Post Trip- Day 1

The boys took the day off to recover from the main trip. They spent the day with the Calix family in Juayua (pronounced: WHY-YOU-UH) a festival town with great food, festivals and beautiful waterfalls. Here are a few pictures sent to me by Sonya Calix of their day! 

Last Day-Volcano!

Day 10

Today was our last "work" day of the trip. We finished the retreat today, and we'll climb the volcano tomorrow! 

The day started with a 4:00am run to the beach, explaining the need for them to bring the light into dark places (their community). Everyone completed the run, and we celebrated in the ocean! We also were able to be witness to several of the participants making the decision to be baptized! What a beautiful sight! 

We drove back to the retreat site for breakfast and a "Next Steps" session before beginning the final competition: the infamous obstacle course!! 

Abbie M's team was crowned the champion team (again!) and we loaded up the bus/truck and headed back to the gym for a final closing session before heading to a celebration dinner with the champion team! 

Tomorrow, we conquer the volcano! 

Day 9

Day 2 of the retreat was a total blast! The morning started with breakfast, then a leadership session before a soccer tournament! (Jordan L and Abbie M's team are leading the weekend competition at this point). 

It has been exceptionally hot the last couple of days, so the afternoon pool competitions were a hit! Lots of swimming, splashing, and competition. 

After dinner the camp gathered with popcorn and lounged back for a showing of "McFarland, USA" where the group picked out examples of courageous love, the theme of our weekend. 

It is an early night tonight as we have a VERY early morning tomorrow with a run to the beach before sunrise. 

Day 7

What a great day! We started the day early by driving Jordan M to the airport, we were so blessed he was able to join us for the first half of the trip! 

We caught the sunrise on the beach and hung out there awhile before meeting up with the Calix family for breakfast. We ate at a pupusaria known for their world record for largest pupusa... And they were amazing! 

After breakfast we headed to a beach property owned by a friend of the Calix's, and spent the day lounging in hammocks, swimming in the pool, playing on the beach, and eating a fantastic meal prepared by Sonya. 

We've been amazed that the team hadn't been hit with a monsoon rain storm yet this trip, but the drive back from the beach proved the perfect occasion. We headed back to the gym and spent some beautiful time in worship and prayer for the country and its people before heading out for a quick bite to eat (unexpected wifi access). Tomorrow begins our weekend leadership retreat! Keep us in your prayers! 

Day 6

Our day started bright (or dark) and early with a 5:00am breakfast at our chefs house. From there the boys dropped the girls off at the gym and headed back to the juvenile detention facility. The girls spent the day preparing everything for the retreat that we'll be running this weekend. They went shopping with Omar, Sonya and Ana (our chef) at PriceMart (a Salvadoran version of Costco), unloaded, packed supplies and did laundry (in the bathroom sink!) Omar and Sonya took the girls to a restaurant called "States Diner" where they saw the very type of youth they served yesterday (orphans, abuse victims, runaways) being trained in life & vocational skills by an American missionary couple that was moved by the plight of those youth in this country. Check out their website to learn more (www.statesdiner.org) 

The guys came back from their day totally fired up about how amazing the day was. They really connected with a lot of the young men, and had a blast spending two days serving them. Their two-day program was very similar to "Camp Stength" so the team was able to play the role of facilitator for a program they went through themselves. Derek's team came in first place, and a lot of really cool stories came out of today... I'm sure you'll hear all about them! 

Tonight we went to the famous Mexican restaurant with the amazing frozen drinks and celebrated the birthday of a dear friend of ours down here, Ingrid. It was a blast!! 

Here are a few pictures from the day- wish we could share more with you! 

(Just a reminder that we likely won't have Internet access tomorrow through Sunday, so don't be alarmed)

Day 8

Surprise! We had a moment of wifi so I could upload our last few days of posts! (We've NEVER been able to update this often! So great!) 

We had such a great first day of the retreat! Part of the team ran ahead to set up the camp, the rest rode up on the bus with the kids and got them fired up for the weekend! 

Day One included the tire competitions, small groups, and leadership sessions! The cutest part of the day was once the competitions were over, the neighborhood kids who had been watching started to play on the tires! They pulled Tyler across the field, laughing. It was a perfect teaching moment for the teenagers: your community is watching you. They are following your example. Will you lead them to do good? 

The day ended with worship lead by Jordan and Yaneth (a Salvadoran friend) and we had some free time to socialize before heading to bed! What a great day!! 

Continue praying for us and we'll continue to update you as we can! 

Much love!