That’s the case of *Raquel whose desire was to learn a new language for fun. She grew up in a Christian family, but it wasn’t until she was 18 that she received Jesus Christ as her Lord and Saviour. Every year since then she has been growing in her faith; serving in her church for 14 years before God confirmed her call to cross-cultural missions. 

God called Raquel multple times to missions in different ways. When she was a little girl, she had a dream where she saw a land ready for the harvest. When she was a teenager, she watched a documentary about Jim Elliot who was a missionary and martyr and felt something stir in her heart for missions so she started to ask God where to serve Him. Her brother was invited to a dinner organised by OM El Salvador, but he couldn’t go so instead Raquel took his place. It was at that dinner that she heard of an outreach in Guatemala, which she would later go on, and it wasn’t till there that: “I understood what I have to do, and it was to continue serving Him and training me to work for His kingdom," Raquel shared. 

In 2016, years later after participating on different outreaches with OM, she decided to join OM El Salvador's volunteer programme and her journey in doing everything by faith officially started. 

Going to the least reached 

2016 was a hard year for Raquel's family, but in the midst of the difficulty, God surprised her by sending an invitation from her church to go to Indonesia for the youth leadership conference “LAUSANA.” She accepted the invitation to go, and asked one of the leaders of OM El Salvador to pray for her. They prayed and the OMer shared about an opportunity to serve in Japan through a programme called OCZ – Out of the Comfort Zone. As she was going to be in Asia, this would be a good opportunity for Raquel. She accepted the challenge to go to Japan for a three-week outreach, and to Indonesia. The process of walking by faith started, and after more than two months of raising the finances, and even though there were difficult situations happening around her, she did everything by faith with the support of God and her church. 

Working among the least reached 

Japan is a beautiful country with a big need of the gospel. Raquel was there for three weeks for OCZ, teaching English to children, youth and adults, as well as evangelising and sharing about her home country and culture. "It was a great time of personal growth and in faith. God showed me His care and provision in many ways. I am still surprised by it." Raquel stated. 

When Raquel returned to El Salvador, her vision and thoughts were different. She didn't want to return to her comfort zone. Leaving her job as an English teacher, she decided to leave everything behind and follow God's call to be a missionary so she can mobilise her church to missions. To do this, she joined as a full-time missionary with OM El Salvador. 

Currently Raquel is training and encouraging other people to go to the least reached while she is serving in OM El Salvador. Her future plan is to return to Japan and serve there full-time. 

Raquel reflected, "As Latinos we might probably think that we have many limitations or obstacles to go the least reached, but in the light of the Bible there is no obstacle that God can't overcome. The nations are waiting for the message of hope, and we can share it. We must have to do it as soon as possible. It is time to write our story." 

*Name changed for security 

Every year OM El Salvador holds an outreach called ‘Desafío’ where people seek to know God more and are challenged to accept the call He is making on their lives.

Michelle, a 22-year-old woman from El Salvador, heard of OM through a friend who invited her to attend Desafío. Afterwards she shared, "I fell in love. I fell in love with something that I never believed I would fall in love with…missions, and from that moment on God has been working on me with this desire to get involved and prepare me more to serve Him in the mission field with the support of OM.”

In 2017, two years after her first outreach, Michelle heard of another opportunity with OM: Desafío in Panama. This time she would take the message of God to those who had not heard it before in the Ngäbe Bugle region of Panama. Feeling very drawn to this opportunity, she contacted the OM El Salvador office for more information. Michelle's question to God was, "Why are you sending me on this outreach?” God's answer, found in Matthew 28:19, was very clear, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (NIV). It was at this time that the process of 'going by faith' began.

Finances

Many times God’s great power is minimised and doubts about Him begin to arise when finances become an obstacle to mission work. It can prevent people from doing what God has commanded them to do in this world, but God always surprises those who trust Him.

For Michelle, finances were her biggest challenge. She had only seventeen dollars, but a deep desire to attend Desafío. The days began to pass and still nothing happened. Frustration came, along with sadness and anger. The day arrived for the Desafío informative meeting. Michelle attended with a sad heart, but that day was encouraged once again, as God reminded her that going was not a matter of money, but of faith and that it was God's plan for her to go. In one week God provided enough for her to go through relatives, friends and acquaintances. 

God’s faithfulness was so great that He provided from the shoes she would wear to the bath soap she would use. Once again, the grace of God is so great for His children.

Desafío 2017

Michelle had many expectations for the trip, including: bringing the gospel to the unreached, learning ways to share the gospel, training herself as a missionary and simply to serve. During her time in Panama, she not only gave to God His service but also learnt many things about God in her life through the people she went to serve.

One of the experiences that marked Michelle’s trip and made her reflect on the grace of God was a conversation with a small girl. While they were playing, Michelle began to ask her small friend some questions. “What is your name?” “My name is Lisbeth,” responded the girl. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” “Like you,” Lisbeth responded. In this moment Michelle’s heart began to beat loudly, but she continued speaking and asked, “why do you want to be like me?” Lisbeth answered, “because you are good, and you look like Jesus.” Michelle’s eyes filled with tears as she wondered how is it possible that someone wants to be like me? Being a sinner, someone who comes from a life lived in the world? “But I remembered that the grace of God only took me from that life, saved me, forgave me, but has also given me the opportunity to be a new creature and now I can reflect Him,” said Michelle.

God’s Call

When Michelle received Jesus Christ into her heart, she asked God, “What ministry do you want me to serve in? As a teacher, preacher, evangelist?” Everything but a missionary. But her dreams changed to become those of God's and now her greatest desire is what God has always wanted for her: missions.

