Hello everybody!! I have never done a blog before let a lone posted a blog before so lets hope I do this right! My name is Jake Scott. I am a sophomore at BC majoring in Theology and Youth ministry and minoring in Philosophy. Apparently I am pretty crazy, but I can live with myself and so can everyone else so I guess we will all make it. Today started off just like the rest of the days we have been here with prayer, breakfast, sunscreen, and the awesome trip in the trucks to the community. We are always met when we show up by children in the community who with their parents truly make our days amazing. The work that we do for these people means more to them than we will ever know I believe. I also think today that it finally hit everyone how incredible this community is. The children who are not even living in the homes that we are building are helping build. Sometimes it seems that they want to do it all. The faith, hope, and charity found within this community is unlike any other community I have ever been in. I thought my tear ducts had dried up from years of suppressing tears, but seeing this community and how incredible they are brings tears to my eyes. I have never felt that I was a part of something this meaningful and important in my entire life. I am touched daily between the work we do, the example of the people of the community, and the people we see on the drives to and from the community. This is the most incredible experience I have been a part of in my life, and I truly desire to do anything I can to help here in El Salvador for the rest of my life. Have a great night because I am going to go play some sardines with the awesome friends I have made down here. Jake signing out. :)
-Jake Scott
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
The building continues!
Hey guys! It's Sela again, the leader of the trip. I am so happy that the blog is a hit! We are having an amazing time so far and love that we can share our experiences with you. Constructing the houses has gone quicker for all the groups than we anticipated. Everyone is doing an awesome job pitching in, even in all the dirty jobs. We should be done by tomorrow morning!
The staff like always is so good to us. They spend long hours to be with us instead of being with their families. They don't even get paid extra for their hard labor. We decided to try to show our gratitude by helping with dishes after at least one meal-good job moms!! :) I also bought them shirts from Benedictine and it's great to see them wearing them with such big smiles. It's also been such a joy watching the faces of the kids light up when we give out toys. I am so proud of my team for fundraising so much. Thanks so much donors...we can never thank you enough!!!!
Our hearts have been touched in so many ways so far. With all the people we have met and things we have seen. Please continue to pray for us as well as those we will serve.
Thanks so much for reading and all of the comments!
We love and miss you all,
Sela
P.S.
Bob Hentzen, co-founder of CFCA, was at the KC airport! So we were able to meet him. I am not gonna lie I was a little 'starstruck'. haha He is such an incredible man and it was so great to be able to meet him. We hope to post a couple pictures of some of us with him.
The staff like always is so good to us. They spend long hours to be with us instead of being with their families. They don't even get paid extra for their hard labor. We decided to try to show our gratitude by helping with dishes after at least one meal-good job moms!! :) I also bought them shirts from Benedictine and it's great to see them wearing them with such big smiles. It's also been such a joy watching the faces of the kids light up when we give out toys. I am so proud of my team for fundraising so much. Thanks so much donors...we can never thank you enough!!!!
Our hearts have been touched in so many ways so far. With all the people we have met and things we have seen. Please continue to pray for us as well as those we will serve.
Thanks so much for reading and all of the comments!
We love and miss you all,
Sela
P.S.
Bob Hentzen, co-founder of CFCA, was at the KC airport! So we were able to meet him. I am not gonna lie I was a little 'starstruck'. haha He is such an incredible man and it was so great to be able to meet him. We hope to post a couple pictures of some of us with him.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Hola Amigos y Familia!
Mi llamo Christina Porretta. I am a senior at Benedictine, currently studying psychology, and attending the El Salvador mission trip for the first time. I can't even begin to describe the beauty and impact of the work being done by the CFCA members here. They all tell us that they think we are crazy Americans because we should be somewhere in Florida for spring break but instead we are here "working in the hot sun, sleeping on so-so beds, taking cold showers and, on top of it, paying to do so!" However, they said this to us, not to discourage us, but in a genuine attempt to convey just how important and meaningful our efforts and presence are to this community and to the country. According to Henry, here in El Salvador, we are the face of America.
We really want for all of you back home to know that we are doing our best to represent you well and to be a daily example if God's presence in their lives. We are here building these homes because of your monetary and prayerful support. You are all every bit as much of a missionary for El Salvador this week as each of us.
Although we have been thanked countless times for the work and changes that we are doing here, what they don't know is that they are really the ones helping us; they are all changing our lives. Everything from the simplistic manner in which they live, to the genuine kindness and joy with which they treat their neighbors and our group, they are slowly teaching us what and who to place our values in. This is truly an experience we will never forget.
Thanks for reading and we miss you all very much!
P.S. Here's a few pictures for you all to share in the work, prayers, and fun of the trip so far!
Jake hitting it off well with all the ladies.
