Hi everyone! I wanted to update you all and give you a little information on what our ministry looks like here in Ecuador!
We arrived illegally in Ecuador on December 1st! That’s right, I said illegally! Something happened with our bus drivers and they just drove us right through a construction zone across the border and dropped us off. It took us a minute to figure out what in the world was going on but don’t worry, once we did, we crossed back over and found how to come in through immigration. We were told this happens a lot. But, yours truly has now been an illegal alien…for about an hour 🙂
We spent December 1-4 at our squad debrief. Our coaches and squad mentor flew in and it was an awesome time of rest for us. We had squad worship and our mentors had a message for us each night. We also had devotions in the morning and then one on one meetings with our coaches to see how we are doing. We had a lot of free time so we spent hours and hours exploring Quito. We made a trip out to the equator and also to the zoo. We also made several stops at McDonalds for cheeseburgers and ice cream cones! We also spent a lot of time lost, jumping on and off of buses and trolleys trying to find our way back to the hostel! (Aunt Deb, you always told us “you aren’t lost if you can speak the language”….I think this might be the first time in my life I’ve truly been lost!).
On December 4th we made our way to our ministry site, IncaLink. Let me tell you, you’ve never seen a group of people get so excited about a living situation. I HAVE A BED! A real bed and it’s sooooo comfortable! We also have a washer and a dryer here, toilets that flush, and showers. Christmas blessings!!!! I’m staying in a room with three of my favorite girls on the squad and we have a door that closes! Privacy!!!! We set up a little tiny Christmas tree and nativity scene and we are counting down to Christmas on our advent calendar! There is a giant living room downstairs with a cozy fire place that we all sit around at night. There are also two precious puppies who live here, Guapa and Guapita who welcome us with kisses every time we come back from ministry. The staff here is AMAZING and also welcome with kisses 😉 they are some of the warmest and funniest people I’ve met this year. So, we are all feeling so very grateful and it’s so nice to be somewhere that feels like home, especially for Christmas 🙂
We are working with several different ministries this month. The first is Casa Elizabeth. Casa Elizabeth is a home for young girls who are pregnant, or have recently had babies. They range in age 14 to 18. The stories of these girls are both horrifying and heart breaking, but also hopeful. The home is beautiful, the babies are precious, and the girls are starting to warm up to us. We spend our days with them cleaning the house, holding their babies and doing crafts.
The second ministry is Casa Adalia. Casa Adalia is a home for women who have been sex trafficked. These girls are all between the ages of 18 and 22, and they are INCREDIBLE. Not only does Casa Adalia provide a place to live but also a job for the girls and a way to make money. The girls work with a company called Esperanzart making jewelry. The jewelry is beautiful and gives the girls something to take pride in and helps them learn skills to help them in the future. Not just in making jewelry but also teaches them how to operate in the work force. While we are at Casa Adalia we help with beads or help watch the girl’s children. Mostly we just laugh and tell stories and build friendships 🙂
We are also working with a local church teaching English and doing work projects for them. Alice, on our team is an English language wiz, and honestly I’m learning a lot about our language as well!
I’m working on a blog about all the amazing things God’s teaching me this month that I want to share with you guys! I’ll post it as soon as I’m finished with it! Until then MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!!