Michelle shared, “After Desafío, I felt something like the irresistible grace of God, that moment when we cannot resist coming to Him and loving Him. I am preparing for missionary school for six months. I don’t know where God plans to take me to train me, but when He calls me to the mission field I will be ready to serve Him in the best way to bring the gospel to the unreached.”

Please pray for Michelle as she prepares to work in the mission field and that God would raise up many more Latinos to go bring the gospel to the least reached.

During their time in the community, they had the opportunity to talk with the local pastor's children: thirteen-year-old Iván and ten-year-old Ulises.  They go to school in the town of Ataco, which is a one and a half hour walk from their home. Their lives used to revolve around school and soccer. Now, the boys share how their lives have been impacted by their father's decision to be a full-time pastor. 

Ulises and Iván help support their father by working in a small business making piñatas. Both feel very happy to do so and they also help him at the church where he works.They have been given a front row seat to experience ministry at the church. 

Ulises likes to work with the children and play the drums. He has a servant's heart which is why he says he wants to be a doctor, but would also like to be a pastor like his father. Iván likes to visit people from the church and do evangelism. He enjoys playing the Spanish percussion instrument the güiro, and states that he would like to be a pastor when he grows up. In their free time after schoolwork is done, they play soccer with their friends. 

Two years ago they learned about the La Haus ministry, which is organised by OM El Salvador. This is a ministry where OM teammates share about God's love with children both in and out of school program as well as disciple women.

“It encourages me to see how the brothers and sisters (of OM) work with the children. I want to serve God like they do," Ulises said. “I like to see how they teach values and to respect others and I like to see how they help the people of the church when they visit them," Iván added. 

What a beautiful thing to see young children serving God and following their father’s example.

Please pray for Ulises and Iván that God may fulfill the desires of their heart.

During the visits, the OM team met Rubén and his family, who were not Christians. Some time afterwards, Rubén decided to give his life to God, without thinking about how that decision would change their lives forever, especially that of his wife. 

Rubén's wife, Gloria Elizabeth, had been Catholic since the day she was born. Her mother-in-law had been praying and sharing God's word with her for fourteen years. Throughout the years, Gloria Elizabeth could see God’s changing power in her life through her children’s health.

Rubén and Gloria have six children, and there have been mulitple occassions when one or more were very sick. As the medical clinic is located a great distance away, their family was unable to go to the doctor. In these moments of sickness and fear, she prayed for her children, full of faith that God would heal them. He did heal them, and she saw how God could answer prayer. 

When Rubén accepted God, Gloria decided to take this step in her life as well. She shared, “My life did not make sense before. I was sad and without peace, but now, I have peace in my heart because I know that God is with me." 

Gloria continued, “I met OM through the visits to our community.  Every time they checked our health, it helped a lot, and they also encouraged us to continue in God's way." 

Gloria shared that her prayer request is to learn to read, and also to be more involved at the church and in other areas as well. The OM El Salvador team is thankful for the opportunity God has given them to work amongst the poorest communities of the country.

Pray that God would continue to use the OM El Salvador team to reach the unreached. 

Tony and his son Gabriel came to El Salvador for the first time in March to participate in Global Impact, an outreach organized by OM, where people from all over Central America gather for two days of workshops, then go out into the community to serve with local evangelical churches and go out to share the good news. During this event in Holy Week, Tony and his son were assigned to work with Pastor Jorge Quiros in Atiquizaya. 

During a hard week of work, Tony was moved by the pastor’s heart, sharing: “He sees himself as a home missionary, with a call to plant churches in areas that have no churches.”

According to Tony, Pastor Jorge has a heart for the gospel, as he has demonstrated by walking far distances to be at the churches he is pastoring, because they are remote. He travels on foot, in pick-up trucks (a form of public transportation) and moto-taxi and often at night--therefore it’s not safe for his wife to travel with him.

“As a husband, father and someone also serving in the mission field, I could relate to him and his desire to impact his community for the Lord, and his desire to share that experience with his family,” Tony says. 

Tony and his son were moved to try and help Pastor Jorge with the transportation issue. When they returned to Costa Rica, Tony and his family had a Google Hangout session with their supporters. During the session they shared the vision of Pastor Jorge, his struggles as a ‘domestic missionary’, and his need for safe transportation in order to continue his pastoral visits, pray for the sick and share the gospel. After the session they started an online project to raise money for him.

God moved and touched the hearts of many people, like members of Tony’s home church and their own supporters, who gave very generously to meet the pastor's need. 

In November Tony visited Pastor Jorge and his family and prepared to buy a pick-up truck. “We committed to the process, left the results up to the Lord, and are trusting Him to continue working through Pastor Jorge in Atiquizaya, Iglesia Kemuel, and throughout El Salvador,” Tony says.

Please, continue praying for Pastor Jorge and his family that God may give them the strength to continue doing God’s work.

“I come from a totally different background in which we often tend to take things like hot water for granted,” Carolin shared. God used differences like this to always remind her that “[She] can do all things through Christ who strengthens [her]” (Philippians 4:13), and this bible verse gave her the strength to continue serving God with her skills.

Carolin has a degree in Business Administration and during her studies in Germany, she had to do an internship at a local company. There she felt like working with numbers wasn't what God wanted for her and she hoped to escape that work during her time in El Salvador. Soon however, she was asked to support the Finance Team in raising funds for OM in Central America and El Salvador.

As time passed, she started to enjoy working in this responsibility and realised that she could serve God with her skills and that her internship in Germany had helped her to gain valuable experience.

“What I really enjoyed was when we saw what God was doing also in this part of the ministry,” Carolin remembered. “Often the financial support and donations we were praying for came right on time or out of nowhere…or purchases turned out to be cheaper than the amount listed on the bill. All these things also taught me that when we completely rely on God, even in finances, and when we make ourselves completely dependent on Him, even to the degree that He indeed is our only hope, we see the greatest things happening!”

