El Salvador

I've promised a post on my trip to El Salvador so here goes.

On Friday the 14th of November I set out with a group of 8 of my fellow church members to El Salvador on a mission trip. Going into it I was not real sure what we would be doing or what I would be doing specifically. This was my 7th mission trip but the 1st one in which I was not in a leadership position. It was a struggle at times to not give my "advice" on how things ought to be done but it was refereshing to just sit back and let God do His thing and not feel a "responsibility" to get everything to work. We did several things in El Salvador from passing out Bibles, holding church services, working at a local Baptist school, and doing VBS type activities with children. The thing that I think was the most important out of the whole week was encouragement of believers. The people in El Salvador are wonderful and while we got way more out of it than we gave them, it was a blessing to their people to have us there and I think we did really leave them encouraged.

The thing I took out of it most was to see how a people in other countries live. With the recent elections and such I've really looked at America as a country and what our value system is. While I truly feel blessed to live in America I do think sometimes our values are out of whack. The poverty in El Salvador was shocking but what was more shocking was how happy the people were. At first I would see the houses they live in and they possessions they have and I would think, wow these people must be unhappy to be living like this. Then you would see how truly happy they were and I quickly realized they are the ones who have it right. I think I truly realized what a rat race we live in America to get bigger, newer, and better but never truly become content. One example is they don't have hot water in El Salvador. Our translator was 23 and had never had a hot shower. We find that hard to imagine and if our hot water heaters go out we freak. These people don't know any better and are content. It made me think back to a poem I read while sitting at Jimmy Johns one day and have included it below.

The Story of the Mexican Fisherman
An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Mexican replied, "only a little while."

The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish?

The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs.

The American then asked, "but what do you do with the rest of your time?"

The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life."

The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?"

To which the American replied, "15 - 20 years."

"But what then?" Asked the Mexican.

The American laughed and said, "That's the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions!"

"Millions - then what?"

The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."