Life happens and plans change. There is a quote that says “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.” Now let me tell you, I‘ve been making God LOL lately. When I first signed up for The World Race I wanted to grow my relationship with the Lord, serve others, meet cool new people and travel the whole world. Don’t get me wrong, serving and growing spiritually is most definitely still the reasons I want to go. Now with never being out of the country (only a few times to Mexico which is normal for a gal who grew up in a border town) the going to 11 different countries was VERY appealing. Lets just say I wanted to eat the whole delicious cake in one sitting. After praying, talking and more praying, I have decided to change my route and go on The world race Semesters. What is Semesters you may ask, well I like to call it a mini version of The World Race. I will be serving in 2 specific countries as opposed to 11 different countries. I will be going to Ecuador and Peru for 3 months, as opposed to 11 months, each spent in a new country. I will be taking off late August and coming back late November 2019. There were many reasons for switching my route, one of them being school. I eventually have to graduate and with a slow start to college (taking very little classes my first couple of semesters) and then taking 2 years off of school was something that was not ideal for me to do. So by switching to the semester trip is perfect fit for me! Taking life and school semester by semester. By switching to the semester trip I will be with college kiddios a lot closer to my age as opposed to my original route. I’m excited to have team mates going through similar life situations as me. My mindset in the beginning was more of quantity instead of quality, I want to focus more on a specific area (South America). I was in a rush for no reason at all. Eventually, I would LOVE to do The World Race but as of now the semesters is a better fit for me. I need to take a slice of cake instead of eating the whole cake in one sitting.
With that being said let me tell you the awesome things my team and I will be doing in Ecuador and Peru!
In Ecuador, my team and I will serve with a well-loved world race partner, Inca Link, in Quito. We will have the opportunity to serve in a variety of ways, including ministering to children living on the streets, serving in hospitals for people with special needs, spending time in elderly homes, working with feeding programs, and teaching English.
In Peru, my team and I will serve alongside Savage Ministries. We will be focusing on church and women’s ministry and sports ministry! We will also lead a vacation Bible school, visit and pray with people in their homes, and share the Gospel through street evangelism.
I am still beyond excited to serve and see what I will learn on my trip. Trust me this won’t be the last.
All the love,
Ella Gonzalez
