Who needs a road map when you have God? - Explore Archived World Race Alumni Blogs

“Let me prepare you for the day that stretches out before you. I know exactly what this day will contain, wheras you have only vauge ideas about it. You would like to see a map, showing all the twists and turns of your journey. You’d feel more prepared if you could somehow visualize what is on the road ahead. However, there is a better way to be prepared for whatever you will encounter today: spend quality time with me. I will not show you what is on the road ahead, but I will thoroughly equip you for the journey.”

This is the devotion I read the first day that I woke up in Ecuador on January 11…it could not have been more relevant for the journey that was before my team and I that day.

After waking up from a long day of travel, we had a nice long, hilly walk with our 50 pound packs to meet up with the rest of our squad where they were staying about a half a mile away. We all had breakfast together and little by little the teams were departing to go to their individual ministry sites.

As my team and I were dropped off at the bus station with only a map and the backpacks on our backs…it hit me that we were on our own, in a Spanish speaking country, with no Spanish speaking teammates. As the reality of the situation was hitting us all, I started to panic inside. We were supposed to get on three different buses to get to our final destination in El Tingo, Ecuador (about two hours from where we were). How in the world were we going to make it if we could not communicate with anyone? Why did they just drop us off on our own? Why couldn’t they have given us a ride or given us further directions? What if we get lost, what will we do?

I was full of questions and had no answers.

I am a very visual person, and I would have loved to know what the road ahead consisted of. But in the middle of my panic, in the midst of all my questions, and as the craziness of the situation started to overwhelm me, the Lord said to me, “You are not alone…trust in me.”

SO that is just what I did. I let go, and let God lead the way…

I don’t speak any Spanish, I am in a foreign country, and I am not the best at reading a map. I had to depend on the Lord with everything and trust in Him that we were safe in his arms. So I put a smile on my face and tried as best as possible to stay positive in this hectic situation.

After several attempts of “sign languaging” with our map, talking to random strangers trying to figure out where to go, 2 hours, and three bus rides later, we finallty reached our destination!

God did not show us what was on the road ahead as we ventured our way through the beautiful mountains and valleys of Ecuador, but he sure did equip us for the journey ahead and was with us every step of the way.

SO much has happened since we have been here in Ecudaor and I know that there are many more stories to come…but this specific incident stood out to me and gave me such a sigh of relief and was a reminder that God is in control…not me. I realized that God may not show us what is ahead, but if we keep listening and spending quality time with Him, he will make our paths straight and comfort us along the journey.

The ministry Mano y Mano is so amazing and our host Ana has been a huge blessing. She has showed us around the town, taken us to her church, to get icecream, to the markets, and more importantly she has been an amazing example of God’s love and her ministry to these children is beautiful. We have been working at a local school teaching children English and been helping with an after school program at Ana's house. Although the communication has been difficult and it has not been easy to understand the children in our ministry, I feel the love and presence of God all around, even without talking. Just being with these beautiful children and feeling the joy of their little hearts says enough.

Love from Ecuador,
Emily

My team and our host Ana in Quito Ecuador on Sunday after church.