Wednesday August 20

Today we visited a different school in Santa Ana, much bigger than the previous one. The grades ranged from one to nine, with one set of kids in the morning and another whole set in the afternoon. My group didn't have a translator, so it was an interesting challenge to run
a 45 minute program for each class. Two years ago I would have been terrified to go into a class without a translator, but for some reason this time I wasn't scared at all. I am starting to enjoy it when God pushes me out of my comfort zone because I know He is going to help me succeed and bring me closer to Him. We had an amazing group of people on our little team, so that helped a lot. Some of the Salvadorians,  Mario and Pastor Jorge, are so incredible with the kids, and we managed to communicate with each other somehow to figure out a game plan before every class.
Once we started leading the classes together, we each figured out our role and how each fit
in with each other, and soon enough our program started to run like clockwork. Now someone could throw our team into another class and we could run the entire program smoothly without any preparations or translators- it was amazing to see how God brought our specific group together.
In the morning at school we started with the 2 grade 1 classes, and they were adorable. We sang music with them while I played guitar, we handed out salvation bracelets, Pastor Jorge and Mario gave talks to the kids (I never knew what they're saying but they always have the kids practically rolling on the ground laughing- both of them are good with the kids) and then we played a game (they love seven up). During the breaks we got to interract with the kids in the schoolyard, so there were a lot of hugs given out. Our third class of the morning was a grade 3 class, also adorable. They loved the music and bracelets. Our entireYFC team had been split into 2 teams for the day, and the other group gave talks in their 3 classes. After that it was time for lunch, so we ate at Pizza Hut.
In the afternoon we returned to the school, and visited another 2 classes each (our group visited the grade 1 classes). We were supposed to do another class but it didn't work, so we used that time to play with the kids in the schoolyard. I played guitar and met a precious little girl who wouldn't leave my side the entire time we were there. It was really nice to interract with the kids and show them love.
We headed over to the Santa Ana church once we were done at the school, and waited until the evening service. Natasha and I attended to a very important matter, filming Perfection's ice water bucket challenge. For the service, I got asked to sing with Aaron and Carlos, the guys in charge of the music at Santa Ana. They are actually SO good so I felt honored that they would want me to join them in leading worship.
The service started and it was excellent- the music was great, and we sang in both English and Spanish! Jessica gave an amazing testimony that impacted everyone, and Mr. Day gave a really good talk despite some setbacks. We finished off the night with pupusas for dinner, and then drove to the hotel.
Overall it was a really good day for me- I enjoyed leading the programs in the classrooms without a translator, and showing all the kids love and music. It was so much fun singing with Carlos and Aaron, and the service was great. However, our YFS team as a whole agreed that it was being attacked. Most people were feeling under the weather from the get-go in one way or another. People giving talks throughout the day couldn't find the words to say, and Kim was unfortunately very sick. Around noon we received an email from Bethany's Mom saying she felt we were being attacked by the devil who was trying to bring us down and prevent us from doing God's work. It all made sense- the devil knew the good work we were doing and he decided to try to take us down. We prayed hard all day and stood firm, Mr. Day's notes weren't working on his computer when he went to give his talk in the church and instead of deciding not to talk, he powered through. The entire team powered trough the day, and we didn't let the devil win. We thank you for everyone's prayers for us, and we ask you to continue to pray for protection from the evil one. We will continue God's work, and we won't let setbacks get us down.
This blog was britten by Vanessa Banks