I’m gonna miss this place.
This past month in Portoviejo, Ecuador has been one of the more challenging months of my life, but at the same time, it’s been one of the best.
I’m not gonna lie, when we first got here I wasn’t sure how the month would go; but wow, God came through. From our living situation, ministry and other particulars, the first week was a bit rough for me personally. On top of that, this month has been all about creating relationships with people and, at that time, my team didn’t seem to be really connecting all that much with those people. We worked at a group home and couldn’t seem to get through to the men there. We worked with kids at a garbage dump and they were unresponsive. We worked to lay the foundation of a restaurant and also cleaned the compound we’ve lived at and the work seemed to drag on at times.
Now, fast forward a couple weeks. It’s gonna be tough to leave.
Since that first week, God has opened so many doors and the relationships we’ve created in such a short time are nothing short of a miracle. We were able to connect with the men at the group home through art, paper airplanes, Jenga, and our own take on handball. A couple of the guys on my team were even able to start a Bible study with the one man there who could speak English and soon after, he was translating the study so that those who didn’t speak English could read, learn and understand as well!
At the dump, God performed a miracle as well. We often were without a translator (Jon knows the most Spanish and is alright at it, but he’s still not good enough to do a Bible lesson) so we had to find other ways to connect with the kids and God totally broke down the language barrier. Through crafts, games, songs, and soccer, we formed such deep relationships with the kids there that, as we ran for the bus on the last day (we had to say insanely quick good-byes because we were late), my heart just about broke knowing we wouldn’t be back.
God also gave in an incredible way during the labor as we all had bursts of energy that allowed us to lay the dirt foundation of a restaurant the size of a small house – by hand!
On top of all this, God has really blessed this month with incredible conversations and intimacy within our team. Our convos range from Trump building his wall, to the difference between trust and love, to who’s the greatest basketball player of all time (It’s George Mikan by the way)? And if that wasn’t enough, our host and his family here have been awesome, not to mention that the food has been soooooooo good!
So now I’m torn. I’m torn between the excitement of the World Race and moving on to Trujillo, Peru, but I’m also really gonna miss this place. The people and relationships are some I’ll remember and have the rest of my life, and really, I thank God for this hard good-bye because of the blessing this place and these people have been in my life.
For now though, it’s on to where God leads next and I’m trusting in Romans 8:28 that “…in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose.”
God bless!
-Ben
