InternSHIP in El Salvador: 17 Lessons From 17 Weeks in El Salvador

I was doing some thinking…as I try to do on occasion…and I realized I have spent 17 weeks living in El Salvador. One spring break trip, one summer trip for 8 weeks, and one more summer trip for 8 weeks. 1 + 8 + 8 = 17 weeks total. In conclusion for this summer, I was thinking it would be great to share 17 lessons I have learned from spending 17 weeks in El Salvador. So here it goes…

1) Spanish is not vital to show people the love of God

Visiting a Spanish speaking country means you need to know Spanish, right? No, not really. It is not necessary to share God’s love only through our words. I have seen that we are able to build relationships through simple presence. We can play with kids, build homes, and have community without needing to say a word. God leads us places and is faithful to build relationships even through the obstacles.

2) Spanish is necessary for discipleship

Starting relationships is easy, but building deeper relationships requires deeper communication, it can’t only be body language. Discipleship and living life alongside people in a Spanish speaking country is really only possible when you can communicate well. They may know some English, but the majority don’t know enough to have deeper conversations, just like the majority of Americans don’t know enough Spanish. My Spanish has improved significantly over my 17 weeks in El Salvador, but it is in my plans to learn Spanish very well. I see myself continuing to be involved with Spanish speaking countries and see that learning Spanish would allow for deeper relationships as well as open the door to more opportunities.

3) Relationships take time

This one is pretty self-explanatory. Relationships take time to form and grow. It does not usually happen overnight and it takes effort to continue relationships. The more time that passes brings more trust and respect. There is no magic pill. Relationships are not necessary for evangelism, but they are necessary for discipleship and the building up of a community.

4) Being vulnerable makes you relatable

Most of the world sees the United States as the land of opportunity and has a view that nothing majorly bad happens here. When we make ourselves vulnerable and are open to sharing stories of how God has walked us through hard times in our lives, we become relatable. Everybody goes through hardships. I remember a time this summer where I shared about going through a deep depression a couple years ago during our guys Bible study, and the next day one of the young men came up and started a conversation with me. It was a conversation just to get to know me more and so I could get to know him, talking about siblings, age, favorite food, etc. Being vulnerable makes us relatable and approachable.

5) Being intentional with the time we’ve been given

Time is limited. I have spent 17 weeks in El Salvador and it does not feel like much time. I have learned that there are not always more opportunities to engage people. When there is an opportunity, it needs to be taken. This has helped me to be more proactive in all of my relationship and to seize the opportunities God has given me. There is not always another opportunity. I am reminded of that Toby Mac song that says, “If you gotta start somewhere why not here? If you gotta start sometime why not now?”

6) God will guide you, though he may not tell you in advance

Ask God to move in your life and He will move. He will guide you where He wants you to be and He will equip you once you are there. Turn your brain off, quit overanalyzing situations, and just go where God is leading you. He may not give you the full story or the end picture, but I promise you because I have seen this in my life, God will lead you. I can look back at my life and see how God has led me to where I am today, even though I have not felt like He was leading me in the moment.

7) Rest is necessary

We are not able to continuously pour ourselves out all day every day. We need rest. Rest from work and responsibilities. Rest does not come naturally in most situations, it has to be planned into the schedule. I have seen and felt the effects of not resting enough. It makes us irritable, discouraged, selfish, and ruins our ability to function well. Take time to rest.

8) Long distance is difficult and costly

This lesson is a hard one for me to deal with. Long distance friendships/relationships are not easy. I am not able be as close to many people I would like to be closer with because of the distance between us. As much as we would like to be closer, not living life close to each other creates a significant hindrance in the growth of our relationships. I would like to live life with many different people from many different places, but it is not possible. It can be difficult and costly to follow God’s leading to a distant land. This summer specifically, I missed graduations and marriages of both friends and family.

9) It’s our choice how much we pour ourselves out

This is something we each have to decide as our individual self. It’s interesting seeing many people come and go on trips to El Salvador, because everybody chooses their level of involvement. This goes for all aspects of SHIP: bible studies, community outreach, construction, VBS, cooking, cleaning, socializing. Some people came and jumped into everything, some needed help breaking the ice to jump in, and some let the awkwardness or newness of everything greatly limit their involvement. Seeing this has helped me look at myself and take advantage of more of the opportunities I have been given. We all have a choice in our involvement in what is going on around us.

10) Conflict is inevitable

I wish this lesson was not true, but sadly it is very true. I have a hard time with conflict. I don’t like it and I naturally want to avoid it. Being under authority, doing my job, and living life with the same few people everyday will bring conflict. Sometimes it is very petty and other times it is legit conflict from very different perspectives and approaches. The Bible stresses healthy Christian community as being very important and beneficial. With this in mind, I understand the importance of addressing situations before the conflict is truly divisive. I am not the best at it, but I am learning to confront conflict, and I have seen how doing so has prevented further conflict.

