HOLA MI AMIGOS (“hello my friends” in Spanish)!!!
I’m currently sitting in the sweltering humidity and heat of beautiful Ecuador! Apparently the equator’s hot… Who knew, eh?!
It’s official, P-Squad is accounted for and doing well. The majority of teams are spending the month in the big city of Quito, the capitol, where it actually isn’t hot because of the altitude but, upon arrival, I made my way to the coastal region with one team who is doing ministry here for the month in the city of Portoviejo. And boy let me tell you, it’s hot here…
(See if you can locate Portoviejo on the map)
We final arrived at our ministry early Sunday morning, after what was potentially the craziest bus ride I’ve ever taken to date. I don’t think I’ve ever prayed so fervently on a travel day, LOL… Mostly because I get super carsick though. I didn’t know buses could move so fast through the Andes Mountains…
Anyways, we’re here and ministry is in full swing! I’ll be spending time here with Team Aslan until Thursday then I’ll hop at bus and head across the country to check on one of our teams who is currently serving in the Amazon for the month. The tentative plan is to stay with them for 5-7 days, then I’ll head to Quito for the remainder of the month to see those teams. It’s gonna be a whirl-wind of a month some might say!
(L-R: Aubrey, Ariana, myself, Vanessa, Mila (baby), Josh, Jennie, Chance)
It’s been a wonderful start so far. The ministry hosts here have been better than we could ever have imagined, and our time out serving has been super busy, but incredible! I’d say my favorite so far has been the nursing home ministry. It was heartbreaking on one hand, but a blessing to my heart on the other.
At the nursing home, it’s mostly people who’ve been abandoned by their families. In this culture it’s very disrespectful to place family members in these places, but a lot of folks do.
We’ve had the pleasure of coming alongside these incredible souls though and loving on them, feeding them, and even helping change a diaper or two…
A lot of them don’t know what it is to be loved, but we get to share that with them for the month. It’s awesome!
(Aubrey with one of the little ladies at the nursing home)
(Chance & Josh feeding, giving water, and helping change their new friend, Manuel)
Like I said, my ministry this go around will be a little bit different, as Squad Leaders are put in place mostly to pour into the participants, and as a result, they go and pour out into the communities and people in the countries we visit. Every once in a while though, we get to join them in daily ministries they’re assigned to, like the nursing home.
Don’t get me wrong, I get to do “regular ministry”, too, but I know without a doubt my ministry is mostly focused on those on the squad. I love it, because as somebody with a pastoral heart and gifting, I take serious the role of being an over-shepherd for the squad. It’s quite humbling and such a blessing, because I get to love on them, push them more towards Jesus, then sit back and see what happens and what the Lord does in their lives.
What’s the beautiful thing about that you ask? In the process, I’m also compelled to look more like Jesus. They teach me just as much as I'm hopefully imparting to them.
I’m just incredibly thankful for the squad Jesus has entrusted to me. They bless my heart more and more everyday.
(WELCOME TO PORTOVIEJO, ECUADOR)
Anywho, I wanted to post a quick update and let you know what’s going on so far. Thank y’all so much for the love, support, and prayers. It’s been felt, for sure! Please continue to keep them coming.
HASTA LUEGA (“see you later”)!
Love y’all.
P.S… Check out the video below! Eva from P-Squad made this the day of our launch!
