Sunday – Trusting that God is in control….especially on the zip line.

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We went to the early morning worship service today and experienced beautiful worship led by talented worship leaders. It was wonderful to praise the Lord in Spanish (thankfully they put the Spanish words to the songs on the screen so we could sing along). The pastor shared a message from Jeremiah 17:7-8: “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him….” It was a great reminder that we can have confidence in the Lord because of Who He is and that truly, He is in control!

It was good to meditate on that as we harnessed up for the canopy zip line tour above a lush volcano mountainside. Some of the team had done this before, so it was nice to observe them and learn. It was rather humorous to see everyone with their little orange plastic crash helmets (looked sort of like plastic beanies to me) along with padded gloves and all the harnessing.

Not exactly a fashion statement. The first few runs were short ones to get the hang of it and learn to brake. This came easily to most, but the “seniors” had a bit of trouble with this (guess who these were J).

I found it easier to zip than stop and decided that I would just trust that our guides would catch me before I hit a tree. After several small runs, we got to the longer stretches that strung out over a wider, deeper expanse.

The view (when you get the nerve to look around) is really beautiful. It was just hard to concentrate on the rules, where to keep your hands, etc.

Tim having fun.

All in all, a really fun experience and not as frightening as I feared it would be. Our young team members encouraged us “riper” folks along and were great supporters.

Surviving this challenge, we ate lunch at an outdoor restaurant overlooking a beautiful valley near some volcanoes.

What gorgeous scenery! We enjoyed some typical roasted chicken, beans and rice, platanos, Salvadoran style sandwiches and soaked in the surroundings. Then we were treated to one of the best ice cream shops in the city, Jungle Snow. It had gotten hotter over the afternoon, so this was a welcome retreat. While sitting in the courtyard of this newer mall area, there was a talent show of sorts going on in the middle as well as an antique car show staged around the open courtyard. So we had entertainment as well as treats.

We’ve had a great break this weekend for some R&R and are now preparing for the week to come. Tomorrow we will be going out to a very poor village area to minister in a church there, sharing with the children, praying and encouraging in any way we can. They struggle with malnutrition along with many other difficulties, and there appears to be a stronghold of the occult in this area, so we are also planning a prayer walk around the area to pray against the evil that seems to be keeping this village in bondage. We will be involved in outreaches in a number of different places this week, so please do continue to pray that we will be open vessels, fully surrendered to all that He wants to do in and through us, that we will be sensitive to His leading, quick to respond to His promptings, and that each encounter we have will be encouraging and exalting Jesus. Mercedes reminded us last night that God is speaking to each of us on this trip, often in a soft voice; we must be attentive and tuned in to what He wants to share with each of us. Pray that we hear Him and follow.