This month my team was in La Pintana, a rougher suburb of Santiago. We partnered with a ministry called Casa Esperanza (House of Hope).
This house was built as sort of a half-way house for young women that are struggling. Their ages ranged from 16 to 30. We got to live in the house alongside these women. For a lot of them, this was the first time any of them had ever had their own bed, let alone their own room.
During the mornings, we would walk down the road to an orphanage to paint. During the afternoons, we did service projects around the house. It varied from digging, painting, organizing rooms, to even picking up dog poop and trash.
The evenings became my favorite part of the day. Every night at 7:00, the house came together for “once”, a small meal with a devotional.
We got to spend quality time with our new “roommates” laughing, eating, and sharing God’s Word. A majority of the girls are not believers, so this small part of the day was so important.
One special devotion was led by my teammate, Rachel. She had the girls write down “dreams”, as a way for them to desire and pursue more out of life. They allowed us to read their lists.
While most people would put things like, “See the Pyramids” or “Go skydiving”…these girls were putting, “Be able to forgive my my mom” or “Be a good person.” These women really touched my life.
We also got to join in on Community Day on Saturdays. Kids from the neighborhood and local orphanages would come to receive free guitar, drum, math, and even English classes.
During the last week of ministry, we volunteered at a local special needs school in the mornings. It brought me so much joy being in that type of environment. During my senior year of high school, I job shadowed in the special needs school that my parents both work at and I loved it! So this felt a lot like home for me.
I was tired going into this month.
Living out of a backpack, and traveling for this long has definitely made me physically tired but even more than that emotionally tired.
However, even though this month was jam packed. I found it incredibly restful. I really can’t explain it, except for the Lord.
After a few nights being at our new ministry, my team and I sat down and shared what our visions for the month were. I asked for prayer that my perspective would shift. That the Lord would give me supernatural energy, and passion for the ministry.
Well He did just that.
I can honestly say this has been one of my favorite months of the race.
I prayed that same prayer before going into Vietnam, and that was another one of my favorite months.
This was by far the hardest goodbye. It was hard saying goodbye to our new family.
I came on the race to see what difference types of ministries are out in the world. I wanted to find out where my passion lies. I believe I found that this month.
Here is a video that I put together from our last day of ministry. Please be praying for this ministry!