During her time in El Salvador, Carolin participated in various outreaches and ministries, one of them being ‘La Haus’, a ministry of OM El Salvador focusing on community development in a poor region of the country. She was amazed and challenged by the living conditions of the people there and how they were so generous, welcoming and hospitable, despite what she felt were heart-breaking difficulties.

Through all this Carolin learned to appreciate what she has. Despite language barriers, she could connect with the people and feel the love that God gave her for others. She found her strength in the Lord to overcome any kind of situation around her.

“My time with OM El Salvador was undoubtedly an unforgettable, very shaping experience,” Carolin shared. “I thank God for what He is doing through the team here and that I could be part of it for the last 5 months and also for what He has done inside of me during my time in El Salvador. I am very thankful for all these people I got to meet here and I feel truly blessed.”

Please continue praying for OM El Salvador and their ministry. Pray also for all the short-term teams and individuals that go to El Salvador, that God may use their lives to bless the people of that country and that God’s will be done in their lives.

“Mission work is a desire that has always been in my heart,” says Pastor Freddy Cardoza from the Church ‘Emanuel’ in Sonsonate, El Salvador, who experienced such a mission trip for the first time. He joined the adventure of missions after hearing the testimony of an OM volunteer which motivated him to learn more about OM and its work.

Together with other pastors he worked with church leaders and soldiers and prayed for the sick. “It was a huge blessing to be able to share about God’s love. I am happy and encouraged to keep moving forward,” Pastor Freddy says. Because of his experience he expressed the desire to send someone from his church to the next outreach.

Rebeca de Magaña, the wife of a Pastor in Ahuachapán, El Salvador, also participated in the activity after being introduced to OM through a medical group and getting involved more with the organisation. She shared how amazed she was about how God provided for every outreach she had participated in so far. Three days before the start of the Desafío 2016, Rebeca was still lacking the money to go. “God provided the money and I understood that he wanted me to go (to) this place,” she shares.

For Rebeca the mission trip was truly worth the sacrifice of not being with her family as she felt God using her to bless the people of La Moskitia. She had the opportunity to preach and to work with new believers.

“It is very clear to me that if we strive to do God’s work fully in whatever we do, we don’t know what will happen,” Rebeca says. “For example, we were even in the rain to do evangelism, and that’s not too common in today’s Christianity.”

“Missionary work is very important for God’s kingdom,” Pastor Freddy explains.

Rebeca believes that these days the churches do not care about this and it has been forgotten. For this reason, they both motivate their churches to obey the commandment of making disciples. “Everything is based on the willingness of your heart,” both of them state.

OM El Salvador is mobilising the local church for missions through their ministry called ‘Door to the Nations’. Please join them in prayer, that many more may see the need for missions in this world and go and preach the Good News to those who don’t know God.

The team asked prepared questions about health, family size, living situation and finances to the head of each household, and then asked personal questions to each individual about their faith. When the team encountered a young woman named Jessie* and asked her about her faith, some team-members felt as if Jessie was made uncomfortable by the presence of men in the room, and that her mother was influencing her answers. Later, they were able to have a personal conversation with her and asked if she would like to tell them more about her story and how she felt about God.

With a woman from the team, Jessie opened up about how three years ago she had been raped by her boss, and became pregnant. Because she can’t find another job and has to support her family, Jessie continues working for the same man still.

Jessie revealed her inability to love the child that came to her through such devastating circumstances. She explained how the attack made her extremely anxious around men and how she still lives in constant fear that it will happen again. “My heart needs healing,” she confessed, “I just want to walk in peace.” The team understood that Jessie’s past kept her from fully believing and accepting the love of Christ.

Please join OM El Salvador in prayer for Jessie and her child. Pray specifically that she would find healing in her heart, that God would help her find love for her child, that the anxiety would fall away and that she could find another job. Please pray that Jessie would open her heart to God, the one who makes all healing possible.

*Name Changed

The next day, as they were visiting villagers, a woman named Mary* told them she had been on that same bus with them. She expressed shock that the team had been asleep despite the ‘danger on the bus’. Mary then explained that soon after they had fallen asleep, a gang member carrying a gun followed another man onto the bus and took a seat right behind the team. The person sitting next to Mary whispered to her, “These men are going to kill each other,” and she believed the same.

Gang activity and violent crime is high in the small country of El Salvador, and as native team member Ester explained, “Because of the many issues we have with violence, Salvadorians can easily sense a dangerous situation when they are in one.”

Mary said, that she didn’t understand, how the OM team could come with such a peace to this dangerous place. “I want the same peace”, she told them. She shared the story of her difficult life, which had left her feeling unable to love even her children for fear of loss.

“I look at you in this dangerous place [La Ceiba], putting your life at risk to help and love people that you don’t even know, and I want to know how that is possible”, Mary continued. That day Mary accepted Jesus Christ as her Saviour.

Please pray for OM El Salvador, the team and their ministries as they continue serving the Lord in difficult and dangerous situations.

*Name changed

From El Salvador, Abigail was born in a family dedicated to pastoral ministry. For her, it was not difficult to understand the blessings that serving God brings. However, as she grew up, Abigail turned her back on serving others.

From a young age, Abigail accompanied her father when he went out to preach. Her father is a pastor of a well-known church, and Abigail was exposed to faith. The ministry she did with her family brought her joy as a child, but later these feelings turned into anger and rejection. Abigail felt she has lost her father to the ministry, and her family did not fulfil her expectations of life.

She closed her heart to serving the Lord and rebelled. Though Abigail still attended church, she was not willing to help others.

