Well another month is under our belt and I can’t say it got any easier to say goodbye. We spent this month doing a lot of different ministries in the city of Quito, Ecuador. We arrived in Quito not knowing what our ministry was going to be, or what our schedule was going to look like. We sat on the floor of our host home night one after many hours of travel and Josh, our team leader shared with us what our month was going to be. We were going to be helping with a soccer ministry in town that has two players connected with Inca Link, our host ministry. We were only going to be doing a few hours of work three times a week with the team. This left us with a lot of free time to ask the Lord what he wanted for us. We decided that our primary additional ministries would be to minister to our squad, as it was all squad month and we were all living together, and our host parents Mabe and Fabien.
Day One of ministry, we sat down with Fabi and he shared with us all the projects he had for us and his grand vision for the space. He cares so much for the missionaries who come to stay there, a lot of them being World Race teams/squads. He is very intentional with everything and puts a lot of time, effort, and thought into each aspect. He welded carribeaners to the deck poles so hammocks could be hung. He built a fire pit for a place to worship. He wants to create a small amphitheater for worship as well. He wants to build on to the cabana so there are quiet time spaces for us to spend with the Lord, and he wants to build an outdoor kitchen to accommodate more people who want to cook for themselves. He put thought into each and every part to make our time better. We knew then that Mabe and Fabi were going to be a huge part of our lives and that we wanted to serve them the same way they serve us.
We started the next day working on making a giant rock and cement wall that would be part of the outdoor kitchen and prepping the house to be painted. We worked all day long on tearing away the dirt to replace it with cement. We spent all day the next day working as well, and then went in the evening to the soccer ministry. This continued for a few days and we decided that we couldn’t give all to both ministries, so we decided to split up. I decided to help Josh with the construction work and the others went to the soccer ministry. The next week, I decided to join them. Josh worked alone day and night on the wall and by the end of the month, it was finished and beautiful. We helped when we could with painting and other small jobs.
We spent the rest of our time either helping with the evening soccer ministry, the smaller ministry of that ministry that works with youth in the afternoons, or just ministering to some of the men on the team who would drive us home after practice. By the end of the month, we were spending as much time as we could with them so we wouldn’t miss a thing. We went to a soccer game, and to old town during Carnival. We took them with us on outings, and went out to eat with them. We loved them and shared our testimonies with them as best we could, and at the end of the month, saying goodbye was really hard. We prayed after last month and the difficult goodbyes that it wouldn’t get any easier, because that meant we didn’t love as well, and we loved with all we had this month.
As I enter into month three, I pray that this month isn’t any easier, that we love just as much and that we give everything to the people of Peru.
