I am excited to share with you what the last two months on the field looked like. We were all surprised to be going to Ecuador, but we knew the Lord’s hand was all over this route change. While we were in Ecuador, our squad was split between three different locations in the area surrounding Quito. We were also divided by ministry instead of staying in the small teams of six that we had been working with for the past six months. All of these changes created a challenging season, but the discomfort created room for God to work in us and through us.
I worked at a ministry called Camp Hope that worked with children and adults with physical and mental disabilities. This ministry was incredibly challenging for me, but it was also very rewarding. We got to work hands-on with the kids doing physical therapy, feeding them, changing them, and most of the time just loving them. Oftentimes I would struggle to understand why God had let these children live in such difficult conditions. However, the longer I worked with the kids the more I got to see the joy they carried when I looked into their eyes or felt the tight grasp of their hands on mine. I realized that these kids carried a special gift that no one else can. They get to live a life without the human instinct to live by works or deeds. They didn’t pressure themselves to do better or do more than live in a place of complete contentment that many of us will never know or understand. The more I got to love them, the more they showed me that I don’t need to strive for perfection. I only need to live in the remembrance that Christ died for me and, because of His sacrifice, I am made perfect. Although I will never completely understand why God has put so many children in these circumstances, I know that there is a lot more I can learn from them.
I am also happy to announce that I am back in America. Please feel free to reach out if you want to hear more about how the Lord moved in my life and through my life over the last nine months.
Blessings
