The title of this blog is a bit of a change from my post that I made about wanting to go home back in Quito, huh? I think it’s time for a little update blog on where I am, what I’m doing, and how I’m doing.
As I talked about in the aforementioned blog post (which you can read here), month 1 was very hard for me. Not only was I adjusting to life on the World Race, I was also living in a house with over 50 other people – it was a bit overwhelming, to say the least. At the end of October, we left Quito and headed to Baños for a week of debrief. While there, we had time to relax, adventure, and focus on the Lord. I had some absolutely unforgettable experiences in Baños, and I hope to be able to go back there soon.
This was the day that I almost died while horseback riding through the Ecuadorean mountains in Baños… It was a bit wild, but the views were worth it!
After a week in Baños, our squad split up and headed to various parts of Ecuador – my team and I went to a beautiful city called Cuenca, where we have been living for the past month and will be until the end of December. Living in an apartment with only 6 other people was definitely a breath of fresh air from the living situation in Quito, but I would be lying if I said there haven’t been moments of difficulty here with my team. While in Quito, my team would spend all day together at ministry, but once we got back to the house, we had the option to simply go to our other friends on the squad rather than spend more time together. Here in Cuenca, however, we don’t have that option.
At first, it was tough. When you’re living with people, you start to see all their little quirks that may rub you the wrong way, and there’s not much you can do about it other than deal with it. If I wanted to go out a do something on my own, I wouldn’t be able to because of the buddy system (we need to have at least one other person with us at all times when we go out). While our team had a lot of fun together and coexisted well, it felt as though we didn’t do much more than just that: coexist. Each person on my team is vastly different from one another, and to be honest, none of us really knew why we were put together when we were first told what our teams would be. God always has a plan, however, and I was soon shown how my team was going to help me grow, both spiritually and in my character – something that I had fervently asked God for prior to the Race.
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” ~ Jeremiah 29:11
The longer we spent together here in Cuenca, something beautiful started to happen: it became evident that our team all had intentions to grow closer to one another, care for each other, and live lives for God. We all started becoming more intentional about loving and respecting one another, and we slowly started to become a family. If I’m being completely honest, I never thought I would ever say this, but I truly love everyone on my team. It has been such a delight being able to not only grow closer to them, but also to see how God is working in them. Just like any family, we still have our struggles, but the growth I have seen in my team – and myself – from the first day of month one is nearly unfathomable.
Since we’ve been here, our ministry work has been a bit sporadic, to say the least. In Quito, we had a set ministry schedule: we would start ministry at Remar around 10, usually paint, clean, or play with kids, and then head home between 3 and 5. It was always reliable, and we never really questioned what we would be doing. Here in Cuenca, however, it’s a much different story.
We are working with Bob and Lori Leek, an American couple who has been living and doing ministry here in Ecuador with their family for 4 years. We have done so much with them so far, but it hasn’t really looked like the ministry I expected to do on the Race.
Our team has been interviewed on TV through a television station that we work with called Unsion Plus. It is a really cool ministry that is not just a TV station, but also has a program which helps to provide counselling by trained professionals to those who need it.
We have hung out with kids at Young Life, participated in Bible studies, and are working to orchestrate fun events for the youth and young adults.
Playing with the kids at Young Life gets pretty intense…
We’ve painted kid’s faces in a park as part of an event.
This sounds silly, but the one thing we have done the most is crafts. Yes, you read that right. We have spent most of our time making decorations – at times for events, but mostly for Christmas – and then decorating buildings. It has become a bit of a running joke that we are now the crafts team.
Our sporadic schedule has really pushed our team to live a life of missions every moment of the day. We typically don’t find out what we are doing until the night before or the morning of, and we have probably spent more days than not simply sitting around our apartment with nothing to do. This has allowed us to be intentional about doing ministry even when it is not assigned, which has looked like meeting and praying for people on the street, spending time with each other, inviting people over for dinner, putting on English classes, and building relationships with those around us. It has been a cool way to see that God can work through us no matter what we’re doing, and no matter how simple it may seem.
Being that it is the Christmas season – my favourite time of the year – I’ve definitely been missing home a lot. My family sent me videos and pictures of them decorating for Christmas, and while it made me so happy to see, it definitely made me miss not being there. Despite doing some Christmasy stuff, it’s definitely not the same spending Christmas with my team as opposed to with my family.
I miss the snow. I miss decorating with my family and dancing around to Christmas music. I miss eating as many Christmas-related things as possible with my sister while watching movies. I miss my friends. I miss home in general.
The difference between missing home now, though, compared to back in Quito is quite apparent: I don’t want to leave. I’m so happy here and ready for what God has planned for me, and even though I miss my life back in Canada dearly, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere other than where I am right now.
Side note: I am still $2,875 USD away from being fully funded!! In order to stay on this trip, I need to be fully funded, so please consider donating if you’re able! Thank you for all of your support and prayers so far!
