Classes Have Begun! // February 2017 Update

Hola a todos!

What an exciting month it has been for our ministry here in El Salvador! On February 7th, we officially launched the English Program at our Children’s Development Center at the Volcano. It is so exciting to see the months of planning I put into this program be put into action. We are still working out a lot of details for the program, but so far it has been awesome to kick-start classes and see the students getting used to the idea of having the classes each week.

Right now, I am working mainly with the oldest children at our Volcano Center, but soon we hope to be working with the other two sections on a more regular basis. This month, the older students have learned about how to introduce themselves in English, the days of the week, and the months of the year!

Many people have been asking what a “typical” day (without a mission team) looks like for me here in El Salvador. The simple answer to that is there is no typical day here, as I’m fairly certain any international missionary would say the same, and any and all of these plans are subject to change daily. That being said, here’s my best effort to give a summary of what part of my life looks life: I spend three days a week at our Children’s Center teaching, and two days a week working from home (lesson prep, goal planning, Spanish study, running errands, and helping wherever needed).

A “typical” day of teaching might look something like this:

6:15 am – wake up!
7:00 am – leave the house to run errands with Silvia, our Centers Director and my host mom.
8:30 am – arrive at the Center to pray with our staff and prepare for the day
9:30 am – English class with our morning shift of children
10:30 am – assist teachers with tutoring and/or recess watch
11:30 am – lunch and dismissal for the morning shift of children,
12:30 pm – lunch for the afternoon shift of children
1:15 pm – English class with our afternoon shift of children
2:15 pm – last minute homework help and clean-up
3:30 pm – back home to rest before working on grading or anything else I may need to work on before dinner
7:30 pm – catch up on my devotional/prayer time and wind down for the night (it’s a miracle that I’m getting used to going to sleep by 11pm)

I hope this gives some insight into a day in my life here!

From February 18-26th, we hosted a medical missions team from an organization called Total Health. Total Health is the organization that supports our medical clinics in the Volcano and Soyapango. It was a tiring but incredible week where more than 440 people received free medical consultations and medications in three different communities, and we saw over 25 people give their lives to Christ!

This was my first time serving with a medical missions team, and I spent most the week translating for evangelism and the pharmacy. It was a great way to kick-off missions season, thank you Total Health for all of your hard work and support!

Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. // Proverbs 3:3 (NIV)

Thank you for your continued love, support, and encouragement. It would not be possible for me to do what I am doing without your faithfulness to being a part of my team!

Bendiciones,
Ali

Prayer Requests:

• For my students as they continue to adjust to having English Class at the Center. They have their first test next week!
• For the mission teams from the States we will be hosting in March: City Church (March 4-12), Rock City Church (March 11-19) and Bay Area Community Church/Naval Academy (March 11-19). Please pray that they would have safe travels and for their work to be fruitful for our ministry and the Kingdom. 
• For my one-year residency card to come through. I have been in this process since October, and have yet to receive it. It’s a long story, but the delays are basically due to some frustrating bureaucratic issues on the side of the Salvadoran government. Right now, I have a card that allows to to stay here until May, so I need to receive my one-year card before then.