Quito, Ecuador.
Back at Launch, in August, my squad was informed that we would be adding Ecuador to our route as we pass from Peru to Colombia.
“Cool, another country!!” is about all the thought I gave to it.
But now, after spending a week in Quito, Ecuador, it is so much more than just another country to me. Ecuador was a place where I learned a lot about myself, was pushed into boldness, and a place where I gained new friendships.
After a 40 hour bus ride from Lima, Peru, we arrived in Quito at about 1:00am last Wednesday night and stayed for about 8 days total.
This week was another time of “Ask the Lord” ministry, where my team got to pray and push into whatever ministry we felt called to do. While in Lima, my teammate, Brandon, was praying for our time in Quito and felt called to partner with CRU ministry, an organization that he was involved with back in college. He reached out and we got the blessing of being able to partner with them for the week. CRU has many parts to its ministry, but this week we worked with their university ministries.
There are three interns, Brianna, Sean, and Derek, that we got to work closely with this week that invited us into their lives here in Quito, making us feel right at home. Right now, their mission is to find students on each campus in Quito that are passionate about Jesus Christ, so that they can invite them into a Christian community and allow them to be leaders on their campus, sharing their faith and reaching their campus. The goal is for it to be student run when the interns go home!
So each day, we went to different universities and ask students if they have a personal relationship with Jesus, and try to get believers plugged into this community.
It was so different from any form of sharing I have done before, and a type of boldness I have so far been too timid to tap into.
But it was oh so good. CRU and these new friends stretched me out of my comfort zone by empowering me to try new things and to see the beauty in them. I learned a new step of boldness that the Lord has been desiring to walk me through. This life is not my own, it is my Savior’s to live through me for His glory, so why hold back in times of fear or awkwardness? There is such a beauty in being uncomfortable.
Here are some highlights of my week in Quito:
• We went salsa dancing!!! I am so uncoordinated!!! But what a fun night it was.
• One of the last days, before starting at the university, we prayed to meet 5 Christians to join the movement- and God lead us to 21 contacts!!!!
• Quilatoa: a volcano that last erupted in 1280, which is now a filled lake area we got to hike and kayak around!
• Church!!! On Sunday morning, we got the opportunity to go to an English speaking church. It was so refreshing to have community worship and church service in words I understand for the first time in months.
• Simply the friendships with Brianna, Sean, and Derek. They honestly served as the greatest blessings to me and my team. It was so refreshing to have friends that share in similar experiences and a similar mindset. They each shine with patience, love, selflessness, and faith. Their ministry in Quito is exhausting, yet they still push into it because they trust where the Lord has them. These friends were hard to leave, but knowing their efforts for the Lord is such a blessing.
Family dinner with our new friends.
Quilatoa.
Things the Lord is teaching me:
- to be bold for Him, not for praises of those around me
- the words you speak over yourself really do hold power
- edifying the members of the Body is just as important for us to do as ministering to others
We left Quito on Friday morning and had quite the travel day and a half. We rode in a bus, a small van, another van, and finally our last bus all over the course of about 30 hours. It was quite the experience, and praise the Lord- our whole squad has arrived in Medellin, Colombia, for 3 weeks together as a squad. More updates to come as we begin our time here in Colombia.