11) Clear communication makes the world a better place

Hah, who would have thought? Authority figures communicating what they want accomplished, clearly, people under authority communicating what they will need or any obstacles, clearly, friends communicating encouraging words, clearly, significant others communicating feelings and intentions, clearly, just to name a few. I’m not talking about complications with English to Spanish or vice versa, I’m talking about clearly communicating to the best of our abilities. Miscommunication is frustrating, and non-communication is painful and damaging. Let’s make the world a better place by communicating clearly with one another.

12) Dangers of being overly work focused, we only have so much we can give

If we spend all day working hard to accomplish the tasks set before us, how can we expect to build relationships with people? I don’t know about you but I am not the most engaging and friendly type of person after working hard all day. I also have a hard time focusing on things like conversations or Bible studies if I’m already exhausted. We only have so much we can give. We have to look at what we want to pour ourselves out for. What is more important, work or people? There is some overlap and both are important, but it’s possible to pour too much out for work that you having nothing left to give people. Work will always be there, people will not. Find a balance.

13) Relationships don’t last forever

This is another lesson I wish were not true. I enjoy people and like having good relationships with them. Some relationships end from death, anger, and hurt, which I understand. I have had a much harder time coming to terms with relationships ending for other reasons, such as physical distance, overly busy schedules, and not enough effort to keep it going. The truth is, there is not enough time in the day and we don’t have enough resources to keep every relationship going strong. Like everything else, we must pick and choose what we will do. We are not permanent for this world and many of our relationships will not last our entire time here in this world. This may seem depressing or morbid, but it’s a reality. Understanding this reality helps me to enjoy the time I am given with the relationships I am able to have. Relationships are not beautiful because they last forever, they are beautiful because they are beautiful. Let’s enjoy them.

14) Effort to understand their culture, rather than change it to match ours, is better

Coming from the United States, many people with SHIP live life very well. Many of the people are successful in family, jobs, finances, and ministry. While there are many things we understand well, we don’t know everything. It is a dangerous mindset to think that we can go to El Salvador and say we know how to live life better than them. Their culture has different approaches to authority and, especially in Christian culture, their authority figures seem very strict and heavy on the rules. Even though I have spent 17 weeks there, I don’t live their lives everyday. I have to understand that they operate in certain ways because it is their culture. I also need to respect their authority and rules, and not aid in undermining their authority figures by helping or encouraging people to break the rules because “They are ridiculous, stupid, and outrageous rules.” Undermining their authority creates a noticeable rift and is damaging to building new relationships. It is not our culture, but that doesn’t make it wrong.

15) No need to be perfect in any ability before sharing them

It’s okay to look like a fool. There is no need to be a soccer pro before jumping into a soccer game. There is no need to be incredible at guitar before talking with the worship leaders. There is no need to have a perfect Bible study laid out before leading a Bible study. There is no need to be a master in construction before helping with construction. Shovels and drills really aren’t complicated. God has given us abilities to share. It’s perfectly okay to not be an expert before sharing our gifts and abilities. It opens up a ton of opportunities to build relationships if we will just get out there and go for it.

16) Life is very hard, we must constantly make choices and sacrifices

Life is, in many ways, miserable. There are so many choices we must make prioritizing one thing over another. There is simply not enough time or resources to be able to do everything. While in El Salvador, I would love to be at all the churches we know, spend time building deep relationships with all the kids/youth, visit all the tourist sights in the country, build houses for everyone in need, learn everything about everything. Some choices are easier to prioritize, but most are not. The Holy Spirit is faithful to guide us in how we should live.

17) How elite I am in this world

Seriously, look at me. I am able-bodied, intelligent, educated, hard-working, and oh so very handsome. I come from a very stable, Christian family. I am from a country with more opportunities than most. My status and upbringing are not common for the world we live in, yet I understand they don’t make me better than anyone else. Learning this has shown me the importance of being diligent and seizing the opportunities God has given me, and using them to further God’s kingdom.

* Many of these lessons are not exclusive to living in a foreign culture *

I have a hard time making this a conclusion blog post. I am truly grateful for the time and opportunities I have had with the people of El Salvador. Thank you to everybody who has helped me be involved with El Salvador. I am not sure when I will be able to return to El Salvador or what that will look like, but I would very much like to continue spending time in El Salvador. I constantly pray that God would give me guidance in my involvement with El Salvador. I ask that you would pray for me as I readjust to living life in Texas. I would like to live in both places but that is simply not possible.

A song I found shortly after returning to Texas after last summer is called, El Salvador, by Phil Joel. I don’t know his story with El Salvador but the lyrics match with many of my experiences and thoughts.