First Time in El Salvador - Jacob Olivera
At the Institute for G.O.D. we’re required to go on at least three mission trips. The first, called Internship, introduces us to mission work with G.O.D. The second, called Immersion I, focuses us to one of the four regions we work with by emphasizing language learning and cultural experiences. The third, called Immersion II, builds off of Immersion I by teaching us how to use our occupational focuses to be a resource on the mission field. Immersion II accomplishes this by allowing the students to lead a project related to their field of study.
This summer marks my third international mission trip with the Institute - my Immersion II. Previously, I had gone to Uganda on my Internship and the Philippines for my Immersion I, but this year I’m working in El Salvador. It’s actually atypical for a student to do their second immersion experience in a different country than their first; However, through my time being a teacher’s aid in the Institute’s online international course, I had the opportunity to interact with the students from El Salvador. This, along with many of the stories I’ve heard growing up from the immigrant adults in my life, pushed me to go to El Salvador this year. My Hispanic roots and understanding of Spanish allowed me to take this atypical track and jump right to Immersion II rather than having to redo my Immersion I in El Salvador. Although I would love to go back to the Philippines one day, I’m glad the Lord led me down this path because I’m getting to see Him do great things here in El Salvador.
As previously mentioned, one of the biggest draws to El Salvador for me was the people. In Romans 1, Paul talks about longing to see the people of Rome and praying that one day the Lord would take him there. This passage resonated with me more and more as my departure date drew closer. Once I got here and met the people, I felt the same joy Paul probably felt when he finally got to meet the Christians in Rome. I’m impacted by their stories and how God’s using their faithfulness to change the narratives of the community, their families, and their lives. Gabi carries on the spirit of service that lives in her grandmother by helping at the school and with Club de Niños. Kenia improves on the farming techniques she learned from her family by incorporating healthier, cleaner sowing and growing techniques. Orlando maintains order in the environment by his landscaping and maintenance efforts. It’s encouraging to see how God cares about and uses everyone’s specific stories and capacities to usher in His Kingdom.
I also got the opportunity to meet the parents of one of the sisters at my home church, Rina. We were asked by Rina to drop off gifts for them. About a week into the trip, we met up with them in one of the nearby cities. They were pastors and told us plenty of stories about the work that they do. We got to share with them about how Rina and her 19-year-old son Jonathon were doing. Rina’s mom had not gotten the opportunity to see Jonathon, so it was a special time getting to describe how Jonathon was doing and how much of a wonderful man of God he was becoming.
As I spend more time with the people of El Salvador, I see more and more of the goodness of God. The members of our community here have such deep and rich histories of faithful people and in of themselves are such faithful people. God is moving and will continue to move which makes me excited to see how the rest of the summer will go.