In 2014, Abigail´s brother, Carlos, attended an OM missions training. His involvement with OM made Abigail curious, and she wanted to know about OM. She then decided to volunteer with OM El Salvador. Little by little, she opened her mind and heart to missions work. She became a part of OM El Salvador's community development programme, LaHaus, which helped her grow in her faith.

In the programme, Abigail was challenged to work with children again, which changed her vision for working with kids. She experienced the love of God as a participant in OM's ministry and built friendships with the staff. God used these things to open her heart to missions.

Abigail now plans to attend OM's mission training in Chile, starting in January 2016. Her hopes to learn more about working with children and homeless people. She's named her adventure “Rescate 5-15” (Rescue 5-15) because she wants to work with young people, ages 5-15, in churches, on the streets and in rural areas.

Please pray for Abigail as she prepares for the training and raises support over the coming months. Pray that many other Salvadorians will answer the call to serve in missions. 

Anna had always planned to work in a hospital, but she was interested in learning more about medical missions. God’s hand in Anna’s trip began with raising support. With studying for exams, working two jobs and graduation around the corner, Anna anticipated to pay for the trip herself. However, when Anna’s church and friends found out about her trip, they paid for almost all of the expenses.

Despite concerns about the language barrier and travelling alone, Anna was pleasantly surprised when she arrived in El Salvador:

"The OM staff was so welcoming, loving, down to earth and focused," she said.

Anna had hoped to walk away from the mission trip with a clear answer about her future, but God had a few different lessons in mind. On the first day of the Samaritan Adventure, God broke Anna’s pride. There were no complex medical issues to deal with. Anna ended up taking vital signs all week.

At first, she was disappointed, feeling like she wasn't being used to her full capacity. However, God was teaching her an important lesson.

"He called me to fulfil the Great Commission first and to be a nurse second," she said.

Anna saw God work in a capacity that she originally hadn’t expected. She wasn't helping to bandage appendages or using the knowledge she’d gained in nursing school; God was calling her to be a servant, to be used in humble ways.

At first, her tasks of taking vital signs, smiling at others, instructing volunteers and fumbling over Spanish phrases seemed small. But quickly, she learnt that God wanted to use her as more than just a nurse.

"God has called us to surrender our lives and follow Him," she said. "That means surrendering more than just our profession. God wants to use all of us and, often, in ways we don't expect. When we expect God to use us in a single capacity, we limit His power to use us in whatever way he wants, seemingly big or small."

Anna plans to continue praying and looking for opportunities for God to use her in whatever capacity He wants. She is looking for longer-term mission opportunities. Anna remarked that she would not be surprised if she went back to El Salvador in the future.

"Instead of narrowing my path, He has widened it," she said. "Now that God doesn’t need to use me just as a nurse, opportunities have opened up."

She'd like to encourage others to act the same way.

"If you feel like this is something God wants you to do too, do it," she said. "Don’t focus on the details. Just pray about it and don’t let fear limit you from trying new things.”

Interested in finding out how God can use you to change lives around the world? Check out OM’s opportunities to serve here.

OM El Salvador mobilised a group of 54 volunteers for a 5 day outreach. The team consisted of many Salvadorian Christians from different churches along with current OM volunteers from the US, UK, Canada and Switzerland.

Many activities were prepared in order to reach the people’s needs in the rural mountainous region. There were practical workshops that taught skills such as dress making and handy-craft whilst other teams walked to neighbouring villages to provide free medical clinics with accompanying children´s work and sports programmes.

In order to reach these villages in the mountains, the team walked across hilly terrain for 1-2 hours each day. Although physically challenging, it was humbling to see that adults and children had walked just as far, if not further, to receive medical attention.

In the medical team there were around 15 people in total: 3 doctors, 3 nurses and support staff. On average 120 patients came to the clinic each day and willingly waited many hours to be seen by the doctor. After their consult they were offered prayer and counsel by the support staff, before receiving their free medications.

A final year medical student from the UK served as a doctor in the medical team. “For me this was a very humbling time as I realized I really couldn’t serve these people with words… in fact any words. I had only a smile and limited medical knowledge to give, which another volunteer translated amazingly for me. Yet together, with the team, we were able to show each patient that they were valued and cared for in that moment just as Jesus did every day of his life.”

Even though the medical care offered was only basic, the people of Cabañas were very grateful and some even returned to say a special thank you. Through physical weakness and challenging circumstances God provided the strength and patience to persevere and in the end people were loved and seeds were sown for His kingdom.

A “healthy diet” is not something widely understood or appreciated, and as a result, chronic health conditions such as diabetes, gastritis and heart disease are becoming an increasing problem for the country.

As a team, OM El Salvador is passionate about changing lives through medicine and health education. Thanks to a generous donation of glucose testing kits, the team offered diabetes testing to members of a local church and the parents of students who attend the accompanying school.

Fifty-two people attended the diabetes check, which was done through a simple finger prick test. Follow up was provided to those whose glucose level was found to be too high.

A diabetic-appropriate breakfast was prepared for each person while a presentation was given about diabetes, teaching participants about the common symptoms and consequences of poor sugar control, as well as advice on healthy eating habits.

A nurse from Canada and an OM volunteer who played a key role in the preparation of the event, remarked that “it was great to see the people taking a real interest in the topic, asking questions and taking photos of the presentation.”

Although a small event, OM El Salvador hopes it is just the beginning of a wider change in the community.

Sharing the bread

Jazmin, one of the volunteers, had the opportunity to establish a conversation with an old lady who came to be seen by the doctor. As she started getting to know the woman, Jazmin realized this lady lived alone and walked out in the street to find bread for the day.

“She is poor and lonely, but rich in love,” Jazmin said.

By attending this medical brigade, the woman received medical attention. She also found hope in Jesus Christ, as well as bread for the day.

