“This is David. The last time David was here he was 8 months old, then he went with his mom to the Inca Women’s prison while she lived out her sentence of 4 years. They are here today for the first time, literally free and looking for a deeper freedom, an eternal freedom.”
There isn’t much back story I can give you on David and his mom but I can tell you that we met them this morning, Sunday the 18th of May at the first all English worship and sermon we have attended since leaving for the race in the beginning of January. This month, while it continues to be the hardest one I have had so far on the race, has been full of surprises, both big and small.
A small surprise is the effort everyone on my new team is putting into getting to know one another. Ministry by itself has been exhausting this month but everyone is still making the effort to be honest, get to know one another, and show grace as we maneuver through this month. Another is that Kayla Schmidt met a guy named Ovi 7 years ago when she lived in Quito for 1 month. Now Ovi is leading free tours of Old Town Quito and invited us to come along yesterday. While on the tour we learned all about Quito’s past and present, including its export of excellent cocoa, oil, bananas, and roses. One of the big surprises is that Jaide Penney’s dad went to high school with Scott Edgren who is now living with his wife and 3 of 4 children in Quito, Ecuador as a missionary. This morning Scott drove over 2 hours to come and pick up our whole team so we could spend the day with their family at their English church, have a burger and fruit salad cook out, and then visit the Equator. Staying in their home for the day was like a taste of home, not only did the bathroom have toilet paper but also hot water, hand soap, a hand towel and even lotion. Then, to follow that up with a church service in English for the first time in almost 5 months made everyone on the team a little emotional. For the first time in 5 months we were at a church that isn’t our ministry, nothing had to be translated, we didn’t have to lead it, and I knew all the worship songs.
I started out this month trying really hard to see where exactly God was working. How was I going to find Him in the midst of the busyness? Another surprise has been how rich and fulfilling my quiet time with Him has been. I have also felt my heart changing towards the children that we’ve been working with these last 2 weeks. I kept asking myself, however, why the ministry Mano & Mano, why were we here, what good were we actually doing? Jaide brought up Matthew 11:28 today while we were at Scott and Kristy’s house. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” And that is the best and biggest surprise of all. While I was trying so hard to find Him, to change my poor attitude on my own all while feeling guilty for my exhaustion or that our new team isn’t super close, God surprised me. He brought me rest. He brought me fun adventures to get out and see this beautiful country and breaks from the rain so I could really enjoy His creation. I still don’t get lots of things about this month but I do know this, God wants to surprise us. He promises all good things to those who love Him, but sometimes He shows up where we don’t expect just to bring us joy, just to surprise us, and maybe to see the smile on our faces.
Back to David and his mom. The pastor continued with, “They are at a unique point or spot in their journey…does anyone else feel like they are at a unique spot in their own journey?” What a great question! I can certainly relate, I know my own journey has been full of wonderful surprises lately, what about yours? Are you open to being surprised?