Dance off!
End of the day mass.
Mi llamo Christina Porretta. I am a senior at Benedictine, currently studying psychology, and attending the El Salvador mission trip for the first time. I can't even begin to describe the beauty and impact of the work being done by the CFCA members here. They all tell us that they think we are crazy Americans because we should be somewhere in Florida for spring break but instead we are here "working in the hot sun, sleeping on so-so beds, taking cold showers and, on top of it, paying to do so!" However, they said this to us, not to discourage us, but in a genuine attempt to convey just how important and meaningful our efforts and presence are to this community and to the country. According to Henry, here in El Salvador, we are the face of America.
We really want for all of you back home to know that we are doing our best to represent you well and to be a daily example if God's presence in their lives. We are here building these homes because of your monetary and prayerful support. You are all every bit as much of a missionary for El Salvador this week as each of us.
Although we have been thanked countless times for the work and changes that we are doing here, what they don't know is that they are really the ones helping us; they are all changing our lives. Everything from the simplistic manner in which they live, to the genuine kindness and joy with which they treat their neighbors and our group, they are slowly teaching us what and who to place our values in. This is truly an experience we will never forget.
Thanks for reading and we miss you all very much!
P.S. Here's a few pictures for you all to share in the work, prayers, and fun of the trip so far!
Jake hitting it off well with all the ladies.
Dance off!
Headed to work :)
End of the day mass.
Hola from El Sal! My name is Kelley and I'm a Junior nursing student at BC. After a fun night of card tricks and riddles, 6:30 came pretty early this morning. Being welcomed by the bright sunshine of El Salvador and the sounds of roosters cocka-doo-da-ling made the early morning a little less early. A little. We prepared for our hard day of work with morning prayer and another delicious breakfast. We were all excited to ride to the sites in trucks like the locals. Once we got to the location, the work began. After much measuring, sawing, hammering, and trial and error, the houses started to take shape. Group 2 lead the "competition", having the most of their house finished before lunch. Much to their dislike, Father Justin was on their team and let the other teams know. But don't worry, "Its not trash talking if its true" said Fr. Justin all in good fun. Luckily I am on this team and didn't have to experience any of the sass:) We took turns doing the dirty work and playing with the children, that were more than happy to play with us and spend time with us. Even the older children and adults were elated to help anyway they could. After a few quick hours it was lunch time! We returned back to headquarters for a scrumptious meal and a little down time. And back to work we went. With full tummies and the bright sun, the work slowed down a bit, and unfortunately Group 2 let the other groups feel like they were making some progress. After a few more hours of work visiting with the families and children of the community, it was time to say goodbye until tomorrow. We returned to have Mass at HQ and enjoy the chilly, but refreshing showers. We enjoyed another dinner and are currently having some fun, fun, fun!
Hasta luego!!
Kelley Farson
Hasta luego!!
Kelley Farson
Sunday, March 4, 2012
"Thank You For Loving Us" [Day 2]
Hey, everyone! It's Leslie again! Just a handful of photos from today! I'll let the previous posts explain what's happening here. :]
Peace,
Leslie
Hola! Como estas? Me llamo Zak... And that's about the extent of what I was able to say today...
I'm a sophomore at BC studying business management and economics.
Today we did a variety of things ranging from mass to dancing and everything in between. We went to a spanglish mass this morning at Sacred Heart parish her in Santa Ana, it was great because we all thought we knew the mass but it is actually very different down here as far as when you stand, sit, and kneel. We definitely made fools of ourselves being funny Americans who had no idea what was going on. The readings and gospels were in both English and Spanish but the rest of the mass was only in Spanish.
Afterwards we went to La Communidad Manuel (where we will be building the houses) in order to get to know the families we will be helping. The family I am helping to build for is a family of 4, two parents (which is very rare), a 9 year old son and an 18 son. The 9 yr old goes to school while the older brother goes to work. The father collects recyclables in order to make a living, the mother also sews to make some money while acting as tailor for the community and fixing all the clothes that need it.
After yet another amazing home cooked meal for lunch we went out to some Mayan ruins in order to learn a little bit more about some of these communities through a presentation that was given by some of the kids on scholarships. This consisted of a couple of skits and dances. The dance ended in all of us volunteers being pulled up and swung around in a ridiculous attempt at Salvadoran salsa dancing. Jake Scott was king of the dance floor with a young gentleman who was tearing up the dance floor (videos to come later)!
After the dancing and getting to know another community we were able to walk around the ruins a little bit and take some pretty awesome pictures and get to know each other better (again pictures to come later). We were able to experience a Salvadoran market place outside the park that the ruins were in, some people bought stuff some people are waiting for Saturday when we will be able to go to a much bigger market.
