Mission Update 4–Salvadoran Sabbath
Sunday Sabbath El Salvador style!
A Mountain-Top Experience
After several days of excellent work, the team enjoyed a restful Sabbath exploring some of the sights of El Salvador. Our first stop was a morning hike at a local volcano. The last eruption was in 1917, but the team was on their toes, nevertheless! Despite the thick cloud cover, we were all captivated by the beauty of the landscape and the lush and exotic vegetation. Afterwards, some of the more adventurous sampled exotic fruits (like the bright red fruit-that-lloks-like-a-sea-urchin Lychee, at right) and Salvadorian quesadillas from street vendors.
Down to the Beach
From the cloudy heights we headed down the mountains to the Pacific, but first stopped in for a visit to encourage Hilda, a SOI staff member undergoing throat cancer.
Once at the beach we visiting a fish market, bodysurfed in the Pacific Ocean waves, and enjoyed a delicious fish lunch while overlooking the ocean.
Intrepid Explorers
Scenery on the Volcano
Lychee snack from a street vendor
Worship with our Salvadoran Brothers and Sisters
The team was then off to worship with a local congregation, where Tom and Ben teamed up to deliver the message. The sermon used several passages from the Gospel of John, with the idea of introducing the Gospel to unbelievers that the congregation had invited to church. Great fellowship and conversation followed the service.
Our day wound down with dinner at a local shopping mall, followed by a driving tour of San Salvador. The suggestion of an individual city-wide scavenger hunt was (surprisingly) shot-down. As we got back to our hotel we said a sad goodbye to our dependable bus driver Kevin, whose backing-up skills have wowed the team–especially Jerry–all week long. The team all agrees: 'Best bus-driver in El Salvador.'
A restful day has the team excited for one more full day of service before heading home Tuesday. Watch for one last blog installment Monday night or Tuesday morning, and plan to be at Connect3 on Wednesday for a full report from the team!