house. I said, "Well, Ana, we would love to come and pray for her and her children and the house." At this point, Ana excitedly exclaimed, "That is why I wanted you to go to Nelsi's...so you can pray and put salt and water over everything!" Now, Ana is a professing, born-again Christian, that attends church six nights a week. With great control, I said, "Ana, why do you want me to put salt and water on everything?" "Oh," she said, "because salt and water are holy and will purify everything, and keep the bad spirits away.” I calmly said, “Ana, where did you learn this?” “From a lady.” “A lady? Ana, is this taught in the Bible?”, I asked. With a shy, embarrassed grin, she said, “No.” Then I said, “That is superstition, Ana.”. “Ohhh….”, she said, nodding her head up and down. “However, I would love to go pray for her and her home.” I shared with Ana that Nelsi doesn’t have to fear evil spirits when she has the Spirit of God in her. Greater is HE that is in YOU than he that is in the world. I told her, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and love and a sound mind. “Nelsi is allowing herself to be controlled by fear, and now all her children are terrified as well.” She told me that Nelsi leaves open Bibles laying around the house, to keep away the evil spirits. As David said, “She is replacing one icon with another. “ The Bible was never meant to be used as an omen, or charm. The Word of God is living, active…it renews us, washes us, it has the power to change lives. Jesus used the Word of God to fight against Satan; the spoken Word. He didn’t take a copy of the scriptures, and lay it open for Satan to see. He believed it, He lived it, He proclaimed it!
At this point, I told Ana that we would go to Nelsi’s house on Wednesday, to pray. Ana wants to go, too. I am asking the Lord to give us wisdom.
We want to proclaim freedom to the captives…those bound by superstition and fear…Nelsi is a professing Christian, also. But, this family, along with many others we know, seem to struggle with understanding and living the Word of God. What are they being taught in the churches? Are they hearing, but not understanding? We aren’t sure. But, we know that God brought us here to teach the Word, the whole counsel of God. And that is what we intend to do, by the grace of God.

Before moving to El Salvador, the Lord gave us Isaiah 58, as part of our mandate for El Salvador, it says, in part:
“Is this not the fast which I choose, to loosen the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke…”

That is just part of it, but, today, an important part. Would you fast and pray with us for this situation? We will be going to Nelsi’s this afternoon…