Ecuador will always hold a special place in my heart because of a place called Casa de Fe. I spent two months at the orphanage and every day was a new blessing and adventure. The children I met there changed my outlook on life and the love of God. Every story broke my heart more and more. As time went on I really started questioning the character of the Lord. How could a God who sent his son to die for u,s create a child who has to watch her mother sell her body? How could he let a mother sell her daughters’ body to strange men? How could a God who calls us his beloved forsake his children in this way? Why was I born into a privilege that I don’t deserve. How do I reveal the love of a Heavenly Father if all they have ever experienced is rejection? After wrestling with these questions for a while, the Lord started revealing things to me. He started by asking me a question, ” Lisa, why are you here?” The question set me back and as I pondered the Lord continued to speak, “I have sent you here to show my love. You have been blessed in life and all of that came form me, now I want you to give that blessing away. I have called you to love people so that they love me.” He never gave me a clear answer to any of those questions, but I realized that I didn’t need clarity, what I needed was trust. One of my squad leaders once told me, “trust always that the Lord is good, even when you don’t understand. A God we can fully understand is a God not fully worthy of worship.” So I poured my heart into Casa. I learned how to trust that the Lord was doing a work even when it didn’t feel like it. I learned how to love when it was hard and how to give more when I thought nothing was left. The Lord showed me how to love like He does. Leaving Casa De Fe was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life. To quote our ministry host, “these kids have a way of reaching into your chest and ripping out your heart.” He’s not wrong. Because of the trust I placed in the Lord, I was able to build relationships that will stay with me forever. I learned how to love through a little boy who can’t speak. I learned how to dance from a little girl stuck in a wheelchair. The children I met taught me that it’s ok to let go of your emotions, to not hold back, and to love with complete and utter abandon.
