First contact

When I first watched the documentaries of the Salvadoran gangs I was moved with compassion and brokenness, desiring to change a culture. Recently, Lisa and I had our first encounter with the gangs of El Salvador. After a few days of intensive training and prayer with the 23 summer interns, we left for San Salvador for a week of ministry. On Monday, June 8, we were working David Gamez, pastor of Zone 1 in San Salvador, and we entered into MS-13 turf. We walked back into the heart of a neighborhood, walls marred by gang ensignia, and made our way to a small concrete court, occupied by some rough looking teenagers. Who knows what exactly their names are or what they have done, but the tatooed leader clearly stands out, cell phone hanging from a strap on his arm, cigarette smoking from his lips. Naun, the national assigned to work with the interns this summer, walks up to the leader and in a conversation too distant to understand obtains permission for us to use the court for our program. Let me say first that I'm amazed at how God works. Here we have hardened criminals who could just as easily shoot us as let us stay and somehow we have the respect and permission to share the Gospel. Not only could we stay, but they found power for us and allowed us to use one of the barrels they were using for chairs for our dramas. No power of darkness can withstand the piercing light of the Gospel!

As the lively music begins to pound from our speakers, children come out to see what this group of gringos is doing in their dangerous barrio. 35 gang members sit around the court, smoking, laughing, gambling, shades covering bloodshot eyes. Children come and play, and as the program begins they watch intently as we dance and sing, playing games and acting silly to draw their attention and make a connection with their young, innocent hearts. The program transitions from funny to serious, as Naun takes the mic and begins to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The group beings the ministry drama, "The Hammer", telling the story of a Roman soldier who nailed Christ to the cross, ending with the proclamation that we are responsible for His death, that our sins and transgressions are the nails that fastened the dying Messiah to the cross of atonement. Naun takes the mic and pours out his heart, admonishing the people that there are only two roads in life, the Way of Life and the Way of Death. As he speaks, anointed by the Holy Spirit of God, the gang members stop and watch intently. The Gospel was being planted in the cold, stony hearts of criminals, thieves, murderers, pimps, and addicts, as were many of us, and though they may not have responded by running to accept salvation like many of the children did, we know that the seed has been planted and as Isaiah 55 states, "As the rain and snow don't fall without saturating the earth, germinating seed and causing it to sprout, providing seed for the sower and food for the farmer, so the Word of God doesn't go out in vain, but ALWAYS accomplished the purpose and plan for which it was sent." 

That same day we were able to minister in another area, on a similar concrete court that served as the dividing line between 18th St. and MS-13, the line of blood in the sand between life and death. This was a neighborhood so bad the cops patrolled regularly, especially with the appearance of North Americans; however, once again the Power of the Gospel prevailed. As we began playing music and games, a teenager approached Pastor David, apparently the leader of the gang in this area, and informed him that the gang wanted to come watch, but couldn't because of the presence of the cops. Even though they weren't present, they watched from windows and listened from their doors. Once again, the Gospel doesn't go out in vain, because it is "the POWER of God for the salvation of all who believe, first for the Jew and then for the Gentile (or gang member, murderer, addict, pimp, thief, accountant, student, teacher, banker, mechanic, etc.)"

The battle has begun...a battle that will end in victory, no matter what the enemy may throw our way!

Changing seasons...

It's amazing how life changes without you really knowing it or understanding exactly what is happening at the moment. I've been involved in various kinds of ministries, at times being in leadership but mostly serving underneath someone else. Recently, I've noticed a change in life, as I've moved from stage of ministry leadership to another. 

