Reflections from El Salvador

You went where? You did what? Back in 2017, these were questions I had for my friend who had just come back from building homes with Shelter Canada in the San Vicente area in El Salvador. Loving a good adventure, my head and my heart immediately felt pulled to this and I responded in saying, “Please tell me the next time you plan on going because I want to come!”

From my first trip in 2018, my vision or idea of “going on an adventure” changed to something much, much more. It no longer became an adventure, it became a personal desire to try and live out one of Jesus’s commands.“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (Luke 12:48). This bible verse has spurred me on since my first trip. This past March I participated in my fourth trip to El Salvador, where our teams built 28 homes through the ShelterHelps.com organization (formerly called Shelter Canada), and I was yet again, vividly reminded that my “first world problems” are so insignificant.

The premise behind “to whom much is given, much will be required” is that we are held responsible for what we have. If we are blessed with talents, wealth, knowledge, and time, it is expected that we use these gifts well, to glorify God and benefit others. I feel this deeply in my heart, and when I meet the families our teams build homes for and see their current living situations I feel I am, in a small way, fulfilling Jesus’s mandate to give, not just in way of resources, but of my time and my love for others.

It is easy to assume that only wealthy people have been “given much” but, in truth, we have all been given much (1 Corinthians 4:7). It is such a relative term. I was humbled beyond words when at the key ceremony, a little girl came up to me and undid her bracelet wanting to give it to me. I protested as politely as I could, but the mother was beside her, insisting I take it. Tears filled my eyes. ‘My reality’ saw a family with limited resources, and yet, here in a show of appreciation, they were giving to me. The enormity of “what I come home with” each trip is not lost on me and this trip was no exception.

I struggle with the levels of inequality throughout the world for millions of people; the lack of access to basic human rights and needs, to appropriate and basic resources, to health care, to education, to food, to protection, and to timely and fair justice, but that may have to wait for another post. This inequality resonated with me when, after our first build day, we headed back to the compound to shower and have supper. It began to rain and all I could think of were the families living in dirt-floored “homes” shored up with various pieces of rusted aluminium for walls and roofs, and further held together with string, wire, and plastic tarps. I thought of the many plastic water containers which would have to be moved around to capture the rain coming in that night, while here I was, curled up in my comfortable warm, dry bed with a full stomach of food. Again Luke 12:48 resounded in my head and I fell into a fitful sleep, even more determined to try and make a difference in someone’s life during our next day’s build.

Each trip has its own special memories, but on this particular trip, there were a couple of deeply etched ones - meeting Jose, who years ago as a young child, recalls receiving a home through Shelter (at the time called World Partners Canada). He eagerly showed us pictures of that life-changing event for his family. Jose now has an education degree and, in a full circle moment, is working for ShelterHelps as one of their amazing young interpreters. It was easy to see the future in store for this charismatic young man.

Then there was meeting a young 8 year old girl whose family was receiving a new home and who immediately captured my heart. We spent so much time hugging each other and I just wanted to protect her from ‘all things bad’ as I silently prayed for her future. I hope I have the chance to see her and her family again on a future trip, and she can tell me all the opportunities her new home has ultimately provided her and her older brother.

Another life-long memory from this trip was the day our team ended up at a build site, meant for a different team. God works in mysterious ways, and often what we think is wrong, is exactly right and meant to be! This particular lady (whom our team had not met at the “Family Meet & Greet”) came toward me with outstretched arms and tears streaming down her face. We immediately enveloped each other in a hug you couldn’t tear apart. I thought to myself, “Wow, this lady is really grateful we’re here”, and looked around for our Interpreter. Within minutes we found out that her mother had just died the day before and her husband was gone to dig her grave. These were not just tears of gladness, but also tears of sadness. Such emotions…

There are so many more stories, but the last one I’d like to share is of Grandmother Argelia, a tiny little woman who’s very tanned face and hands are telltale of a hard life of working in the fields with the hot sun scorching down. Through Johan, our wonderful Interpreter that day, Argelia tells us about her strong faith in God, even as her husband was killed in the Civil War and that she escaped with her two sons, by running through the fields as the bullets flew past her, holding one son by the hand and carrying the other. When the Civil War ended, she returned home and tried to find work and a place to live, moving from one surviving family member’s home to another. She spoke of having to walk for miles out in the forest to chop down trees, to then try and sell the firewood in the market to earn money for food. Angelia is now 80 years old and continues to have limited resources, relying mainly on a granddaughter for support. She tells us how blessed she is despite all her struggles. As I saw Argelia gazing in amazement at the roof and walls of her new home, one word came to mind - HOPE, and that’s what ShelterHelps gives…HOPE! At 80 years old, Argelia’s faithful belief in “hope” for a better life, now through a dry, secure home in which to live in, has come true. I pray Argelia can live out her remaining years in a little more comfort.

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10). I think of my teammate Harry who, in his 13th year of building homes with Shelter, continually and unselfishly gives of his resources, time, God-given gifts and talents, and above all, love for others less fortunate. He is an inspiration to me and I pray that I too can continue to travel to El Salvador and share what God has gifted me.

Deb Firth