El Salvador, Saturday, March 15th
Sat, 15 Mar 2008 09:40:40 -0400
Dear Family,
I write this to you on the morning of departure having concluded our Evangelistic/Medical Campaign of 2008 in Tonacatepeque, El Salvador. There is much that can be said about the last two days, but let me give a few highlights.
A TEARFUL BAPTISM
A young lady had a study with one of our evangelistic teams. According to the team, she was very serious about wanting to be baptized. When she came to the compound where we were doing the baptism, she appeared to be very happy about obeying Christ in baptism. As Victor took her confession, she began to weep. As she came out of the water, tears of joy flowed down her cheeks. Later on that night, she participated in our New Converts Class. David Shannon informed me later that she truly was interested and had displayed an eagerness to be in the class. I have posted the picture of her baptism.
MAYOR'S RECOGNITION
We shut down the clinic at noon on Thursday and began to pack up in preparations to leave Tonacatepeque. The Mayor had notified us that he wanted to have us all meet in the Community hall next to his office. When we arrived at 4:00 pm, he and his staff thanked us for coming and working here. Then he proceeded to put a pin of El Salvador on everyone's shirt that was on the team. It was a beautiful moment. We then presented him with the "chair", an act that started many years ago. It is a folding chair that has been signed by the entire team to the person who helped us the most.
VISIT TO MAYOR'S HOME
Later on Thursday, the mayor wanted me to visit his house. His house is not far from the clinic site. It is by no means a "fancy" house, but you could tell that he and his wife take pride in where they live. I spent time with him, his wife, and their youngest daughter. His oldest daughter is a university student who helped us on the first day by translating. They presented me with a gift of appreciation.
FRIDAY
This day is our traditional shopping and touring day. We had 3 groups to do different things. One group took a tour to the road of flowers. They stopped at a coffee plantation where they visited a coffee packing plant. Everyone on the trip really enjoyed the trip.
The second group was the "shopping group". They visited a local mall and an artesian area where tourist trinkets could be purchased.
The final group stayed at the hotel and rested.
We had our final banquet later on that evening. We were blessed to have the Mayor and family with us. He presented us with a flag of El Salvador and thanked us again for coming. While there, the mayor introduced us to the second man in the government below the president, Renee Figarroa. He is the president's closest advisor, and the Minister of Homeland Security. He expressed his gratitude for our coming and encouraged us to come again to help his people.
We had a total of 11 baptisms on this trip. We are excited about this new congregation. I would ask you to remember the new work in your prayers.
God bless.