Hey everyone! It has been about a month and a half since I made my way from South Africa to Quito, Ecuador. The first month and a half of Ecuador has been full of lots of kids, fun, adventure, and challenges as I have started new ministries and made my way through the holiday season away from home.
During my time in Ecuador, I have been and will continue to rotate through a couple of ministries. The first ministry I am working with is Camp Hope, a daycare for kids with special needs. At Camp Hope there are several different classrooms with kids of varying disabilities, and I have had the opportunity to help in several of the rooms as well as in the kitchen. At Camp Hope we help the staff by feeding the children, brushing their teeth, playing with them in the park, and by just loving on them. I have only been at Camp Hope for a few weeks, but the kids have already stolen my heart.
The other ministry I am rotating through is Covi. Covi is a before and after school program for at-risk kids in downtown Quito. So far some of my time at Covi has been spent gardening, cleaning, and helping wherever else I am needed. The remainder of my time is spent helping the kids with homework and playing with and loving on them. It has been sweet to begin to build the relationships with the kids and to show them the love of the Father over my first few weeks at Covi.
Over the holiday season, my squad spent a little over a week serving with Dunamis, an organization which rescues women from sex trafficking and provides school and housing for them. At Dunamis, we spent time pouring into the kids in the surrounding community as well as helping build a guest house for future teams that serve with Dunamis.
I also recently hit the halfway point of the Race. It’s crazy to me that I am already halfway done. The Lord has been so faithful during this first half of the Race, and I can’t wait to experience more of Him during the last four months in Ecuador and Cambodia.
