Joy and sorrow in El Salvador

We are nearing the end of our work week (today is the last day of work) and it’s easy to see all the relationships that have been formed – between us as a team, with the Habitat folks and with the community.  It makes another day of hard work, a real joy to wake-up to. 

On the other hand, with new relationships comes feeling the pain of others.  Our habitat translator and new friend, Juan, lost his sister to a heart attack yesterday.  She lived in Oregon with her husband and she was only 36.  It was tough for us to see our new friend in so much pain but we (and he) were both thankful we could be here for him.  

Juan was met with warm hugs and prayer from our team.  Juan Cea Marti is the one on the right end of this pic.  Please keep him and his family in your prayers.  

We are looking forward to this afternoon when we will have the dedication ceremony (of the new homes we worked on) with the community.  There's no doubt in any of our minds the impact Habitat has made and will continue to make by coming along side to further develop this community.  

Love & blessings,

Eli, Ross & Team El Salvador

Hard work in paradise - Team El Salvador

Hard work in paradise

Day two started with at the cathedral in San Salvador where the Bishop said the mass.  Today we met more new friends from Habitat including Juan and Anna Maria.  They surprised us with an amazing welcome lunch in a residence (former coffee plantation) high in the hills that overlooked a enormous mountainous valley where El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala meet. 

Jonathan Good has joined us and our entire team has fully bonded already.  Days 3 & 4 were rather focused on the two houses we’re working to finish.  Only two days working in the heat and the team is pretty tired but in great spirits.  One team is digging a septic pit that has to be 15 feet deep and 5 feet wide.  The other team has leveled floors, dug dirt, painted and will begin laying cement tomorrow.

We fell asleep to the sound of a constant, soaking, rain last night.  The days are like paradise.  Hot , but paradise.  As we embark upon day 5, we’re a little bit more sore and a lot more grateful for this experience with our friends from Habitat!

Blessings,

Eli, Ross & Team El Salvador

CPC & Habitat in El Salvador

We made it and everyone connected without a hitch!  ...And it was so nice to finally have us all together for the first time.  Our pre-trip, team meetings could not be scheduled when everyone could make it so some of us were just meeting for the first time today.  Such a blessing to have a team of Spirit-filled, flexible, people on this adventure!

We are all very excited to learn more about Habitat this week and see what this new partnership has in-store.  We did a little shopping in the crafts market today and had a great dinner of Pupusas (an authentic El Salvadoran dish) with our new friend Luis.

Tomorrow it's off to mass (we even practiced a song - just in case) followed by lunch and then our two hour journey to Ahuachapan (the area we will be serving) begins.  Not sure what kind of WiFi will be available (if any) so posts may be limited but we'll do our best.

Feeling blessed to have the opportunity to experience El Salvador's culture together!

Blessings,

Eli, Ross & Team