We arrived safely in Ecuador. Our ministry this month is in Latacunga, Ecuador at an orphanage named “Hogar Para Sus Ninos” (For His Children). The orphanage has 21 children in it. About half of the children have special needs. Their caregivers are called Tia’s. The children are beautiful both on the inside and outside. I often find my heart breaking for them but also rejoicing because God has chosen them to be raised at For His Children. While nothing can replace a family, these children know they are loved. The Tia’s are more patient than any parent I have seen. They love on these kids so much. God’s love truly does show in this place!
Our ministry is pretty loose. We don’t have a set schedule but whenever we are around, the Tia’s always use us. We have been able to love on the Tia’s just as much as the children. While we might be a blessing to them, they have shown me so much in working with children.
Their heart for these kids reflects Jesus’ heart for His kids. It truly is stunning to see! I will write more on that later.
Like I mentioned before, our schedule is pretty loose. On a daily basis we will interact with the kids most of the day, however, we are free to do whatever. This month, we have to choose to do ministry because there is no requirements or schedule or projects for us. So a typical schedule might look like this:
8:30am- Get up and get ready for the day
9:45am- Head downstairs to interact with the children
12- Break for lunch
1:30- Help the kids with lunch
2- Have quiet time
3:30- Head back downstairs to play with the children
6ish- Help the kids with dinner
7ish- Help with bedtime
7:30- Have our dinner
8:30- Team time
We will also have a one on one with one of the teammates during the day. We are free to take breaks whenever we want. However, one of my teammates Joey (He is my fellow introvert) and I were talking today and he said something profound to me. He said, “ As an introvert, I often find myself fighting for alone time. However, I want to fight for this ministry. I want to take the alone when necessary but fight to be active in this ministry.” This hit me today because as an introvert, I have loved being free to take alone time whenever I want. However, I don’t always need that alone time. It really challenged me and changed my perspective. We as Team Favoured will be fighting for this ministry. We will give 110% into these kids and Tia’s!
