My Favorite Day in Ecuador

Ministry lately has been a little hard since Satan has been
attacking us all through relationships, but the upside to this is that it has
given us eyes to appreciate all of the little things God has been doing for us.
We have all really needed some encouragement lately and the little things have
been HUGE! The little things have looked like: a cool breeze when it’s SUPER
hot, good conversations in English, actually enjoying cold showers because it’s
so hot, rainy days, or a cold drink. These were all things that I definitely
took for granted in the States and when things are hard here it’s the little
things that mean so much. But my favorite way that God has encouraged me
this month was on Thursday night at a small group Bible study with believers
from our church.

The day started off with devotions as usual at 7:30, and then we
all ate breakfast. But this morning I decided to make “eggy on toast”
my(and my mom’s) favorite breakfast, it was the perfect start to the day. Afterwards
I was able to relax, read my book, and hang out with the team. Then we had lunch
at the restaurant that we ate at all the time (meaning I didn’t have to cook,
making lunch extra good) and after lunch everyone left the house, went
downstairs and played with the kids for VBS. It was finally the first time we
had really been alone for our “Married Day”. 

After VBS we all hang out and relax before we have to go to this
Bible study. Once we get to the place we realize we are having the same Bible
study with the same people we had about 2 weeks ago, so all of us are excited
to see these familiar faces. What we didn’t know was that we were the ones
leading the Bible study, in Spanish (of course, right?). Luckily Cory jumps in
and says that he can lead the group with a few verses from Philippians, but
that he can’t do it in Spanish. So Jeff and I decide to tag team translating
Cory’s message. But Cory didn’t realize how long he needed to talk, so Lindsay
steps in and says a few things about the verses right after his, then once she
is done with the things she wanted to say, Cory picks right back up and
continues with the next section of verses, all while Jeff and I are translating
this to the Ecuadorians. It ends up being a really fun time of trying to
translate everything, especially since one lady steps in and starts helping us
with our translating.

After we have talked for about 20 minutes, the ladies ask us if we
know any songs. Of course we know songs, but the problem is if we know them in
Spanish. We ask if it is ok to sing in English and they say yes, so we start
singing worship songs back and forth, us and them, English and Spanish. It was
such a beautiful thing to listen to these men and women singing and then trying
to learn our songs to praise the Lord.

Once we are done singing we decide to go into a time of prayer.
This time of prayer though is what we had all been craving since being on the
Race. A lady that joined us had a problem with her leg and a type of skin
allergy or disease that she wanted prayer for and another lady gave a prayer
request on behalf of a boy she knew that was bitten by a snake. So we all join
hands and lift up this lady and the boy for healing and thank God for this
amazing opportunity and the wonderful day and end our time. The lady was so
thankful for our prayers and left feeling a little better, but not completely
healed, so since then as a team we have continued to pray for their healing and
wait expectantly for God to move.

After leaving the Bible study we are all energized and so thankful
for how the Lord works in our lives to lift our spirits, so we decide to go out
to eat right down the street at this burger place and fall in love! The burgers
taste like American burgers, we get coconut milk (the most amazing thing EVER),
and delicious fries and have the perfect end to the night; but not before we
also stop on our way back for ice cream.

I know that this is a long story, but God knew exactly what our
team needed to feel encouraged and keep going. Praising Him, good food, some
time alone, and gathering with other believers and lifting them up in prayer. It
is awesome how God knows us better than we know ourselves, because the way I
wanted things to be better for us was not how they actually played out, but in
the end it was so much better than I could have asked or imagined.

What are some ways God has been encouraging you lately, or
answering your prayers in ways that were far better than you thought they would
be?

Here are two short clips of us going back and forth singing worship songs together.