If you asked me if I went on a vacation or a mission trip, I really couldn’t tell you. And I don’t say that to say that we are not doing ministry, because I promise, we are. There is plenty of paint covered hands and elbow grease to prove it. And a ton of beautiful hearts we have encountered. But I say that because I am in absolute awe of this place, and am loving every minute of it (okay maybe not EVERY minute, there was a 5 hour bus ride where I was feeling the effects of motion sickness the entire time, but besides the point).
I am in absolute awe of this town, and it’s people. For the first time in my life, I am filled with joy thinking about the room and single bathroom that I share with 10 other girls. The hosts that own the house and guest house that we are staying at are by far the sweetest and most hospitable people that I have ever met. They have such big hearts, and passion for the ministry that we are serving at, and for the God that we all get to serve. And anything that they say, they make sure to base in scripture. All the way down to the food that they prepare for us. YEAH, prepare FOR us. This town is one of the prettiest places I have stayed, positioned perfectly in the mountains of Ecuador.
So, when I tell you I’m falling in love in Ecuador, I’m falling in love WITH Ecuador.
The people
The people here, have so little, yet seek no more. As visitors here, we love that we can walk up the hill by our house, and get 4 whole fruits for a dollar, and get a coffee frappe with nutella for less than three dollars- literally everything is at least half of the price it would be in the United States. But when you think about it, these are luxuries here, and most people can not afford them. We drive through the different towns, and see the living conditions of the people here, and these are not even the lower class. At first, my heart broke, as I was filled with pity for them. But in reality, it is they who should feel pity for me. They don’t look at their circumstances, and wish that they could live where I live, they don’t see me as having more than them, because truly, many of them have more than I. I get this vivid image in my mind of my brother and sister and I, constantly fighting with each other because one of us is using too much wifi, so it is slowing it down slightly for the others. Here, I have not seen a single house with air conditioning (let me tell you though, they don’t need it, the weather here is beautiful). I see me arguing with my dad for refusing to heat up the hot tub in our backyard for me and my friends, because it’s expensive and takes too long to heat up, and we use it for literally 15 minutes, and we’re done. But I’m such a brat about it each time, because he’s not doing what I want. Here, hot water is such a luxury, they could never think to waste it on a hot tub. I see my family eating out both nights of the weekend when I come home from college for a weekend. Here, we offered to take a young boy to a nice dinner, knowing he did not have much, and we let him choose the place. He took us to a bus station food truck vendor, and tried not to let us buy him a soda with his dinner. And when we did, he tried to give it away to another friend of his, who he knew had nothing as well. But I envy these people, because of the things that I complain about, or take for granted, I miss out on so many relationships and shared moments with those that I love. My siblings and I could be hanging out, sharing relationship and time, rather than being in separate rooms doing our own thing, until we come out to fight about who is using too much wifi at the time. My friends and I could be sharing time with my dad, and the rest of my family, or even just each other, rather than me being bitter that my dad won’t fill a hole in the ground with hot water. My family and I could be cooking and sharing a meal together, rather than being in a loud restaurant barely able to have a conversation because we are distracted by the baseball game on the restaurant television. These people never miss an opportunity to spend time together, and love each other, and they prefer it that way. I envy them. They should pity me, rather than the pity I feel towards them.
The town
So beautiful. This isn’t related to the spiritual growth taking place on my trip, nor anything deep what so ever, but it is just so pretty, I had to include it. Photos will be added soon, so be on the look out for those- they are breathtaking.
This country
God. Did. That. I know we say all the time “God is the greatest artist”, and we see all these beautiful things to connect with that. Me, plenty of times before. It was half my instagram aesthetic in my early high school years (original I know). But here, I have truly been put in my place. First of all, we as people like to think of ourselves as so big. Top dogs on the food chain, and no one can take us, right? Sike. As a stood at the base of a mountain (there are so many of them here), I realized just how small I was. And just how big God is. I am so tiny in comparison to these mountains, and my God can move them with an exhale of breath. He is so much bigger than I am. Being in this country has put that into such perspective, that I am nothing in comparison to Him, and His power. Yet, He takes the time to meet me where I am, tiny little me. (To hear more about that, check out my last blog, also on this page:)). Second, and this hit me as I dove face first down a kilometer long zipline, between two mountains, on the side of a road. Literally, our taxi drivers pulled over on the side of a road going up a mountain, to a single platform, two employee little zipline business. And 2/3 of us said, sure I trust it. So we got on our hands and knees, and extended our feet behind us onto this bar. So, essentially a push up position but our feet were raised. They clipped the back of our harness, put a stretchy band around our legs and the line, and then sent us off, face first. Needless to say, I screamed, and was saying some major “God protect me” prayers. But about 2 seconds in, I stopped freaking out, and looked around me. I couldn’t even feel the harness holding me up, I felt like I was literally flying. I was flying between two huge mountains (feeling tiny again), over a river, in Ecuador, trees everywhere, and it was slightly foggy over the peaks of the mountain, if you looked up. It was all zooming past me as I broke into tears. Not because of fear, but because I was in awe. Getting on, I said “what if I die” out loud to my friend who was doing it with me (we went two at a time). I got off, looked at her in tears, and said “that was the coolest thing I’ve ever done”. I was in such awe of what God created. And He didn’t create it for Himself to look at, but for us to look at. I mean, He lives in heaven, I’m sure it’s so much prettier up there. He didn’t need to make the Earth pretty, but He did it for us to enjoy. What a sweet God, who loves us so dearly. After we all made it down, they put us in the back of a truck to take us back up to the top of the mountain that we just went down. All of my sweet sisters (and Greg), were all filled with such joy, as we were speechless to what we just did. We rode back up, rambling about how this is the best day of our lives (no lie I peaked that day). All I could think about, is how this is how God feels about us. He loves us so much, He could ramble on and on, and is filled with so much joy at the sight of us. WILD to think about how crazy He is about us- it is nothing in comparison to any emotion we could feel. Another thing I could not stop thinking about is how in awe we were of what He made, and He made it in 6 days. 6 days people, because on the seventh, He rested. But then, when He made you, and me, He took 9 months to make us. 9 whole months; that’s 36 weeks. He wanted every little detail to be so perfect, that He took 9 months to make you and me. He definitely could have made us just be born after like a week, or a few days, or literally in an instant. But He crafted us so specifically, that He took his time to make every angle and curl and pigmentation and bone structure so perfect and intentional. Think about that next time you look at yourself with such negativity, but can look at the mountains with such awe.
