It’s month three!! So many beautiful things happened in November and the start of December has been so beautiful. My team and I just got back from the coast doing earthquake relief that happened this past April. After driving 8 hours we arrived at the first shelter and were welcomed with a gourmet breakfast from the people who lived there. Let me remind you, we were bringing food and supplies for these people because they had lost everything… and they were giving away everything they had so they could bless us. Not only did this happen at the first shelter, but another shelter provided us with dinner, in addition to that, another shelter took us on a boat ride on the Pacific Ocean! These people who literally lost everything- their homes, their family members, everything- loved us so well during those two days we were there serving them.
One of the things that impacted me the most was when we were driving through the town looking at the devastation. We noticed the entire town square of the city was taken up by make-shift homes with tarps and ropes. We decided to stop and talk to some of the people, and as we were walking around we saw that the need was so great. We decided to unload some of the supplies for another shelter to give away to these people who were in desperate need. With rainy season quickly approaching, these make-shift homes will not stand, and it broke our hearts to see that after all this time these people had nowhere to go. As we were distributing the food, we were able to pray for each person and this woman broke down to my teammate and said, “Thank you for not forgetting I existed. We have needed help, and you came.” Most people have completely forgotten about the earthquake because they aren’t living in that devastation everyday, but we cannot forget about these people. Jesus has not forgotten them, and restoration is coming.
After leaving that shelter, we went to the shelter that was actually on our list, and the president of our organization, Oscar, shared his heart for wanting to partner with churches in the area, and not just come in and then leave the people with nothing. As he was sharing his vision, we arrived at the next shelter and right next door was a Christian Evangelical Church, and the pastor was there! Oscar went in and began talking to the Pastor as we began the distribution of food and supplies. Afterward, he told us that this Pastor and him went and ate together, got to know each other, and the Pastor gave him a list of Christian Pastors in the area- a whole list of contacts!! The vision God placed in Oscar’s heart was coming to fruition and he was able to pray for the Pastor and partner with the work their church was already doing in the area!!
Even though we had given away a lot of food and supplies to that one shelter, we still needed some for the last shelter, but the Lord provided an excess of amount of supplies! We had over enough to give away and bless every shelter. Praise the Lord!!
Despite everything that had happened to these people, the joy that each person had brought me so much strength and happiness. Christmas time is actually extremely hard for many people because they have lost so much, this is the first Christmas without certain family members and not being able to provide for their children is so heartbreaking. Pan de Vida was able to bring Christmas gifts for the kids, diapers for the moms, food for every family, and we were able to sing Christmas carols and just love on the people. I was able to pray healing over multiple people, and declare life and restoration over each community.
As we were driving back, I was listening to worship and looking out the window. I saw the beautiful landscape of Ecuador- mountains covered by fog only showing the peaks and the outline, and with the stars shining all above. The Lord reminded me of his faithfulness. His faithfulness for these people, his faithfulness for this journey I am on, his faithfulness with my family back home, and his faithfulness for the rest of my life. Nothing else matters but him. Literally nothing matters but living this life as worship to the King who gave it all. What King would leave his throne, and die for his creation so that we could know him. I’m so in awe of him, and so in awe that he would allow me to stand in the gap for his people in Ecuador. I have less than 3 weeks left here, and the Lord is not done yet. He has given us power to heal the sick, to raise the dead, to cast out demons, and desires for us to walk in that power so that people may walk in freedom and know him!! He is healing this land, and it is so beautiful to be apart of!
Thank you for your continued support and prayers. I am still in need of $3000 by the end of January, so please consider partnering in this endeavor with the Lord so that I may continue to be used to reach the lost in the countries of India and Zambia.
