Welcome to my journey to El Salvador. I'm blessed to be a part of such an amazing group, serving such amazing communities. This is just the first post of many about El Salvador. Follow along for more updates!
If I'm being honest, I didn't really know what to expect the first time my feet touched down on the soil of El Salvador. I was hopeful because I knew this mission God had placed me on was mine to follow, but I wasn't exactly sure where it would lead. I had heard stories about El Salvador, people questioned me when they found out I was going there, but I knew in my heart it was where I needed to go next.
What I found was beyond what I ever expected. After falling in love with Guatemala the way that I had, I never dreamed I would feel anything remotely close, but God had different plans. From the moment my feet touched the ground, I felt a sense of peace and that I was exactly where I needed to be. God had given me the opportunity to join Extra Mile Pediatrics for a second time and I was blessed and overjoyed that God had paved a way for me to accomplish the very thing he had burdened my heart with so long ago - providing access to healthcare and clean water for people with limited resources in places where significant barriers to care exist.
This mission was more than a week out of the year - it's an all-consuming burden on my heart that I long to fulfill every time I'm not doing it.
I quickly fell in love with the communities we serve in El Salvador, the same way I fell in love with Guatemala so many years ago. I fell in love with the people, the country, its raw beauty, its authentic soul, the way life moves at its own pace and the way everyone seems to follow the beat of their own drum. I fell in love with the way communities come together for the good of one another, the way the things that matter don't revolve around status or materialism, but on love for your neighbor and friend, making sure your kids are healthy and fed, and lifting each other up and helping your neighbor succeed.
I fell in love with how different the word success looks there and I want to strive each day for that type of success.
The rat race of keeping up and showing off doesn't exist here. People might be stressed out by their lack of access to healthcare or clean water, they might stress out for their kids future, but they don't put on stress the way we do.
This constant need to compare and contrast our lives to others is toxic, and it rots you from the inside out - you may not even realize its happening. The privileged don't see it, and everybody else just keeps trying to live up to this expectation that they have as good of a life as they portray on instagram. But that's not reality.
So today I want to challenge you, how much of your time is spent making your life look good and trying to keep up with everybody else? And how much better would it be if you didn't have to do that?
Every time I go somewhere I try to take a lesson back with me - and I want to share this one with you.
Don't make stress, life is hard enough all on its own.
I'm honored to be a part of this journey serving the people of El Salvador. It is only my hope that God will continue to bless me and allow me to serve them, the same way he has burdened my heart for them. If it is God's will, through Extra Mile Pediatrics and La Red, our partners in El Salvador, I will continue to be a part of a team that bridges the gap in healthcare to these communities that we currently serve.
It is my hope in the future to be able to implement women's health screenings, women's health education, nutrition education, and other health promotion alongside the work that we are already doing. I pray everyday that God gives me the means to keep serving these people and that one day He will allow me to do so in an even greater capacity. But until then, follow along on my journey as we continue to bring pediatric medical clinics to the people of Guatemala and El Salvador. I will be posting more updates soon.
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