On Thanksgiving Day J Squad began the journey from Lima, Peru to Quito, Ecuador. It was a very long ride. Alice and I loaded up on snacks for our two day journey. Might I just say, it is never a good idea to give into the mouth watering cheese you see at the grocery store when you have not had dairy for over three months.
Ecuador was my favorite South American country. It was easily my favorite country on the race thus far. During our time in Ecuador Team Kenosis was located in Quito, the capital city, with three other teams from the squad; Hope Awakening, Free To Be, and Deep Pursuit. We were all staying and working with an organization called Inca Link.
We stayed in a big house that was honestly not too different from a house in the US. I even found a hair dryer. It was definitely a luxury life for the race. It was so nice for Kenosis especially after our time in Peru. We even had a washer and dryer. Also, I did not have to translate as much and I was able to build normal relationships with people and not have to be the bridge between my teammates and the people with whom we worked because we had others to translate or people spoke enough English.
Each team’s ministry was different. I wish I could tell you what everyone did but I did well to keep up with what Kenosis was doing. We did so many different things. Through Inca Link we were connected with a Nazarene church, which is basically a lovely mix between Pentecostal and Baptist.
Through the Nazarene church we did some painting and cleaning at their seminary while the students were gone for Christmas break, worked with the youth, taught English classes at the church, and helped out with Casa Adalia. Casa Adalia is a home that takes in women, and sometimes their children, who were prostitutes or who were in abusive situations.
They also work by making jewelry. The jewelry is bought by a few different companies and shipped to the US to be sold. This allows the women to make a higher income in a healthier and a much lower risk setting. There is a very high accountability between the leaders of Casa Adalia and the women.
Also with Inca Link we worked with Casa Blanca. This is a home for teenage girls who have bad home lives and are either pregnant or they already have children. The situations range a great deal as do the ages of the girls. We were able to do many activities with the girls but the main thing was watching one of the babies while his mom went to school. So we had a rotating schedule where two of us would babysit and the others would work at the Nazarene church.
While I very much enjoyed our ministry during the month our ministry contacts were my favorite. As we worked with the Nazarene Church we got to work with two great couples; The pastor and vice-director of the seminary, Robert and his wife, and Miguel and Desire. They had a great impact on me.
Pastor Robert was always so joyful and fun to be around. He was always so appreciative for everything we did no matter how great or small. He works so hard between the seminary and the church. I always enjoyed his sermons which were in Spanish.
My favorites though were Desire and Miguel. Miguel was born and raised in Ecuador and Desire is from Holland. I could not possibly write their story down, but believe me when I say it is beautiful and God has done awesome things in their lives. They are both in their late twenties and have a little girl, Genoa, and another little bambino due in August. They both speak English too. Seriously, they are such a beautiful couple and so sweet and fun.
Miguel and Desire are so involved with their church. They work extensively with the youth and young adults through different activities and Bible studies. They helped us so much with the English classes. They also began the jewelry making aspect for Casa Adalia and still work with the women there each week day.
I was so inspired by their passion to serve the Lord and how much they did in their church. Their generosity and hospitality are neverending.
I will summarize a bit of Desire’s story and tell you how it effected me.
Desire always had a passion for missions. She always thought she would be single and actually wanted to be. She had a long-term internship in Ecuador where she Miguel through a nice series of events.
They developed a great friendship and it soon blossomed into something more. However, Desire had no intentions of anything happening and she would not give into his persistence of wanting a relationship until God said yes. Many things kept them together and yet apart for a few years. God was leading them all over to do many different things. Desire was still filled with doubts and asking God for a yes or no answer about Miguel.
One day Desire walked into a store one day in Holland and the owner, whom she did not know, said “I have been waiting for you all day.” She thought God was finally going to give her an answer but that was not the case. The man told her that God wanted him to share a verse with her. The verse basically said that she needed to make her own decision and that as long as she was acting in obedience with the Lord and following Him then she should not worry. Long story short she finally decided it okay to be with Miguel, they got married, and God has blessed them tremendously.
Her story impacted me greatly because for several days prior to her telling me this story I had been struggling with what I was going to do when I got back home, particularly with grad school, yet I was trying to be present where I was and not think about it. I was also concerned about a certain relationship with someone back home because God had not given me a yes or no even though I had asked so many times. I had once been certain yet I moved into a time of great doubt and fear. I had so much fear about not pleasing God, not making the right decision, and screwing up again because I wanted my plans to work out.
Sometimes God gives us very cut and clear directions, which He has given me before, and sometimes He gives us the freedom to choose. It was so freeing. So I believe God is pleased with the plans I aspire to have for grad school and is and will be pleased with the relationship between me and that special person back home after the race. He has never told me no to those hopes or dreams and I believe He has pushed me closer to them, but sometimes we think things are too good to be true.
While I can question my decisions, God ultimately guides me and leads me, and as long as I remain in Him and follow Him in all my ways then I have nothing to fear. God has great plans for us so why would I think the hopes and dreams I have are impossible or not part of His plans for me? He hears my petitions and grants those that ask according to His will. So my hopes remain secure in the Lord and I walk in certainty. I have faith that I will not be led astray.
However, at the same time I have these hopes and dreams I am also willing to give them up if the Lord tells me to. Would it be difficult? Absolutely. Painful? Yes. However, God has never let me down and I know that if those hopes and dreams do not come to pass that God has different and greater plans for me.
“Now faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see.” – Hebrews 11:1
