Pastor Chris CoffmanTravelling hundreds of miles and sleeping in 4 different locations in 7 days, a group of 7 men from River West Church and other Portland, Oregon churches visited all of the communities that ENLACE works with in the beginning of May. That can be a pretty overwhelming journey—and half the team was missing their luggage the first half of the week! And yet this team came with hearts eager to see God working in El Salvador and brought a sense of joy, spirits of humility and a whole lot of prayer. The River West team came to El Salvador to be an encouragement to local community leaders & members, but River West Associate Pastor, Chris Coffman, shares below what can happen whenever you carve out time to be with God and want to see what great things He is doing in His world
To be honest, I had no idea what to expect when I flew out last week. I knew going into this that folks back home were asking God to open new doors of opportunity. So I asked God to speak to me and allow me to see how he is working in El Salvador.
Having never carved out a week to travel to a country for the purpose of prayer, learning, and listening to God, I was a bit anxious about this trip. With each day that passed the dissonance of my own thoughts was replaced with the unmistakable presence of Christ’s voice—Everywhere I turned Christ was speaking. Through stacks of papusas and stories of unimaginable suffering. Through the beatitudes and the “numb-buttocks” feeling that comes from four hours expeditions in the back Land Rover. In the most unexpected places I found Christ at play in the people of El Salvador.All in all, this last week was one of the best weeks of my life. By God’s mercy, I was given a front row seat to the kingdom of God in El Salvador. I will never forget what it’s like to meet people that believe that a life of justice
(justicia) is inseparable from the life of Jesus.
We are often amazed to see God work week in and week out, but we never put those exact words to it. “A front row seat to the kingdom of God!” That is a good seat to be in!
See photos of the River West Vision Trip.
