Today is my last day of ministry in Quito, Ecuador. It’s my last day at Pan de Vida.
Two victories to celebrate from our time at Pan de Vida are of Wilmer Silva and his family, and Nestor’s family. I talked about both of them on my previous blog, “a week in the life”. Wilmer Silva is a Venezuelan who was crossing through Ecuador on his way to Peru. He and his family left Venezuela to be able to provide for their baby, Juan. My squad leader, Aly, shared his story and asked for funds to help his family finish their journey. She received generous donations, and the staff at Pan de Vida was able to purchase the bus tickets for him and his family. Pan de Vida has continued contact with him as they’ve started their life in Peru.
Wilmer Silva and his baby, Juan. PC: Aly Badinger
The second victory I want to share is of Nestor’s family. Nestor was a construction worker for Pan de Vida before he tragically passed away from a stomach tumor almost three months ago. Before that, his family had lost their house in a fire. They are still in the process of rebuilding. In our first month, we spent a week helping them rebuild. One of the needs the family had was for a new kitchen. And God provided for them in a very God way, exceedingly and abundantly above all we could ask or imagine. My ministry host, Jefferson, was at SuperMaxi one day to get groceries for Pan de Vida’s feeding programs when his name was entered into a raffle for a brand new stove… and he won! About a week later, he was able to gift that stove to Nestor’s family.
This is Jeff receiving the stove.
I am thankful to have partnered with this ministry for my first two months of the race. I have learned about intentionality and meeting needs effectively. I have seen the gospel preached, hot meals shared, and families lives be improved.
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This weekend, my team and I will begin our 5 days of travel to our new ministry location about an hour away from Iquitos, Peru. We are going to live in the Amazon for 22 days! I’m so excited; it’s going to be such a unique and powerful experience. Every day ministry will be evangelism, prayer walks, and leading VBS.
In Peru, I desire to grow in intimacy with the Father. One of the greatest things to glean from studying the life Jesus is how He prioritized intimacy with His Father. A few weeks ago, one of my teammates asked if there was any quality about Jesus that we could just have instantly, what would be choose? I decided that I really admire His constant abiding in the Father’s love. This month, I want to walk with God daily in prayer and intercession.
Thank you for reading. I wish to fill this space with things that matter; things that are close to the heart of God and close to my experiences here.
With love,
Aidyn
