Thursday Mission Report: The Final Countdown in El Salvador

“Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." Matthew 9:37-38

On each of our trips into El Salvador, we are blessed to see so much of this beautiful country. We fly into the airport and are quickly escorted into a bustling city with many of the comforts of America (although certainly not all of them, of course). Each day we travel from mountaintop villages, to schools in the midst of gangland territories and even police headquarters. In November, we took flatbed pickup trucks into the jungles via a dry riverbed to conduct clinics for a town that rarely sees outsiders and is effectively cut off from the rest of the world during the rainy season. And this year, we finally got the chance to see the coast of our Central American home. 

Again, we left at just six o’clock in the morning, drove two hours to the southern coastline of El Salvador and then departed the bus for a slightly more adventurous (but surprisingly relaxing) mode of transportation. In order to get to the peninsular village of Corral, we loaded our medical supplies and personnel into five large motor boats then hiked a short distance through the jungles past homes and farmlands that modernity seems to have forgotten. Ordinarily, we are greeted with friendly smiles and laughing children. Even in the towns most ravaged by gang violence and poverty, the people seem to be curious about our team of “gringos” and thankful for the opportunity to receive much needed medical care. But on the coast, interactions with white Americans are far more common and unfortunately these kinds of tourists have gained a reputation that has led many Salvadorians to be distrustful. Although this was the first time Jireh ministry had visited, it is only the second time in 8 years that any missionary organization has done so. I couldn’t help but think of Jesus as He looked at His own people and saw them as sheep without a shepherd. In El Salvador and in the United States of America, fields are overly ripe but still there are so few missionaries to go. In the case of this seaside, jungle village, we were not there so much to cast seeds but to plow. We went to rebuild bridges and transform the mindset of local Salvadorians towards American missionaries in hopes that later teams might sow more of the truth of Scripture and yet more teams might reap a great harvest of souls.  

Honestly, from a very human perspective, it was somewhat disheartening to see such little engagement and seemingly little fruit borne from the tremendous efforts of our missionary crew. Crowded into just one small church building, 25 team members providing medicine, glasses, clothes, taking vital stats, pulling and cleaning teeth, passing out Bibles and performing general medical consultations worked together seamlessly to see approximately 300 locals. Every one of them heard the Gospel from American students, our translators, and four pastors (3 Salvadorian and one bald American - haha). The net was cast far and wide. We varied the approaches and stories used to share the Gospel but very few responded to the hope of Jesus Christ. At least that’s what I thought – we were assured at the end of a long day fueled primarily by our last reserves of energy and a steady stream of fresh coconut milk that somewhere around 20 people did indeed decide to begin a journey of faith and take the first steps to follow Jesus!

We said our goodbyes and thanked our hosts at the Lion of Judah Baptist Mission, put our toes in the sand, splashed a bit of ocean water then boarded our vessels for one more cruise across the bay. It was a beautiful day but would you pray with us for the people of Corral? Pray for the team that will come after us to further meet needs, forge relationships, and invite people to come to the cross of Christ. Pray that they are obedient to come soon rather than waiting another eight years for people to grow cold-hearted and distant towards us. 

The fields are indeed ripe for the harvest wherever we turn in this world. And I have a sneaking suspicion as to why Jesus called His disciples (much like I am calling you today) to pray for workers. Have you ever noticed that when you begin praying for something specific, you also begin to take notice of the little ways that God starts to move to answer those prayers in His own time? It’s like driving a new car and then suddenly realizing that everyone seems to have bought the same make, model and even color about that same time. Maybe if we’d start praying for harvest field workers we’d also start seeing opportunities to serve, give and go. We will soon fly 2,500 miles from El Salvador but we are not leaving the mission field – we are simply transitioning where we are doing missions…we’re just moving from one field to another one that still needs to see the love of Jesus and receive our ministry of reconciliation. So, let’s get to work!

We look forward to seeing you out in the fields, fellow missionary friends,

S.S.