Psalm 37: 4 says “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
Last month in Peru I was missing children ministry…
I missed their laughs, smiles, big hugs, and so many “I love yous.”
The truth is I only viewed Ecuador as a passing through country to get to Colombia. I knew our ministry in Medellin, Colombia was not specifically working with children, so I honestly thought to myself at the end of September “You just have to make it to November and you will be in Africa with lots of children to love on.”
Oh how I was wrong. God was going to fulfill this desire in my heart way sooner than I expected. Upon arriving in Quito, Ecuador we were asked if we would like to volunteer at a local High School. Several of my teammates and I agreed that it would be a great way to serve, so we said yes.
Friday morning we arrived to the school early to attend the devotion with all the staff, before the students arrived. During the devotion I started to hear laughs and noises that surely were not coming from high schoolers. When the devotion was over, I walked out of the classroom and looked down to see a basketball court full of students from Pre-K through 2nd grade. I honestly cannot put into words the feelings and happiness that came over me in that moment.
I quickly realized this was not just a High School, but a school for grade levels Pre-K through 12th. What a beautiful surprise.
While serving in “Computer World” I was paired with a Phonics teacher, JoAnita. JoAnita and I visited several different grade levels everyday, but mostly Elementary. The students at Computer World are brilliant… from as early as Pre-K the students are learning and speaking English. A lot of the students in the school are bilingual, speaking Spanish and English at only the age of 6. It is amazing really.
One day in particular I had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with one of the 4th grade classes. At one point during the day the teacher had an emergency come up and next thing I knew it was just me standing in front of a classroom of 4th graders. Believe it or not for a moment I was intimidated. I quickly gathered my thoughts and came up with a game plan. That day in the 4th grade classroom we reviewed the suffix “ing” and when to use it. I wish you could have seen us all “jumping” around the classroom smiling ear to ear. We later practiced identifying jumping, sitting, swimming, reading, and many other words. My heart was so full from all the smiles, laughs, and hearing “Teacher Emily, Teacher Emily.” This was the first Friday afternoon on the race that I thought to myself I would not want to be anywhere else in the world, but HERE.
I share this with you to say no matter what you may be going through God knows the desires of your heart. If you are following God’s plan for your life and delighting yourself in the Lord just like Psalm 37: 4 says, God will give you the desires of your heart if you seek him first and foremost.
Chasing after Jesus,
Emily Ann
My team arrived yesterday to Medellin, Colombia where we will be staying through November 7. Here we are working with an organization called Ciudad Refugio “City of Refuge”, which has many different programs such as a recovery program for addicts, feeding the homeless program, and youth development program.
I cannot wait to see all the amazing things God is going to do here in this city over the next three weeks!
