Colombia:
July was another hot and beautiful month. My team and I were in the city of Plantea Rica, which is about 8 hours north of Medellin and 20 hours north of Bogota. While in Plantea Rica we did a variety of ministries. We were specifically working with a church, so we attended 4 to 5 church services a week (all in Spanish of course). No one really spoke English in the town, so luckily a member of my team is fluent and was able to translate conversations. It also forced me to learn some Spanish really quickly. We also had the opportunity to attend different small groups and encourage members of the church with scripture and prayer. Some other ministries included feeding programs, door to door evangelism, VBS, teaching English, teaching Sunday School, and encouraging and worshipping with members from the church.
The language barrier was really tough in Colombia. I wanted so badly to communicate more with the members from the church and community, but I was still able to build a lot of really cool relationships despite the language barrier. I learned that God can bridge a lot of gaps, like language, when your investing in people and caring for them the best that you can. The people in Planeta Rica were so hospitable and kind. I laughed and smiled a lot with them. They cared for my team and I exceptionally well, and I am so thankful for that! On the Race home has a really different meaning, because you are only at the same place for a short amount of time. This was a month where we were really brought into our Pastors home and included in his family. We are also apart of the church family. Being able to feel ‘at home’ is definitely something that I don’t take for granted- and I am thankful I got to experience that in Colombia.
Ecuador:
Oh Ecuador, how I love you! Ecuador was an all squad month, which means my whole squad of 35 people live together and do ministry together. We were living in Quito for the month at a ministry called Inca Link. Quito is the highest elevation capital in the world. We were surrounded by mountains, and it was incredible! I don’t get to see a lot of mountains in Michigan… Though we were living at Inca Link we were doing ministry at an organization called ‘Pan De Vida’ (Bread of Life). Pan De Vida was one of my favorite ministries on the Race so far. Their main focus is to simply help people in need and share the love of Jesus with them. They run a feeding program for people in the surrounding area on Wednesdays and Sundays, and have a church service for them as well. They also run VBS’ for kids in the villages. While we were there there were also some short term mission teams from Canada, North Carolina, and England. We worked with those groups in running VBS’, Building a house for a women in a village near by, and cooking and serving food for the people attending the feeding programs and VBS’. We were also able to some cleaning and clerical work for the ministry. Another thing that we got to do with Pan De Vida is take a trip to the coast to do earthquake relief. We spent a couple days packing emergency kits for kids, babies, women, and families. We then drove 8 hours overnight to the coast in order to spend a day handing out all the bags. It was a long in rewarding day. Most the time our ministry involves people who have been in poverty for a long time, but a lot of people that we were helping on the coast went from living comfortably to having nothing in just a few minutes. It was a really cool opportunity to be the ‘hands and feet of Jesus’. Oscar, the founder of the ministry, was incredible! He had such an amazing vision and heart for the Lord. It was a pleasure to get to serve with him and get to know him. His organization was also a breath of fresh air! The last week of Ecuador looked a little different than most months because we had a thing called PVT (Parent Vision Trip). This is when racers have the opportunity to invite their parents to spend a week doing ministry on the field with them. Unfortunately my parents couldn’t come, which meant I got to experience another part of Ecuador and do a different ministry for a bit. About half of the squad and myself embarked to Viscaya, a really small town in the Andes Mountains, just outside of Banos. While there we were running a VBS, helping with a construction project, and teaching English. It was one of the prettiest places I’ve ever been, despite the mudslide mountain that we had to trek down to get to our house. Don’t worry, I only fell down twice, and I only have some small scars to prove it…
Ecuador was a long, good, and challenging month. Some hard stuff?! This was my first month experiencing weather under 70 degrees since January, so I had quite the cold. I got my wallet stolen on a bus on the way home from the market. That really stunk. (I wasn’t hurt or anything, don’t worry!) Because of some different rooming issues, going to the coast, Viscaya, and debrief I moved a total of 8 times this month. Stability really isn’t a thing on the Race, but normally you can count on at least being in the same place for 3 weeks. Not even having that made everything just a little bit more challenging. But the good stuff?! I love all squad month. It was so fun to get to be around all my friends on the squad in addition to my team. I loved my ministry and my host. I got to sleep on the beach one night, and touched the Pacific Ocean for the first time. I got to go to an English church for the first time since January. I got to play with and love on some really really cute kids. I learned how to make some bomb chilli. I cut like 6 inches off my hair. And I experienced mountain living for the first time and loved it! Safe to say this place stole a piece of my heart.
Peru:
Month 9! 2 months left! What?! This month my new team and I (Team Vive 100) are in Lima, more specifically La Encontada in Villa El Salvador. This is a newer area in southern Lima and the best way I can describe it is ‘The Slums’. Taxi drivers often ask us “Why are you going there?” and remind us that “That is a really dangerous area.” Villa El Salvador isn’t a place I would vacation, but there is amazing ministry opportunity here. We are working with a new church and have been able to preach, lead worship, attend small groups, run children’s programs (which included dressing up as clowns to advertise for the program and walking around the neighborhood), going to the market and doing ‘free hug ministry’, and speaking/performing/singing at schools in the area.
This month has been hard. I’m cold like 95% of time time. We call our living space the bunker and my sleeping pad has a hole in it. Something I have been reminded of this month though is that complaining is easy, but choosing joy is worth it! I am loving my new team! We laugh a lot- especially when quoting the office. We also challenge each other daily and get to make each other look more like Christ by giving feedback, both positive and constructive! One of my biggest take aways from the Race so far is the importance of community. I have learned so stinkin much by my teammates. It’s awesome! We have an awesome translator this month that we have gotten to grow really close to. We literally wouldn’t be able to do anything without him. Our hosts Elizabeth and Levis have been so great, and I have learned a lot from them just in their commitment to the Lord and their obedience to move to La Encontada and start the church that we are at. We have gotten to share the gospel at three different schools and individually pray for students who wanted it. Sharing the gospel and seeing people give their lives to the Lord is worth every piece of discomfort that I have experienced this month. It’s the main reason I am on the Race. The main reason that I left all my comforts for 11 months. Because Jesus is worth it!
Next week I leave for Chile and will be starting month 10! Then it’s off to Argentina in November for my LAST MONTH! Thank you so much for following my journey and your continued prayer!
