From the Field El Salvador: Week One Update from Lauren Garrison
Written by Lauren Garrison
From left to right: Sara Giguere, Lauren Garrison, Jameson Parker, Mark Olivera are safely landed in El Salvador for their Immersion trip.
Reporting from GOD Latin America Campus
I am a student at the Institute for GOD in Nashville, writing from the GOD Latin American campus in El Salvador. I traveled here with three other American students and we’ve been living life alongside the five Salvadoran student-interns here. We’ve spent one of six weeks here in El Salvador so far! It went by much too fast. I have had a very special few days spending time with my friends here: cooking, cleaning, planning, talking, laughing, praying. I think what has impacted me the most these past few days is the strength we have found in one another. We have all been praying for unity, for strength in the Lord, for peace and hope, and we have started working on a project that embodies that strength and hope.
Lauren Garrison, a sous chef with Califarmia Food Truck in Nashville, and Jameson Parker, manager of Hopewell Farms in Nashville. Both share a passion for sustainability and health. Lauren and Jameson will be instrumental in this month’s project planning.
Our Task: A Cafe
We are working on opening a cafe! I am a sous chef in Nashville so this is a very exciting project to get to be a part of, but honestly my experience and passion for food and hospitality is such a small part of what makes this project so exciting. Working alongside local leaders and young people has been so special, but one particular moment showcases the need for this cafe. We were practicing language (English for them, Spanish for me) and asking each other questions to learn about one another and improve our ability to communicate. I asked about jobs they’ve had, and they were talking about the common Salvadoran experience of searching for jobs and finding themselves at a dead end. They shared that prior to their time studying at The Institute, they studied at universities but there was no opportunity for job placement afterwards.
What a privelege then, for all of us to work together on opening a business that is rooted in a desire to create opportunities for individuals like them. A place where people can meet together and enjoy one another, but also a place where young people can have job experience from people who care about them and their development. A place where youth can find themselves learning and growing, being tested in how to work with a team and accomplish the work in front of them. Being challenged to participate in creating a healthy work environment where people respect and care for one another. The hope is tangible!
Cooking together is creating an awesome bond of language learning, practical lessons on the type of equipment and ingredients available, and uncovering the skillsets of our team from the US and El Salvador.
The Role of Hope
Hope is a precious gem that requires those seeking it to be active participants in it. We are hoping for hope. We, Salvadorans and Americans working together under the same God, want to see the youth of this country have opportunities to gain skills and learn about themselves and their strengths and weaknesses. We want the youth here to have opportunities that so many Salvadorans don’t grow up having. That opportunity right now looks like job experience in a place where people are willing to work through challenges in order to ensure a safe and healthy work environment.
It’s been a privilege to spend time with my friends this first week. We’re enjoying teaching each other various phrases and how to cook together. I’m so thankful this is just the beginning of my trip because we have so much to learn and experience together.
Praying, worshipping, studying the Bible, living, eating, and doing chores together is bringing us closer as a team.
Praying Together
We have cried out to the Lord in prayer that we would be the type of people that can embody hope. We have prayed that we would be the type of people to find strength in our weakness, clinging to Scripture on behalf of our team and on behalf of El Salvador. We have prayed that kids would grow up to have opportunities, that generations that have been damaged by war and poverty would heal. We have big dreams on this campus and we believe that relying on the Word of God and enacting it is so powerful and it will produce change. We are working together to serve one another and strengthen each other, so that as a body of people we might change the world by believing in one another. By using our words to speak life into moments, being vulnerable and hoping with each other.
The world is changing and I can see it. It’s felt in the ways that despite the hardship that has the power to make fear an idol we have been working to see things from a perspective that Paul encourages Gods people to take and “to think about the things that are worthy of praise (Philippians 4:8).” To take our thoughts captive and to live in such a way that we can rejoice with one another when one rejoices (1 Corinthians 12:26).
To build something with a foundation in hope I believe that it must start with people who believe in one another, so that together they might produce hope for the next generation. That has been my experience this first week. We are hoping together. That El Salvador might have hope, too.