Wow…Im not sure what else to say at this point. It didn’t
take long for God to get working and to show himself and put me outside of my
comfort zone. Its only day two and I have already cried more than I expected to
cry the entirety of the race. To be honest, I am truly at a loss for words to
describe all that has happened, but Ill try to update what is going on.
Wednesday, I said goodbye to my family at 5:50AM and made my
way to Miami to meet up with my teammates for launch. God didn’t wait to show
off the beauty of his creation and a mini preview of all that I will see in the
next year. This is my view getting on my first flight. The picture doesn’t do
it justice, as the sun was painting the morning with colors that could only be
designed by the Holy One Himself.
I had a connecting
flight in Philadelphia, and when I arrived there, I had a couple hour layover
until the next flight, so I just decided to read and wait when I randomly
saw one of my squadmates. It
brought relief, as I could now share in all the crazy things going through my
head with someone who would understand. We got on our flight and headed to
Miami. In Miami, we then checked in and got ready for our flight to Quito,
Ecuador. At 7:30PM, our plane departed for Quito, and excitement was in the air. We finally landed in Quito around midnight and got our stuff together and headed toward customs. By the time we got to our hostal, it was 1AM.
My teammates Melissa and Jeff!
So the plan when we got to Quito was to stay in the city for a few days and prepare ourselves for our ministries. This is when God showed up way faster than I expected. Right away I knew I wasnt were I wanted to be with the Lord to be fully prepared for what was to come. And I thought to myself, well in a few days, God will break down my walls and prepare me. I was wrong…He didnt waste any time. The first day of our squad meetings, God broke me down, and I had to humble myself and ask for prayer so God could use someone to speak truth in to my life. The story God kept bringing to mind was from Exodus 16 when the Israelites complained amongst themselves while in the land God had delivered them to. They were complaining about how they were “sitting by meat pots and eating bread until they were full.” Here they were, lead by God to a place of freedom, and they were holding on to slavery! And this is what God kept speaking to me that first day. He said, forget those lies you are believing, forget the things holding you to slavery and fully embrace the freedom I am trying to give you. And so I am beginning that process, and the freedom I felt immediately brought me to tears.
That brings us to this morning. We gathered for more worship and preparation for ministry, and again I began balling because the love I saw between the believers were so pure and real in the room, it was truly a beautiful moment orchestrated by the Father himself! Things were looking so good…
Then came the hard part. Part way through the day today, God showed me that He has different things in store for me in this trip that I had planned. After a couple of days of spending time getting to know my teammates, and deeply bond with them, situations called for me to switch teams. My heart immediately dropped. Its hard to understand, but even with the short time I have known my team, I was deeply attached. At first I was not happy, but immediately God reminded me of Psalm 16 where God says that He gives us the paths to life and an immediate sense of peace and excitement came over me. Later in the day, it was relayed to the whole team that I would be moving to a different team. The tears flowed again, this time for a looong period of time, from me at least. But while there were tears, there was peace and excitement. Even through the hurt, I am so excited to be a part of my new team and bring Christ to people around the world! I am grateful for the other team’s sacrifice and willingness to take me in. Its be an emotional ride for sure since being here, so please keep me in prayer while I get adjusted.
Also, because of switching teams, my ministry location has changed to Puerto Viejo. With all thats going on, I havent found out what we will be doing yet, but I will keep everyone informed. Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement and know that I am so thankful for everyone who supports and prays for me.
