I am currently in Quito, Ecuador and I love it!
I am staying with Inca Link. Inca Link is an international missions organization focused on serving and empowering the 300 milllon youth in Latin America with Christ’s irresistible love. They have compassion ministries in Columbia, Peru and Ecuador through training leaders, evangelism and discipleship. In the capital city of Quito, Ecuador, where 28 of my squad mates are serving this month, Inca Link has a guest house, Casa Blanca, for missionaries and volunteers to stay, Casa Elizabeth, a house for pregnant teens, Tesoros, a home to get kids off the streets, Cumbre Alta, a sports club ministry, as well as, a women’s prison ministry.
My new team, The Movement, is serving at Covi, in the beautiful Parque Carolina, a 45 minute bus ride from Casa Blanca. Covi is a before and after school program for at risk kids. The program provides these kids with lunch, Bible Study, arts & crafts, tutoring and more. My team of seven lovely ladies are participating in these activities as well as grounds maintenance and cleaning. We get to help cook, garden, organize, tutor, etc. The people who run this ministry are some of the most generous and lovely people I have met on the race. The way they love on these kids is empowering and contagious. Don’t get me wrong, I love kids but I don’t always know how to interact with them. I hope Christ instills a passion in my heart for these children that compels me to jump in head first, get grass stains with them and start any conversation I can in my broken Spanglish.
I love everything about this month. The views, the food, the ministry, Casa Blanca, my new team. We are a bunch of adventures. We’ve already checked out the Middle of the Earth and plan to stay inside a crater with a lake, tour Colonial Quito and ride the Teleferiqo, a cable car that takes people up an active volcano on the outskirts of Quito.
I also love the way God continues to place clear lessons in my path. In January, while serving in Puerto Rico, God taught me about humility. In the Dominican Republic God showed me my tendency to seek affirmation from others instead of from Him. Throughout March, in Bolivia, God asked me to fast and helped me understand how powerful my words and my daily demeanor is on those who surround me. Last month in Peru, the Lord clarified what it means to follow Him and challenged me to seek after Him more fervently. And this month, well, you’ll have to read my next blog to find out…
