Free the Girls

COUNTING OUR BLESSINGS

The close of the year brings natural moments for reflection. We think about where we’ve come this year, and about where we are going. The photo above was taken on Thanksgiving Day when we gathered together in the Lighthouse Resource Center to share a meal and reflect on all of the things we are thankful for. Our clients at the dinner, and our residents in New Dawn, had so many things to share. They expressed gratitude for life, and opportunities, and the love and friendship they have received. They are thankful for hot meals and fresh starts and for Jesus. He is after all the one that makes it possible and our hearts center on him in this season as we reflect on Christmas and the light that he brings […]

ONE YEAR IN

Who else is stepping into March wearily? It is one year into the pandemic and we are all tired.   In El Salvador, children can be seen everywhere all the time because schools have yet to open for in-person classes. There are still people on the side of the highway waving white flags, but thankfully far less than there used to be. Lots of people are looking for work, or for extra work to make up for income lost over the strictest phase of the lockdown. Others are still searching for ways to pay for damages to their homes and property suffered from the tropical storms that slammed El Salvador last year.   Our clients are facing some new challenges too, and many people have joined our daily lunch line […]

Keep Dreaming!

This year has brought hardship, but it hasn’t kept our clients from dreaming. There are still goals, and aspirations…there is still hope! It truly is the Salvadoran way, and we are privileged to be “dream facilitators” here at Mission To El Salvador! As we begin this process of reopening, we are working to help our clients reflect on what was lost, and take a moment to regroup and begin to dream and plan for the future once again. We invite you to join us in “listening in” on some of our clients’ own stories of surviving so far this year with dreams intact. When COVID struck, New Dawn had to close down and shift to a virtual model. The boys didn’t want to leave and their families weren’t quite prepared […]

Waving the White Flag

We may all be weathering the same storm, but we are certainly not all in the same boat. I’m not sure where I first heard this sentiment over the past few months but it surely rings true in El Salvador. The unique challenge of this COVID-19 crisis is that it is a crisis unlike anything that we ever expected to face in El Salvador. I suspect that many working cross-culturally might find themselves thinking the same thing. We were tentatively prepared for an intense tropical storm, an earthquake, civil unrest, an uptick in violence, and other possible scenarios. But to experience something so devastating while the rest of the world also was thrown into chaos seemed unfathomable. Yet, here we are living through these extraordinary days. The COVID-19 pandemic has […]

Working Together For Freedom

Don’t you remember being a kid and holding your breath when the teacher assigned group projects? I remember crossing my fingers and hoping to be paired with a competent friend. Working with the right people is the best way to not only overcome a tough challenge, but also to enjoy the process. This past week we were reminded that we truly have teamed up with the right people. Some of the staff from our partner organization, Free The Girls, spent 5 days in El Salvador. It was an amazing and beautiful time of laughing, growing, and learning together. Courtney, Selah, and Abby came to learn, to understand, and to champion the women in our program. They gave them a voice to share their concerns, and they worked with the women […]

Empowering Moms to Grow – Empoderando a las Madres para que Crezcan

May 10 is Mother’s Day here in El Salvador, and throughout the month moms are honored through special promotions and advertisements. But there are moms that we know who don’t get the recognition that they deserve. These are the moms that we see everyday. They are fighters. They are strong, and they persevere. We have seen them fight for their own personal healing, and we have seen them overcome incredible hurdles. I just want to take a moment to share with you the things that these amazing moms have done. They have started businesses. They have joined co-ops to learn skills and earn money for their families. They have gone to support groups, and counseling sessions. They have learned to read, and they have learned to balance a budget. They […]

Peace – Paz

As we find ourselves in the midst of the Advent season, we are so grateful for the peace that the Christmas season brings. Valerie Nikkel is our guest blogger this week as we focus on true peace.  If you had an unlimited amount of money how would you spend it? I’m sure all of us have pondered this question at some point in our lives. The song, “If I Had a Million Dollars” lists the many possibilities. If we are honest with ourselves, material things would top our lists. A car, a boat, a house (and then a bigger house), exotic vacations, and the list goes on! Recently that question was asked to one of the woman in our Free The Girls micro-enterprise program. Her answer might surprise you…it surely […]

Soul-Tending – Cuidando el Alma

I remember in my childhood, my mother always had a garden. We always joked about her “green children” because of the time she spent bent over that garden. She would kneel down and gently tend the young plants, work to create an environment for growth, and do everything she could to protect those tender greens from outside predators who would seek to consume them. Tending a soul is not so different. There is kneeling, and toiling. There is a gentle pushing away of dirt, and fierce war against outside forces that would move in to destroy. There are fledging greens that push up through the soil, and we celebrate them and work to make their environment all that it possibly can be so that those sprouts can one day be […]

Mother, We See You – Madre, Te Veo

Mother, we see you.  We know you have overcome so much. The poverty, the personal trauma, the trauma your children have faced. We know you want to heal.  Today, you are honored, and celebrated, and loved. You have dignity and you have purpose. Maybe no one has ever thanked you for the sacrifices you have made. Today we notice them, and we know how hard it has been.  Perhaps no one has said how much He loves you, how you were made in His image. Perhaps you don’t even know that as a mother you show so much of Him, His heart, to the world.  Mother, you are so loved. We see you today.  —————————————————————– Last week we had our annual Mother’s Day celebration with all of the beautiful mothers that […]

Budgeting for the Future – Presupestando para el Futuro

What do survivors of trafficking need to be truly free? There are so many answers to that question, but without a doubt practical support is one of them. We talk about holistic care for survivors and that means that we address the spiritual and emotional pain that they are facing, but it also means that we are cheering them on in the everyday physical aspects of their lives. Last week, that looked like making budgets with all of the ladies in our Free The Girls program who are selling bras, and running their own small businesses. For many of them, they have money to manage for the first time in their lives. While they were being exploited, they didn’t get paid fair wages, and many of them have struggled to scrape by in […]

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