Little Blessings

How in the world is it already March? I do apologize for the late post, my life has a way of getting a little crazy here on the missions field! For those of you who are a little concerned after my last post, rest assured I am doing just fine, things are going wonderfully! Each day brings a new set of challenges and even more excitement, my life is never boring. I will do my best to recap these past few weeks in a short amount of time. Always know that if you have any questions or would like to contact me personally, please do! I will leave my personal email at the bottom of this post and I would love to hear from you.

Where to start! Well we have had some great teams visiting over the last little while, and it is so nice to have guests in the house from all over the U.S. We had a building team come and work on a house for a fellow employee, who has become a dear friend of mine. This little rascal has found the way to my heart and continues to bug me endlessly all day everyday! I must say I kinda love it. He is celebrating over 2 years of sobriety which is a wonderful accomplishment! Praise God! His life is a whole new story now and he was finally blessed with a place to call "Home". Upon finishing this project, the team continued to do much needed repairs around the office and our new building across the road. They were a huge blessing and a wonderful team!

Our second team was a medical team, and I will do my best to put into words the wonderful gift they were to this community! They came packed full with medications and equipment to fully serve the people of our community.We offered a free clinic for four days, to all of our programs and the people surrounding us. A free clinic in this community makes the world of a difference. For many of these people, the cost of visiting a doctor is unheard of, so many must suffer every single day, in heart wrenching pain, just trying to get by. We served people of all ages from teeny tiny beautiful babies to wonderful heart warming seniors. I got the opportunity to get to know some of these wonderful people, and share a little about our program with them. I am happy to report that we have many new faces in our program because of it! The team members had the most beautiful heart to serve,and made every single person feel loved and cherished by them, and by God. They worked late hours and saw hundreds of patients, not only taking care of their physical needs, but their spiritual ones as well. The team was wonderful to get to know and I have made several new friends that I cherish close to my heart. We had another team visit this week for a one day clinic, and I had the wonderful opportunity to meet a beautiful young mom to be. We laughed, chatted and got to know one each other. It still amazes me how women have a way of connecting with one another on such a truly beautiful level. We capture each others hearts, through love and understanding, even with a language barrier in place, it makes no difference. God lets us see the other women as our sister in Christ, and what a wonderful thing that is! This special new friend of mine is the same age as me and yet our lives look much different. She has a 6 year old daughter and a life time of trials, and yet she is simply glowing with love and excitement to meet this wonderful blessing from God. We had the opportunity to hear that beautiful baby heart beat and it was a magical moment it was, one I will never forget. This kind of technology in this country is rare, and it being a surprise option warmed this lovely women soul. With a steady strong heart beat and several fierce kicks, this little bundle of joy is a lot more than 16 weeks old, a surprise that excited our wonderful mother to be!I cherish moments like these close to my heart, and remember the wonderful blessings from God shows us, when things get tough.

As March waltzed in, so did a new roommate! Jenni has been a blessing and a wonderful addition to our home. We love her dearly and are so glad that God has placed her here in our lives! I look forward to many more wonderful memories of joy, hardship and sisterly love! On the missions field it is so important to have a group of people supporting you in love and prayer, not only at home but here sharing this journey day to day too.

As for the love from folks like you back home, I have never been so touched by your continued words of love, prayer and support! I have received cards, care packages and letters in the mail, and honestly, I can't put into words how wonderful it is! We had a dear couple from church visit here on vacation and they were nice enough to bring me a huge bag of goodies from back home, including cards from church friends, special spices and treats from sisters, wonderful hand drawn pictures from the nephews, and new clothes! They also brought an overflowing blessing of "Twining Earl Grey Tea", something I didn't realize I cherished so much until coming here. I am happy to report I drink it every single day and enjoy every sip, it amazes me how something so small can being me such comfort, a little piece of home! Most importantly, they were a wonderful face from home. People I knew and loved but also people who knew me, my stories and my friends back home. Having fellow Canadians here was truly a blessing from God. 

Being so far away is an incredible adventure but is also can be tough for someone who loves her family so much back home, and quite honestly almost everyone I know, I consider family. Getting mail is still one of the most exciting things in the world!! Especially here! Having you folks take the time to sit down and write to me still blows me away. It truly warms my heart to be able to actually hold something hand written in my hands. It sounds so silly I know, but it's true! I quite literally hold it close to my heart, and God's peace and love simply washes over me, a feeling that causes tears to trickle down my face. These little notes are God given reminders that I have a purpose here, and I can fulfill that purpose because He has placed the perfect supports all around me, whether that be all over Canada, or my new friends I have come to love here in El Salvador. It also continues to surprise my coworkers how incredibly loved I am. They get a little jealous!

All in all, things are just wonderful! I am constantly growing not only my relationship with the people of El Salvador but more importantly, my relationship with Christ! I look forward to more love being sent from back home, and will do my best to keep you all up to date! I pray you know how loved and useful each of you are in my life. I am so richly blessed!

Love and Prayers
Erica Byleveld

P.s I found greek yogurt to use as sour cream and have a friend bringing me taco seasoning

God is good!

2 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

Colossians 3 12