I had a blog written and ready to be posted. It was titled “What Do Cat Calls and Cerebral Palsy Have in Common?”. I think I will share that post eventually, but right now, I feel the Lord telling me that it is too “surfacey.” He is telling me that I need to share deeper: deeper into our ministry, deeper into my feelings, and deeper into Him.
We are at a ministry called Camp Hope. Camp Hope is a school for disabled children and adults, ages ranging from fourteen months to 32 years. Many of the students at Camp Hope are dropped off and picked up by their guardian at the beginning and end of the day. Many of them are orphans, going home to the orphanage run by Camp Hope administrators. After our thirty minute walk to ministry, we are greeted by sweet faces of people who just want to be loved and the absolutely incredible staff who radiate the love of Jesus to the kids. During our day of ministry, we do many task including changing diapers, feeding students during lunch and snack, massaging, different kinds of therapy, taking and playing with students in the park, and simply, loving on everyone we come in contact with.
The past twelve days of ministry have undoubtedly been the most challenging twelve days of my life. Let me explain. I love all of these kiddos with my whole heart. I love the ones who are always goofing around, I love the ones who smile only slightly, I love the ones who constantly say, “Aye yai yai”, I even love the ones who scratch me till my hands bleed and hit me till I want to run into a corner and hide. The thing is, I didn’t realize I had a problem with loving until just a few nights ago.
I was having some quiet time with God and wrestling with Him about a few things. I asked Him, “What the heck are you trying to teach us? What do you want us to learn?” As clear as the sky today (which is very clear for Quito), He responded and His answer shocked me and frankly, it made me a little bit angry.
“TO LOVE.”
Okay, what the heck God? I know how to love. I do it every day with these kids, some whom are very hard to show love and grace to.
After being angry with God’s answer, I really began to think about it (and still am). I realized that because of multiple different events and situations in my life, I have gone straight to caregiver, fixer, or protector and totally skipped the part where I am supposed to love. (Quick side note: shoutout to Katlyn for helping me figure this out.)
“Do everything in love.” 1 Corinthians 16:14
“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I have nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps not record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” 1 Corinthians 13:1-8
“And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13
So basically, without love, we have and we are nothing. Love is a most precious and important thing we are given. After realizing this, pondering on this, and praying about this, I am going to go into our last week of ministry at Camp Hope on Monday with only one single goal:
TO LOVE.
Prayer Requests and Praises
- Holy cow. We are almost an entire month in to the race. This month has been all squad month and learning to love in community with 50 other people has been challenging, but learning about my squad mates has been so beautiful.
- The next two months, we (Team Triumph) are living in Latacunga and working at another school for kids with disabilities. We are nervous but know that God is going to teach us so many things, including how to love.
- Please pray for Camp Hope, the students, and the staff that they continue to feel the love Jesus shows them every day.
- Our living conditions this month have been so wonderful. We are at a house called Casa Blanca with our amazing ministry hosts, Mabi and Favi. The ministry is Inca Link. We have food, beds, and washer and dryer, and warm showers. Thank you, God!
- Many of us have gotten sick or injured, so please be praying for healing.
- Please pray for debrief safety in Banos, Ecuador in two weeks.
- Please pray for the team as we all go to our next ministries in the next few weeks.
- Unfortuantely, we can’t post pictures of the students full faces, but I have a few that I can and will share in the following days thanks to our amazing Storyteller, Torrey Dawson. She also has a great video on her blog so check it out. torreydawson.theworldrace.org
I still look outside at night and wonder how I got here. I wonder what I am doing here. I now know the answer. To Love.
