Getting Away

Family, Life in El Salvador, Urban Ministry, YWAM - February 18, 2011

Today, we are getting away for a night to the beach. We are heading out of the city with our fellow staff members at YWAM El Salvador for a little retreat. One of the things that I truly love and appreciate about El Salvador is that in under an hour I can be in the middle of nowhere! We are going to stay at the beach house of a friend and it is surrounded by nothing but ocean, black sand, sugar cane fields, and beautiful views of the nearby volcanoes and mountains. No internet, no phone calls, no doorbells ringing…only tropical birds and the occasional cow wandering down the beach. I have found that working in this cross-cultural urban environment can be incredibly draining on Jon and I personally, on […]

CISNA Computer Project

Fundraising, Kids at Risk, Urban Ministry, YWAM - February 10, 2011

We are really excited about a new project that we have in the works! One of the places where we are involved with kids at risk is in the boys’ state-run orphanage called CISNA. This is a boys’ center run by the government. The boys who live here come from some rough family backgrounds. Their parents have died, have abandoned them, or are in jail. They don’t have much to call their own…just the clothes on their backs, and the mattresses (usually without sheets or a pillow) where they sleep. They go to school, but many of them drop out or really aren’t interested in doing their best. They lack motivation to receive an education and there is really no one interested in motivating them. Many of these boys have […]

Opportunities

Thinking About God, YWAM - January 13, 2011

Death is the reality of life. All of our lives will end one day. We all have a last moment, a last breath, a last conversation, a last opportunity. Today I learned of the death of a staff member at the YWAM Guatemala City base. I didn’t know her, and I’ve never met her. But I know other members of YWAM Guatemala are grieving tonight. She was young and killed tragically in a car accident. The driver is also severely injured and in the hospital. I don’t know when my day will come. Maybe tomorrow, maybe next year, maybe in fifty years. But I want every moment to count. I don’t want opportunities to pass. I want to savor each moment, capitalize on every conversation with my kids, and tell […]

Street Ministry Christmas Party

Family, Gangs, Holidays, Kids at Risk, Third Culture Kids, Urban Ministry, YWAM - December 21, 2010

We are Stateside right now enjoying our first vacation since we started our work in El Salvador! We are having a great time relaxing with our family and just getting a break, but we have had some “culture shock” which I’ll write about in a later post. I just wanted to share with you a few photos from our Street Ministry Christmas party. We shared a Christmas dinner with the guys that was catered by chefs who are friends from our church, spoke to them briefly about why we celebrate Christmas, and gave them some gifts. They were many joyous faces, and we took the opportunity to get to know these guys better. The delicious turkey dinner ready to go! In El Salvador turkey (pavo in Spanish) is the […]

DTS Wrap-Up

Crossing Cultures, Family, Language Learning, Short-Term Missions, Training, YWAM - December 8, 2010

Last Friday night, the July 2010 Discipleship Training School here at YWAM El Salvador graduated! It was a great night to gather together and catch up. The majority of students and staff from the base have spent the last two months on field assignment travelling around Central America to complete the outreach portion of the DTS. The rest of us stayed in country, and I was part of that group. If you recall, I was part of the July 2010 DTS. I know some of you may be reading this who are considering doing a DTS sometime in the future, maybe even here in El Salvador. I just want to share with you a little bit of what I experienced. I grew a lot in my cultural understanding, as well […]

Happy Thanksgiving!

Holidays, Immigration, Kids at Risk, Life in El Salvador, Prayer, Thinking About God, Urban Ministry, YWAM - November 25, 2010

Today while you all are celebrating Thanksgiving American-style, we are kind of doing our normal routine. Running errands, working in Apopa, going to parent-teacher meetings…and feeling a little homesick. But the kids do have off school and there are some Salvadorans who celebrate Thanksgiving. Later this evening, after everyone is home from work, we will be gathering with some friends for Thanksgiving dinner. Today is traditionally a day to give thanks for all that God has given. I just want to take the opportunity today to fill you in on a few recent things that have happened here that warrant lots of thanks! First, some of you may recall the prayer request that I sent out back in July concerning a young boy named Jared. He was two years old with […]

Please pray…

Kids at Risk, Prayer, Urban Ministry, YWAM - November 17, 2010

We know there are many of you who regularly pray for our ministry, and we just want to ask you to pray for one of our friends from the street. There is a young man named Miguelito who is involved in our street ministry. Yesterday afternoon he came to the YWAM base and he was very sick. He actually looked close to death. Jon took him to the hospital where a doctor treated him, but also asked him to come back for more tests. Jon talked to Miguelito and asked him if he was willing to make a decision to get serious about changing his life and getting off the streets. The lifestyle he has been living for so many years is having a detrimental affect on his health to […]

One Life

Kids at Risk, Prayer, Urban Ministry, YWAM - November 7, 2010

This morning I’ve got two sniffling, coughing kids tucked under blankets on the couch, and Jon and I are fighting a cold too. Nothing like sharing everything as a family! I figured since I had a few quiet minutes I would take advantage of the opportunity to share with you an exciting conversation that Jon had this week. But first let me back up a little… In July, we began our street kid ministry to the teenagers and young men who live on the streets of San Salvador. One young guy, we’ll call him “Raul” was one of the first to come and be a part of this ministry. Raul found himself living on the streets, caught up in addiction. Raul found his way to the base’s doorstep, where he met not […]

Back to Normal

Family, Rural Ministry, Third Culture Kids, Urban Ministry, YWAM - October 27, 2010

We are finally starting to get back to some level of normal around our house. I am finished with the lecture phase of my Discipleship Training School at the YWAM base. I learned a lot about our organization and I also had kind of a “time-out” from life to focus more on my own relationship with God. I am now working in the field assignment phase of the school. The rest of the class is doing an international outreach around Central America, but I will be staying here in San Salvador doing some work around the base, and doing our usual ministries with the street kids and in the children’s centers here. All that to say, I think that “Mr.Mom” is glad to have me back in commission…doing the school pick-ups […]

Guys Day Out

Kids at Risk, Urban Ministry, YWAM - October 11, 2010

This past Saturday, Jon had a “guys day out.” But it wasn’t like any other “guy’s day out” that he might have participated in during his past life (as I like to call our pre-El Salvador days). Instead of hunting or taking in a football game, he was hanging out on the beach with 19 homeless guys. These are some of the guys that we have met through the homeless ministry that is going on at the YWAM base. These guys have gotten more and more connected to Jon. He told them that he would take them to the beach for a fun day off the streets, and he asked them to meet him at the base at 8:30 on Saturday morning. Well, they were there at 6:30…ringing the bell…chanting […]

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