Surrounded by His Beauty

This past week a lot of amazing things happened.  I was invited to go to El Salvador with Cathie and Walter.  El Salvador is absolutely beautiful.  We stayed in a lovely home on the beach.  I was able to relax, reflect, and just rest in God.  It was such a blessing.  

When they invited me to go with them I immediately thought of Soraya my sponsor through Compassion Canada.  I started sponsoring her 5 years ago at a youth conference in Edmonton, Alberta.  How amazing it would be if I could see her on this trip too!  Meeting your sponsor child truly makes a difference and I couldn't begin to imagine the blessing it would be to meet her.  I had emailed Compassion Canada at the beginning of the year saying I would be in Guatemala and if I had the chance to go to El Salvador that I would love to see her.  I got a huge email in reply about all the things that needed to be done before this could occur and because I had no idea how possible it would be to go there, I gave up on the idea.  So after looking back at the email I realized she lived in the surrounding area where we would be staying!  I did not know if they would allow me to see her since I did not apply and hand in any of the forms but it was worth a try, right?  Their email back was discouraging.  I felt that God placed us close together for a reason but they made it seem like a meeting would be almost impossible.  They told me if I did not hear back from them before I left that it would not work out.  I asked God to take away my discouragement and for His will to be done in this situation.  So although disappointed, I accepted that I would not get to see Soraya.  As we did not have Internet at the beach (which was really freeing), I did not think about the situation again.  I was enjoying my time at the beach with amazing people.  I was spending a lot of time in the Word and truly was finding rest.  Then Wednesday we went into town as we needed groceries and we stopped at an Internet Cafe.  After sending Mom an email saying I was alright and sending Monica a graduation message, I decided to check my other email account since I had extra time.  I was not expecting anything from Compassion and much to my excitement, and almost confusion, I had 4 emails from them in my inbox.  Although it was last minute, they were able to arrange a meeting.  This is a little excerpt from their email:

 It turns out that Soraya's mother is no longer interested in sending Soraya to the Compassion program and would like to take her out. This sometimes happens when families are interested at first when their child is first enrolled in the program and then do not want to continue with the commitment that is required.

The El Salvador representative and project director both feel that this opportunity for you to visit with Soraya has been God-ordained, as your visit and encouragement to Soraya and her mother, may be just what is needed so that she will continue with the Compassion program.

It turns out that Soraya has a little sister that lives with their grandmother, who is very interested and supportive of Compassion's work, but Soraya lives with her mother, who is the one who is not interested. This is the time to pray and PRAY HARD, that God will soften Soraya's mother's heart and that she will be encouraged by your desire to make this personal connection with her daughter this week. We do not know who will come along as Soraya's guardian for the visit - it may be her mother, grandmother or someone else from the project. Right now, this is all in God's hands.

Wow, was I overwhelmed and grateful to God.  Here I was wanting to meet Soraya to build a little connection with her so I would remember her better and be able to pray for her in a new way, but instead God was arranging something much bigger.  Praise God, He works in amazing ways!  I met Soraya, her mother, and the project director at the Children's Museum in San Salvador.  Soraya turned out to be a very shy 12 year old so although it was awesome to see her, I found it hard to make a connection.  After thinking about it, I realized that it would be overwhelming to a) meet your sponsor, b) travel to San Salvador, a big city, when you live in a rural, small town, and c) be in a museum with planes, trains, science etc. when you have never experienced anything like it before.  So although she was quiet, I built a connection.  Her mother was so grateful that I was able to come and spend this time with her.  She said I was a blessing.  And after discussing a few things, Soraya and her mother promised us that she would stay in the program!  God works in mysterious ways.  A trip that was planned last minute with a last minute meeting turned out to be life changing.  He really is amazing!  I am so grateful to God for I know that without Him none of that would have occurred.  

A beautiful reminder of God's promises and love

So I am back in Tactic, refreshed and excited because of my Lord.  I have 1.5 weeks left in Guatemala and have no idea where the time has gone.  I am excited to see everyone again but have no idea how it will be back in Canada.  I am preparing myself for a huge reverse culture shock.  But before I worry about that, April will be meeting me!  In a couple days she will be here experiencing the amazing things I have been able to experience.  I pray that her life with be changed as mine has.

Many blessings and much love. 

Rebecca