The familiar routine is sunrise wake up, surf session, breakfast, and off to our first service project. The surf was big, breakfast delicious, and the day gray with the threat of more rain on the already saturated land.
We drove to San Diego and a little church in a flooded swamp that feeds about 90-100 people daily, mostly children. On the way, we shopped for groceries in La Libertad and brought the ingredients for chicken soup from scratch. Several of us took advantage of the opportunity to buy coffee to bring home.
The walled compound there is about 70% covered with 6-8" of standing water, since the water table is so high and the property is one of the lowest in the town. To get from the gate to the "church" you walk on stones placed in the water to keep your shoes dry. The kitchen is a raised concrete platform, with wood fired "stoves", consisting of a metal grate supported by a few bricks. One team began the food preparation while the other began playing games with the children, including a rendition of the Noah's Ark story. It was great fun, and although the church has only half of a roof, there was no rain there today and we managed to play all the games, serve lunch to over 100, and return for some quiet time of reflection about the enormity of the problems here.
This evening, we drove into El Tunco for the Friday night meeting of Christian Surfers El Salvador, where one team played games with the smaller children, and the other team joined the Bible study with the older kids. It was a powerful evening, followed by dinner served in the restaurant that makes itself available for the weekly meetings. We ate some of the most delicious BBQ chicken I've had in a long time.
We're in for the night now, and trust that this message finds you well and safe in a comfortable, safe place. Not everyone is so fortunate.
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