The last time I was in El Salvador was as an intern, serving under Gary and Karen Crump. That was a very influential time in my life, a summer of being mentored, trained, and taught the different avenues and means of ministry. When I lived in Glenwood Springs, serving as an associate pastor, I was able to try new things in ministry, but still was under Pastor Travis' leadership, continuing to be trained and mentored in ministry. When Lisa and I arrived here in El Salvador, I quite honestly did not know what to expect from the ministry we would be involved in. I've never really thought of myself as a great leader, or as a leader period for that matter. I've always served under or with someone else and taken directions. Well, this summer has signified a key change in the seasons of my life. While we are still under the direction of Don and Terri Triplett, we are at the same time in charge of an area of ministry directly, with a group of interns looking to us for spiritual leadership, mentoring, and teaching. 

Jacob, Faith, Kristal, Lisa and I serve as the leadership team, overseeing the interns and AIM teams that are ministering throughout the country this summer. We just finished Intern boot camp and somewhere along the way in the past couple weeks, I've noticed that what I once was in ministry I am no longer. I suddenly realized one night in prayer that I view these interns as people I am helping mould, shape, and mentor. We have transitioned from mentoree to mentor. I told Lisa that I feel as though this is my own personal flock. Through times of prayer God has used me to speak into and over their lives, more than He has spoken into my life through someone else. I find myself sharing experiences and teaching them in the ways of ministry rather than being taught. All this happened without me knowing it! It's like I woke up one morning and suddenly I was someone different in ministry than I was just a few weeks ago. They look up to us for leadership and guidance, they come to us with their problems and concerns, when they are throwing up all night they knock on our door. 

I count it a great privilege and honor to be awarded such a grand opportunity. It's even as thought the AIM teams that arrive look to us as the experts in Salvadoran culture and ministry. It's funny and humbling at the same time. We are missionaries...this is our life....my how time changes all things without you even noticing. I reminds me of the coming of fall. We don't notice the first changes of color in the leaves or the subtle cooling of the air, until one day we wake up and the world has gone from green to reds, yellows, oranges, and browns. We wake up one morning with a chill in the air instead of comforting warmth, and wonder how it changed so quickly, when all along the changes were happening under our noses without us noticing. So too God has subtly changed the colors of our life and the temperature of our climate as He moved us from stage to another, growing us and shaping us. I'm not saying that we aren't in need of continuing training and mentoring, but we have gone from continual learning to being the teacher and student at the same time. How amazing is our God!

Gangs, drunks, and witches

Today we were working in Zone 1 with Pastor David. Today was a bit different as we worked in heavily ganged areas. In fact, the first place we went was a basketball court in the middle of a MS 13 controlled neighborhood. Naun, the national working with us, took extra precautions with the girls walking in the center and the guys surrounding us on the outside. When we arrived at the basketball court, gang members were all hanging out around the court, huddled in groups laughing and talking with the leader himself. Naun went up and asked the tattooed leader for permission to use the court to do a Castle program there. He said yes and even found us electricity to use.

Luckily, Castle has the respect of the gangs. They even let us use the barrel they had been using as a table in one of our skits. They played basketball and soccer with us and some brought their kids out to watch the program.

As the music started to blare through the neighborhood, children slowly started to come out and see what was happening. An obviously retarded teenager came out and I asked if he would like to play with us. He was so excited and said yes as he came running up. I asked his name. “Walter,” he replied. So I played with Walter until the start of the program. The gang members watched intently as we sang children songs and danced around all silly to carefully chosen songs that spoke about the love of God. We ended with a drama called “The Hammer” that said that each of us nailed Jesus to the cross through our sins and transgressions and we are all responsible for the death of God’s only son.

We asked all of those who wanted to accept Jesus as their only savior to come up and several kids rushed up, including Walter. My heart was overjoyed. Then I looked around because I always like to go up to the ones left behind to ask if I can pray for them for anything else. As I looked around, I saw over 30 gang members still sitting in their same spots. They didn’t budge. “Satan, I’m tired of the stronghold you have on them!” I thought to myself. Luckily, just as I was thinking that, I heard Naun start to preach and speak directly to those guys that were still sitting there. He spoke to them about how Jesus could heal their hurts, how they only had to ask and He would wash them clean. He spoke about how God was the Father to the fatherless. He decided to pray over the microphone for all those still sitting there and he said that anyone who wanted to accept Christ didn’t have to come forward if they were afraid of persecution. He also said they didn’t have to close their eyes. They only thing they needed to do was bow their heads, which several did. Only God knows how sincere they were, but I know that the Lord’s word does not come back in vain. I know seeds were planted and I pray that no matter how hard it may be, that those that were serious, would stand for God and that He would give them the strength change their lives and their family.

