some bittersweet news

manuel and cecy, the national staff couple that works with my team of five on matías and evangelica, sat us down today.. and through tears imformed us that they would not be able to join us on campus for the month of october, because they need to focus full time on support raising.. they have been so close on finances that it has been difficult paying bills on time.. the entire national staff team leaves campus for the entire month of november to raise support full time, because by the end of the year they are nearly out of support! it is such a difficult situation to be in, because they want so badly to be able to continue in ministry alongside our team.. i just cant imagine the stress they feel as november approaches.. first and foremost, please be praying that the Lord raises their support! pray that the Lord would increase their reliance on Him, and trust in His provision.. pray that they would be encouraged during this time! they, as well as the rest of the national staff, have such great hearts for the Lord.. it is hard knowing that they are unable to do what they love because of money.. so please just keep them in your prayers..

if there could be a bright side to such a sad occurence, i want to encourage you that the Lord has used this in some interesting ways for our team.. it has been difficult for our team as we suddenly had appointments scheduled all week with students who only spoke spanish, which is something our fluency levels were probably not quite prepared for.. but the Lord has really blessed us through this process, as it has stretched us to use spanish much more, and experience a lot more ownership over our ministry here.. and i feel like our language skills have been growing greatly through this 'baptism by fire' process.. it has been hard, but there has been so much joy, and bonding as a team, and growth from all this that it has really been a blessing in disguise having to take the reins of our ministry here.. praise the Lord for His sovereignty, in ordaining this to happen at this specific time! and please continue to pray for manuel and cecy, as they are raising support and being stretched in their faith as well!

love you all..

fresh perspective, new direction

earlier this week, we sat down with manuel and cecy, after a couple weeks working on campus, to discuss what we liked, what our goals are, and how we are doing in reaching them.. after looking at the goals set in the past for reaching our two campuses, we talked about what needed to be changed.. we ended up having a really incredible and inspiring conversation that really reminded me of why i am here..

we discussed how these students arent simply just numbers.. the goal is not set at a certain number of students each year to share the Gospel with.. our focus is not on numbers or percentages or demographics.. our focus is really on the hearts of students, the lives of young men and women, and our scope truly is the entire country.. for example, what is more important: to see five hundred students come to know Christ, and then vanish into the woodwork of everyday life; or to see a handful of students become truly passionate for the salvation of their families, friends and peers? to have hundreds of people fill the churches year after year, so long as american missionaries are working here; or to see a movement form that sustains itself long after our teams leave?

we realized, after looking through the Gospels at Jesus' three year ministry, that His focus was not on simply preaching to the masses.. He knew that He was here on earth for a very short time, and He had a very specific purpose for everything He did.. His primary focus was on pouring time and energy and love into His disciples.. the twelve followed Him everywhere, knew Him intimately, learned to trust the Lord for everything, and were trained to carry on His ministry.. with Jesus' last words before He ascended, He urged His disciples to "go therefore and make disciples of all nations," teaching the people what Christ taught them.. flash forward two thousand years or so, and now there are thriving movements of Christ-followers all over the world..

we want to model that same focus here.. we want to pour out everything we know, everything we are, for these students.. teach them to observe what Christ has taught us, and send them out to reach the far corners of their country, and beyond their own borders, with the love and truth of the Gospel..

so pray that we would be building friendships and solid relationships with students! pray that we would be able to hang out with them outside of time on campus! please pray that the Lord would be revealing to us how to have truly effective discipleship times..

thanks everyone!

we bought our first car today! its a hyundai elantra, and we got it for a really good deal.. it handles really well, which is incredibly important in a place like this.. brandon and i took turns driving it back to our house, and it was quite the adventure.. i actually felt surprisingly comfortable amidst the huge buses flying past, the weaving motorcycles, the jaywalking pedestrians, and the other cars constantly trying to jam their way ahead of you.. it felt natural, but we definitely need Gods protection as we are out there on the road..

this car is such an answer to prayer itself: it will allow us to do ministry better; connect more as a team now that we have more control over our schedule; take care of details that we used to have to depend on others to take care of.. it is such a blessing to finally have a car! thank you for your prayers, and for the financial support you gave so generously.. it has enabled us as missionaries to do what we have been called here to do!

hopefully soon i will put a video up on the online gallery of me and brandon driving!

