I don’t even know where to begin with this blog. I’ve been in Ecuador a little over a week and honestly it brings up a little anxiety in me when I think about the responsibility to keep everyone posted on what’s happening here. Ecuador is big and God is bigger, so there is a ton happening.
So I pray that the Holy Spirit will anoint this blog. I pray I will share exactly what needs to be shared. I pray I will leave out what should remain just in my brain. I pray it’ll be exactly what God wants me to share about the World Race thus far. Here we go, Holy Spirit… speak. 🙂
Spiritual: (no particular order of importance) It is so evident God is going to teach me more than I could have imagined. two of the major things He is working on with me currently:
1. the reality of spiritual warfare! When I am seeking The Lord so whole heartedly and I am surrounded by people who are doing the same it is just the reality that the enemy is gonna prowl around us like a lion trying to catch us in weakness. ( 1 Peter 5:8) and that is hard, it’s hard to be attacked. But God is teaching me protection and victory in Him. He is teaching me that the battles I should be fighting are not against flesh and blood but against the rulers of darkness. He is teaching me to put on His armor and cover myself in scripture and prayer
2. The other thing God is teaching me right now is how important it is to be aware of my spiritual gifts (Romans 12) so I can use them to edify His body of believers. I’m praying God will show me clearly how to step into my gifts so He can use me to my full potential in Quito, Ecuador.
Preaching the gospel in Ecuador is hard because of the language barrier. I only know small conversational phrases. I am learning though, and it’s an opportunity to really ask The Lord to make the way we live noticeably different so people will see us and know we have been with Jesus. We are also praying for the people of Ecuador, that God would be a radiant light to these people.
Mental: There is a lot to take in and it’s very easy to get overwhelmed. it’s easy to get annoyed and want to be alone, it’s easy to want the food I am used to, it’s easy to want to not share everything I own with multiple people. BUT, God is so faithful. He is teaching me to renew my mind daily. To take every thought captive, and to just focus on the good holy things. Philippians 4:8
What we have been doing: okay this is where it gets hard to keep everyone updated because we do so much in one day. A day feels like a week some times. We are working with a ministry called Pan De Vita. (Feel free to google that.) we do different stuff every day. Here is an average day though: wake up at 7, spend time with The Lord, eat breakfast, leave around 8 to walk to the bus stop, ride the bus to ministry and get there at 9, serve the ministry of Pan De Vita with whatever they need (anything from cooking/serving food to people who need something to eat in Quito, cleaning the building, & we actually spent the first couple days preparing different types of packages to take to the coast to earthquake victims) YES I GOT TO GO THE COAST. It was amazingly beautiful and I am so thankful God gave me the opportunity to serve those people and try my best to do it the way Jesus would do. Anyways, after ministry we take the bus home and usually get home around 6. We eat dinner, spend time with each other and Jesus and get to bed pretty early to get rest so we are energized for ministry the next day. It gets exhausting, but God is in all of my days so they’re beautiful.
Prayer request: my team and I have been praying that the Holy Spirit would allow us to speak Spanish, or at least learn it at a rapid pace! We want to share the gospel with the people in Ecudaor.
I know this was so random, but I pray it was an update to those who were looking for an update. Feel free to message me specific questions…they are much easier to answer than the general ones. I don’t have wifi much, but I’ll get back to everyone when I can.
God is good. He is incredible. His Word breathes life into me daily. things are never as bad as they seem when you have the spirit of God within you. I miss everyone and I love everyone. Thank you for your prayers. Keep them up, God is moving in Quito, Ecuador and I am in awe that He would allow me to be a part of it.
