Here is a picture of Victor Johnson sharing the gospel with a lady at the clinic! She does not speak any English and Victor does not speak any Spanish. They communicated through working through a gospel tract until a translator showed up half way through their conversation.
Here are Josh Spencer’s view on the trip so far… the third day of my first mission experience is winding down. It certainly doesn’t feel like the third day. Not that the days have been painfully long or dreadfully boring (though they have been quite rainy), but the time here seems to move differently. The pace of life here floats and lingers more than it moves, and schedules seem to drift into the next event more than they proceed into it. I have definitely been enjoying the trip thus far, and I’ve been learning a lot along the way.On the first day, we were welcomed to the church with a very professional marching band procession, and people crowding around the entrance to celebrate our arrival. The children put on a performance for us as well, dressing up in miniature scrubs and singing English worship songs. The people here are very genuine and expressive, which is a sharp contrast to our American guardedness and attempts to save face.
Worship to the El Salvadorians is very real. There are no attempts to look good in front of others, but instead church consists of individual people worshiping with a mass of other believers crying out to their Father in their own way. Nobody complains because the next person is too loud. Nobody cares whether anyone else is clapping to the music. Nobody worries about what others will think of them if they pray out loud. Very few churches have much more than a roof and none have pews. Plastic chairs and small speakers provide the only worship setting necessary. No fuss is made if a note is missed by the musicians or a microphone squeals. And since this atmosphere exists, worship becomes even easier as a church body.
Everybody is very welcoming and loving. Our team taught this morning at a beautiful open-air church overlooking a grassy valley and mountains in the distance. The windows were only decorative square bars, so the breeze periodically blew some bible pages, sunlight provided our only light, and birds flew in and out of the sanctuary freely. It was a good morning, and especially since it had stopped raining and we were able to enjoy some dry outdoors time.
I am excited about the rest of this week. I’m sure God has a lot to teach me, and I just hope I’m not too stubborn to learn those lessons. I’ve been slightly ill the past couple of days, but nothing severe, and I received some medication just an hour or so ago that should fix me right up. There are many new people to meet and many new things to try, so these next five days should be interesting. But I will take them one moment at a time.
