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El Salvador Trip Reflection Allison Hine
You will hear many more stories about El Salvador in the coming weeks, but I wanted to share briefly about our trip. We returned safely early Saturday morning to this much colder climate. This church community and the mission of the church have always helped to define my being and my sense of what is right. It has always been for me an example of how I should strive to live my life and teach my children. I spent this past week in El Salvador with 27 other members and friends of our church community and found that the experience was an embodiment of the many things that I cherish about our church. Our church is a testament to what we can accomplish when we cooperate and utilize the gifts of our diverse and talented members. I witnessed a lot of cooperation down in El Salvador, but the example that sticks with me most strongly is when we were pouring concrete into forms to make a home and we had to transport buckets filled with goopy, heavy concrete from the mixer to the top of the forms. Each bucket traveled through the hands of many group members before finally being passed up over heads and up a ladder to the top of the forms where one individual would pour it and then throw the bucket down for yet another person to retrieve it and return it to the cement shoveler to be refilled. The individuals in the bucket brigade worked together seamlessly, checking in with one another to ensure that everyone had drink breaks and was not too tired. These lines continued for hours on end and I never heard complaints. Everyone knew that their part was essential to the process. Our church also cherishes our young people and I saw them flourish this week as they took on leadership roles and succeeded at tasks far beyond their years. Their hard work, sweat, compassion and determination offer me hope for the future of mankind. The following is one example of many that I could use to illustrate this point. On the last day at the project, when we all had muscles that no longer wanted to belong in our bodies, I watched as one of the teenagers took on a task that was outside of our duties for the day. We had begun digging a 5 foot by 5 foot by 5 foot septic tank hole days before and had never gotten to go back and finish it. Jon decided he needed to see this project through to completion and he dug with a pick axe for three hours, well into the lunch hour, until it was done. He was supported by four or five other young people who came and shoveled the loose dirt, wheeled it away, and offered words of encouragement. Our church also strives to extend the hand of friendship to those who stand in times of discomfort, need, and challenge. This week it was clear that we were not in El Salvador simply to build a house, but also to let our new friends know that out in the world in places far away, there are people who care about them. On our last night in El Salvador, we hosted a dinner for our van drivers, Yolanda, the woman who prepared our food, and many of the men and women who toiled with us at the work site each day. We wanted to show our gratitude for their hospitality and friendship while we were there. Many of the children from the community came and as I watched them play in the pool with our teenagers, and as I witnessed many of us struggle through conversations in Spanish, I was aware of how much this simple gesture of gratitude, this sharing of a meal, meant to us all. I couldn’t be more thankful for the opportunity to spend the past week with these 27 travelers to El Salvador. Please know that they represented our church and what we stand for in a way that should make us all proud. Allison
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