Greetings from Ecuador,
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve checked in and I have so much to share with you. In that time our squad finished up with our Colombian ministry hosts, said some hard goodbyes, and had a five day debrief to reflect on what God has been doing in each of our lives. After a thirty one hour bus ride our squad arrived safely in Ecuador. We were warmly greeted by our new hosts at the Inca Link facility where all fifty nine racers and leaders will be staying for all squad month. I am incredibly excited to be diving into my team’s new ministry. We will be working with a Christian organization called Pan De Vida! I’ll go into more about the amazing things they are doing another time.
In my last blog I talked about some of the miracles that our team was blessed to witness and take part in. That last blog was just a glimpse into our month in Columbia. I lost count of the number of people that were healed and the number of people who were liberated from demons. Miracles aren’t something that you can plan. God showed up in ways that were completely unexpected to me and though stepping into the supernatural was the highlight of my month, I don’t want it to overshadow the relationships that we built or the work God was doing on the hearts in the communities we were serving.
Our hosts Pastor William and his wife Christina are both incredible people. Their ministry is spreading God’s love and spreading the Gospel. The love that they have for their family, the love they poured out onto us, and the love they have for their congregations was absolutely beautiful. William has been dedicated to serving the Lord for decades. Each week, he ministers at the prison down the road, holds services at his small church Friday nights and Sunday mornings, and travels to a neighboring town forty five minutes away for an evening service for his second congregation. His dedication is inspiring. He and Christina provided an excellent example of what a life led by Christ can look like.
My Team’s ministry didn’t look like we were expecting going into Columbia. The plan was for us to minister at the prison with William and spread God’s love to the inmates. God had his own plans. We never made it through the doors of the prison. Instead we were blessed to walk along side a fellow man of God, who was willing to take each of us under his wing. Our month was spent being a part of the body, investing in the people of the church and the people of the community. William mentored us on being bold, stepping out of our comfort zones, and always pointed us back to God.
Though I have had time to process everything that I was able to take part in and I am trying my hardest to be present in the here and now, I am struggling to strike a balance and find what it looks like to be actively engaged in our new ministry, while carrying forward the lessons that I learned in Columbia. Our team’s month in Columbia looked a little different from many of the other teams and our ministry looked a little different than what I expect many of our months will look like in the future. Our month’s focus was on the spiritual world. God used our team to heal the sick and cast out demons. He used these experiences to strengthen my relationship with him and strengthen my faith. It was a spiritual boot camp in exercising the authority granted to us by Jesus Christ.
Going into Columbia I was praying that God would use me. He did. Going into Ecuador I have been praying that God will grant me wisdom and discernment. How will I apply the lessons that God has taught me? How will I carry forward that knowledge into the ministry I will be taking part in this month?
