Alive and kickin´

Hi all,

First off, I would like to assure you that I am still alive down here in Central America! Waiting for a less-busy time to update you has not been a good plan. Feels as if we´re always in the thick of it here at Envision Wired... I wouldn´t change any of it though!

One year ago, God brought about our friendship with Sam and Julie Hawkins. This beautiful couple arrived in El Salvador nearly 30 years ago taking a leap of faith, not having any idea what God had in store for them. They founded Love Link to help the large percentage of malnourished infants here have a chance at survival and a healthy life. Almost 1,500 babies have passed through their doors, and through love and care, 97% of them have recuperated and returned to their families.

The Hawkins also founded Project Metamorfosis - Vision:  See at-risk people and prison inmates become productive and proactive citizens of Salvadoran society through the success of applied discipleship, life training and employment. Mission:  Employ and disciple high-risk people in a self-sustaining prototype shoe factory. The majority of employees have been imprisoned in the past, and because of their history or involvement in gangs, finding work elsewhere is challenging. But those are exactly the people we want to reach! We have officially taking over leadership of both of these ministries, as Sam and Julie step down. It´s been a whirlwind that´s for sure!

We have been in crisis mode these past 3 weeks, working LONG hours to help save the shoe factory. The goal is 6,000 pairs of shoes by this Saturday! We were faced with the reality that in order to continue this ministry, we have to have a successful and efficient business. We were so far behind on several orders that our only buyer was going to have to take his business elsewhere. Thankfully they granted us a 3 week period to catch up. So, Wired staff have been there nearly every day of (an hour commute both ways!) to help and support the Metamorfosis employees. I personally have loved it - call me crazy but I like doing repetitious and detailed manual labor! I´ve worked several stations of the assembly line, but have settled into the quality control part! Add shoe-making to the list of ¨random things I´ve learned to do in El Salvador¨. :)

Aura and I making sure all the shoes that are shipped out are error-free!

Some prayer requests for the present would be:

  - For us to reach the goal of 6,000 pairs of shoes on time.
  - For God´s protection over everyone at the factory. There has been some major spiritual warfare going on at Metamorfosis over the past months, but definitely during these 3 weeks. God is working!
  - For our staff, especially Richard Mullinax and his family. For renewed energies and strength to make it through this crisis. And deeper trust and reliance in God our Refuge.
   - For relationships created with the ladies on my football team to deepen. (*check out my last post. We had our first game this past Sunday!)

Thank you so much for your support, love, and prayers. I am thankful for each of you.

Much love,
Melissa

A days worth of ¨lotes¨ ready to be shipped out. Each box holds 12 pairs of shoes.

Rainy season is coming to a close, but we´ve had a lot of big, last thunderstorms. Here´s one coming in over the city. Oh yeah, and did anyone hear about the 7.5 earthquake we had a few nights ago?!