Today was my first day visiting the schools. I joined the rest of the
team in El Salvador Saturday
night after 12 weeks of intense army training. It was a bit of a
difficult transition, going straight from military life to a Christian missions
trip, but today I was finally starting to feel settled.
In the
morning we went shopping for souvenirs at the market, and in the afternoon we
visited a school in Aguilares. We visited the same school last year, so it was
nice to go back. We watched a school assembly and then gave talks to the
classes. I had absolutely nothing prepared, which was scary but exhilarating.
Before I went on the trip last year, I was terrified of talking in front of
groups, and if I did I had to have everything written down and planned out.
Something that God really taught me through that was how much I actually enjoy
speaking in front of people about God and what he has done in my life. I
realized that when we trust the Lord, he gives us the words to say that
are tailored to the hearts of those who are hearing them. After that, I was able
to have the courage to prepare for my talks less and less, and instead just
speak from my heart and let God speak through me. It was really exciting and
powerful, and since then, whenever I have to talk in front of people, I let God
lead my words.
So,
thinking about how scared I used to be of public speaking, it seemed crazy to
me today when I stood in front of the class with no idea of what I was going to
say. I started talking, and completely trusted God to speak through me, and it
went well. Afterwards, I knew that God had led it in the direction he wanted.
The
principal of the school asked us to stay longer, so we also led the classes in
the "trust fall" activity and handed out Bible verse promises. Some
of the kids really seemed to respond well to us being there.
We left the
school, drove back to San Salvador, went out for dinner at Bennigan's, and then
had our nightly meeting. It was a great end to the day, and it's so awesome to
be back in El Salvador doing missions work! I'm excited for the rest of the
week.
- Vanessa
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