I’m currently living with 18 women, 2 men, 2 kids (under the age of 5), and three dogs.
We are living in a Christian community, living in a house together. (Yes even the dogs are Christian, even if my teammate Sarah doesn’t believe it…)
One big house and 22 people, all cooking in the same place, sleeping in the same place, eating and praying together.
Our first day here my heart was scared of community, my mom mentioned you can’t pretend to be someone else when living in close quarters with people like this. I had to be authentically Whitney, not perfect- not always joyful- that was scary.
I was scared, but also excited, especially when I heard there were dogs and kids. God provided what I needed this month, the comfort of teaching children. The comfort of pets.
Each morning I wake up and say good morning or Buenos Dias to 2 goofy munchkins running around the house. Their little running feet fills our halls and their giggles compel me out of bed. Their parents are two amazing missionaries who are called to Ecuador, even though its the last place they thought they’d be. They are mentoring three brilliant and heart filled college-aged women who took a gap year from college to do a year of missions in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
Even on my most exhausting days coming back into the house to two goofy little children makes my heart soar. We’ve read a million books, played house, played teacher, and I’ve been their “mom”, their “sister” and even their play “dad”.
I’ve enjoyed watching these two amazing girls grow up more each day in the last two weeks. One learning more sentences and words by the day, the other learning more about God’s love each day. These little dualingual babies found my heart too quickly!
Questions from 4-year-olds:
“Why were you anxious to come here?”
“Why did Cain hurt his brother?” This four-year-old has some TOUGH questions.
statements from 2 years old:
“Wh-knee, ip lin” (Whitney ziplining)
“Fabi es loco” (Fabi- our house dad is crazy!)
We also live on a property with three crazy lovable dogs. One old and calm, one that sneaks into our home daily, and one who loves to run alongside our athletic girls each morning.
Sometimes chasing birds even leads them to some funny places!
Whenever things are tough I know that dogs love is just an arms reach away! So nice to know! But the best comforter in this house doesn’t come from kids or dogs, but comes from Fabi and Mabe. A couple who were brought together by God. A couple who serves missionaries cooks our meals, hugs us, and prays with us weekly. They opened this home to us and welcomed us in. They are my pretend parents for the month without a doubt.
They call me “Whitneycita” their daughter. Our teams are their children, we are here to serve God and they help us serve, they serve us. They even installed 5 great rules to live by- (check out the rules on the wall in the picture below!)
I’m beyond blessed to live alongside these people. They make me laugh, they pray with me when I’m down, they support us through struggles, and joys. We worship the Lord together and celebrate with God.
I’m forever grateful for the community of Christians here and now. I’m forever thankful for the family I’ve made here and I can’t wait to see what God does with Casa Blanca, always keeping missionaries safe, and dry, and warm even in the rainy season of Quito Ecuador.