After a pretty full day we came back to the new CFCA facility in Santa Ana and ate a little not quite ripe mangos (very tart yet very good). We had once again a great home cooked meal! The food so far has been fantastic! Yes, I'm a man so that's what I notice... Don't judge me... =)
We have great staff here at the facility, "Mama" is making sure we're taking care of ourselves and eating enough. Mario and Jessie don't speak English but most of us have had at least some spanish and can quasi communicate with them, we also have 3 english speaking staff and 3 fluent speakers on the trip.
We're all excited to start building tomorrow and get our hands dirty. Being a construction worker it will be interesting breaking about every code in the book but it'll be awesome to work with my hands and love these people at the same time! Some of these people are so broken and simply in need of someone to love them.
Being the second oldest of 11 kids I also have a love for little kids and they're super cute... I think there's a rule or something that says hispanic kids are automatically super cute. A lot of them will follow us around and play with us constantly. We played hot potato with a boy in the street today, many of them borrowed our cameras and started taking pictures of everything.
We're all super excited for the rest of the week!
God bless!
-Zak Larsen
I'm a sophomore at BC studying business management and economics.
Today we did a variety of things ranging from mass to dancing and everything in between. We went to a spanglish mass this morning at Sacred Heart parish her in Santa Ana, it was great because we all thought we knew the mass but it is actually very different down here as far as when you stand, sit, and kneel. We definitely made fools of ourselves being funny Americans who had no idea what was going on. The readings and gospels were in both English and Spanish but the rest of the mass was only in Spanish.
Afterwards we went to La Communidad Manuel (where we will be building the houses) in order to get to know the families we will be helping. The family I am helping to build for is a family of 4, two parents (which is very rare), a 9 year old son and an 18 son. The 9 yr old goes to school while the older brother goes to work. The father collects recyclables in order to make a living, the mother also sews to make some money while acting as tailor for the community and fixing all the clothes that need it.
After yet another amazing home cooked meal for lunch we went out to some Mayan ruins in order to learn a little bit more about some of these communities through a presentation that was given by some of the kids on scholarships. This consisted of a couple of skits and dances. The dance ended in all of us volunteers being pulled up and swung around in a ridiculous attempt at Salvadoran salsa dancing. Jake Scott was king of the dance floor with a young gentleman who was tearing up the dance floor (videos to come later)!
After the dancing and getting to know another community we were able to walk around the ruins a little bit and take some pretty awesome pictures and get to know each other better (again pictures to come later). We were able to experience a Salvadoran market place outside the park that the ruins were in, some people bought stuff some people are waiting for Saturday when we will be able to go to a much bigger market.
After a pretty full day we came back to the new CFCA facility in Santa Ana and ate a little not quite ripe mangos (very tart yet very good). We had once again a great home cooked meal! The food so far has been fantastic! Yes, I'm a man so that's what I notice... Don't judge me... =)
We have great staff here at the facility, "Mama" is making sure we're taking care of ourselves and eating enough. Mario and Jessie don't speak English but most of us have had at least some spanish and can quasi communicate with them, we also have 3 english speaking staff and 3 fluent speakers on the trip.
We're all excited to start building tomorrow and get our hands dirty. Being a construction worker it will be interesting breaking about every code in the book but it'll be awesome to work with my hands and love these people at the same time! Some of these people are so broken and simply in need of someone to love them.
Being the second oldest of 11 kids I also have a love for little kids and they're super cute... I think there's a rule or something that says hispanic kids are automatically super cute. A lot of them will follow us around and play with us constantly. We played hot potato with a boy in the street today, many of them borrowed our cameras and started taking pictures of everything.
We're all super excited for the rest of the week!
God bless!
-Zak Larsen
Dear family and friends,
My name is Angela Porretta. I am a nursing student in my junior year at Benedictine College. This is my second year on this mission trip to El Salvador with CFCA, and I am thrilled to be back. Here is a quick update of the first full day of our trip.
This morning, everyone joined for breakfast at 7:15. It was a fantastic breakfast and everyone was much more lively and talkative after a good night's sleep and being even better acquainted after our flights and car trip here together. We left for Sunday Mass at 8:30 with the community. It was a beautiful little church and the community was so very welcoming and friendly. Fr. Justin concelebrated mass with the parish priest. Following mass, all the students mingled with the parishioners and were able to practice their Spanish in conversation, particularly with all the children who were thrilled to see us and full of questions.
Following this, we traveled to the community where we will be working this week to meet the families and see the areas were were to be building the houses. The community welcomed us with open arms. There are many children in this village, so all the students are eagerly looking forward to playing with them throughout the week.
After this, we headed back to the CFCA headquarters for a tasty lunch (they feed us very well), and now we are off to go visit some Mayan temple ruins for fun for the afternoon.
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