Jon recently returned from a week-long gathering in Panama of all the YWAM leaders from North, Central, and South America. He had the chance to connect with other leaders in YWAM, hear some updates on things YWAM is doing around the world, and to take time to rest and reflect on our work here in El Salvador.

While he was gone, the kids and I dealt with a few bumps in the road including an iguana hiding out in Tori’s dollhouse and a stolen purse (more on that some other day)! We were glad to be together again just in time for the kids to compete in a karate tournament in Guatemala last weekend. They did great, and we enjoyed the time as a family.

Here are some pictures that Jon took of beautiful Panama! The first set of pictures are from the forest around the hotel where the conference was held, and the second are from the Panama Canal and Panama City.

In the museum at the Canal

Francisco, YWAM El Salvador director, moving a boat!

Last week the Lighthouse ministry made the news! It was exciting to see the ministry, and YWAM, get some coverage in La Prensa Grafica, a local paper in El Salvador. The newspaper has a regular section offering basic literacy lessons for people interested in learning to read. We have been using some of those lessons to help some of the young men involved in the Lighthouse. Jon contacted the paper to ask for a full set, and they responded by not only bringing the sets of lessons compiled by students doing community service hours, but also coming to do an interview and a story about the ministry.

The article highlighted the work that we are doing through the Lighthouse, and shared the story of Herber, one young man who has been learning to read since becoming involved in the ministry. The reporter also interviewed Jon, and Ericka, a fellow YWAM teammate. Thank you for your support and for helping us to serve San Salvador through this ministry in a practical way! Click below to read the article from the paper.

Jon Snyder on LPG Apr 26th 2013

We had a great time with a work team from our sending church, Discovery Christian Church. They have supported us in El Salvador from the very beginning, and they kicked off our fundraising campaign for the ministry center through their BRIX capital campaign. It was so fun to have the first group from Discovery actually see the building and what is going on there.

They came with the purpose of laying ceramic tile throughout the building and they worked HARD! Painting, laying tile, sawing, demo, they did a little bit of everything and we are so grateful for all of their hard work!!!!

Let’s get to work!

Demolition Day!

Looks like Tori wants to break some stuff too!

Painting, painting, and more painting!

Ian wanted to get in on the action!

Our friend Anne was in town, and she helped paint and sort through the donations that the team brought down with them.

No one was afraid to get their hands dirty!

More painting!

Room after room of ceramic tiling!

Service with a smile!

Not only did the team work hard in the center all week, they also had a pizza party for the boys at CISNA , and helped out with the Lighthouse. CISNA presented Jake with a special picture thanking him for Discovery’s work on the soccer fields a few years ago.

Making meals to feed the homeless…thank you Discovery for all of your hard work!

Sitting at my desk in El Salvador, the news reports are pouring in…bombings, death in Boston. I scroll down the other news stories and I read about death in the Middle East, hatred in Asia. I take in the local news stories. Gangs at war, youth lost again.

“So much death. What can man do against such reckless hate?”

These epic words were spoken by King Theoden in the second film installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Those of you who know me, know that I am a huge J.R.R. Tolkien fan. I’ve read the books, and a weekend spent in a LOTR movie marathon is a great weekend as far as I’m concerned.

I think Tolkien resonates with so many people because his themes of tyranny, tragedy, desperation, and hopelessness in the face of pure evil are timeless. They echo on…not confined to Hitler or Stalin or Sandy Hook.

People are evil, the world is full of hate, and we are helpless to stop it.

But are we?

Aragorn’s response to Theoden is just as epic, “Ride out with me.” Aragorn is the heir to the throne, the leader, and he inspires Theoden to action in his lowest moment.

Because the response to overwhelming evil is to engage, to ride into the fray, to count the cost, and to confront it head on.

We are called to that. We are not called to stand in hopelessness, we are not called to turn our backs on a world that hates, and that spreads evil. We are called to look death in the face and to ride out.

Straight into it with banners waving. Our weapon is love, our message is grace, and we have hope.

In the darkest hour, in the moment of unspeakable loss, we can still ride out and engage the world. Because that’s where God engaged us.

Those who hate are reckless. But we are reckless too. We love recklessly, we offer hope recklessly, and we ride out recklessly when all is lost.

So, with prayers on our lips, and hope in our hearts…today we ride out, and tomorrow, and the next because Love conquers all.

I’m so proud of my talented little girl. She shares my love of all literature and writing, and she just entered a poem into the Spanish writing contest. She wanted to share it with all of you:

Aves del Mundo

Torogoz es nuestro orgullo, nuestro ave nacional, es lo que vivimos y vivimos otra vez en nuestras vidas es lo que tenemos para el Torogoz.

Guacamaya tiene plumaje azul como el mar y un canto como el viento en un día soleado.

Pavo real tiene muchísimos ojos falsos en sus plumitas, y es grande como un rey de Egipto.

Tucán tiene un pico largo como una banana y su plumaje es tan lindo como un arcoirís en el cielo después de una tormenta larga.

Paloma trae paz a nuestro país, y también por todas partes de Centro América.

Urraca es negro como una sombra en una montaña de noche.

Águila es muy grande con las plumas blancas y negros como una sombra en la nieve.

Chiltota es pequeña como una ardilla y sus plumas son anaranjadas como un fuego grande y fuerte.

Gorrión tiene un canto dulce y silbado como una campanita doradadita.

A mí me gusta los aves porque son muy lindos.

A mí me gusta los aves porque son muy coloridos.

Cuando veo un pájaro, siento que algo en mi corazón que abrió, un día
quiero volar con esos pájaros.

