These past few weeks have been quite the opposite of mundane. I happen to believe that each day is never mundane, if you have the ability to conquer your own mind. The other day in group therapy, we had a conversation with the girls about fear and how it confines us to one place. How we would rather stay in a comfortable area even if it means being miserable, out of fear of failure or suffering. But as we know from Romans: suffering produces perseverance, then character, then hope. We are assured in this that God will be walking and working with us if we have the faith to step out. I am not always good at stepping out. I don’t believe that anyone is in nature, but it comes from confidence built in Christ.
Mckelvey (my fellow intern) and I went to the beach Mompiche for Carnaval the other week. After an eight hour bus ride and some very good coastal shrimp, we settled in for our first night in our slightly loud hostal. We spent our days swimming in the calm bay and beach combing, drinking coconuts and small talking with locals. We ate incredible food and strolled barefoot around town; but to be honest, we didn’t really connect with anyone until our last couple of days. I made myself a little miserable in the beginning because I wanted to be comfortable and keep to myself, but I was discontent with the disconnection. Eventually we did step out and meet some fun and unique people our last couple of days there. We participated in carnaval our last night and got covered in colorful flour that left us tinted blue for the next couple of days. As we drove home, I thought to myself with a pang of sadness: ‘why didn’t we stretch ourselves out of that comfort zone sooner? It wasn’t so difficult.’ But I didn’t at all regret the time we did have.
During these past weeks, Mckelvey and I also began to attend a church in the area called English Fellowship. They have a young adult small group on Thursday nights and the first night we went, we began connecting with people from all sorts of backgrounds and missions. Following that first night, we began cultivating friendships with Kari, who we went out to eat with at “El Español” and whom always offers to drive us home; Grace who
we had a picnic in the park with while making up names for all the dogs we saw and eating melted ice cream; Willie who makes sure to find out about all my bad uber experiences; and so many others. While these friendships are fresh, I am excited at the prospects of them deepening, and new ones forming. Connection is so cool!! (Or as one would say in Ecuador—super chevry).
As for the foundation, we recently said goodbye to one of our girls who returned to her family. She was emotional in the sadness and fear she had in leaving, but excited to live with her parents again. It was a moment that the love of God was purely exemplified through the people in the foundation. They gave her a few gifts to be symbols of faith in difficult times, a personal Bible, and a book containing blessings from all the workers and girls in the foundation. We prayed over her and her expression of gratitude was authentic and moving. We continue to pray as we receive updates about her adjustment to living at home.
As my two month mark of living in Ecuador is coming up (that feels crazy to say), I have a greater depth of understanding of the dynamic of Dunamis. Past the honeymoon phase, it is reigning true that having fourteen teenage girls living together comes with its fair share of behavioral issues. This has only pushed me to pray more often for growth within each of them. It has also helped a great deal in revealing important topics to talk about during devotionals. But the truth is that it goes far beyond devotionals, because God is speaking all the time and I have endless opportunities to listen and speak with the girls. Sometimes I forget how much they have been through, when they’re laughing together and living as teenagers. They deal with so much darkness and pain that they are always fighting inside of themselves. My heart weeps for these painful lives so undeserved, but I trust that God can still work it for His good. I simply ask for deep prayer to open each of their hearts.
Prayer Requests:
For the girl that just recently left, that she would remain strong in her faith
For the girls that struggle to believe God is really for them in the midst of tribulation
A prayer of thanks for new relationships and connecting more deeply with Quito
Special Moments:
the foundation getting a llama
working with sophia (who just turned one) in learning how to walk
taking funny pictures with Teo (2 y/o son of one of the girls)
barbecuing steaks for 50 people??? I was actually pretty tired and breathed in a lot of smoke but it was a funny experience.
celebrating ‘Dia de la Mujer’ with the girls and doing a bunch of fun activities
I want to say I’m sorry for not updating for so long!! When life becomes hectic its easy to lose track of time and put non urgent things on the back burner. Still, thank you to everyone continuing to follow my journey!
Con Cariño,
Sara
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