“I would share my own food with this beautiful lady,” Jazmin said.

Discovering new gifts

Luis was a young boy attending this kind of outreach for the first time. He had the opportunity to discover new talents to serve the Lord.

“I have realized that God has provided me with different talents that I can use to bring hope to those in need,” he said. “And I don’t want to miss every opportunity God is giving me to share His word with others.”

Taking a new direction

Alejandra, a university student who came for the first time to one of the outreaches, also expressed how God had changed the direction of her life during this event. While in the past she was only looking for her own good, a life of comfort and earthly prosperity, she is now looking forward to going to the nations and sharing the gospel and one day getting on board the Logos Hope.

Recently, the team visited a high school to teach the students about a subject that is still quite controversial in El Salvador: HIV and AIDS.

"The students openly expressed their concerns," said Daniel Caballero, director of OM El Salvador, who is also a medical doctor. The team members used videos, drama and interaction to talk to the teenagers about HIV and AIDS from a Christian perspective. They challenged the students to protect their physical and spiritual health.

The number of people infected with the virus is still increasing in El Salvador. According to a recent study, 17,645 people were infected in 2012. "This is alarming," said Daniel Caballero. "It's necessary to make young people aware and take action."

In a church in Ahuachapán, a department of El Salvador, the OM team was recently invited to present a programme for young people on the subject of relationships and sexuality. About 100 teenagers attended the programme.

OM El Salvador team members and a British doctor shared with the teens about how to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and how to live a healthy life from God's perspective.

"Often we don't listen to adult talks about this subject," said 17-year-old Oscar Zumba in response to the programme. "But we tend to make a lot of mistakes and don't see life with God's vision."

Youth leader Lisbeth Velásquez hopes that programmes like this will help young Salvadorans to not make wrong decisions in their lives. "I would love for them to be a different generation," she said.

A month before he was about to quit his work as a pastor, he heard about OM and the opportunity to receive a team to work with him. He liked the idea and signed up to receive a team, even though his church members weren’t excited about it.

Taking the risk, he planned a week of activities for the OM team. The most important activity was sharing the Gospel with people in the area. The team walk long distances, through valleys and forests, every morning to reach the houses. They shared the Gospel with people they met on the way.

In the afternoons they shared Bible lessons with about 50 kids every day. At the end of the week, the team organised a festival called Dibujando Sonrisas (Drawing Smiles). They held a party with piñatas and candies and handed out a gift to every child. Many of the kids gave their hearts to Jesus.

After this, not just Saul was encouraged, but his church members as well. They got involved in the activities with the OM team during the week. Through the outreach, at least 15 people gave their lives to Jesus. Saul won respect, confidence and involvement from his church.

“I would be crazy to resign now,” he said. “God just showed me that He is my last option.”

We stop at a whitewashed elementary school in the centre of El Rosario and meet the principal, José Atilio López Erazo.

"I've seen every kind of problem here," states Erazo after showing us around. "There's much poverty and violence and sexual abuse within families. Our teachers often have to counsel abused kids, but sometimes nothing is done to help them. Some who live here follow occult practices, like going to a medicine man when they're sick. People don't know how to spend their money wisely or make the best choices. Most parents have little education, but if we offer a programme to teach them to read and write they don't come."

The principal has been a Christian for eight years. Six years ago, he admits, he was ready to quit because of problems and threats from gangs. Then Mauricio Hernandez, OM country leader and a pastor in San Salvador, decided that El Rosario needed to witness more of the power of God.

"His church began to come here and bring help and pray for this community," relates Erazo. "For the first time I felt we were not alone. I began to hope. In our school we began to talk about the gospel and teachers started praying before the day started. At first parents objected even though we don't talk about religion, we just talk about Jesus. But now they've seen what a difference it's made and they've changed their minds. Some students and their parents have accepted Christ and attend Pastor Mauricio's church in the city because there's nothing for them here."

OM's involvement included practical distributions of food to families in need. And aware that youth as young as 11 or 12 were being recruited by gangs, they offered students the chance to take English, computer classes and Bible studies in a San Salvador private school. A team also held a series of "Life at the Crossroads" classes in the community to encourage the confidence and self-worth of young people.

According to Principal Erazo, only about 80 per cent of children who enter first grade in his school continue to the ninth grade. By the age of 15 most girls are already coupled with men; at least one of them has a child of her own attending school with her. "But in the last two years we have more students going on to high school because we've convinced parents that an education is important for getting good jobs."

Daniel Caballero, who took over the leadership of OM El Salvador from Mauricio in 2012, is resolved to continue the good work already begun in El Rosario. One strategy is a scholarship programme for promising young students, allowing them to attend a Christian high school. Seventeen-year-old Eber, the first recipient nominated by Principal Erazo, has a goal of becoming a computer engineer. Besides receiving a much better education in a private school, Eber will benefit from the mentoring of OM staff.

How do you change a community like El Rosario? By giving it hope: one person at a time, one day at a time. Pray for OM El Salvador as it walks this rough and often lonely road.

Debbie Meroff has been writing for OM for over 25 years, and her travels have taken her to over 100 countries. For another of her features about El Salvador, see http://news.om.org/country-article/r34027.

El Salvador is Spanish for "The Saviour," and although this is the smallest of Central American countries, it boasts some of the biggest mega-churches in the world. A staggering one-third of the population are evangelicals. Unfortunately, believers have not made the impact they should on their society. Notorious gangs claim a large percentage of the nation's young people, giving it one of the worst murder rates in the Americas.

Mauricio Hernandez was first introduced to OM as a teenager by a visiting Salvadoran friend. Through this contact he joined a Christmas outreach in Mexico and then a summer team in 1979. By that time he was hooked on missions and signed up for Mexico's year programme.

