On Wednesday our UFG/UTEC team got to take our first tour of Francisco Gavidia, which is in downtown El Salvador. We felt pretty awkward walking around, knowing everyone was staring at the gringos, and not really knowing what to do exactly. A bit later, I was able to share the Soularium-- an evangelistic tool using photographs to facilitate spiritual conversation-- with 3 students, with the help of the translation of our staff Alvin. That was very fun and was met by a pretty good response from them. Please pray I would be able to be patient but swift in learning Spanish, because it does really hinder my ability to relate to students and share the gospel.
Although we really don't know why, our campus Vida Estudiantil staff have had us go to multiple classes with VE stu
dents, often just to sit there and not know what's going on, haha. We're learning how to communicate. But the first class I went to was pretty interesting. Jenna, Kristen and I went with 2 students, Leo and Julio, to an event planning class where everyone was dressed to the nines. A charismatic professor led planning for an event for "Intelectuales Salvadarenos" where they're bringing together top educational leaders in the country to discuss the direction of education in the country. In the middle of the discussion, a man who we later found out was like the head-honcho of all radio in the country, came in to help plan the event as well. Everything really got exciting when students walked in with a huge cake flaming with candles for the professor's birthday. And then, we all had cake in class :)
Today we had our first Spanish lesson from, get this, a Russian Jew who has grown up in El Salvador. This man is someone I need to spend some time explaining, because he is one of the most interesting people I've ever met. So he came over to El Salvador when he was a teen, and when he was 17, was asked to be the translator for the president of the country. To get around the over 18, working age law, the president had his legal age changed! Now he s
peaks 9 languages, wears a yamaka, gets up at 3 am every morning, and translates for both current presidential candidates, in addition to helping direct their propaganda. And now his most important duty is teaching us Spanish... for free. I kid not.
To finish off today, our team of 10 went bowling with some of our staff and students, and this allowed us to experience the amazing energy and fun-loving attitudes of our beloved Salvadoreans once again. I was excited that Rody, a student I met while sharing the gospel on UTEC, came to meet and hang out with people. Alvin, a staff-member, and I were really excited getting to meet him, because he's one of those key student leader types we're strategically trying to reach on campus. He grew up in Boston, where I also lived for 2 years, and now he owns a business, teaches Portuguese, works as a translator, and go
es to school as a business student full time. And, best of all, he has background in the church and interest in the gospel.
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