a sweet opportunity

despite being in recovery mode from our stomach issues the last couple days, our team was invited over to layos house for dinner to hear about a really cool opportunity for ministry.. we met with a representative from josh mcdowell ministries, a branch of campus crusade.. josh mcdowell, if you have not heard of him, is an incredible man who has done so much for the Lord in his life.. he has written many books that have impacted countless people around the world for the Gospel.. he is also a traveling speaker, speaking at venues all over the globe..

well josh has agreed to come to el salvador for a week this coming may! although it is a long way off, we have a lot to plan and prepare for.. the Lord has used josh's speaking engagements in other countries to bring a lot of change and make huge differences in the movements happening in those places, and He is definitely capable of using josh to do similar things here in el salvador.. please be praying that the Lord will use this opportunity somehow, however that may be.. pray that students will be touched by the truth josh will bring, and that our movement will grow!

it was bound to happen..

..and it finally did..

well, our whole team has been sick now for the last two days.. we must have eaten something this weekend that got us sick, because everyone on our team (except laucky lauren, last one standing) has been 'riding the d-train,' as they say.. everyone has had some combination of multiple digestive symptoms and fevers with chills..

me personally, i have experienced it all in the last couple days.. i havent thrown up, praise the Lord for that.. but yeah, it has been difficult.. we are all incredibly exhausted, and have missed two days already being on campus..

please pray for healing! thank you so much for those who already have! we are taking medicine, drinking electrolytes, and getting plenty of rest.. i will update you soon on the health of the team!

happy independence day, el salvador

we went to a parade today in the heart of san salvador in celebration of the day el salvador gained independence from spain in 1821.. i have written a little bit about the circumstances of the spanish occupation of el salvador, but to summarize; the spanish treated the native salvadorians pretty objectionably, and tense relationships even today..

therefore, independence day is quite a celebration.. and salvadorians know how to party..



dont forget to check out the photo gallery for more, and better, pictures:

http://gallery.me.com/trevor.miller

'vamos a la playa'

a salvadorian student from our movement invited our team to stay at his beach house for the weekend! it was such a blessing from the Lord, after our first full week of ministry, to be able to just relax and enjoy each other as a team.. this past week has been the hardest so far, but to end it with a weekend trip to an incredible beach with my whole team was amazing!


the water is about eighty or eighty five degrees.. we were in this beautiful little bay with only locals and not much tourism.. gorgeous waves.. soda in glass bottles, 'ceviche de camarones' (kind of like a shrimp salad).. it was pretty picturesque..


speaking of pictures, the ones at the online gallery are full quality, and i have quite a few more from this little trip.. so go see them at http://gallery.me.com/trevor.miller

love you guys!

spanish with yuri

language has been somewhat of a drain on our team as a whole, because it becomes very exhausting to have to have your mind working so hard constantly to translate everything in order to eat, or know whats going on, or make important decisions with the national staff, or simply have a conversation with a student.. these are things i have taken for granted until i got here and realized how hard it is.. it has been fun, but it has definitely been challenging.. we have had some trouble finding someone who would be able to tutor us, seeing as most tutors around are english tutors.. there are also french schools and german schools, but there is obviously not a big market here for americans trying to learn spanish..

today we started our spanish tutoring! manuel, one of the national staff here, talked to an acquaintance of his that was willing to tutor us in spanish.. it wasnt until meeting him today that we found out just how privileged we are.. his name is yuri, he is a Christian salvadorian jew, and he has an incredible story.. when the war began, he was fifteen years old.. he loved languages as a kid, and taught himself english and german, so when the war started he made a very good living translating for all the reporters from the u.s., england, and germany.. when he was seventeen, the president of el salvador went about hiring a personal translator, and yuri was hired among the hundreds of applicants.. although he was a year too young to work by law, the president simply signed papers making him eighteen years old so he could hire him! yuri has been working for the president personally for twenty two years now, and is the only man in the country with the power to sign off on legal documents in other languages.. he oversees image for both political parties here in el salvador.. he is fluent in nine languages and five dialects, including hebrew, portuguese, italian, french, russian, yittish, japanese, and zulu.. he is currently teaching himself mandarin as well.. he only teaches executives and high ranking government officials, and charges $300/hr per person for his lessons, because he has been able to make people fluent in a second language within two months.. he is a very brilliant and gifted man, who truly loves the Lord and cares about us..

oh, and he is teaching all ten of us on the team, an hour each week, absolutely free!

praise God for His provision! there is no way that something like this can happen apart from the Lord simply providing for us, and desiring to make our ministry effective.. please pray that we will be diligent in learning the language, devoting time to it, and not wasting this incredible blessing.. be encouraged that God is watching out for us.. pray that these spanish lessons will enable us to have a much stronger ministry here.. and pray that we get to meet the president of the country! it may not happen, but it is entirely possible, and change happens quicker if it happens from the top down..

love you all..

