Hi, friends and family! How are you doing? I know that for everyone that’s a very loaded question right now. Even so, we’d love to know, so feel free to shoot me an email with how we can support you in prayer!
The “New Normal for Now”
For the entirety of April (and the second half of March), we’ve been quarantining at home, following government mandates and trying to adjust to the current situation. A few days ago, the stay-at-home order for all of El Salvador was extended until May 16th, with no indication of what will happen afterwards.
The stay-at-home order here is very strict, restricting our ability to delivery supplies to the families associated with the CDIs. Despite these limitations, God has placed some exciting opportunities in our path. Our neighbor has been organizing food baskets to deliver to remote parts of the country to those in need. We’ve been able to give him 20 boxes of rice from our church and together have been planning a time to have him deliver more food to the families we serve in the Volcano! On top of that, Silvia (CDI Director), is working to coordinate another food delivery including school supplies to all CDI families soon.
That being said, ministry has looked really different this month. A lot of my normal work activities have been put on hold, which has given me time to work on some of those “I’ve always wanted to do this, but never had the time” kind of work stuff. At the beginning of the year, I asked God to help me to improve in the way I serve the Children’s Development Centers (CDI) kids within my administrative role as well as how we serve mission teams that we host. During this time, I’ve been able to brainstorm ideas and organize archives that will serve us in the future.
Chepe has continued to coordinate all content for Sunday services online as well as hosting our small group on Saturdays through Zoom. It’s exciting to see the amount of people connecting to our services growing each week, including lots of friends from the States, Honduras, Costa Rica, etc. Check out this picture to see what his Sunday set-up has been looking like lately!
In our last update, I forgot to mention a really cool project that Chepe is starting up at the CDI in the Volcano! Right before the CDI was closed to keep everyone safe, he hosted the first ever computer classes for some of the middle school and high school students. He spent a couple weeks going through the laptops to update their software and (praise God) he was able to find a donor for all the chargers needed since most of them were no longer functioning. The kids seemed so excited about the class and Chepe can’t wait to jump back in with them when he’s able to.
¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Chepe!
On April 21st, we celebrated Chepe’s 30th birthday! Of course, we were bummed not being able to celebrate with friends or family, but I tried to make it special anyway. We played games, watched movies, ate pupusas and got dressed up to take some pictures around our apartment. I also put together a video of everyone sending birthday wishes and he really enjoyed it. Thanks to everyone who reached out sending some love to help us celebrate!
PLEASE PRAY
CDI Families:
Current restrictions have completely halted income for most of the families that we serve at the CDIs. As a staff, we have been doing all we can to supplement their basic needs, but please join us in praying for God’s supernatural provision during this time. If you’d like to contribute financially to fulfilling these extraordinary needs, please let me know!
Small Group and Local Church:
As with the rest of the world, all church activities for us have gone digital. Please pray that this would not discourage any of our church family and that instead the church’s efforts to remain connected would be an anchor of hope until we’re able to meet in person again.
Reach 100% funding:
To be able to serve here in El Salvador, Chepe and I rely on faithful supporters that give each month to cover our expenses. Right now, we are lacking $500 in monthly support to be fully funded. In the next few months, we hope to speak with lots of people about what God is doing here and ask for your prayers for God’s provision.
Thank you for your continued support and encouragement, it means more to us than we could express in words!
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