At the end of this commitment Mauricio was ready for a further two years with OM. Mexican leader Samuel Castro suggested that he go to England to help with the only Spanish church in London, so in 1980 he travelled there to work in the church on weekends and in Send the Light (STL), OM's literature arm, during the week. While there he visited other parts of Europe. By 1981 he was back in El Salvador, officially representing OM, promoting missions and starting evangelism initiatives in his own and neighbouring countries.

The next year Mauricio was invited to become the pastor of his church, located in the capital. Mauricio still had a heart for India, so he expected this would be a temporary ministry. But a violent civil war had already begun to tear his country apart. During the 12 years that it raged, through 1992, 75,000 men, women and children lost their lives. God showed the pastor that while his commitment to overseas missions would never lessen, his primary work had to be in Central America.

Meanwhile, the Harvest Baptist Church grew steadily. A Christian school was added in 1995 that now offers 380 students an excellent education through high school. Along with pastoring for 26 years, Mauricio served for four years as the President of COMISAL (the national expression of the Ibero-American Missionary Cooperation, COMIBAM), stepping down only after a major heart attack four years ago. He still serves on the executive committee of the Evangelical Alliance of El Salvador as well as the executive board of Universidad Evangelica de El Salvador (Evangelical University of El Salvador).

The decision to hand over OM leadership to another person did not come easily for Mauricio or for his wife, Evelyn, and daughters, who are all wholehearted OMers. "But I am the kind of leader that always thinks about the future," reflects the pastor, "and mentoring a future replacement was part of that."

Mauricio had known Daniel Caballero from the time the boy and his family met Christ and he began to study in the Christian school. As a teenager Daniel took part in several OM outreaches before going on to medical school.

"I grew up with OM," he asserts. "Mauricio was the OM leader as well as my church pastor. With every mission trip my commitment grew."

In 2011, with his studies behind him, Daniel took part in a medical mission to Nicaragua as a doctor and translator. He also joined OM's Easter outreach and then went on to Panama's Mission Extreme the same year. By this time, Mauricio knew the time had come for him to close OM El Salvador if no one would take it over.

"I couldn't let that happen!" Daniel says simply. "The defining moment came during the Easter outreach, when God brought me a peace that passed understanding. This was where I wanted to be, what I wanted to be doing. God had prepared everything in the timeline of my life; I knew I needed to trust Him."

It was a big step. Daniel had just finished eight years of medical training, and his mother had dreamed of him becoming a doctor in the hospital where she worked as a lab technician. How would he support himself in OM? But God opened up a part-time job in a clinic, and friends he had met on outreaches pledged to help.

"My goal is to build a solid team," states Daniel, who officially took leadership last September and looks forward to receiving his first full-time co-worker in January 2013. "We want to visit churches and give creative evangelism training so that we can mobilise more Christians. I also see OM doing community development here in Central America. God has put in my heart a desire to help the needy. I dream of having a medical outreach team, composed mostly of nationals."

In December Daniel led an OM Christmas outreach to an isolated mountain community bordering Honduras. The 46 volunteers included four doctors and a nurse who provided desperately needed treatment--the beginning of his dream's fulfilment. 

"I believe in my country," Daniel finishes. "There are Christians all over El Salvador, their hearts beating for missions and looking for an opportunity to do something. And we need Salvadorans on the mission field!" He smiles. "I can't wait to see what God has done five years from now!"

With the money raised, volunteers bought materials for the construction of the building. Subsequently, a team of about 70 from Guatemala, North America and El Salvador travelled to Honduras to reach out to people in the village of San Marcos Ocotepeque.

A few team members constructed the building, while others participated in the outreach. Doctors offered free medical help and medication. After villagers met with the doctors, team members shared the love of Christ with them.

Several other team members went door-to-door to talk about Jesus. As people opened their doors and received the teams into their homes, many heard about God’s love.  

As a result, many people came to Christ. It’s now up to the local church to disciple these new believers and welcome them into their new building. When the construction was done, the team dedicated this new building to God.

“We proclaimed it to be a place to worship and bless His name,” says Daniel from OM El Salvador.

More than 2,000 people from different public schools, churches, children’s development centres and others from around the city came for the day entertainment without knowing that in middle of all the fun they could meet Jesus and start a new life.

A football match provided the perfect opportunity to introduce the gospel. A tournament between the different schools was a main event. During the breaks church members, OM team members and volunteers shared the gospel. Many teenagers accepted Jesus as their Saviour.

Break dancers, rappers, bikers and skaters were invited to perform in the event. The public enjoyed watching their performances and some found a new identity as a child of God.

“God moved in a wonderful way using sports and games as a strategy to share the good news,” says Daniel Caballero, OM El Salvador team member. “Praise God for opportunities like this.”
 

The participants in the outreach shared God’s love door to door, held a show for kids in schools, provided medical attention and educated people on public health. They also showed movies at night and organised a festival for kids where every person received a special gift.

One morning, one of the outreach groups walked around looking for houses to stop at and share the gospel. The road seemed lonely and it looked like there were no more houses. However, Ivonne, the group leader, was convinced that God wanted them to keep walking.  

After a while, they found an old, isolated house. “It looked like nobody lived there,” says Ivonne. As the group got close, the participants realised someone was in the house. They found Celestina, an old lady who was surprised to have visitors.

“As we started to share God’s love with her, she instantly opened her heart,” says Ivonne. “She shared her story with us. The reason she lived there alone and far apart from everyone was that her husband mistreated her and her children hated her for leaving home 10 years ago.” Celestina told her visitors that her son had stopped by her house two days before, not to express love but to mistreat and beat her. “She prayed for the Lord to comfort her heart and send her angels from heaven,” says Ivonne.