God is moving!

a while back our team met with layo and luchi, our national directors, to discuss vision.. i wrote about it in an earlier blog, but just as a refresher, one of the things he talked about was a great need for discipleship and training.. pastors here in el salvador arent very 'movement-minded,' meaning that they are not focused on discipleship and outreach.. churches here do little to move beyond their own walls, spiritually or physically..

today, layo met with an old friend named luis who used to be on staff with vida estudiantil (campus crusade here in el salvador) for many years.. luis informed layo that he had a plan to start a training center for pastors in el salvador! the closest thing to compare it to would be a seminary.. he had all the details worked out, and asked layo to come along side the project to provide curriculum and actual training and discipleship materials.. he came to layo because he knew that vida estudiantil had exactly what he wanted, exactly what was needed, for this training center to work..

what an answer to prayer! el salvador is in need of multiplying movements that are focused on leaders.. this new training center provides exactly that, and so much more! we are seeing God do incredible things, and we have yet to really jump fully into ministry yet.. amazing! please keep praying, the Lord is definitely answering them..

i need a bit more practice

i led a discussion today at Evangelica, one of the two universities i will be working on this year.. it was a great discussion, we talked about the Vida Estudiantil (Campus Crusade) vision statement:

'ayudar a plantar movimientos in todas partes, haste que cada salvadoreno tenga contacto con un verdadero seguidor de Jesus'

or, in english:

'to help plant movements everywhere, until each salvadorian has contact with a true follower of Jesus'

we talked about whether this was important, if it was necessary.. i asked them if they thought it was even impossible.. i asked them what they saw in their country that needed change, and who they thought was capable of accomplishing it..

and i tried to do it all in spanish! it was really hard, slightly embarrassing as i stumbled over my words.. and i felt like i wasnt getting through to any of the students because of the language barrier..

we ended up having such an incredible discussion! praise the Lord for using my feeble spanish capabilities to bring about some truly thought-provoking dialogue.. we read the Great Commission, which you can find at Matt. 28:16-20.. Jesus calls his eleven disciples together, after His resurrection and before He ascends into Heaven, and tells them to go forth into all the world, teaching people about the incredible things Jesus did..

then i just encouraged them with this thought: Jesus used eleven men to change the entire world forever.. the world will never be the same because these eleven men were faithful to what Jesus had called them.. these men were simple fishermen and farmers, most of them with little or no formal education.. yet Jesus used them to do things never seen before in the world.. then i told them, 'you guys are leaders.. within the next five or ten years, you will be the leaders of your country.. you have the opportunity to change the course of history of your entire country!'

i hope and pray that the Lord will plant the right seeds in the right places, that these students will understand what a crucial role they play in seeing their country change.. please pray with me.. this is what we are here for, to help this come to pass!

a crack and a boom

i think our house may have been struck by lightning earlier today.. we were all waiting for our ride to come pick us up, just reading or whatever, and it started to thunder.. only occasionally could we see the lightning in the beginning; it was almost noon and it was hardly cloudy at all out our windows.. within minutes it was absolutely pouring, and the thunder was setting off car alarms every time.. then we heard a huge crack and all the windows shook with the thunder that came right on its heels.. it was nuts, ive never heard thunder like this.. so yeah, im pretty sure we got hit.. or at least it came incredibly close.. and it happened more than once too!

thats what the rainy season in el salvador is all about apparently.. kids arent even phased by it..

ps there was a little earthquake the other day.. we live kinda close to a volcano that rumbles every now and then.. it was like a four pointer..

and now the thunder is starting back up again..

cell phones

we got cell phones today! it was a pretty complicated process, but i think it was worth it in the end.. cell phones are much different here than in the us.. we have five phones from one carrier [digicel] and five from another [movistar]; both are pretty expensive.. the only plans they have are for eighteen months, so we had to do 'prepago,' or prepaid.. its not terrible, but we have to watch how many minutes we are using.. and do a lot of texting!

we are also getting ready to purchase our cars! this will finally enable us to work better as a team, as well as do ministry much easier.. as of now we are depending on the national staff for rides, and it is getting difficult.. pray that we get some good cars that will last for many years! we plan to leave them for the teams coming down after us, in the next few years..

thats all for now..