When I went to Costa Rica on my first mission trip, it felt like home the second I stepped out of the airport. And leaving broke my heart to where I got back to the states and missed Costa Rica for months because I still felt like that was home.
I expected to feel like that about every one of my next 11 countries; finding 11 new homes. But I didn’t. Bolivia I couldn’t wait to escape the cold, and while I loved Peru I still felt like I was just visiting. Both places eventually felt like home in their own ways, but I still never got the Costa Rica feeling.
Then came Ecuador.
Sitting in the bus station, while everyone else was complaining about not being able to sleep, I was too excited to think straight. I felt like I was on my way home and I had no idea why.
And the further we drove the more I became convinced that I’m never ever leaving.
First of all this might be the most beautiful country in the world(sorry Adri). I don’t even have to get out of bed to see the mountains and the city. Everything is so GREEN. There are PALM TREES! I love it here.
Then we’re staying in this amazing house on a big hill with two adorable dogs, and our hosts are the sweetest people. So I don’t just have a home, I have a family too.
Then we met our contacts, this amazing couple who have such huge hearts for their community. The minute we stepped into their church, even before they told us what our ministry was, my heart was dancing around and I got that feeling where you know you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.
Then he told us we’d be helping in a school for kids with special needs, and many of them are orphans, and I about died. In the good way if course. We’re also working through the church to teach English classes, and I really must be in the right place because I’m way excited about that even though at training camp I said that terrified me.
Plus we get to live with three other teams. And I have a real bed, so real that I don’t even need my sleeping bag. It’s still a top bunk but I love that, so I’m perfectly content.
This is home. I’ve already joked a few times to my team that I won’t be with them the other 8 months because I’m not leaving Ecuador.
That’s obviously a joke, which reminds me: if I don’t get $1537 more by October 1st, I really won’t be going to those other 8 countries, and that’s the saddest idea in the world. God didn’t call me to the World Race to have me sent home after only 3 months; he sent me to finish. Please help me stay out here to see the rest of what God wants to do this year…if 32 people donate $50, I’ll have all I need! So go ask 50 of your friends for a dollar and send it my way.(I make that suggestion with zero sarcasm; I’ve seen it work for other people. Try it and prove me wrong!)
All the thanks in the world to everyone who’s gotten me closer little by little. I’m so grateful for every dollar!
