Sometimes you take the wrong bus and end up in a little town called Nono. Sometimes you meet a family who invites you into their home for coffee and croissants. And sometimes you become friends and decide to meet up again for a picnic. A true example of all things happen for a reason.
After ministry, my team was waiting for the bus to take us down the mountain. As the bus passes us going the opposite direction, we decide to get on instead of waiting on the side of the road in the cold. It will loop around, right? Little did we know it would not be looping around for quite a while. Thirty minutes go by and we find ourselves in a mountain town called Nono. It was like a ghost town. Not a person in sight. The bus driver drops us off and informs us that it won’t leave again for an hour so we decide to walk around and look for a place to eat while we wait.
Eventually we stumble upon an open gate and see a family making cheese in their courtyard. We say hello and the old man stops us and starts a conversation. In broken Spanish we share what we’re doing in Ecuador and he tells us about his family and life. His wife Betty comes to the upstairs window and when she hears that we are stuck waiting for the bus, she asks us to stay and runs inside. A few minutes later, she calls out the window and Jose invites us inside. We all look at each other dumbfounded and follow him up the steps inside the house. We enter a little room with a small table and kitchen. Betty motions for us to sit down and pours us coffee and serves us croissants. As I sit surrounded by Jose, Betty, their son Allen, daughter Isabella, and little granddaughter, I begin to tear up. It was one of the most precious moments I have ever experienced. This poor family is giving their portion to serve us. Me. We hold hands and pray over this family and Isabella gifts us some of her beautiful needle work. We keep checking the time nervous that we will miss the bus, but they tell us to stay calm, and that they have sent someone to watch the bus for us so that we don’t miss it.
On the way down the mountain I sit staring out the bus window processing the incredible turn of events as the sun sets over Quito. I am in shock. God can so quickly turn around a bad situation into something beautiful. The next Sunday we went back to Nono to see them again and brought food for a picnic. Making friends with the community. What I have been longing for this whole time.
We got lost 3 times in one day. This crazy day wasn’t over. We got on another wrong bus on our way home and didn’t end up finding our way back until past curfew. I can’t lie, I was scared. I felt very vulnerable, cold, and stressed. With the team phone dead, we decide taking taxis home is the best option. As we drive away, I notice the other taxis turn around but mine keeps driving. I’m immediately on alert. After ten minutes the taxi driver pulls over and says that we’re here. We were not. Our taxi ended up taking us to the wrong place the opposite direction. He doesn’t understand English, and here I am in the backseat in my panic yelling in English trying to communicate where to go. Not my brightest moment. Me and the two other girls are scared and stressed, and we are all panicking thinking that the police are out searching for us and leadership is going to be mad. So thankful for Caleb in the front seat calming us down reminding us that everything will be okay. And it was. We eventually made it to the terminal and the rest of the group comes running towards us asking where we’ve been. We all sprint home, and with barely enough breath explain why we’re so late. Everything was fine. They didn’t call the police, they weren’t mad, they were just so glad we were safe.
If this experience taught me anything about myself, it’s that I don’t handle stress very well. I get panicked easily, and feeling unsafe and vulnerable causes me to act out in emotion that is hard for me to control. Through this situation I am reminded that He is our greatest defender, and even in the moments it’s hard to see the good, I am called to trust.
I don’t know what God has in store for me when I wake up in the morning. And I don’t know about tomorrow, or next month, or next year. But one thing I do know: Getting on that bus was no accident. It was all part of His perfect plan.
XOXO, Cat
