Thank everyone for your prayers.
Saturday, our flight to San Salvador was delayed a bit, but we made it in ok, just a couple hours late. We met up with "hermano Tim" from DownLine NWA, and our team of 5 arrived in San Salvador about 2-3pm Saturday. We had a quick lunch, and headed to our host homes. This year, we are staying with members of the church. It is a huge step in our relationship with these people.
Saturday night was a very strategic gathering. For the first time since DL has sent teams down here, we gathered with all of the Oasis Pastors from throughout El Salvador. We met in a church member's back yard, and 15 pastors and their wives showed up. We began teaching at 8pm, and finished at 11 or 1130. These pastors have been exposed to the idea of disciple making in a few other contexts over the past few years, but this was 3 hours of trying to put a clear vision in front of them. JB taught Great Commission, Ken taught Vocabulary and Danny taught Thessalonians. Afterwards, the pastors wanted to continue talking. It was about 65 degrees, and they were freezing (we were loving it) and they wanted to continue to discuss and ask questions. Many pastors were saying that after 4 years they "finally see the Savior's strategy". Three in particular vocalized that their "eyes had been opened" that night. And of course, from Ephesians 1, that was our prayer. So we went to bed exhausted, but thinking about the tremendous potential for kingdom impact that was in that gathering.
Sunday:
We got up bright and early. Most of us ate a traditional Salvadoran breakfast with our host families. Some eggs, some ham... but the staples: bread and beans! Then we split up to preach at several different church plants within an hour or two of Santa Ana. Tim preached in Antiquizaya to about 30-40 church members, and then spent some time discussing disciple making with folks from the church at lunch. His comment was that he wanted to bring some of the Antiquizayans back to the US to show some of our churches how to worship. JB spoke at Oasis Santa Ana, and Ken went to a local church plant, pastored by Pastor Mauricio's son. Danny went to Chalchuapa, where he preached four years ago. And Dick went to Brother Alex's church a little farther out. They have an interesting bond, since they are both Pediatricians.
A hearty lunch of "Pollo Campero", and an hour to rest, and now we're off to preach at some afternoon services in Texis and La Magdalena.
Thanks for your prayers. We continue to pray for these people to really catch the vision for multiplicative disciple making. Also pray for us, that we stay healthy and energized, as it can be very draining interacting and teaching in another culture. This trip is so strategic in so many ways. Hopefully we will find time to update this again soon. And Tim has been taking some awesome pictures we're going to try to get up here as well. We will see. So far, we're off to a great start.
Blessings.
El Salvador Team (JB, Ken, Dick, Tim, and Danny)
Saturday, our flight to San Salvador was delayed a bit, but we made it in ok, just a couple hours late. We met up with "hermano Tim" from DownLine NWA, and our team of 5 arrived in San Salvador about 2-3pm Saturday. We had a quick lunch, and headed to our host homes. This year, we are staying with members of the church. It is a huge step in our relationship with these people.
Saturday night was a very strategic gathering. For the first time since DL has sent teams down here, we gathered with all of the Oasis Pastors from throughout El Salvador. We met in a church member's back yard, and 15 pastors and their wives showed up. We began teaching at 8pm, and finished at 11 or 1130. These pastors have been exposed to the idea of disciple making in a few other contexts over the past few years, but this was 3 hours of trying to put a clear vision in front of them. JB taught Great Commission, Ken taught Vocabulary and Danny taught Thessalonians. Afterwards, the pastors wanted to continue talking. It was about 65 degrees, and they were freezing (we were loving it) and they wanted to continue to discuss and ask questions. Many pastors were saying that after 4 years they "finally see the Savior's strategy". Three in particular vocalized that their "eyes had been opened" that night. And of course, from Ephesians 1, that was our prayer. So we went to bed exhausted, but thinking about the tremendous potential for kingdom impact that was in that gathering.
Sunday:
We got up bright and early. Most of us ate a traditional Salvadoran breakfast with our host families. Some eggs, some ham... but the staples: bread and beans! Then we split up to preach at several different church plants within an hour or two of Santa Ana. Tim preached in Antiquizaya to about 30-40 church members, and then spent some time discussing disciple making with folks from the church at lunch. His comment was that he wanted to bring some of the Antiquizayans back to the US to show some of our churches how to worship. JB spoke at Oasis Santa Ana, and Ken went to a local church plant, pastored by Pastor Mauricio's son. Danny went to Chalchuapa, where he preached four years ago. And Dick went to Brother Alex's church a little farther out. They have an interesting bond, since they are both Pediatricians.
A hearty lunch of "Pollo Campero", and an hour to rest, and now we're off to preach at some afternoon services in Texis and La Magdalena.
Thanks for your prayers. We continue to pray for these people to really catch the vision for multiplicative disciple making. Also pray for us, that we stay healthy and energized, as it can be very draining interacting and teaching in another culture. This trip is so strategic in so many ways. Hopefully we will find time to update this again soon. And Tim has been taking some awesome pictures we're going to try to get up here as well. We will see. So far, we're off to a great start.
Blessings.
El Salvador Team (JB, Ken, Dick, Tim, and Danny)
