Today began with an early breakfast so that we could take some time to make plans for the day. Before we went to the church, we quickly stopped by the coffee factory in Chalchuapa and picked up some fresh bags of coffee. It was kind of strange setting to buy coffee. It wasn’t a store, but rather an office in which I presume people normally order mass quantities. They didn’t seem to mind at all, and we all left with plenty of coffee.

We then went to the church where we met up with the pastor and he lead us to another church member’s home to have lunch. It was great. We had a lot of fun visiting with that family. Afterward we went to a local school. We went class to class with our Gospel soccer balls and spoke to the kids. After visiting four classes, the school had a 20 minute break so we were asked to stop and take a break. Within seconds it seemed I was surrounded by kids wanting to talk to me. They wanted to see if they could speak English. After the break, we visited two more classes and left. Of course, we left behind the soccer balls which excited all the kids…it looked like the school needed them.

In the evening we had another worship service when I preached. I feel like my voice is going after all the classroom visits today but I’m sure I’ll be ready tomorrow. We are supposed to go to the border tomorrow and walk in to Guatemala. Also, the church is making pupusas for us tomorrow…I’m a little worried at how many they expect me to eat.

Today, I have realized that the struggle people face on a mission trip is the tendency to ask “What’s in it for me?” A trip’s success is often determined by some great feeling or experience when the question that needs to be asked is “Am I glorifying God?” Of course, that’s the challenge we face in church back home and if we can learn to seek God’s glory rather than ourselves, we’ll see a whole new kind of “success.”