Traveling to another country reveals certain universal truths. There are some things that remain the same no matter where you are: a smile, a hug, a high five, a fun game, a cool hairstyle, and the love of Christ. It's amazing how the language barrier seems to fade away when you act out of the Spirit of Christ. God's love transcends all barriers of the physical, including language. This message is running through my mind continually during our time here in El Salvador and I am reminded with each new activity that it all starts with love.
The activities for today were similar to yesterday's agenda. We returned to the same school for the morning and the developing community at night. A truly heartwarming moment was when the kids recognized us from yesterday and greeted us with running hugs and requests for more games! The opportunity to play tennis was a new option for the kids and their unbridled enthusiasm made the teaching a true delight. Along with tennis, soccer, and of course more "meeka" (tag), I found myself wrapped up in an intense game of hide-and-seek. The name of the game in El Salvador is "escondilera". Through the times of fervent searching during hide and seek and intense running to chase after kids for an exhausting game of tag, I was reminded of such a simple truth about God. Although I was getting tired from seemingly endless games of hide-and-seek and tag, God never grows tired of seeking and pursuing us. It's the simple Gospel: God loves us, wants a relationship with us, and is constantly pursuing us. He even showed His love through His son, Jesus Christ. Those are simple truths about the Gospel and it's certainly important to keep it simple when translating into another language! As a team we are blessed with the opportunity to bring the Gospel to life by displaying God's love unconditionally. With or without knowing Spanish, showing love involves those universal truths. Acts of kindness that can be understood in any language go a long way. The simple act of presence is an art form involving love, patience, and a lot of time. Just like God's Word, the acts of kindness are applicable, effective, and point people to Christ. We become the aroma of Christ, just like our mission statement. Even when the only aroma we smell is our feet and body odor from hours of playing in the humid El Salvadorian air, we know that we spread the Good News like a sweet perfume.
Leaving the school was difficult because we formed relationships with the kids and we left knowing we would not return. With one boy in particular it became clear that he felt and appreciated our love as tears ran down his face during a heartfelt goodbye hug. With the help of a translator we were able to tell the young boy that the love he felt from us comes from God. So even though we were leaving, the love will stay with Him forever. It was the kind of moment that sheds new light on Romans 8:31-39 (if you don't know these verses, you should look them up because they're great!!).
After the school we returned to the developing communities to deliver more water filters, courtesy of Sawyer. The love of God was flowing through the community. If God's love is a waterfall, then we stood under it with arms wide open, splashing love on all the people around us. Prayers, smiles, hugs, dancing children, and joyful parents with a new hope for life with clean water were common sites tonight. All this and more reminds me of how great our God truly is. With the help of a new amigo at the school I was able to translate the song, "How Great is Our God" into Spanish. Because we sang it yesterday, he remembered and began to sing it in Spanish today. It was a moment that I saw God move despite the difference in language. He truly is great and so I thought it appropriate to end with a familiar song in a language that may not be familiar to us. However, it is a reminder that it is absolutely beautiful to witness God's presence in other parts of the world.
"Cuan grande es dios (How great is our God)
Cantale (Sing with me)
Cuan grande es dios (How great is our God)
Y todos lo veran (And all will see)
Cuan grande, Cuan grande, es dios" (How great, how great is our God)
I love you all! Thanks for your prayers and support and thanks for reading! :)
~Hanna
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