The first couple weeks here in Ecuador have flown by! The city is beautiful, even if it does rain most days. Our mission location is on a mountain, and each day we get to marvel at the beautiful world that God has created. It truly is breathtaking. The houses look like a colorful collection of Lego blocks stacked together in the middle of a gorgeous valley bordered by amazing mountains. It is a great blessing to witness this view every day. In these quick couple weeks, I have been soaking up how wonderful it is to live a life that is so much simpler than is often experienced in the fast-paced culture of the United States. Waking up, reading my Bible, and having many moments of solitude and prayer are filling me up so much more than the constant movement of the US culture. You don’t need entertainment, news, and whatever else is constantly thrown each day in our faces as Americans to experience a full life. All you need is the true story of Jesus, and the meaningful life free from sin and so full of joy that is so freely given to all of us.
My team is working at Ecuasol, a non-profit organization that is a partnership between the Ecuadorian and French governments. It is an after-school program, and is not a Christian organization. Currently, we have been doing some physical labor (making a fence, painting, chipping paint off a wall, etc.) as well as entertaining the kids in the afternoon. This ministry has often been difficult to find work to do every day, but I believe that our team is learning the incredibly valuable skill of being very intentional with all of our actions, as well as our time. There is always something that can be done, no matter how small. Sweeping the floor, playing soccer with the kids, cleaning windows… whatever we can do to serve the volunteers who work there, we will do.
But that is not the main goal. There are several French volunteers who we communicate with often and my team receives the majority of our direction for each day from them. They are good people who obviously have servant hearts, but they are not believers. It has been a great time getting to know and serve the organization with them. We are building relationships right now in order to tell them the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The other day, God presented us with an opportunity that we pray will lead to eternal presence with God in Heaven.
One of the volunteers was outside with us one day when we were about to eat lunch and pray for the meal. We asked her if she would like to join us. She replied, “Pray?” We told her it wasn’t hard, and she joined us. Afterwards, she agreed that it was not difficult. We might not be the people who get to witness the transformation of the lives of these few people, but we can plant a seed or continue to nurture what God has already done in their lives.
I ask those of you who are reading this that you would pray that the hearts of the French would be open and willing to listen to what I believe is the way to experience the most abundant and true freedom the world has to offer, and that we would continuously listen to the Holy Spirit every day in order to recognize the opportunities that God is constantly giving us to glorify him. It is often so easy to not even notice the doors that are constantly being opened if you aren’t paying attention. I am so grateful for this amazing opportunity, and would like to thank all of my family, friends, and anybody else who has had a positive impact on my life. I wouldn’t be here without all of you.
