We’ve been in Ecuador for about two weeks now and I am very happy to be here.
I love Quito. It’s vibrant. It’s beautiful. It’s freedom. It’s not too hot or cold. The buses are crowded. The views are unmatched. People you’ve never met treat you like family. The city is loud. I like when adults call me nina. It’s sunny in the morning but by 3:15 pm all the mountain peaks are covered by clouds, every time.
Anyways, I will write tons of blogs about ministry, funny moments, culture, nightmares on the C-5 bus, etc. at a later time, but I can’t write them if I won’t be here… That might be a little dramatic, BUT it’s true! If I don’t reach my fundraising goal of $16,600 by January I can’t stay in Ecuador and I can’t go to Cambodia! This blog is my last cry for help and hopefully my last time asking for money… YAY! Trust me I hate doing it, way more than you hate hearing about it. (It’s a pride thing, I’m working on it).
Something I constantly struggle with is feeling inadequate and unworthy to be here. I don’t think I know enough to preach the gospel. I don’t think I am deserving of your donations or your time. I don’t think I’m good enough to be serving alongside such amazing ministries and people. This would all be entirely true, BUT God. He’s merciful and He’s graceful. Because He lives inside of me, He calls me chosen and set apart. (Deut. 14:2). Without him I am merely skin and bone, sin and shame, but with Him I am righteous and worthy.
So, when I ask for donations, PLEASE KNOW, I am not asking out of confidence of myself. I am asking out of confidence of the Lord. I ask for donations because I know the Lord can work through me, through the ministries I am serving and in the peoples’ lives that I am meeting. It’s all Him, I was just the body that was able to go and said yes.
“Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God” -2 Corinthians 3:5.
I am not trying to persuade you to donate to me at all. But, what I am trying to persuade you to do is act upon your faith in our Father, because faith without deeds is dead!
“Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” James 2:15-17.
So, if you have faith in what the Lord is doing in Ecuador and what He will do in Cambodia, this is simply your opportunity to act on it! If the Lord is calling you to donate/ give your time elsewhere, by all means please do that! But live out your faith. Don’t just talk the talk, actually walk the walk!!! He can do more with your time/ money/ talents than you could ever imagine if you just choose to partner with Him.
IF you feel called to donate, you can do so at the top of this blog or by venmo: (juliawashburrn)!!!!!
Thank you to everyone who has donated/ been praying for me and my squad. Y’all are in this thing just as much as I am, if not more.
– Julia
