Traveling to Ecuador has been one of my favorite parts of The Race, so far. My squad and I were on a bus for about 30 hours traveling from Medellin, Colombia to Quito, Ecuador. Which to most would seem like hell BUT for me? I loved every second of it. I love road tripping! So, not only did I get a giant road trip BUT I got to do it with all of my friends! THEN my team and I had another 10 hour bus ride from Quito to Portoviejo!
Life here in Ecuador has surprised me in very good ways. You never know what’s going to happen! Our very first day here, we leave our house to walk to a nearby bakery. On the way back, we almost get hit by a car! The craziest part about it was that it was a car full clowns! What?! Then sometimes you go to walk to the store and the entire street is taken up with dudes on bikes.
They love to do wheelies here.
Just goes to show that World Race life can be crazy.
I titled this “Of Garbage and Men” because those are the ministries we’re partnering with this month.
In the mornings we go to a home for older men who have nowhere else to go. These are men who the world forgot. Well, it’s a good thing that God didn’t. We got to weed their yard, have dance parties, color, make paper airplanes and see whose would go the farthest, and listen to some of their stories as well as talk to them about Jesus.
Then, in the evenings, we head over to a small village right outside the garbage dump.
Here, we get to teach all of the kids about Jesus and that we can live for Him no matter what our upbringing may be. I can’t fully describe what life is like within this village because I do not have the words needed to express it. Simply put: they live off of what others throw away. We come in armed with games, songs, bible stories, food, and drink. Our very first lesson there was: God made the earth, He made mankind and called them “good”.
I can’t imagine what I would feel, as a child, if someone sat me down, said that the creator of everything I saw looked at me and loved me. I grew up in church and I heard it in group settings but no one ever took the time to look me in the eye and confidently say “He made you, He loves you, and He wants you to live for Him”. I got that later in life. But man, I can’t imagine what I would do differently if someone took that time with me. That’s exactly what we get to do with these kids.
From the hardest day of manual labor to the most relaxing day at the beach I’ve ever had (our host decided to treat us to a day off), I have loved every second of being here in Ecuador. I can’t wait to see how God will move through us in our last 2 weeks here. It’s also our first month together with just our team togehter. I’m proud to be part of Rakhma Rua. I have seen them work and be used by The Lord in phenomenal ways. I want to be like them when I grow up!
