Our last day in Calderon was bittersweet. We have said it a million times before, but no words can do this place justice. No words can fully express how life changing this experience is. Each time we visit, we leave a little piece of our hearts behind. I can only speak for myself, but I believe that the rest of our team would agree, I will come back to help these people as many times as I possibly can. We grow as a team, we grow as individuals, we grow in Christ. It is so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of daily life, but I want to stop and pray for the country and people of Ecuador each and every day. They love and respect us more than we could ever imagine.
The song in my head all day was "Bring the Rain" by MercyMe. I feel as though it so beautifully describes these people and this experience.
I can count a million times
People asking me how I
Can praise You with all that I've gone through
The question just amazes me
Can circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in You
Maybe since my life was changed
Long before these rainy days
It's never really ever crossed my mind
To turn my back on you, oh Lord
My only shelter from the storm
But instead I draw closer through these times
So I pray
Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain
I am Yours regardless of
The dark clouds that may loom above
Because you are much greater than my pain
You who made a way for me
By suffering Your destiny
So tell me what's a little rain
So I pray
Holy, holy, holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
We were able to spend our last day enjoying each other. At one point in time, I looked around and not a single person was alone. Each and every member of our team was engaged in some type of activity with the children. It was a precious moment. We talked about the Beatitudes, we did crafts, and we even finished more work than was intended.
In our small group discussion last night, we were talking about our God moments from the trip and everyone agreed that we couldn't have had a better team. Today, we have fun, but I wanted to be able to give you a little bit of our last day first... Hope you enjoy!
