encouraging others and being encouraged

This week has been so encouraging to me and Elvis because we finally feel like we have been able to get into the Latino community of LA in neat ways this week and we are starting to feel like we have a clearer vision each day of what God has called us here for. 

First of all, last Saturday we went to the wedding of a girl that Elvis went to elementary school with! They haven't seen each other in years,  but when she realized (thanks to facebook!) that we lived so close-by, sent us an invitation to her small backyard wedding! I was the only non-Salvadoran there, and even the pastor seemed like they had just transported him in from a country village in El Salvador. It was so much fun to connect with people (even a good friend of ours from our church Ruta 3:16 in El Salvador!) and such an  honor to be part of this small wedding. Which of course started at 6:45pm instead of 5pm like the invitation said =) Some habits are tough to break! 

I mentioned the friend from Ruta....actually Elvis has been able to hang out with him several times along with another guy....all 3 were in a small group Bible study together in San Salvador through our church...now we all live within 20 min! 

Also this week, we were honored to have Elvis's cousin come visit, who also just lives about 30 min away in LA. They had  not seen each other in 8 or 9 years since he moved here! It was obvious how much it meant to him to see a familiar face, and the same for Elvis. They swapped stories of childhood memories and he brought us some typical Salvadoran food since he knows all the good places in LA.

We are learning that storytelling, food, and trust are so powerful. 

Elvis and cousin Oto: reunited!

One extremely encouraging part of my week has been starting my World Vision internship at MacArthur Park! You may remember my post about the neighborhood a few weeks ago. On Wednesday I was just in the WV office, but was able to spend all day Thursday in the neighborhood, working on a community assets map and eventually start on a resource manual for new immigrants. Elvis and Suzy had lunch with me down at Mama's Hot Tamales, and Elvis was offered all kinds of things ranging from illegal documents to pupusas on the street to some animal in a box that we weren't sure what it even was! You can find a little bit of everything in MacArthur park....it is truly an experience like none other! 

I also was able to be part of my first weekly meeting with the young people from the Youth Empowerment Program i will be learning from this summer...they were all latino high schoolers from the neighborhood and so inspiring to me because of their motivation, leadership skills, and desire to see transformation in their neighborhood.  Pictured below is a mural from MacArthur Park that was made by some youth involved in the Youth Empowerment Program a couple of years ago. It is their vision of what they would like their neighborhood to look like in the year 2020:  

I love it and want it on my wall in my house....i guess for now i will be OK with seeing it in the park and a copy in our WV office.