Well this is my first time with internet access since coming to Ecuador so I thought I´d share with you guys what I´ve been up to the past week. First off, we made it!!! (If you didn´t realize that already). My squad left two Fridays ago and made it safely to Quito, Ecuador that Friday night. It was fun to share our first travel day together and I was glad that there weren´t that many (if any) complications with the travel. (I´m a logistics leader and help direct and organize everyone on travel days. More on that in a future blog I´m sure).
Anyways, Ecuador is amazing!! I wake up everday and still have to pinch myself to see if I´m actually dreaming. It just blows my mind as I look back on all the many months of preparation and waiting to finally see it as my reality right now: I´m on the World Race!!! I´m so happy to be here right now and already God has been doing some amazing things this past week.
My team is doing ministry in Huaticocha, Ecuador, which is basically the jungle. That´s right…I´m in the Amazon rainforest!! Most of the other teams from my squad stayed in Quito (the capital), but my team and another made a six hour bus ride the day after we arrived to get to our ministry sites.
Our ministry contact is a pastor named Ivan. I love this man! Even though I don´t really understand him that much (he doesn´t really speak English) the guy is hilarious. We´ve labeled him the bully of Huaticocha because he´s constantly cracking jokes at people, chasing kids down the street in his truck, trying to throw us out the back of his truck while going 20 kilometers over the speed limit, and playing soccer with 6-year-olds and bodying them up like they´re my age.
But what I love most about this man is his heart for the Lord and the people of his community. This man just wants people to know the Lord, young and old. He wants his community to find hope in Jesus Christ. It´s a beautiful hope, one that has rubbed off on the rest of us as well.
This past week has been mostly going to different communities in the surrounding area and hanging out with the kids, establishing relationships, and sharing Christ with them. Typically we play soccer with them for a half hour or so in the beginning. Then everyone comes together and we share a Bible story and learn a verse, do an activity related to the Bible story, and finish with some songs and prayer. Then it´s free time for another hour and a half or so, which basically means more soccer. Good thing I LOVE to play soccer because that´s seriously what you do when there´s freetime. We´ve been her 7 days already and I think minus 1 day we´ve played soccer everday.
We´ve also spent a couple days going to different houses in the community and encouraging them and praying for them. These have been some of my favorite times because it really opens my eyes to the lives and struggles these people have. Doing the children´s ministry and hanging out with them is fun and rewarding, but it´s hard to know just what their lives are really like. We´ve gone to 4 or 5 houses now and normally spend about and hour or so just talking and saying words that the Lord places on our heart. Then we finish with prayer for healing or any other requests they may have. I really feel the presence of the Lord during these times and not only do I find myself encouraging people, but I find myself being encouraged by my teammates and also by the people we are ministering to. Even despite the many struggles these people/families face whether it be sickness, financial struggles, or family problems, they still have a trust and hope in the Lord that I admire. The Lord knows each and everyone of these peoples´situations and He is present in them. He loves these people and will provide for them according to His will.
The last type of ministry we´ve been doing so far is helping build the missions school that our contact is helping to start. My team hasn´t spent as much time there as the other team we are with because it´s rained in the morning for 3 of the days. But the work we´ve been doing has been mostly staining and putting sealer on the walls, cleaning up the construction area and cutting grass/jungle plants with machetes. I enjoy this ministry because I like to work with my hands and show love to people through physical labor.
This week has been packed with stuff. On one hand it seems like we have been here forever as we´ve really developed close relationships with the kids. But on the other hand it seems like this week has flown by. We only have a week and a half left of being here in Ecuador before moving on to month 2. I pray that I will continue to go hard for the Lord and really pursue these people with the time I have left.
I hope this gives you an idea of what I´ve been doing so far on the Race. I absolutely love being here and am so excited to see all that God has in store!! I´ll hopefully keep you guys more updated in the weeks to come, but internet isn´t always a given. Thanks for all your prayers and support!
