El Salvador Again!

Back I go to El Salvador!

This will be my 2nd trip with Lakewood Church to establish a water well in one of their small towns. What a great experience! This time I was much more relaxed and prepared for anything. But, as we convene at the airport, I learn we’ll be staying at the same hotel and working at a little town not far from where we were stationed last time. So that’s a relief. It will be pretty much the same.

We land in El Salvador and meet up with our hosts from Living Water, as well as another team from America that will be working nearby.

Hotel Ranchero Estero y Mar

We head off to our hotel Ranchero Estero y Mar, which is right on the beach, so again this will be an awesome! The rooms are air-conditioned and there are several swimming pools and places to sit or swing on a hammock. That same old peacock was roaming around and waking us up each morning (those things are loud!). We’d gather for breakfast in an outdoor restaurant, and then move to another patio for a short morning devotional.

Work Work Work

The work begins! For the next 4 days we’d be digging dirt, carrying rocks, laying down pipes, and getting very dirty and sweaty as we dug this water well. A well already existed at the school, but it had dried up! Plus it was only about 30 feet deep. So we were digging much deeper and hoping to tap into clean water. We did exactly that! But not without some headaches. We actually had to stop drilling at one point and start all over. But the second try was a success! Water came gushing out to all the children’s delight (and mine, too, because it was hot and dirty), and finally fresh clean water would be available every day for this community. No more walking or driving miles to get bottles of water.

Finished! We did it! When the water started spewing like a fountain, kids began gathering around and before long every kid (it seemed) in school was dancing around under the fountain. The ladies on our mission team came over as well and got soaking wet. It was a lot of fun!

The School

During the week, the ladies spent most of their time teaching the kids about hygiene. All of us got to interact with the kids, though, on a daily basis. It was definitely the highlight of the trip getting to see, talk, and interact with the kids in the school each day. They were as equally interested in us and we were in them. Naturally, there were a few stand-outs whom spent a lot of time with one or more of us on the mission team.

The Neighborhood

One day, we took a break from work to walk through the community and meet people and pray with folks if they’d allow. The people of El Salvador were so friendly and welcoming!

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Gone Exploring

One day, I got to break away from the group and go visit some other places. Mike asked for my head to gather some materials at the Living Water House. So off we go, first to visit a well that had just been established a couple of weeks earlier. It was in a neighborhood with lots of gang members, and MS13 gang symbols were on several houses. The gangs, however, didn’t interfere with building a water pump. So we stopped to see if it was still working okay (and it was), then moved on to the big Yellow house where some Living water employees stay sometimes, and where they keep some of their supplies.

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Church by the Sea

We got another nice surprise by going to a little church by the sea. I noticed this church as we were driving to and from the hotel each day, but I didn’t give it much thought. However, on Wednesday, one of the LW team asked if we could drop in for a visit. They said yes, so we did! It was so nice having church on a beach with the waves and sunset in the background. Loved it!

Update: On July 13th, 2016, just 9 months after these photos and video were taken, Gerardo’s life was cut short by a drowning accident. After a day of working, he came back the hotel and decided to go for a swim in the ocean. In that brief moment, the waves took his life. He was just 26 years old and left behind one child (son). 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁

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San Salvador

Everything went according to schedule – even ahead of schedule – on this trip, so we took Saturday off to go into San Salvador and eat and buy stuff. Pollo Campero!!

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Adios, El Salvador!

Finally, on Sunday morning, we got up early (early early) and made our way to the airport. It was interesting that I saw a Salvadoreno guy at the airport wearing a Stryper T-Shirt. I said, “I like your shirt, man.” I’m not sure if he understood, but he nodded and said hola.

We said our goodbyes and made our way back to Houston, Texas! It was a pleasant flight over Guatemala and the Yucatan and ocean. I watched a disaster movie on the plane called “San Andreas”. LOL. Thank you, Penny. 😀