Back from El Paisnal

Hola Amigos!

I just had about the best shower that I have EVER had.  I spent the last 36+ hours in El Paisnal, a small, poor town about an hour away from our hotel in San Salvador, which includes spending last night in the community.  I have so much to process that it wouldn't do it justice to give a cursory answer about what the past two days have meant to me.

One huge reason that I wanted to come to El Salvador has to do with the fact that when I went to Guatemala in 2005, I had a life-changing experience that I will never forget.  I left part of my heart in Guatemala, and began so see our US American culture with new eyes.  In general, we have no idea what the term, "dirt poor" really means.  Yet, as the people I met in Guatemala, and those here in El Paisnal lack monetary wealth, they are richer than I am in many ways.  I wanted to return to Central America, because I wanted to remove the shroud that covers my eyes after living in the USA.

The people in El Paisnal are truly beautiful people, and in so many ways I want to be more like them...  so pure in heart!  I thought often of the past couple of days of the scripture passage from the beatitudes in Matthew:  "Blessed are the poor in spirit...  blessed are the meek...  blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness... blessed are the pure in heart"

Here are a few stories, as well as photos and videos:

We gave books and "prayer pockets" to each child that is supported by our scholarships during a special service when we arrived:

This little girl is named Tatiana (on the left) and she is the daughter of the couple that Alexis and I stayed with last night.  Whenever I showed her the video, she would laugh.  Each time she laughed harder...  Hilarious!

Tatiana finds a creative use for the book...  and the prayer pocket!

Alexis does a great job interpreting... Here he stands with Don as Don brought some initial words of greeting in Spanish, and especially when I was asked to preach with very little notice at 3 p.m. yesterday!  I have a sneaking suspicion that some people who had gone before knew that would be a possibility, but neglected to tell me.

Here are some pics of us planting trees with the people in the community today, the main part of our project (although the relationships are the primary focus for us!):

Como se dice "dorky hat" en Espanol?

I will have another entry later tonight about our spending the night in El Paisnal!

By the way, PLEASE leave comments, etc. for us!  

We would love to hear from you when we are so far away!

~Gregg

Estamos en El Salvador!

Hello Everyone!

We arrived safely in San Salvador at about six o'clock p.m. local time.  Temps are about the same as Spokane for daytime highs (mid-80's), but the 95-100% humidity is VERY noticeable!  We collected our luggage, met our guide and hosts and got settled into our accommodations at the Oasis Hotel/Guesthouse.

Here is a link:  http://www.oasis.com.sv/


Alexis will be our guide for most of the trip, and Francisco (the El Salvador "Country Coordinator" for CRISPAZ) will also have a little time with us.  Our location is very nice, and an especially nice touch is the fan that will help keep the "skeeters" off of me!  We also had a brief orientation with more to follow as we travel.

Tomorrow morning after breakfast we head out to spend the day in El Paisnal where our sister church is located, and worship with them about 3 p.m.  Five of the seven of us (including myself) will then stay in that community with families before waking on Monday for our main day of tree planting.  I am sure it will be sweaty, but rewarding work.

As a programming note, I probably won't be able to update this blog again until we return to the guest house on Monday evening.  I hope to share some pics and maybe even a video then.  Keep us in your prayers until then, and we will be praying with/for our brothers and sisters at Covenant and elsewhere as you all worship tomorrow morning!

May God's Peace and Grace Empower our Sabbath and Worship!

Pastor Gregg

PS - Skype is an incredible invention!  I was able to see and hear my family tonight.

Going to El Salvador!

Hello Friends,
Early Saturday morning, I will be leaving for a mission trip/immersion experience in El Salvador.  We have seven people going, and we'll be gone from July 17th - July 24th.  I will try and update this blog daily with pictures while I am gone, as well as some of my thoughts along the way.  Keep checking back!

Also, the day after we return, some folks on the team will be sharing about our experience there and how it impacts our faith.  That message will be uploaded to our church website (under the 'Pastor Gregg' tab) a few days after July 25th, so you can hear more from the rest of the team as well!

Please keep all of us in your prayers as we travel, and hopefully we are never the same again!

Peace,

Pastor Gregg

Why I Don't Tweet...

I found this great article on why this person doesn't "tweet". 

"Why I Don't Tweet...  not that there's anything wrong with it." by Skye Jethani

Let me know what you think!

Gregg

Management versus Leadership

I came across this quote, and it really struck me.  See what you think:


Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.

~Peter F. Drucker

My first thought was, "I don't see a huge difference," but after further thought I see what he is getting at.  I think the main difference is the ability to lead into unfamiliar places, or doing something in a different way, rather than just following what is expected.  This can be extremely challenging, and takes a very confident principled leader to lead in that way...  because is causes people to get really uncomfortable.

Another way of drawing this distinction comes from a different quote, and I am sorry to say that I don't know the author:  "Management without leadership is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic." 

"Why would anyone do that?" you might ask.  My contention is that either that person doesn't know what the "right things" are that they should be doing, or they don't have the courage to do those things.  Either way, I don't believe that leader can be faithful to the call of Christ in the world today.  If we are called to follow Christ, aren't we meant to live the WHOLE life of Christ - including death and resurrection.

May God give us that kind of courage!