A Salvadoran woman tells her own Filter of Hope story
The rooster crowed near my home in El Salvador and once again I woke up in a dark room—it seemed a lot like my life. My husband got ready for work and made a comment about breakfast being cold. I screamed at him and he yelled back before walking out the door.
When my son left for school, I was alone in the dim light of an empty day. After drying tears from my face, I walked to the neighborhood tienda to buy some food. Other women talked about a prayer group, but I didn’t want to go. All they did was gossip and judge.
When I got back home, I sat in my house and waited. A special group was supposed to come to my house today to give me a water filter. I was nervous because I didn’t know these people. It was no secret we had dirty water—I had been sick with parasites three times in the last year. Part of me hoped the filter would help, but I had my doubts.
Can Foreigners Change My Life?
Then I heard the group arrive at my door, excited and laughing. I welcomed them in, but only one spoke Spanish. The rest were Americans chattering in English and I had no idea what they were saying. “We are here to share two gifts with you,” the translator started, “one will change your life, the other will hopefully change your eternity.” My heart jumped up, but I wasn’t quite sure why. How could these strangers, these foreigners, change my life? They didn’t even know me.
“This is a water filter from Filter of Hope. It is simple to use and easy to maintain. It will remove all of the parasites and bacteria from your water, and if you take care of this filter, it will last for 10 years.”
10 years? I couldn’t believe it. Could this small plastic thing clean our water for that long? They showed me how to install it, how to use the filter, and how to clean it. It was a miracle. We were never getting sick from dirty water again!
They continued talking, “This is a gift for you and your family, and now we want to talk about the gift that God has given to all of us.”
Oh no, was this it? More judgment, more rules? All the people I knew who talked about God said I was going to hell.
Expected Visitors Say Unexpected Things
Then they started telling me things I didn’t expect to hear. One of the people in the group explained, “Jesus died for you, and He died for me. Just like this filter cleans the dirty water, the grace of God through Jesus cleans you of your sin. Not just once, but each and every day, forever. Jesus rose again and now He wants to give you salvation. A free gift, and a new life.”
The Most Beautiful Words I Had Ever Heard
My heart almost jumped out of my body. God … loves … me? But why? They opened up a Bible and started to read. Those were the most beautiful words I had ever heard—words of love, a new creation, and a God that wanted to free me.
The church that brought the Filter of Hope group to my house invited me and I started attending. They were a loving church! I have a lot of friends there now.
My life has really changed. I no longer have parasites and we don’t go to the clinic all of the time. But more importantly, I’ve changed on the inside. My husband says I’m different and my kids say I’m happy. I was so angry, adrift, and lost. And now? I am growing, patient, and kind. I am filled with love. God has made me new!
