Family! Thank you so much for joining me in my journey.
We are in Ecuador for our first two months! We are staying with two wonderful hosts in their home, where they invite groups of people year-round. They have already mentored us, encouraged us, and loved on us so much.
We got here in the early hours of Thursday morning, after 24 hours of travel. On Thursday, we got to see our ministry sights and meet our hosts.To us, “ministry” is a way we can love people in tangible ways. So, our teams go to different ministries each day, including food shelters and care centers for seniors and people with special needs. Our team and the guys’ team, Team Silverbacks, are working with a rehabilitation center for girls being rescued from sex trafficking. It is a beautiful place, full of hope and heartbreak. Prostitution is legal in Ecuador, and the local rehabilitation centers only house the girls for three months. Our ministry provides leadership, life skills, and a safe environment for girls, ages 9 to 17, until they are 18. They also provide care for the girls’ children, if they have any, or help the girls set up safe adoptions. The center has been helping girls for 8 years. The girls will be there during the day in a few weeks, and will be moving in in January.
Construction work is rare on the World Race, but our teams are building a concrete wall around the site to protect these precious girls. It is hard, intense, and one of the best things we’ve ever done. We take multiple buses to get there in the morning, and return in the evening. Yesterday, we worked at 11,000 feet in 40 degrees and rain, and our day was full of laughter and shaky limbs. I am so thankful to be able to join the construction team at the site to be able to step into their lives. I am so excited to challenge the missions stereotype of building in construction and not building relationships. I am also so blessed to be able to do physical activity and create friendships with these beautiful girls.
Thank you so much for being involved in my journey!! I only have wifi on the weekends, and probably only Saturdays. I will be posting on social media sparingly, but please subscribe to my blog or email me to keep in touch!! If you would like to keep anything in your thoughts or prayers, please remember the girls and staff at our ministry, our leaders living with us, and our local hosts. I understand that this blog is vague, but, for security reasons, I can’t disclose to much publicly. If you would like to get in touch, I would love to share more. Thank you for everything. You are loved.
Love,
Kate