Yesterday I made a quick stop at our local supermarket. I ran in and ran out and just as I was stepping off the front steps and onto the parking lot a feeling of rightness washed over me. The afternoon sun was slanting at just the angle to throw a golden haze over everything, and the sounds and smells of the city swirled around me…horns honking, warming oil from the woman selling tortillas on the side of the road, sun-baked pavement, and the smell of exhaust as cars raced around the circle in front of me.

It’s strange, I know, but I felt like I was touching something familiar…like I was home.

That word “home” is one that I can’t pin down anymore. It’s here and it’s there. Many of you have followed me on the ups and downs of cross-cultural adjustment,  language learning, and just feeling downright exhausted with it all. I never felt like I could say that I truly felt home again. Anywhere.

But now I do. I don’t know when it happened…this feeling comfortable here, this feeling like I somehow belonged, even in an outsider kind of a way. Maybe it’s like a marriage. When you love someone, you accept them, you learn to live with them and then one day you realize you love them more because of their flaws, their differences, and the ways that they make you a better person.

That’s how I feel about El Salvador, and I realized it yesterday in that steamy afternoon-sun covered parking lot. I love the people, I love the country even with the struggles and the differences, and the hard parts. Maybe I love El Salvador because coming here has made me a better person. I hold my family tighter, I choose my friends more wisely, and I see the big picture. Life truly is beautiful…even in poverty and pain, and it’s not just about my corner of the world, it’s about a great big thing that God is doing everywhere. In your home, and mine, and over there somewhere.

I thank God for it, thank Him for the chance to live a life that’s not ordinary, thank Him for a life that is hard, but also infinitely rewarding. I thank Him for another day to struggle, to be surprised, to be afraid, to feel content and to feel like I am home.

Yesterday we took a walk on the streets of Santa Tecla, just outside of San Salvador, to view the beautiful alfombras, meaning “carpets” in English. These are beautiful creations of sawdust and sand that are dyed bright colors and crafted into pictures of Christ’s life and death. They form the “carpet” for the Good Friday processions as they pass on their way to evening services.

Different groups, churches, and families sponsor the carpets and they get up early in the morning to create these works of art in the streets. It has become a family tradition for us to enjoy the culture of El Salvador each Good Friday. Here are some pictures from our walk down the street yesterday:

The kids and I!

Ian checking out the alfombras.

Street vendors selling snacks along the street

Love this one!

The view back up the street

This past week we had our first week of ministry in the new building. After months of renovations, it was exciting to see the first realization of the potential that this new space has!

El Faro (The Lighthouse) homeless ministry used the building for the first time and the guys and girls were thrilled with the new shower facilities and indoor space out of the sun. Thank you so much to all of our donors who are making this a possibility, and a special shout-out to Discovery Christian Church who kicked this whole thing off as part of their BRIX capital campaign!

The bathrooms have been renovated, additional storage and an extra room have been added, a new outdoor sink has been installed, and the outside of the building has been painted. In a week and a half a team from our Discovery will arrive to install ceramic tile flooring throughout the inside of the building. We are so grateful to God’s goodness, and we couldn’t be happier with how well this building is coming together!

We still have two “big” projects left to knock out, but we are well on our way! We are still in need of  $1,500 to renovate the kitchen and we will eventually need $3,500 to replace the roof. We continue to be humbled and overwhelmed by the generosity of our donors and the committment of volunteers to bring this space together. It is truly a team effort and we look forward to growing the ministry of YWAM El Salvador as we seek to influence the men, women, and children on the streets of San Salvador.

Here are some pictures from our first week of ministry in the new space:

Indoor space set up and ready to go

Entrance with rules posted, and clothing organized

New shower stalls and bathrooms

Close up of one of the new showers

Staff and volunteers with some of the guys

Check in and one-on-one goal setting for the week

Hanging out

Lunchtime

We had a great first week, and we are excited to be in the building and looking foward to many great weeks of ministry to come!

Those of you who subscribe to our e-newsletter have already heard the news that we have a great opportunity to work with a wonderful organization called FREE THE GIRLS ! FTG is dedicated to bringing hope and a new future to women who have been exploited through prostitution and sex trafficking. The program provides woman with the chance to make a living selling bras in the lucrative second-hand clothing market. The bras are donated in the United States and sold in countries around the world by these women. FTG has had great success in Africa and you can watch a CNN documentary about their inspirational work by clicking here.

We are excited to test this program out in El Salvador! We have several women already signed up to be in the pilot program and we look forward to getting them started selling the bras in El Salvador. If you are in the Pittsburgh area and want to get involved, you can donate new or gently used bras to be sent to El Salvador for this project. A team from Discovery Christian Church has agreed to bring them when they arrive in two weeks for a missions trip in El Salvador. We have several friends in the Pittsburgh area collecting bras for us, so if you would like to make donation email Danielle at dani@missiontoelsalvador.com and she will point you in the right direction. Thanks for your help and please keep these women in your prayers!

This past weekend we had the opportunity to go to Guatemala City for the kids to compete in a karate tournament. I must admit I never saw competitive martial arts coming when we decided to move to El Salvador, but the kids are having an absolute blast. They practiced for hours to get ready for the weekend, and they did great! Ian participated in 5 events, and got 4 trophies and Tori participated in 4 events and got 4 trophies. I love the fact that they are teammates and into the same thing (at least for right now)! They are learning a lot about hard work paying off…and participating in international karate tournaments is pretty cool, isn’t it? The family time away was wonderful too, and the kids loved that we spent the weekend focused on what they are into. Here are a few pictures:

Yeah Team Snyder!