El Salvador
(MNN) — "We have a new work starting in El Salvador where we're partnering
with some Honduran missionaries."
That's World Gospel Mission's Bill Bucher (boo-ker) introducing the ministry of David
and Debbie Hawk and Daniel and Dania Ventura in Jucuapa, El Salvador.
The team began work in September 2006 and
noticed one need that's been growing more urgent as time passes.
"We'd like to send work teams to help with the building
projects that will be ongoing," explains Bucher. The work teams will be building a community medical
clinic, along with a guest house and a home for the missionary teams.
That's a lot of construction. Funding aside, Bucher said
they had one other small problem: no tools. Sending out the list itself seemed impractical. People would help, but how could they get
what was needed?
That's when he hit upon the idea of an online gift registry.
But would it work with a hardware store? "I contacted our local Home Depot
store with a list of tools that we would need. Working with them, we were able
to come up with a gift registry that's online."
Outside of online shopping, there are a couple of other
options to respond to these specific needs, as well. Bucher says people can
call the Marion, Indiana Home Depot store and purchase the
tools over the phone. Bucher will get a
call from the store and go collect what's been purchased. The third way to
help is to give a cash donation that can go toward the tools that are needed most.
It's a perfect jump-start for this new outreach in El Salvador. Bucher explains how the construction 'builds'
opportunities for the Gospel to shine. "Work teams [are] a tremendous
opportunity not only for the people to interact with the nationals, but for the nationals to see the love of Jesus coming to the field through work teams
and people giving their time and talent."