Later Naun told me that he told them they didn’t have to close their eyes because many times they don’t want to for fear of the opposite gang coming up while they are off their guard. He said they are always looking around and always on watch for police and gang members from the other side. What a sad life to live in fear when there is so much more to live for! Also, the woman that allowed us to use her electricity said she was a Christian, but she was also an alcoholic when Kristal, one of the other leaders, went to talk to her. Alcoholism is a huge problem because it’s the temporary solution to make people forget about their problems for a short while. What they don’t realize is that it creates so many more long lasting problems in the lives of their children and other family members. Also, many get addicted and are held in this stronghold for a lifetime as they know no other way to handle their problems.

We continued onto the second program where it was the dividing line for 18th Street Gang and MS 13. However, not many came out because the police were obviously present and stayed and watched the program. They said they wanted to come, but they couldn’t risk being seen by the police. Again, living in constant fear.

At the end of this program we had an intern start to vomit and she got seriously dehydrated so we went to get her some Gatorade and anti-nausea medicine. We did our last program after that and again were encountered with some strange happenings.

I took several girls to the bathroom and when I returned to the program to get caught up on what was going on, an older guy approached me and started to rub my arm while just saying “Cristo,” or Christ over and over again. As I looked at him, he had several earrings up his ears and a 4 inch long feather poking through the bottom of his ear. He was dressed in a half buttoned shirt and had a ton of necklaces on with skulls and other cultic stuff on them. He had a black cheap top hat on it with glitter and other decorations that looked like it was straight out of a Mardi Gras parade. I quickly moved away from him as I didn’t know what he was on or what he was capable of.

As a woman, you must always be on your guard, but even more so when you are on the streets of a foreign country. As I watched him, he started going around and touching people who walked by, including the heads of the babies that were being carried in their mother’s arms. I started to pray against the works of the enemy. No witch is going to send curses on little children while I’m watching.

While we started the program, our drunk witch danced and made all of the adults laugh at him. He included himself in our drama of “Querido Senor Jesus” or Dear Mr. Jesus. At the alter call, he came up and Josh and several other guys took him off to the side and he said he wanted to accept Jesus and he wanted to be prayed for about his alcoholism. He didn’t want to be a drunk anymore. They prayed for him and by the time he walked away, he looked much more sober and was more sound in mind. Praise God!

Continue to pray for the Walters that are unaccepted and surrounded by bad situations, the gang members who are hardened and feel there is no other way, and the alcoholics that find solace in liquor instead of Christ. He is the only one that can heal hearts, lead and guide, and comfort those that are in need.

Who said God can't use children

Today we went to church and Brother Don introduced Josh and I and all the interns to the church. He spoke to them a little about my background and had me come up and greet the church while Josh was getting the music ready because we did Super Heroe in front of the church. It was lots of fun and several nationals came up to be and told me it was “Bien pelado,” or really cool.

Afterwards, we went back to the casona to eat lunch and wait for the bus to arrive. We only got to do one program but we picked up one of the Guardians of the Vision (the children that have gone through the discipleship program and are awesome children of God) to do a program right in front of his home. You see, the church is trying to promote Grupos Alphas (cell groups) and he was trying to start his for the other children of the neighborhood. It was really cool to do a program and be able to bring children to the Lord knowing that they will have a cell group and be discipled right in their own neighborhood.

The fact that an eleven year old child would be so willing and yearning to start his own cell group and want to pour into the lives of his peers around him is awesome to me. Children reaching children. Now that’s an idea!

