I just returned from my second trip to El Salvador. It was a wonderful time. God kept us safe and healthy, and our team got along wonderfully. We worked hard, but we had a lot of fun too. Most importantly, I truly believe we encouraged the saints and advanced the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus in the short time we were there. Here are some things I learned:
1. If Salvadorans laugh hysterically when you ask for "Pico de Gallo," there's a reason for that. The phrase literally means "beak of the rooster," but is also slang for the male anatomy.
2. Before locking yourself in a bathroom with no lights, be sure you know how to get out. Particularly when it's your turn to preach.
3. $20 bills can come in handy when you are stopped by Salvadoran police.
4. Salvadorans like to have parades at 6:00 in the morning, complete with honking horns and mariachi bands.
5. If someone offers to wheel your suitcases into the San Salvador airport, it actually means they will saran wrap your suitcases so tight you will never get them open again, and they will charge you $5 for this service.
6. Dramamine comes in handy.
7. If you find reddish stones on El Salvador's volcanic beaches, they are not lava rocks, they are bricks. (And should not be hauled long distances as souvenirs.)
8. One can have a perfectly good church service with dirt floors, plastic chairs, and tin walls. (Who knew?)
9. "Facing the Giants" is just as good in Spanish.
10. One of the greatest Christian schools in this hemisphere has to be the Colegio Bautista in San Salvador.
11. Americans could learn much from Salvadorans regarding warmness and hospitality.
12. Apparently, it is possible to be in a 5.9 earthquake and not feel it.
13. God is just as real in El Salvador as He is in the United States!
