About a week ago I had my first morning in Quito, Ecuador. We, L&LI faculty, staff, and students, gathered together on top of my apartment’s roof for brunch. The atmosphere was incredible! The aroma of the delicious food circled the air, conversations between soon-to-be friends buzzed from beginning to end, and worship music amplified our unity as brothers and sisters of Christ.
“Rooftops” by Jesus Culture was the song that resonated with me, specifically the following lyrics-
“Here I am before You, falling in love and seeking Your truth
Knowing that Your perfect grace has brought me to this place
Because of You I freely live, my life to You, oh God, I give
So I stand before You, God
I lift my voice ‘cause You set me free
So I shout out Your name
From the rooftops I proclaim
That I am Yours, I am Yours”
The underlined sentence hit me because of two reasons. (1) God brought me to this beautiful country and most importantly (2) God brought me to a place where I am free from all my sin.
Amidst orientation we attended classes about World View. The classes were very intense; I often felt like I stuck my head in a fire hydrant since there was so much information. I am very grateful for the opportunity to be challenged because I grew in my understanding of my World View and others’ World View.
Here is a very, VERY brief summary of what stood out to me throughout the classes:
-My job is to put God on display well (in every aspects of life and society)
-Only God can change people
-God is the true author of our story
-Anything that is created can become an idol
-The only passion that does not destroy us is the passion for Jesus
-Seek first the kingdom of God, and then trust Him to take care of our needs, even before we knew what they are and where we are going
-Have obedient trust
-We don’t take risks because we are obsessed with safety, security, and our future (we must take wise risks)
-We are all created in God’s image, but we are all different, which is beautiful
-We cannot be completely independent, we must entirely depend on God
-God loves us so much that He gave us the choice to reject Him
As you can tell this semester is off to a great start! I am so stoked for the rest of the semester. By the way, I found out my internship will be at a non-profit organization that service children, teens, and young adults with economic, physical, or mental disabilities. I am very excited about my placement(:
I would greatly appreciate it if you join me in a prayer so that I will be able to love and serve them well.
Hurray for His perfect placement!
