Who would have thought that my first year out of high school I would travel the world to spread the Gospel with a bunch of strangers? I can tell you right now that I never imagined doing anything like this but if I had the chance to go back to when I decided to do this I wouldn’t change any of my decisions. God has placed me with an incredible team that I can truly say are becoming more like my family every day. Team Greater Works or more commonly known as “Tall Team” is a unit composed of people who are musicians, deep thinkers, hard workers, jokesters, fun, creative, loving, and completely sold out for Christ. God placed us in Portoviejo, Ecuador with some amazing hosts who are not afraid to put us to work or have ministry until midnight.
Our first week here we helped move and organize files for a local hospital that was affected by a 7.8 earthquake about a year and a half ago. When we finished at the hospital we would eat lunch and head back to the house, via public transport (bus), to rest for an hour or two before we headed to the trash dump (yes I said trash dump) to teach, play, feed and just spend time with the kids and moms that live there. This ministry has been an eye-opener, to say the least. Every time we drive up to the dump there are kids there with these big smiles that melt your heart because in that moment you realize that the attention they are getting from you is their highlight for the week.
It has been here where I have been able to see the true characters of my teammates. They have all completely blown me away. Every time we walk up to the little so-called house that we host the kids at, there is a stench that hits you square in the face and it smells like all the worst trash in the world was pilled up right where you are standing. But this doesn’t even phase my team, instead, it seems like it fuels them. As I watch them, they will sit right in the middle of the kids and let them play with their hair, or they grab them and throw them up in the air, or give them the biggest hugs this world has ever seen. The more I watch them the more I see the love of our Heavenly Father flowing out of the lives and into their everyday lives. It has truly been a blessing to see each one of them wanting to return to love on those kids and it has been a privilege so far to witness the power of Christ’s love through my teammates. I truly cannot wait to see what God has in store for us in the following days, weeks, and months that we have left on the race.