The group then understood that God had already planned for them to find this lady. As they shared with her, Celestina accepted Jesus into her life. She knelt down and prayed, asking Jesus to come into her heart and give her peace. The team invited her to come to the medical outreach being held in the nearby town, but she said she couldn’t. “I thought we wouldn’t see her again,” says Ivonne.

God, however, started to work in Celestina’s life. At the end of the day she went to the church in town, found Ivonne and told her what God had already done in her life. “My son, the one who beat me two days ago, came home today to ask me for forgiveness,” she shared. She was so happy to see how God’s love can work immediately.

During the outreach, over 400 people received medical attention and around 400 children were surprised with a gift, reports Daniel with OM El Salvador. “Day by day God’s grace continued to make an impact,” he says. “Many people came to Christ with a genuine heart and He started working in people’s lives immediately.”

Maricela, a 13 year old girl, also accepted Jesus. Her mother had died recently. She lived with her father and stepmother, who didn’t treat her very well. While walking on the streets, she met Karla and others on the team.

“We started to make conversation with Maricela,” says Karla, “trying to let her know there is a God whose heart is for those in a loveless situation.” By using her own testimony, Karla shared the gospel and explained how God wants to support everyone.

“Maricela clearly understood that the only one who can heal any broken heart is Jesus,” says Karla. “At the end of the day she came back to church for the kids’ festival and brought her brother, who accepted Jesus in his heart as well.”

Praise God for His work in Belize, and pray that the new believers grow a firm relationship with Jesus Christ.

Prior to the trip, the team had prayed and prepared for a month. “Beforehand, we contacted churches and did line-up trips,” says Mauricio Hernandez, leader of OM El Salvador. “We made sure the team was well trained. But above all, we trusted God that He would enable us to carry out a fruitful outreach.”

In five villages, the team offered programmes for children and showed films that told the message of salvation. They went door to door talking with people and found creative ways to share the gospel.

Overall, the team handed out approximately a thousand tracts, showed films to 250 people, welcomed about 450 children to the kids’ programmes and visited over 200 homes. About 100 people responded to the message and came to know the Lord that week.

In a church in Perquín, the OM team also offered a workshop on sharing the gospel. In the village of El Mozote—whose people still cope with the consequences of the Salvadoran civil war that ended in the early 1990s—the team passed out large amounts of clothing.

“We thank God for a week in which we could experience His hand, always ready to help us,” says Mauricio, who prays that the seeds planted in Perquín and the villages around it will grow. “Please continue to pray with us for the people of El Salvador.”

To find out how you can get involved in the ministry of OM in Latin America, click here.

Some of the volunteers had spent a whole month in the country, organising a medical trip from 2 – 9 April and the outreach ´Love Nicaragua´ from 16 – 23 April. About 130 OM volunteers from Panama, Honduras, Mexico and El Salvador came to the country to work in that outreach with 15 churches in different areas around the capital Managua. They shared the Gospel by offering workshops, games, dramas and programmes for kids.

The 45 volunteers who came from El Salvador travelled together in a former school bus, owned by their friend Edgar. In a curve, the bus slipped and went off the road. About 40 metres ahead it finally came to a halt against a pole and a house. “God saved us from death,” says Alex. “I am very grateful to be able to tell this story.”

OM El Salvador asks your prayer for the material damage caused to the house and Edgar´s bus. “This bus provides his livelihood,” says Alex. “Please pray with us, that God will provide Edgar the 5000 dollars that he needs to have his bus repaired.”

A cry for attention

He was driving her crazy. Eight-year-old Dixon was incredibly hyperactive and violent towards other kids. Ivonne, one of the OM El Salvador volunteers couldn’t stand it any longer. This boy really tested her patience. She took him by his arm and asked one of the other volunteers to take care of him. “I didn’t know what it was this volunteer said, but the boy calmed down. I was relieved,” said Ivonne.

Recently, a team of 32 OM volunteers from the UK, Canada, Costa Rica, Guatemala and El Salvador worked together in an outreach to bring gifts and the Gospel to La Ceiba, Corozal in Honduras. For a week, they ministered in a community with a high percentage of people infected with HIV and a high mortality rate due to the consequences of AIDS. Many families in the area have suffered the loss of a father or mother. OM El Salvador took the initiative to respond to the needs of many kids and share about the love of Jesus in the outreach ´Changing gifts for smiles´.

Ivonne, who was participating in an OM outreach for the first time, noticed that some of these children weren’t the easiest to handle. Nevertheless, the programme the team presented was well-attended by about 500 kids. With clowns, crafts, choreographies and lessons from the Bible, they knew how to draw the kids´ attention. After that, the gifts were handed out. And the team saw many smiles.

Apology

Ivonne learned that she wasn’t done with her little friend Dixon yet. The volunteer who had calmed him down came to her and told her that she owed Dixon an apology because she had lost her temper with him. “So I walked over to Dixon,” she said. “I asked him if he would forgive me, and if he wanted to be my friend.” The boy said yes.

Dixon told her that his mom was dying of AIDS and that he might also die of this disease. Dixon shared that his father was in jail, and that his brothers had left to go live in New York. “But they didn’t take me, because I’m the little one,” he said.

Ivonne´s heart broke when she heard the boy share about his life. She hugged him, and told him the hug was on behalf of Jesus who loved him so much. Dixon and Ivonne hugged each other for a long time. “I cried with him,” Ivonne said. “The only thing he wanted was to get my attention. He thought he didn’t matter to anyone.”

Church

After their talk, Dixon behaved very well. He even helped with the crafts. On that Sunday, the team was ready to say goodbye, and Dixon arrived dressed up with a Bible in his hand. He thanked Ivonne for the wonderful week and asked her to stay. “I can’t,” she answered, “but I know someone who will always be with you. I think He brought me here to get to know you and He wants to use you.”

