Howdy,
In
case you haven’t heard, I will be spending the majority of my summer in El
Salvador with Shelter the Homeless International Projects (SHIP). Here is a
link to their website: http://shipinternational.org,
and here is a link to their Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SHIPinternational/?fref=ts.
This internship will also count as the required internship for my degree in
Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences. This blog is not required but I have
made it in order to give updates on the adventures I will have. If you would
like to know more about what I’ll be doing during my internship, you can check
out the description of the GoFundMe page I created. That’s not a shameless
plug, rather it is me being a bit lazy and not wanting to type it all out
again. Feel free to support me but don’t feel obligated. Fundraising is not the
purpose of this blog.
The link: https://www.gofundme.com/cbxzkjcs
I would like to express the
perspective I have in approaching this internship. To do that, let me tell a
story once told to me. There is a beautiful beach that goes on in both
directions as far as the eye could see. There was nobody in sight. It was
perfectly calm and clear. Imagine the beauty of it. A man walks onto the beach
just in time to see several waves crash onto the beach. Carried by the waves
were thousands and thousands of starfish. These starfish were left stranded to
die on the beach, having no hope within their own power. The man rushed over
and began picking up starfish and throwing them as far as he could back into
the water. He was shortly approached by an older man who asked him, “What are
you doing? There is no possible way you can save all these starfish. Why would
you even try?” The younger man, with a starfish in his hand, replied, “I may
not save all of them, but I changed the life of that one,” as he threw the
starfish into the water. Dumbfounded the older man left the younger man to his
business and walked further down the beach. After some time, the older man
picked up a starfish and tossed it back into the water. He looked back and saw
the younger man still working, so he went back and joined him.
I
don’t go to El Salvador with the arrogant attitude that I will change the
country. I expect that the big picture of El Salvador will remain the same
dark, violent place it is now. This may even be true for the neighborhood in
which I will be living. What motivates me to return is the trust that God will
use me. All of me. My strengths and weaknesses. I trust that God will connect
me with individuals who will see how God has impacted my life, and be moved
toward Him. Beyond that, I am not exactly sure what to expect. I have never
lived in a foreign country for 8 weeks. I am not nervous about being there or
scared for my safety, but thinking about the unknown obstacles I will face
makes me doubt my abilities. Doubting my abilities has been a consistent fault
of mine. I understand God is my power but I sometimes forget to rely on it and
not my own power. I would ask you to pray that I would never allow these doubts
to build a foundation in my life. I want to rely on His power. Completely and
constantly. I
fly out to El Salvador on May 18th, which is not too far away. I
will be there until July 15th. A verse that was recently shared with
me is Romans 10:1, which says, “My heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them
is that they may be saved.” This is the ultimate goal I have for my trip.
Building homes, playing futbol, and making friends will be wonderful, but the
top motivator for me is the opportunities to share how knowing God has changed
my life. In sharing my story, I pray that people would build their own
relationships with God. Going back to the starfish story, I don’t know who I
will impact but I believe I will play a part in changing the lives of some
people in El Salvador. I am excited for this opportunity and look forward to
sharing my experiences of what God is doing in El Salvador. Until next time…
Be joyful,
Ryan Green
