“Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
listen to my plea for grace.”
-Psalm 86:6
Well, friends…
this is it.
We’re in Ecuador.
I’m sitting on a cement rooftop watching the last streaks of sunset fade away while people hang their laundry out on balconies across the city and some sort of cumbia music drifts over from a few blocks away. Streetlights are coming on. These last few days have been packed with classes and flights and things screaming to be accomplished, but right now there’s an efficient, restful calm in the air as this community prepares for the weekend to end.
I’m on the World Race. Officially.
Monday I spent an absolutely wonderful few hours saying goodbye to my friends; Monday night I finally managed to fit my packing list worth of stuff into a carry-able number of bags; Tuesday I watched through the window of a tiny plane as the ground of my favorite airport dropped away for the last time in at least eleven months. Wednesday through Friday I spent going back and forth in an Atlanta hotel between finance training, team lunches, and worship and ministry preparation sessions. I said goodbye to my parents on Thursday–after God decided to use our hour-long last lunch to restore our relationships in a way I didn’t think could possibly happen before I left. Friday night my squad and I left our hot showers and warm white-sheeted beds for the hard carpet of the Atlanta airport…and around 7 A.M. Saturday morning we boarded our first flights together.
And now we’re here. On month 1. Seeing with our own eyes and walking with our own feet the paths God’s had laid out for us all this time.
Please pray:
–for God to let us see His grace and goodness and gentleness even as he breaks us in different ways.
–for a powerful and fierce protection over my team…we are asking such incredible and beautiful things of God for our relationships with each other this year that I can’t help but feel that the challenges we’ll face will be very, very intensely hard…please cover us!
–for me–for peace that God will give me the time I need to accomplish the responsibilities I have within our team, to devote myself to seeking Him and being still in His presence, to communicating with all of you, my family, my friends, and my supporters, and to gladly give of myself to the family we’re living with and the ministry we’re doing.
I love you all and already miss you so very much 🙂
Vayan con Dios!
Alicia