God
Here, I have felt so close with God. He’s revealed Himself to me in so many places and ways, and has me constantly saying “thank you”. I keep worrying that I’ll go home, and won’t feel Him the same as I do in this place. At the home we stay at, He is everywhere. At the ministry house, He’s changing lives and hearts. In the streets, He’s reaching people and providing for them, all that they need. But this God, that is doing so much here, is the same God that is changing lives and hearts back home. And all over the world. Being disconnected, and outside my comfort zone, I think it is more evident to me here, but it’s the same God. The same love. The same life changing power of the spirit within me. I am so excited to get home, and seek Him out in my day to day life, as I do here. And I am so excited for the things that He is doing, and will do in and through me when I get back home. He’s going to change the world, through us, with the power of the spirit. Through me, through you, through the person sitting next to you. Not because of anything that we have the power or ability to do, but because of what God can do. All He needs from us, is a yes. I thought I had already given Him that yes, as I always pray that He would use me to serve and reach others every day. But I didn’t really, because He would give me an opportunity, that I didn’t feel like I wanted to do, or could do, so I passed it up. I’ve experienced a new kind of “yes” to give Him, to truly use me. Is it hard? Absolutely. Does he take me out of my comfort zone? Rips me out of it. Is it worth it? Without a doubt. Going home, I will truly be a vessel for Him, as I wake up daily and ask for the spirit to give me opportunities to love and serve everyone that I encounter. And I’ll mean it. And I can not wait for Him to change lives in front of me. Not because of me, not because I am spiritually mature and wise, or a “varsity christian” as they call it. Not a single part of it has to do with me. But everything to do with His spirit and His power, that He will use through me. Have you said “yes” to Him lately? Did you mean it? You’ll be so thankful if you do it. Let Him use you. And if you feel like you can’t, you can. It’s not a matter of are you able, it’s just a matter of are you willing? (If you really feel like you can’t, reach out to me and I’ll tell you exactly why you can.) At training camp before we came to Ecuador, they emphasized that God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. You are the called, we are all the called. This has been such a reassuring truth, that I don’t need to be enough, I just need to trust that He is enough, and is strong where I am weak.
The eternity I get in Heaven
So, we had a weekend off, in which our team decided to take a trip to Banos, Ecuador, from Quito where we are staying. This was the 5 hour bus ride I was talking about, and oh yeah, no bathroom breaks either. But once we got there, I kind of forgot about the bus ride. The cutest little town, full of so many yummy food places, a TON of shopping (sorry mom and dad I bought a lot), and the cutest little hostel I have ever seen. And right at the base of another mountain. It was such a pretty town, and one of the things that we went to Banos specifically for, was the “swing at the edge of the world”, which is a super twitter famous adventure thing, so we had to. It was a short (and I mean short, like two minute) hike, from where out taxi drivers dropped us off, up to this beautiful area. There were a million types of flowers, a little pond (that I almost fell into), a low-hanging zipline, a breathtaking view, and these swings on the edge of a cliff, where you got to literally swing off the edge of the world. It was thrilling, but also an image in my mind I will never forget. The first times off the swing were SCARY, this dude running the place was pushing me so hard and so fast and so high, and my adrenaline was through the roof. Then we went to some swings where we just kind of swung each other, and it was super peaceful and relaxing. I remember saying to my team “this is what heaven is going to be like. Me and Jesus swinging, me praising Him off the side of a cliff, so content, with the mountain peaks in front of me peaking over the clouds” (pictures to come, stay tuned and you can see this beautiful sight that I keep going on about). But as I was thinking about it, as happy and content as I was in that moment, there is absolutely no way that God would allow anything on Earth to exceed heaven. In no way. So no matter how great, how beautiful, how incredible that moment was, it was such a small glimpse of what is to come in heaven. PLUS Jesus is gonna be there- would not miss it. Thank you Jesus for giving me that small insight into what my eternity may consist of, and thank you for the small daily ways that you reveal yourself to me.
This country is such a beautiful place, and I can not bear the thought of having to leave in two and a half weeks. If you wanna come back with me for a vacation, let me know, my passport is ready. I have encountered God in so many ways, and not all can fit into one post, so stay on the look out for more posts coming soon.
And stay in prayer- I can see prayers being answered that are being sent from home, and I feel so so thankful to know that I have an army of prayer warriors back home fighting for me and fighting for HIs kingdom alongside me. Thank you, each and every one of you.
