And just like that, month 3 comes to a close. Without question, this has been my favorite month thus far. From the living arrangements, to the ministry, to the experiences, the people, and the country itself, Ecuador has stolen my heart. I grew so much this month, specifically to when it comes to having a soft heart for those God loves. He is clearly a part of the For His Children (Hogar Para Sus Ninos) orphanage in both Latacunga and Quito. As I have done the past two months, I wanted to give 11 highlights from the month.
1) It began with a bite. Upon arriving at our ministry site bleary-eyed from sleep deprivation, we learned that we needed to grocery shop. In order to determine how we would be doing that, we needed to walk into the room full of children to discuss transportation with the tias (caregivers). After a brief discussion, I became aware of a sharp pain followed by teeth crushing my hand. Ministry started out with a bang and the cherry on top was that I shoved the offender down without realizing it. God has a sense of humor and His intention was to teach me that I would be loving those who the world might not immediately love, even those that use bites as a greeting.
2) One really cool aspect of our ministry was that we lived between two active volcanoes. We had visibility of each of them on clear days from the balcony of the orphanage. Apparently, Cotopaxi, which is the iconic picture of Latacunga, is one of the largest land volcanoes in the world. So that was pretty neat.
3)Butterfly update: they were literally everywhere this month. These creatures that I love were cut-out paper shapes on the windows of the school, they were the earrings of our ministry contact, they designated the iPad of one of our favorite kids in the orphanage, they flew around the compound, they were in the clothing of the kids and so many other places. I cannot event describe how many there were but the Lord made sure that I knew I was in the right place. He continues to remind me of their goodness and what they mean. If you haven’t read my blog about Butterflies I would encourage you to do so. I do have one addition to the meaning behind them. Rather than use their given name, butterfly, I’ve taken to calling them flutter-bys which seems fitting of a Christian walk. We are here for only a brief time, fluttering on Earth, and then are eventually called home.
4) This was the first month that my team was alone. We had only each other to interact with, do ministry with, eat meals with, hang out with, and do anything that involved being alive with. There was such growth for all of us this month. We’ve come to realize our differences but also how deeply we love one another. Even if there are disagreements, our team is not satisfied to let them fester and we fight for each other. We fight for grace, for forgiveness, and for unity. Above all, we honor our name, Fearless Laughter, with how we are as a team. Laughter is a common and beautiful sound if you spend any stretch of time with the six of us. Additionally, many of us lived into the fearless portion of our name by sending some challenging emails to let the Lord build-up and redeem relationships that needed it. No question, this was a month of growth!
5) One of the neat opportunities that the Race offers is to travel around each country beyond the ministry sites. My team chose to take part of a weekend to go to Banos which was one of the best decisions I’ve made. We stayed in a hostel for a night that was amazing. The afternoon of our arrival we took a taxi to go to Casa del Arbol, which is the home of one of the coolest swings in the world.
The following morning we woke up at 5:30 AM to walk to the natural sulfur hot springs that Banos is famous for. After donning our sexy swim caps, we waited for the sunrise which never came because it was an overcast day. No matter, some of us were able to douse ourselves in showers that yielded water from a nearby waterfall. The hot springs were a welcome follow-up to that frigid experience.
After the hot springs, we went canyoning, which is by far one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. We repelled down waterfalls, slid down them on our behinds, and were dropped down roughly 135 feet with a waterfall next to us. It was amazing. Several of us also tried cuy (guinea pig) and went zip-lining while the others chose a more relaxing afternoon of pedicures and massages. I opted for more adventure myself. For those who know me, I don’t make big claims often but as of right now, Banos is my favorite city that I’ve ever been to. Suffice it to say, the weekend was an overwhelming success.
6) The gag reflex is a real thing. Our first day of ministry involved hitting the ground running with feeding the kids. Given that the majority of them were unable to feed themselves, we were a welcomed extra set of hands to the tias. I wish I could tell you that I fell in the love with the orphans immediately, but I can’t. I wish I could say I immediately felt fulfilled by knowing I was being helpful with feeding, but I can’t. What I can claim is that my gag reflex set in and I had to fight to help feed the children. It was then that I knew the Lord was going to soften my heart. When He gives you insight into His plans, He is faithful. I fell in love with the kids, one in particular. There was a book in the orphanage that had a list of what each of the children loved and reading was among the interests of my favorite child. What was amazing was I discovered this before reading the book. Reading to the kids was so fulfilling and helped me practice my Spanish. This hard heart grew three sizes that day…and by that I mean, I saw the kids as the Lord saw them: beautiful and worthy of love. Thanks for that Abba, I needed some help.
