Re-entry to El Salvador

I arrived back in El Salvador on Mon. Oct 15th with essentially no trouble, and was able to make use of my new "residency card" for the first time. It was a non-stop flight from Washington DC..only about 4hr...I think it's the first time I've ever flown anywhere non stop. Bobby and Britney picked me up and we were back the orphanage around 8pm. A long day, but I was excited to show them the many Christmas gifts I'd found for the kids at Goodwill, and 4 pair of your girl shoes for $1.50 each from K-mart!

I was told it had rained more than usual while I was gone...literally several times every day. And I should brace myself for an increase in mold in my apartment. That night it didn't look too bad...but then came the next morning and the light of day told an entirely different story. Shock and awe isn't far from what I experienced. Mold was growing on the outside of my frig and kitchen cabinets and on top of the cabinets, on my kitchen table and cloth place mats, on the walls, in and under each and every single drawer in the house (bedside stand, kitchen drawers, clothes drawers, end tables, desk, on and on and on), and in my pillows and comforter, towels, clothes, etc. Of course all the usual places too, like doors and furniture. The task was more than I could even consider tackling, and it took me until the weekend to really get started.

But worse than that was the black clouds that seemed to hang over the campus. I'm not talking about the weather. And I know some of you aren't going to really follow what I'm about to say...but that's OK, just bare with me or you can skip to the next blog entry. It was a spiritual darkness that was heavy and nearly visible, even though the sky was nearly blue. It seems that some things had happened on campus while I was gone, and were continuing to play out. Bobby and Britney seemed defeated and weary. And although the kids greeted my warmly, I soon found myself feeling low too. If you've ever seen the picture on the cover of the book "This Present Darkness"...that's exactly what it was like. By lunch time the sky had turned gray and a weird looking fog had rolled in. To be honest it's the first time I've ever seen fog here and it grew surprisingly thick. They say we seldom get fog. And it seemed so appropriate for what we were all feeling. Then it occurred to me....the verse in the Bible that says that we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities. Of all people, I should be fresh, strong, and ready to do spiritual battle. So I went to my apartment, got on my knees, called on God for help, told the Devil to take a hike, and asked the Lord to pick up us. Know what...it worked. Truly by the end of the work day some much needed discussions had taken place, and even though to the naked eye not much had changed, we knew spiritually the sky had cleared.