A peak into the mission trip: the Guards

I think it's time I gave you a bigger peak into the many things God did while on my mission trip last month... I'll just write a little bit at a time as time permits.

Fear
I got ready for this mission trip wrestling fear unlike ever before. Little did I know that this was preparation for the very kind of enemy we would be facing in El Salvador.

"Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world." -1 John 4:4

If you ever have a huge battle with an enemy you rarely face right before ministry, realize God is preparing you to help others stand against the very same kind of enemy in your ministry! By the time I got to El Salvador, it seemed as though God had strengthened me in His battle against the spirit of fear, and now I was ready to reach out to those lost in fear with a hope I was hanging onto tighter than ever before.


During our first meeting as a team, our team leader, Mike Schadt, briefed us on the situation in El Salvador. The gangs were starting to become a legitimate concern among the people there. Fear was spreading throughout the country due to the fact that the gangs were beginning to dictate what people wear and the color of women's hair, etc. The gangs seemed to have the upper hand in El Salvador, and many of the police and military were becoming their targets as well.

The Guards

The governor of La Paz issued our team some armed guards to protect us while we were in the country wherever we went, but since we knew that they were some of the prime targets of the gangs, our biggest concern became the salvation their souls.

Within a week, the first four guards that had been issued to us had become our brothers in Christ! During our month there, we would have twelve different guards come to protect us and countless conversations with them about Christ and the gospel that had the potential of offering them a forgiveness and freedom they'd been searching for. Many of them listened intently, and several of them accepted Christ!

It seemed to us that the guards all had something in common: they knew they were going to hell when they died, because they knew they were not good people. Usually, they were from broken homes.

I was the translator for a conversation with one such guard. He spoke of his teenage years not living with his parents and gave us a peek into what life in Salvadorian militia is like.

They're always having to watch their backs, some live in hiding when off duty. Some cover their faces for fear of being recognized by the wrong people. When their six years are up in the military, they don't know where to go or what to do for work, because all they've known is dangerous work, the work of protecting their country, as well as protecting themselves.

What a joy to see faces that had been etched with worry smiling and at peace with God by the end of their five-day shift with us!

Pray for the ones that are still considering the truth they heard. Pray that they would find the peace with God they are looking for. Pray that they would find in God the Father they lacked in their growing up years in El Salvador.