Friday, May 6th, 2016
During team time this evening we talked about a specific word or phrase the Lord put on our hearts for our time in Ecuador. The word he gave me was “restore.”
Restore: to give back (someone or something that was lost or stolen)
: to return someone or something
: to put or bring something back into existence or use
: to return something to an earlier or original condition by repairing it, cleaning it, etc.
// I will give you a new heart – a heart of flesh…I have rebuilt the ruined places and replanted that which was desolate…I will cause the dry bones to come to life. // Ezekiel 36-37
Saturday, May 7th, 2016
We arrived in Portoviejo this afternoon after another 9-hour bus ride from Quito. And after 2 days of rest I feel ready to go. I have the same sort of feeling like I had back at the beginning of Greece, but in a way it’s different. I’m ready, but I also think my expectations are different. I don’t know what it’s going to look like or how I will respond, but this evening as we were sitting in the youth service listening to people share their stories, I tried to put myself in their shoes. I want to understand what it was like for them to experience the earthquake, not just see the aftermath of it. And I pray for the city and the people to be rebuilt and restored. Father, you are drawing these people unto yourself and I pray you continue that work.
Monday, May 9th, 2016
// [the Lord] shall be your restorer of life… // Ruth 4:14
We drove around “Ground Zero” yesterday and the destruction is intense. A lot of rubble has been cleaned up, but the buildings are completely ruined. So Abba, restore life and rebuild this city.
Sunday, May 15th, 2016
10 days left here in Portoviejo, Ecuador. We’re supposed to be going to Ground Zero this afternoon to distribute the water filtration kits we assembled earlier in the week. I have yet to go to Ground Zero, but I’m not disappointed like I was in Greece when there weren’t any refugees coming through. At least that means I’m growing in realizing what my expectations are…
Wednesday, May 18th, 2016
3:00 am.
Woke up to a 6.8 magnitude earthquake that lasted for about 15 seconds. Actually, it was one of our guys who rattled me to life when he ran into our room and upon realizing that almost all of us still lied in bed, uncertainly asked, “Did I wake you guys up??” My half-asleep brain silently responded, “Of course you woke me up! It’s 3 in the morning!” And then it slowly dawned on me as people began whispering that we had just experienced an earthquake and I didn’t even know it. Good thing Em, our native Californian, felt it and was ready at the watch for getting us to safety…thankfully, no one was injured and the only tangible effect was a downed power line outside the guys’ room. A quick check on the people downstairs and back to bed it was.
11:45 am.
I was washing my hands in the bathroom when another 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck. It took me a second to realize what was happening as the floor moved beneath my feet and the walls swayed from side to side. I quickly darted outside with the rest of our crew and again, no one was hurt. It seemed slightly counterintuitive to run outside in the midst of an earthquake when every earthquake drill we’ve ever had in school has taught me to crouch beneath a table, but here the buildings aren’t constructed with the highest of quality materials, nor are they made to withstand the ground shaking. So outside is often safer than in.
Some of the women here at the church were shaking and in tears after the 2nd earthquake shook the ground and the building. I can’t imagine the emotional trauma. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to be in a building that is literally crumbling around you, to have lost family members in a split second. The building shook today, but the walls didn’t crumble. What we experienced this morning was only a slice of what they experienced a month ago.
Father, I pray you bring healing in the lives of these people that were affected by last month’s earthquake – when 650 people died. I pray you restore lives and relationships. I pray you rid this city of the fear that ensues when the ground shakes.
// Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. // Hebrews 12:28
// And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split…when the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God! // Matthew 27:50-51, 54
I pray that these earthquakes would only draw people closer to you. That, like the centurion and those with him, we would all respond with declarations of your glory and honor in the midst of the chaos and confusion. I pray that when the ground shakes fear would flee and your love would consume. Captivate hearts in the midst of pain and loss. Shake us out of our spiritual negligence and apathy. Restore relationships with yourself and be found in the aftermath.
