Salvadoran Softball and Lions of Judah

As many of you know, one of my favorite pastimes is fast-pitch softball. The other day I was walking behind the home and came across a field of Salvadoran women playing fastpitch softball!!! I stopped to watch and then asked if I could play. A handful of Americans were with me and we quickly worked out a deal with them to play Americans vs. Salvadorans and they would give us their gloves when we played defense. It was fantastic! We could only play 2 innings due to time but it was so neat walking through the streets of sheet metal homes to come across a game of softball. Although the ball was water-logged, the gloves flimsy and me in my ¨ginas¨(flip-flops), I loved sharing this game with my new Salvadoran friends.

The American team just left today and they were certainly busy doing many fun activities with the kids, youth and community here in Nejapa. We went to the Honduran border for a fun-filled weekend of youth retreat activities. I was quite impressed with the entire weekend and even won a medal for third place with my team - The Lions of Judah. Thank goodness that there were some pretty daring teen boys on my team who volunteered for all the eating contests - there was no way I was going to do it! Can you imagine eating an entire onion, drinking a bottle of hot sauce, downing cat food and devouring an entire watermelon? Me neither. Guacala! My favorite was having to lay on our backs in a circle and balance a caserola of water with our feet in the air. We lasted for 15 minutes...thanks again to the guys on our team!

My on days with the girls have improved. I am getting the routine down and feel pretty adjusted to the schedule and the girls. I enjoy the one on one moments with them when they snuggle under my arm and I explain homework to them or when we all sit around in a group and talk about our favorite things. They often ask about what I would be doing right now if I were at my house. I like these discussions a lot for many reasons, one, is that I seem to know all the vocabulary and verb tenses to talk about that really fluently, two, it´s something they are interested in and three, telling them about my life is like teaching them about a life they can have too which is one purpose of this ministry. I haven´t realized until now how odd it might seem in this culture for an adult woman to not be married and have a job, home, car and life on her own. I want them to know that it´s possible!

One goal we have all been working on is getting our chores done when we´re supposed to and without being told to do them. I set up a point system with some rewards for perfect points. I told the girls when they all achieve a certain amout, we´ll go out for pizza and a movie or something like that. It´s been hard to encourage them to work toward a reward. Little by little I can see them getting used to it and changing their attitudes about it. One challenge for me is not getting ticked off when they totally ignore me and don´t do it! I guess I need to let it go but it´s pretty hard when it happens 3x a day!

On my day off I went out with my new friend Britney. Praise God for Britney! She has been a wonderful blessing on this trip. She is a permanent missionary here from Ohio. She and her husband live in Nejapa and are connected to the Love and HOpe Church across the street. Britney realized that I didn´t have much to do on my off days so she invited me to go out once a week and go and do some fun things. Today we went to Pizza Hut and Super Selectos. We jumped on a bus for a quarter and headed to the next town. I grocery shopped for some lettuce (I crave my daily spinach salads) and common North AMerican diet products. I have been suffering from a combination of a stomach illness going around and too much fried food. The Salvadorans can ¨stomach¨it better and although I love the food, my digestive system hasn´t agreed with it! I went through a 48 hr. bug with horrible stomach pains everytime I ate. Argh! so, my plan was to make some common meals for myself when the home is preparing something my stomach will rebel against.

Oh! I also really enjoy getting to know and develop relationships with the Salvadoran ¨hermanas¨or the women who take care of the kids here. Since I speak the language I am able to connect with them more. One, Delmy, who works in the kitchen, often asks me to help her with some of her tasks. The other day we were husking corn from the garden and then we were taking it to the molina down the road. After she separated the corn from the husk, she put all of it in a container and carried it on her head as we walked down the dirt road to the press. I thought how weird I must have looked standing next to her. The press mashed the corn into a paste like texture for 90 cents! When we left, I told Delmy that I wanted to carry the big container on my head. I wish I had a picture! I felt every eye on me walking back home. I think the Salvadorans have something with carrying big containers on their heads. Just think about how many of us Americans throw our backs out by trying to carry things in our arms. Hmm.... makes me want to change things back home!

A book I´m reading now called Crazy Love has been a great inspiration to me while here. It´s a book about God´s love and it has opened my eyes to so much during my time here. It has helped me to pursue love and kindness as a goal with the girls although the job makes me irritated and annoyed at times. It opens my eyes to how God must see me everytime I ignore him and choose to do things my way or not at all. And, there´s a question he asks and I want this to be something I ask myself everyday...¨What are you doing right now in your life that is requiring you to live by faith?¨I thought about it and wanted to challenge myself more. God wants us to live by faith instead of by comfort and I think when I pursue comfort and safety more than sacrificial giving of my time, money and love...then I don´t see God and His goodness around me. I want to pursue the true satisfaction that only He can give a person here on this Earth and that means that I have to put myself in some situations that aren´t so comfortable and require having faith that God will show up to provide. I have seen that in Rachel´s life and Britney´s life. I want more of that and I encourage you to ask that question too....

Hasta pronto!