7) Personal growth was at a high for me. Not only did I overcome my qualms with the kids and feeding as well as send an email that was a long time coming, my confidence went up. I can speak life over myself and believe it. I am analytical, I am loved, I am beautiful, I have been blessed with gifts that I use well, and I hear the Lord’s voice. As I sit here at the end of our second debrief, the Lord has been reminding me of how far I’ve come. In Bolivia, I was much more easily threatened, I was more sensitive, I was more insecure, I was not comfortable with who I was created to be. While those lies still slip in every now and then, I recognize them for what they are far faster and replace them with truth. The God of the universe designed me to be exactly this way and He adores me for that. Who am I to not bask in His love or insult His creative abilities by not loving what He’s given me? It’s so amazing to see how far I’ve come in only three months. I really feel like I’m moving into a season of being able to give much to others because I’ve sifted through some of my large baggage. Here’s to this upcoming season and may it be abundant!
8) My Spanish has improved dramatically. I would in no way describe myself as fluent or even proficient, but I can certainly get around. We were traveling around Quito in a bus and I found myself sitting next to a girl around my own age. She started to chat with me in Spanish and ask me questions of why I was Ecuador. I was able to tell her that I’d graduated from college with a degree in Chemistry and Psychology, tell her how many of us were traveling, what the program was, and a number of other things. While I didn’t understand everything, the fact that I was able to independently have a conversation in Spanish was so cool!
9) I love when things are framed, when there is consistency from the beginning of an experience to the end. This past month in Ecuador was beautifully framed with adoptions. Our first full day of ministry involved throwing a party for the adoption of one of the children who lived downstairs and ended the same way. So awesome! We also found out that three other kids are being adopted within the month. Unfortunately, once children reach 16, they are no longer eligible for adoption which means that many of the special needs kids will live in the orphanage for the duration of their lives. Still, to see the Lord working and loving the occupants of the orphanage was downright incredible.
10) The opportunity to take kids to a pool was presented to us in Quito. We lived in Latacunga for about three weeks before transferring to the Quito orphanage for a few days to make room for a different US team that would require our Latacunga housing for their stay. The Quito orphanage is larger and has a faster turnover rate of children (roughly a year) and almost none of them are special needs. One of the activities that they do is take the children to a pool. They are all between the ages of newborn to 4 so they require assistance in the pool. Myself, Whitney, and Shannon all stayed in the pool while the tias rotated kids in and out. I loved that more than I can say. Being in water is one of my favorite places to be in life and to top it off with seeing the joy on the faces of the children as they splashed and swam filled my love tank to overflowing.
11) Debrief has rocked my world. One of our sessions involved an intense night of worship. The presence of the Holy Spirit was evident in that room and I felt it heavily. Literally, I felt heavy with the spirit, to the point of being unable to stand while worshipping. The Lord was prompting me to a position of kneeling and once I obeyed I felt Him stir in me the desire to stand up, to feel like I was overflowing with the Spirit so abundantly that I needed to share. I’m not sure if you’ve ever experienced the heart-pounding and slight nausea that comes when the Lord places something on our heart to share. It is impossible to ignore. I began praying, asking God if I was to wait for a sign to share or just obey immediately. After that prayer and having moved closer to the front of the room, my squad leader, Kelsey, came up and asked if there as something I needed to say. When I told her yes, she told me to wait for an opening. Shortly after, Joe, one of the squad coaches, came up to me, prayed over me, and told me that I shouldn’t shrug off what God wanted me to say. OK Holy Spirit, way to work because Joe had no clue that I had something to say. I took that as a resounding sign that I was supposed to share so once a pause in the songs came, I walked to the front of room to address the squad. I said that the Lord was calling us to return to wholeness (a word that Debbie, our other coach gave us the previous day). I told them to let the Holy Spirit feel the cracks of the places that they no longer felt whole and to let His love be the bandages. Several other things were said and I sat down revealing in the feeling of obedience and being used as the Lord’s mouthpiece. He wasn’t done with me and kept giving me words for my squad mates, which I gave and prayed over them. I found out the next day that all of the things I said were spot on. What’s even more incredible is that I’ve been praying for God to help me hear Holy Spirit more clearly and to use me. That’ll work, I’d say. On a side note, Joe came up to me at a different point in the night to tell me that there would be a surprise for me in Colombia and that I should get ready. You heard it here first, let’s see what this surprise is!
We are heading to Colombia this evening. Our departure is set for 12:30 AM with a six hour ride to the border, passing through customs, then hopping on another bus for 30 hours. Yikes. My team will be in Bogota with two others this month: Sozo and Bold Radiance. We are so excited and even though our ministry is a little uncertain, the Lord is with us and has big plans. Please pray for safe travels as crossing this border is trickier than the other two we’ve crossed thus far. As always, your support means the world. Thank you for taking the time to read my posts and invest in my journey.
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