J Squad has finished ministry for month four in Ecuador. We are just a couple of days away from leaving South America and jumping continents. On Wednesday we will set out to begin our next leg of the Race: three months in Africa!
Ecuador has been my favorite month so far on the Race. Team Kenosis, along with most of the rest of the squad, stayed at an amazing house called Incalink. It was heaven on earth and a great Christmas present. We were spoiled with comfortable beds, washers and dryers, cozy fireplace with fires almost every night, and two people who cooked almost every meal for us. I roomed with four of my closest friends here. Staying up late into the night laughing and talking, sometimes singing karaoke, sometimes watching movies, and all the time getting yelled at for being too loud. We took full advantage of our living place because we all know we probably won’t have something as nice again.
But where we lived wasn’t the only reason this has been a great month. My team served at several different ministries. We helped at a house right next door to where we stayed. This house, Casa Elizabeth, is a home to teen moms and pregnant teens. Right now there are four teenage girls there. Three of them have a child and one of them is four months pregnant. We helped the oldest one the most. She is 19 and going to school to become an accountant. Normally they are required to leave at age 18, but because she is working so hard, they have agreed to let her continue to live there so her 6 month old son could be cared for. That was our job. We took turns going over there to babysit Tomas every afternoon. We also got to know the other girls.
Two of the girls are sisters. I’m not sure of their entire story, but I do know that they are there because they have to be, not because they want to be. They have a lot of bitterness because of this. We didn’t think that they appreciated is being there of that they cared at all. But all that changed one day when we took them out to get some ice cream. One of the sisters said, “so you guys are leaving soon? That sucks. We are really going to miss you.”
That shocked me. They liked us after all. Which made us feel so good. Just because we can’t see the effects we are having doesn’t mean they aren’t there. That was encouraging to me to keep doing what we are doing. We are having a bigger impact than we can feel or tell.
Another ministry was a house called Casa Adalia. This is a house for girls that have been trafficked. They have been out of it for awhile and they have set up a jewelry business to help them get ahead in life. Again, it was hard to tell if we were having any impact there. We mostly just watched their children while they worked so they wouldn’t be in their way.
There was a couple that we worked closely with at this house. They were also very involved at the church linked to the house. We partnered with them for almost everything we did. Desi and Miguel are a great couple. We got close with them and really enjoyed their company. They made us feel welcome in every setting we were in. Desi would sit next to us in church and translate so we could understand the message. They, perhaps, were the reason I loved this month. When we had finished our last day of ministry with them, we went to their house and brought dinner. We all sat around playing card games while the lasagna cooked. During dinner we asked them for any advice or wisdom they could give us. They told us to keep our eyes on God and our year will be exactly what it should be. After dinner, I hung out with their two year old daughter. We “played” cards and attempted to build a house from the cards. Actually she just enjoyed knocking them over when I had set two cards up. When we were about to leave, I asked Janoah for a hug. She reached up and hugged me and then gave me a kiss and said “te amo”. So sweet.
The boys in the orphanage in the jungle of Peru were the first that I really connected with on the Race. Desi, Miguel, and Janoah are the second. I will miss this family and I am so thankful for the opportunity to have been able to work with them for a month.
Team Kenosis had a good final month together. Team changes are happening in just a few hours. The six of us will no longer be doing ministry together. I am a little nervous about the changes but I am also excited. I like change. I think it’s a good thing to mix things up.
The first part of the Race has come to a close. It has been an amazing whirlwind of a trip. I can’t wait to see what the next seven months will bring.
Africa, we will see you soon!!