A few weeks later, Ivonne learned that Dixon is coming to the church faithfully. “This really impacts me. May God be glorified in everything we do.”

Una llamada de atención

Le estaba volviendo loca. Dixon, un niño de 8 años fue muy hiperactivo y violento con otros niños. Ivonne, una de las voluntarias de OM El Salvador, no podía soportarlo más. Este muchacho realmente sacó su paciencia. Ella lo tomó por el brazo y le preguntó a un voluntario que cuidara de él. “Yo no sabía lo que el voluntario le había dicho, pero el niño se calmó. Y sentí un gran alivio,” dijo Ivonne.

Recientemente un equipo de 32 voluntarios de OM de Reino Unido, Canadá, Costa Rica, Guatemala y El Salvador trabajaron juntos en un acercamiento a traer regalos y el evangelio a La Ceiba, Corozal en Honduras. Una semana larga donde sirvieron en una comunidad con un alto porcentaje de personas infectadas con el VIH y una alta tasa de mortalidad debido a las consecuencias del SIDA. Muchas familias en el área han sufrido la pérdida de un padre o madre. OM El Salvador tomó la iniciativa para responder a las necesidades de muchos niños y compartir del amor de Jesús en el alcance ´Cambiamos sonrisas por regalos´.

Ivonne, quien participó en una extensión de OM por primera vez, se dio cuenta de que algunos de estos niños no eran fáciles de manejar. Sin embargo, el programa que el equipo presentó fue una nutrida participación de unos 500 niños. Con payasos, manualidades, coreografías y las enseñanzas de la Biblia, sabían cómo llamar la atención de los niños. Después de eso, los regalos fueron entregados. Y el equipo vio muchas sonrisas.

Disculpa

Ivonne se enteró de que ella todavía tenía algo para arreglar con su pequeño amigo Dixon. El voluntario que lo había calmado estaba cerca de ella y le pidió que se acercara a Dixon y le pidiera una disculpa, porque ella había perdido el control con él. “Así que me acerqué a Dixon,” dijo Ivonne. “Y le dije: Dixon me perdonas? Y le pregunté que le gustaría ser mi amigo.” Dijo el muchacho sí.

Él le dijo que su madre se estaba muriendo de SIDA y que puede ser que iba a morir de esta enfermedad también. Dixon compartía que su padre estaba en la cárcel, y que sus hermanos habían dejado todo para irse a vivir a Nueva York. “Pero no me llevaron a mí porque estoy muy chico.”

A Ivonne se le rompió el corazón cuando oyó al niño hablando de su vida. Ella lo abrazó, y le dijo que era el abrazo en nombre de Jesús que lo amaba tanto. Dixon e Ivonne se abrazaron por un largo tiempo. “Yo lloré con él,” dijo Ivonne. “Lo único que quería era llamar mi atención. Dixon pensó que no le importaba a nadie.”

Iglesia

Después de su charla, Dixon se comportó muy bien. “Incluso ayudó a hacer manualidades con los otros niños.” El domingo el equipo estaba listo para decir adiós, llegó todo limpio y vestido con una Biblia en la mano. Dio las gracias a Ivonne por la semana maravillosa y le pidió que se quedara. “No puedo,” respondió ella, “pero conozco a alguien que siempre estará con usted. Creo que Él me trajo aquí para conocer a usted y Él quiere usarte.”

Unas semanas más tarde, Ivonne se enteró de que Dixon se acerca a la iglesia fiel. “Esto realmente me impacto. Que Dios sea glorificado en todo lo que hacemos.”

El Salvador - ‘It are only 45 minute lessons’, Alex and Raquel Aviles from OM El Salvador explain. ‘And we’ve only just started teaching them. But it’s so great to see that the students already express their gratitude. They let us know the classes are very helpful to them.’

After receiving a training in Honduras, members of OM El Salvador started offering the ‘Life at the crossroads’ programme in the community of El Rosario in their country, with the help of Karla Rodríguez. She is one of the volunteers that took the challenge and has the desire and passion to teach children in her country.

The team shows students in the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth grade what norms and values are and that there is a God that cares for them. ‘There are wonderful people among the youth of this community’, Alex and Raquel state. The students, however, are surrounded by so much violence and pain in their environment. ‘It is wonderful to see how they pay attention during class without hesitating and do the activities requested.’

Reading the things the students write down during the activities, the OM team members can tell how the loss of a loved one, a family breakdown, the pressures of gangs and low self-esteem affect the young people. These are patterns that recur in their expressions.

God however is working this community and in the lives of all the students. ´We’re experiencing a great joy in our hearts´, says Raquel, ´when reading these wonderful words the students wrote´:

‘With this class I feel safe, I feel I'm worth a lot. The classes have given me the confidence I need to meet the challenges of life.’ Javier, ninth grade

‘I just want to be better in order to overcome all the evil thoughts that surround me. Thanks for giving us this opportunity, God will repay you someday.’ Joel Zelaya, eighth grade

‘I really feel relieved that this talk has shown me that sometimes we have problems and we don’t know how to solve them and as well we learn that it is beautiful to know inside and out.’ Marvin Marroquin, eighth grade

‘Today I could understand that I am a super special person, because God made me as I am. It was His pleasure to make me unique in this world and just like me, all people are special to me now.’ Maria Guadalupe Cardona, seventh grade

´You can feel God's comfort, and the fear that these students have towards their creator´, says Raquel. ´God will transform this community.´

Please pray for this project. Pray that each young person can experience God's care in the pain. Pray for open doors, spiritually and economically. Pray for people willing to leave everything to devote their lives to build new lives with the knowledge of its creator!