Current location is San Salvador. Getting here was a bit of an adventure but just a beautiful example of god being awesome. We arrived at the Columbia airport 445am yesterday only to find out our flight had been delayed 2.5 hours. Meaning we would miss our connecting flight. Which was the only flight to El Salvador for the day. And seeing as how we had 32 people in our group, things were gonna get real confusing. Finding different airlines, splitting up, going different days, etc. Luckily for me I wasn't in charge so all I had to do is sit back and trust that god was gonna get us there. When we finally landed in DC, we find out our next plane had left the gate but there was a "maintenance issue" and they had had to come back. So there it was just waiting for us. I kept thinking doesn't God have a sense of humor? The 100 people who were on the plane probably didnt think it was funny, but I had to smile. So that was our first obstacle. Getting on that plane was hectic so our next little miracle, all our luggage somehow also got on that plane amidst all the confusion. All except Tiffany's carry on bag they made her check. We waited and waited for it to show up, talked to the airline, they had no record it had been checked, there was the fear that someone had snatched it and ran. I literally was pleading with Jesus for that bag to show up throughout the rest of the day. I had all her personal stuff, medical equipment, etc inside. I just wanted everyone including myself to be able to see that God is bigger than our circumstances and just remind us that he's in control. And sure enough that bag showed up today! I think I might have even been more excited than Tiffany. Go Jesus go.
So through all the chaos god has just been reminding me to TRUST because he's got this in his hands. In our devotion tonight we talked about listening for when god is speaking to us and what a wonderful example of just that. The devil tries so hard to throw us curveballs and bring us down in the ways he knows will get to us the most. And the more a threat you seem to him, the harder he's gonna try and tear you apart.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Ephesians 6: 12
Scary?! But we have a God on our side that has squashed satan and we've gotta learn to give it all over to him. He will never ever let us down.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Other things:
-There was an earthquake yesterday that registered 5.0 on the Richter scale. I think I was sleeping but people that were sitting outside felt it.
-I've seen so many fanny packs here. When will they come back into style in the US? I'm waiting.
-I made a friend on the plane yesterday. She's a GI doc here in el sal, just got back from a 1 month course on tropical medicine in DC. We hopefully will get to visit her at her hospital at some point this week.
-I had pizza for dinner. Just like home...
-we start seeing patients tomorrow. Can't wait. More stories to come... Keep us in your prayers! There's only so many pills we can hand out, most of what we will do is only a temporary fix. But if we can show them Jesus then we making an eternal difference. Pray for boldness and that we can make connections despite language barriers. So excited to see what He has in store for this week.
