The Youth of El Salvador
April 6th-10th 2023El Salvador Youth Conference:
- Despite the ongoing challenges stemming from gang-related violence in Central American countries, our second annual youth conference in El Salvador was a great success! We had over 100 attendees, including participants from churches in Honduras and Guatemala that we have had the pleasure of working with in the past.
- We were joyful to witness the enthusiasm and preparation of the young people for kingdom work.
- We are also deeply encouraged by the transformative work the Lord is doing among the youth in the region.
April 11th-16th Nicaragua:
- Expanded outreach to Nicaragua, collaborating with local churches, NGOs, and medical professionals to plan for future initiatives.
- Danny led a youth event for over 100 young adults.
August 1st-11th:
- Central America: with a 45 person team, we conducted medical and dental clinics for 900+ in El Salvador, Guatemala & Honduras.
- We were blessed with the opportunity to share the life-changing Truth of The Gospel with everyone that came to the clinics, praying with many and seeing God continue to work in their hearts and lives.
Below is 2022 update:
More than 60 people were murdered on March 26th, 2022 in the country of El Salvador. By the end of that weekend, 87 people had been killed and the Central American nation was reeling from violence. Both MS-13 and two factions of the Barrio 18 gangs have fueled El Salvador’s soaring murder rates in recent years. All this happened the weekend before our trip to that very same city. We prayed and asked God for wisdom and then we decided that it was for such a time as this, for us to go. We had planned this trip since December and we were excited to go to El Salvador at a time when they needed so much!
So what was the plan? Why did we go at such a controversial time? God had put it in our heart to start a project there like our annual youth conference in Nayarit, Mexico. Our goal was not only to have a youth event, but to disciple and train them to be a light. This youth conference was the first step in preparing a mission team for a trip we would do in August. (In Nayarit we do an annual youth conference in October and then a mission trip to the mountains of Mexico with 85% of our team made up of people who attended the youth conference!) Our aim was to do this in El Salvador as well!
We are very excited about the unity brought to this area! There was about six churches that came together and over 120 youth that came to the conference!
The streets had become very dangerous for the youth.The government of El Salvador had arrested more than 14,000 people in three weeks, after it declared a “State of Emergency” in response to a spike in gang violence. This granted the state sweeping powers and suspended some civil liberties. During this time we were there doing our youth conference. We had to be very careful to have everyone home before dark, as well as keep other guidelines, to ensure the safety of everyone involved with our project there.
It was beautiful to see restoration happening! With God and within families and friends!
We had a very full program that consisted of workshops, worship and games and well as main sessions and small groups. With our focus being on discipleship and evangelism we not only had classroom time but we also hit the streets… with the Gospel. After the conference we set up a date and time for everyone to regroup. The day came and we split up into small groups as we walked in the plaza and the streets. As we walked we shared the gospel, prayed, & invited everyone to an impromptu event we were going to try to do in the middle of the market at 2pm.
This is our group that went to evangelize in the market! Many people heard the gospel and we prayed for that day!
We made it back to the market and started our dramatic dramas! It was awesome to see some of the youth from the conference seeing out of their comfort zones and sharing the gospel. After our dramas, songs, and invitation we walked around and prayed with people before we left.
“Building a Team Through Youth Events”
Many of the youth shared testimonies of the overwhelming presence of God and how their love for Jesus was rekindled into a roaring flame! Many were excited about sharing the gospel in the streets and were eager to use their gospel sharing tools with the people in their circles. Our counselors were very happy with the progress of their youth over the short three day conference. I know that they are very excited to walk with God.
We had several team games and competitions! It was a lot of fun!
Over all they conference was amazing and we were very excited for the Lord is doing with youth there! As our time came to an end we asked who wanted to participate in missions, and several raised their hands. We then gave them the news that we would be returning in about 90 days! We explained that we were going to do a mission trip through Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. And the thing was…. more than 90% of the team was going to be youth that attended the conference! So this youth conference was also primarily a recruitment program to start missions with the locals!
Stay tuned for the next blog as we share the adventures we had with them in August!
We’re so excited to be able to worship together! We brought our entire worship team from Mexico! (De Joven A Joven)
A big shout out to our team! They did so well! Thank you so much for your prayers and support!
Also a big thank you to our friends at SOS ministries! They allowed us to use our facilities and they sponsored several of the costs to of this event!