Squíz!

Yea, the greatest drink since Sunny D, and only 25 cents here in El Savlador. Thats pretty much the first thing I do here every morning out of my room, walk over to the corner tienda and get some Squíz.

I guess I should introduce myself a bit. Hola, me llamo Joe and I am here with a team of 14 chinos (thats what everyone calls us here even though we have a Korean and a few white guys with us).

Days here are pretty draining. Today in particular tired me out tremendously. I woke up early along with Brent, our youth pastor, and Kevin to catch an appointment with a local that wanted to learn english. Even though he ended up not showing up, it just goes to show how God is opening up opportunities to create relationships with the people here.
Be able to work with the children at Tía Ana´s is quite a blessing. I personally am not particularly good with kids, but the kids there have so much life and joy in them even though most of the them are without nourishing parents. Contruction is also very fulfilling as our team managed to get a giant pile of sand moved up a hill.

I have to thank God that our team is still so motivated and working hard. Its so easy to get frustrated and discouraged with the heat, the crazy children, and the language barrier, but God has been working wonders in each of us and keeping us a functioning machine. Christian Jacobs (the intern with our group) is such a blessing. I did not anticipate him being so cool and bonding with our team so well.

Time is flying as we´re leaving for a youth retreat tomorrow. Before I know it, we´ll all be in a plane comming home thinking about what has happened here. It is very apparant how God is working in each of our hearts. Its so amazing watching teammates grow individually and on each other. Additionally, going to church on sunday gave me another reminder that God is universal. God back at home is the same God here, granted we may praise Him in a different way.

Well here´s a clip of a song that sums up one of my hopes and prayers I have for not just me, but for our whole team.



"Open my eyes open them wide
Let me go, let me play, let me live a little yeah Let me sow, let me grow, supernatural
Open myself to what I find,
Let me fly, let me ride living faith or die falling on my face 7 times yet I still rise
Open my eyes open them wide
Every time I lie awake everywhere that I look I can see your face"