Hello family and friends.
Being in Ecuador has been such an amazing experience for me. First, because I absolutely love the Latin American culture and the people. I love speaking Spanish, even though for me it is a little broken. Secondly, I love Ecuador because I was here 4 years ago and it is so sweet to be back. Arriving in Quito I began to get all these memories of when I was here 4 years ago. A young 17 years old high school graduate who was very naive to the world and the power of the Lord in her life. Looking at who I was then versus now I am astounded by what the Lord has done in my life.
Without going into full personal detail I would like to share with you all the transformation the Lord has done in my life these past 4 years. Growing up I always understood the Lord’s power, but never truly had a deep personal relationship with Him. I remember coming to Ecuador 4 years ago feeling confused about who I was as a human in the world and who I was in the body of Christ. I struggled greatly with bitterness and anger towards certain people who had hurt me and I was clinging onto it so desperately. I spent a period of my adult life in denial of this bitterness inside me which led me to turn away from the Lord for sometime. Although I didn’t understand the Holy Spirit in my life, now looking back I can see how so many times He was present in my life calling me back home but I was refusing to listen. It took a traumatic experience in my life to bring me to reality and show me the error of my ways. Shortly after I was applying to come on the world race and 2 months later I was heading off to training camp. Through this journey of traveling and spreading the gospel I have learned many things, (1) don’t ask what kind of meat it is, JUST EAT IT! (2) ministry is not a 9-5 thing. Ministry can be anywhere at anytime. (3) the gospel is so utterly simple. Love Jesus, the One who died on the cross with all your heart, surrender to Him everything and He will give you the peace that passes all understanding. In Zambia, I chose one day to give those hurts, pain and shame to the Lord. In return He gave me a promise. That He would never leave or forsake me. Over the course of this trip my relationship with the Lord has grow tremendously because of my understanding of the glory of the Lord. It simply comes down to my heart. It doesn’t matter if I’m in the middle of a village in Africa or in my nice comfortable home, the Lord is looking at my heart and my desire to glorify Him. One of my favorite songs that truly sums up the power of the gospel is by United Pursuit- simple gospel. It is so powerful. I encourage you to listen to the words and meditate on them. It talks about laying down religion and taking Him out of the box. At times it’s easy to do that but when you decide to open that box and experience the fullness of the Lord, it’s absolutely indescribable !
I thank you all for your continued prayers over this entire journey. As I reach the last 5 weeks of this trip I ask for your prayers of perseverance, focus and determination. At times it has been hard for me to be all here as I am missing family and friends terribly. However, I have been able to keep my focus on ministry and what I am doing. My next blog will be about the ministry my team and I are doing here.
