hey guys! so i’ve been in ecuador for a week now and i thought i’d let you know what i’m up to!
so my squad is staying with an amazing couple named mabe and fabi for the next two months! in addition to being awesome warriors for the Kingdom, they are all around amazing hosts with their intentionality and genuine care for all of us. the place we are staying at is absolutely beautiful and is starting to feel a bit more like home each day. there is also a super delicious pizza place up the road owned by a man named Carlos and i think the towers of pizza boxes in the living room attest to how much we all love this man and his pizza haha. also, corn on pizza?? that’s a thing and it’s great. there’s also a fruit store and bakery that’s pretty much become common stomping ground for us all! (for those of you that know me, yes, i did just call a fruit store common stomping ground. crazy how a high carb diet can cause very real apple cravings haha)
as for ministry, i’ve been doing construction with my team and another team at a place that helps woman saved from sex trafficking. a man named Borris runs a company called Dunamis which aims to take care of sex trafficked women’s physical, emotional, & spiritual needs. sex trafficking is very common in ecuador and nights spent at brothels are the norm here. women who are fortunate to be saved from those places are sent to a facility where they are provided for for three months. after that they are kicked back out onto the streets or sent back to their families where their lack of life skills, emotional scarring, & need for survival lead them back into prostitution which is legal in ecuador. Dunamis provides a home for these woman until they are back on their feet and are able to provide for themselves and children. in addition to teaching the girls the life skills that they need to take care of their physical needs, they also share the love of Christ so that the girls have a chance to accept the Living Hope that will ultimately help them more than the people at Dunamis ever can. over the next two months we will help build a wall around the compound that will protect these woman from any outside harm and i couldn’t be more pumped! it takes two hours to get to the ministry site and another two hours back but the stunning greenery of the ecuador country side and local empanada stand makes the journey and 11,000 feet elevation worthwhile. in the midst of all the shoveling, mixing, spilling, & pouring, i remind myself that the concrete, dirt, & sweat that cover my clothes by the end of the day are just evidence of the work being done for His Kingdom and His daughters.
overall the past week has been filled with lots of change and adjustment but i wouldn’t change a single thing!