I just thought that was really neat and I’m amazed by how God uses the willing whether they are 25, 50, or 11.

Relaxation...kind of

Ah finally, a day to relax…kind of. Ha, we were able to catch up on some of our computer work today. We went up to the Strean’s house as they are the only ones at the camp that have electricity to do our laundry and upload some stuff on the internet. We had to get all of our laundry done because we are going to be staying at the casona for the next several days as we’ll be ministering in the zones of San Salvador.

After lunch we went to the young adult service that Jacob is pasturing right now. He had Dan speak since this will be his last Saturday here. Dan has been serving as an intern for the last four months and is an incredible servant. God has really used him as he has been working with our first year master’s commission group up in Potrerillos, just up the side of the mountain. He has formed great relationships with several of the families and children up there and has even formed a coffee group (bible study and devotion group) up there. He has also been a great addition to our intern team as we’ve been out ministering. He has done the ministry portion of many of our programs and he just has a great spirit about him that attracts children and adults alike.

Anyhow, he spoke about accountability partners and how important they are to the Christian walk. I think that we as human beings have a hard time keeping the promises that we make to God, so in order to not break more promises, we just don’t make them. In reality though, if we just asked for the help of an accountability partner, we would be able to form the good habits that we should be making. However, many times because of our own pride and arrogance, we don’t want to admit to anyone that we have weaknesses and we need help with certain areas of our lives. We all do though. We’re humans. We’re weak and we’re frail. The Bible says though that through our weaknesses, He is made strong. We need to remember that. Dan spoke an amazing message and I think it really touched a lot of hearts.

The amazing thing is that come to find out, that was Dan’s first time EVER preaching and it was in Spanish! Wow! God has a call on that young man’s life! I can’t wait to see what he does.

Well, we have a long day tomorrow with church and programs, so I’m getting to bed!

Last day of Intern Boot Camp

Today was the last day of boot camp. Although I’m so excited to see the interns doing so well and jumping in and taking leadership of the ministry, it’s sad to see the boot camp week go. We worked in some of the same places as Wednesday as the schools are split. Some children go in the morning and others go in the afternoon. So we figured if the ones that came in the morning before, the afternoon crowd would be different and we could reach out to those children. We ministered in Los Planes and Santa Rosa.

Also, this afternoon we got to speak to the feeding program children again. I think there are some great relationships building there.

We ended up only doing 3 programs today because we had to take the interns to the mall in Santa Ana to get some cell phones to call back to their parents. However, in those programs, we ministered to 131 and saw 31 salvations. We also prayed for 19 for either healing or problems.
I’m so exhausted that I'm falling asleep! Goodnight!

Going two different ways today - Video

Today there is much work to do so Josh and I are splitting up to make sure that all of our responsibilities are filled.

Intern Interview - Video

I did a quick interview with one of our interns, Jason, who has been an intern here in El Salvador for 3 different summers. Check out what he has to say:

Go Colonels!

Today we had our first team of the summer come in from Houma, Louisiana. As 5 of our interns and two of our leaders are from Louisiana, this was a big day! So, we lost a couple interns as they got there first team, but we still got to go out and minister again today.

We ended up going to the opposite side of the lake to Santa Monica and into the hillside of the mountain. We did 4 programs again today, with many of them being on a slant so, it was interesting. I got some great shots of kids today. It was a long drive for just being on the other side of the lake, but Lago de Coatepeque is HUGE!

We got to minister to 151 people and saw 48 salvations. We also prayed for healing or problems in the home for 14 people! What an awesome day!

Oh, then I get off the bus just to see Ruth Montes sitting in front of the kitchen. How I love that girl and always look forward to seeing her! She is a spectacular Christian woman and hysterical friend! After catching up, I came down for a cold shower. Now it’s off to dinner!

Hey City Kidz! - Video

Hey Pastor Dan and City Kidz,

We just wanted to give you a quick update from the field about what's been going on here in El Salvador.