Hello wonderful friends and fam!! hope all is well!! heres what going on right now!! we were supposed to leave for peru today but we are currently staying here due to riots and unrest here in Quito. WE ARE COMPLETELY SAFE!! but we and quito could use some prayers for sure!!
2 Corinthians? ?1:3-11? ?ESV
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. ••But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead•• He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.”
PLEASE PRAY FOR QUITO!!!
my heart is so heavy right now for this city that i love!! while my team is safe and my heart is overflowing with thankfulness for that; it breaks me to know the hurt going on in the city. in my life, i don’t want to be the kinda person who is just exposed to the love of Christ at times, i want to be consumed by it, and for this city i am and i feel so powerless to help.
so what does it mean to be consumed?? the two definitions that i found that resonated with me were:
consumed: (especially of a fire) completely destroy, (of a feeling) absorb all the attention and energy of (someone)
both of these have held true to me in different ways. “(especially of a fire) completely destroy” God’s love is like a fire. it spreads rapidly, it can’t be ignored, it’s light that cancels out the darkness, and it completely captivates everything it comes into contact with. it consumes me and because of it my heart is destroyed because it breaks me to see these people in pain. someone told me once that missing someone or hurting for someone is a sign of how completely and wholly you were loved by someone or loved someone else. and this is only a fraction of how much i am loved by God and that blows my mind in literally every way possible!! it’s a love that surpasses all understanding/ knowledge!! (eph. 3:19)
“(of a feeling) absorb ALL the attention and energy of (someone)”: to be consumed is to know or want for nothing else. and this is my prayer for myself and for the people of God because in it is so much fulfillment and J O Y !!
our God is truly the God of peace and comfort, but he isn’t separate from suffering. he loved us so much he chose not to sit idly while the world was breaking (which he wouldn’t been justified in doing) but to come down to a sinful and broken earth to endure suffering so that we can be with him always!! and he is still here with me now!! and he is still here in quito now!! i know God has a plan and his will is sovereign in this situation but there is something that we as believers can all do in unity!!
something that i have learned through this journey is what it means to have full dependency on God during this time. ??in 2 Corinthians? ?12:9-10? ?ESV?? it says “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” this is a verse i have heard thousands of times but it wasn’t until this morning, while i was having “church” (by listening to an online sermon in the living room of our wonderful hosts) that the meaning of it really clicked for me. “I WILL •BOAST• ABOUT MY WEAKNESS.” this is something that is very hard for me because i like to try to be independent and not burden people by asking for help. but God is delighted to help us and we are actually called to be GLAD in our weakness so that we can lean into God and see the fullness of what he has for us!! we were never meant to carry as this weight by ourselves but what’s impossible or me is easy for God!!
SOOOOOO
PLEASE JOIN US IN PRAYER!!
we are talking the next 24 hours (starting at 9am on October 13 to 9am on October 14) to pray continuously for quito!! my time slot is 11pm today and 7am tomorrow if you would like to join with me personally they are for an hour each, but i would love for you to take any time slot you can no matter how long and you will be partnered with someone here on my team to pray!! there is so much power in prayer and the unity in the body of believers!! there is currently a cease fire until 8 pm tonight and negotiations start at 3 so if you wanna pause to say a quick prayer for a peaceful negotiation it would be much appreciated!!
specifically please pray for:
- the riots to calm down
- the families of the people who have been hurt or killed
- the negotiations to reach a peaceful solution asap!!
- people to see/find God in every situation and for salvation to reach these people
- for my little babies from camp hope to be able to safely return to a place where i know they are being taken care of
- for safety and peace in this situation
- the city as a whole to heal to be restored to the place i fell in love with
thank you so much for the prayers so far and for those to come!! like i said before the power of prayer is so strong and i believe God is moving already and will continue too but we are still called as believers to unite in prayer!!
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