Oh man, where do I even begin? It’s only month three, but I already know that this past month in Ecuador is one of my favorite months on the race. It was a wildly eventful month, and it was a month full of joy.
For 4 of us on the team, our first week of ministry consisted of working in a hospital called Fundación La Vida for 12 hours a day. Fundación La Vida is a Christian foundation, and it’s actually on the same base as Templo Metropolitano Alianza, which is the church we worked with all month! We served alongside a team of doctors and surgeons specializing in sports injury and hand surgeries. This team came from the states to perform surgeries that either are unable to be performed by surgeons in Portoviejo, or that patients cannot afford to pay for. These doctors and surgeons pay their own way to and from Ecuador, they pay for their own food and lodging, they haul multiple duffel bags full of equipment and supplies (most of which they donate to La Vida), and on top of all of that, they work for free. They sometimes spend 15+ hours a day at the hospital, not earning a single penny. They were quite literally the hands of Jesus. It was a tear-jerking experience to see the pure gratefulness and joy in the faces of patients or the parents of patients after surgery, knowing that they had finally been healed after months, and sometimes even years, of waiting for these surgeries. From 7 am to 7 pm every day, we helped prep the operating room, we cleaned it after surgery, we helped prep patients for surgery, and we helped the surgeons with random odds and ends in the OR during surgery. For most people, consecutive 12 hour days on your feet probably sound draining and exhausting (I will admit that I was exhausted by the end of the week), but for anyone who knows me, you know how much I was thriving. My experience in the OR was one that I would never in a million years get to do in the States, and it was truly the sweetest gift from God. He was ever so present that week in the hospital, and it made my heart smile every day to see how everything done in La Vida is done with the love of Jesus. One of my favorite moments from my week at La Vida was when everyone in the OR started singing along to the worship music that was playing, and we were literally worshipping in an operating room during surgery. How stinking cool is that?! It was such an honor getting to serve alongside this amazing team.
Another ministry we participated in this month was at 2 of the senior homes in Portoviejo. The first senior home isn’t technically a senior home anymore. The building was destroyed in the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Portoviejo a few years back, and since it was a private Christian home, the owners of the home couldn’t afford to rebuild it, so they welcomed some of the residents into their own house. We visited them on Saturday mornings to help clean the house, chat with the residents, and, per their consistent request, sing and dance with them J The second senior home that we’d visit is run by the government, so it was much larger, and we spent 3-4 days per week there. We spent a lot of time singing to the residents, coloring with them, feeding them, playing games with them, or just taking them for little walks around the courtyard. Although my Spanish has improved tremendously, the language barrier is definitely present with the elderly since they’re harder to understand. However, we’ve learned that smiles are universal, and used that as our main form of communication.
Our third (and one of my favorite) ministries this month was small group Bible study on Saturday nights. We had the privilege of joining groups of other “kids” our ages where we got to worship, talk about the Bible, and just hang out together! Saturday nights were always full of good company, lots of laughter, and deep conversations (and sometimes milkshakes J). On our last Saturday night in Portoviejo, the church hosted an Olympics in which all of the small groups competed against each other, and we had an absolute blast. Us World Racers were the referees for all of the games, but my small group’s team won the Olympics (!!!) so I got to celebrate with them. We ended the Olympics with a game of soccer that we racers got to participate in (I scored a goal, Mom!!) and the teams were blended to make it fair, of course, since Ecuadorians basically come out of the womb playing soccer. I genuinely looked forward to Saturday nights every single week, and the friendships I made there are some I will NEVER forget.
The last of our many ministries this month was the garbage dump. Yes, you heard that right, the garbage dump. There are dozens of families living in the garbage dump in Portoviejo due to losing their homes in that 7.8 magnitude earthquake that I mentioned before, or because they simply can’t afford to live anywhere else. Our team would go to the garbage dump 4 nights per week to put on a mini VBS for them. We’d sing songs with them, play games with them, teach them a Bible lesson and memory verse, do a little craft with them, and then serve them dinner. The kids at the dump would run to us with open arms as soon as we arrived, so excited to simply be in our presence. They don’t care about the garbage surrounding their home, or the smell, or the dirt that they’re covered in. The only things that they care about are the most important things: Jesus, and their families/friends. They find joy in everything around them. I think those kids probably taught me more throughout the month than I taught them. They showed me that true happiness does NOT come from your circumstances, and to be grateful for the things that you do have, regardless of what you might lack.
As you probably already know, our Thanksgiving was spent in Portoviejo. Ecuadorians don’t generally celebrate Thanksgiving, but our host family was kind enough to help us celebrate. Our host mom Gema took us shopping for ingredients to make a Thanksgiving dinner, they let us invade their kitchen and living room for the whole day, and they even helped cook and joined us to enjoy the meal. They were a real family to us. And regardless of the fact that I didn’t have a warm shower all month, or a real bed or even my own family to celebrate with, I was beyond thankful. Because happiness doesn’t come from our circumstances, it comes from the heart perspective we choose despite our circumstances.
I’m currently settled into my new home in Cusco, Peru for the month. I am very excited for this month, as it consists of a lot of Christmas celebration in the church, but I also know it’s going to be one of the most difficult of the 11 months as I’m away from home and my family during the holidays. I’m asking for a LOT of prayer for homesickness during this season, it’s hitting me hard right now.
As always, thank you from the bottom of my heart for listening to what I have to say. I love you all.
Hannah
