Stop and Listen... To the Music

     There is something about Ecuador that words simply cannot describe, but each and every day that I wake up here God places a song in my heart.  A song that is perfect for our journey.  A song that couldn't be better for the day that lies ahead.  Today, our first day back in Quito since 2017, I woke up singing a song that I've known for most of my life.  Little did I know that a few short hours later we would be singing it in Spanish at church.

This is the day

This is the day, this is the day

That the Lord has made

That the Lord has made

I will rejoice, I will rejoice

And be glad in it

And be glad in it

 

This is the day that the Lord has made

I will rejoice and be glad in it

This is the day, this is the day

That the Lord has made

Este es el día

Este es el día

que el Señor ha hecho

me regocijaré y celebraré

este es el día

que el Señor ha hecho

me regocijaré

me regocijaré y celebraré

 

el está detrás de mí

camina a mi lado

vive en mi interior

es el amigo de mi alma

es mi defensor

es mi proveedor

su rebosante misericordia

se renueva cada día

Singing it in English and singing it in Spanish are very different... especially when you don't know how to speak Spanish.  Try singing it in Spanish for a few minutes.  It's so fun!  

We worshiped this morning at the church in Aida Leon where we will be teaching VBS & doing construction this week.  We were surrounded by children in the service and it was a glorious sound.  Everyone was laughing and happy and acted as though they didn't have a care in the world.  They were embracing the day that God had given them... no matter what their circumstances may be.  

I feel like this was the perfect song to set our trip up.  

The preacher talked about the Parable of the Wedding Feast this morning.  We are the bride and Jesus is our groom.  Funnily enough, we talked about this in youth a few weeks ago so it was fresh on our minds.  What if we treated Jesus like he was our groom?  What if we fully submitted ourselves to him like he so longs for us to do?  Imagine what we could do for this world.  My prayer for our team this week is that we are fully present and fully engaged in the task God has set before us.  

We ask that you pray for our safety and that all goes well during day one tomorrow!

I cannot wait to see what this week holds.  Stay tuned!  I will update you tomorrow night.

Bring the Rain

Birdee from Hope Floats said it best, "Beginnings are scary. Endings are usually sad, but it's what's in the middle that counts.  So, when you find yourself at the beginning, just give hope a chance to float up.  And it will."

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!

 

                

It's Who You Are

Mark 10: 6-9 says "But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female.' 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.'  So they are no longer two, but one flesh.  Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate."

Family.  Every culture has different beliefs on how a family should interact, how they should behave, how they should live.  One of the most noticible differences in Ecuadorian culture compared to American culture is that children live with their parents until they marry.  After having a conversation with Dani, one of our translators, yesterday, it really got me thinking.  These people really cherish their families.  Most never move far from home, and they are constantly surrounded by people they love.  There is always a support system in place.  In America, most of us are itching to escape from our parents at an early age.  We are encouraged to leave home and spread our wings.  Success is of the utmost importance.  What if, just for a day, we stopped to take the time to cherish our families?  What if we loved on our babies a little bit longer?  What if we took that extra day off to just be together?  It would definitely change the scope of life as we know it.

We sat down with the teenagers today, and let our youth lead their youth.  It was a beautiful thing.  Our teens told of the importance of respecting yourselves and resisting temptation.  They spoke about the hard stuff... drugs, sex, and other sins that we are all tempted by every single day.  They broke up into groups and had a discussion about those things and prayed together.  They had fun together making prayer bracelets and spending time together.  We played games, we laughed, we cried.  

Our Heavenly Father wants us to spend time with Him.  Spend time in His word, spend time talking to Him, spend time loving Him and trying to please Him and only Him.  All day long the song Good Good Father played through my mind.  You're a good good father.  You are perfect in all of your ways.

Please pray for the people of Ecuador.  I can only hope that we learn many life lessons from them.

Here are a few photos from our day:

 

    

 

 

You Will Never Fade Away

In the words of Wake by Hillsong Young & Free, You will never fade away, Your love is here to stay.  Today was a fun day for our team!  We worked with teenagers at VBS discussing how a life with Christ is so much better than a life without Him.  We discussed, in depth, how important it is to further your walk as your life goes on because He is the only way to salvation.  We also got them up and moving learning our dance to Wake.  While some thought it was silly, others embraced it.  It's so interesting how no matter where you are in the world, kids will be kids.  After dancing and devo, we got their creative juices flowing and they painted mini canvases.  The talent in some of these kids is incredible.  

Our construction team worked mixing concrete on the top of the building.  They worked tirelessly and faithfully in the blazing hot sun.  We are so proud of our entire team and how they have come together to do the work of the Lord.

After finishing up for the day, we travelled back to the hotel to get ready for our fun night out on the town.  We got to play tourist for the night!  There is an angel statue that sits on top of one of the mountains that is so beautiful.  We travelled to it, photographed it, and had dinner on top of the mountain.  What an amazing view.  After dinner, a party bus awaited us and took us through the downtown area of Quito as a mariachi band played in the back of the bus and a DJ played in the front.  We danced and sang our hearts out!

I cannot wait to see what's in store for Day 5!  Hope you enjoy these pics from our day! 

     

 
    

We Will Rejoice...

From a very young age, Christian children are taught the song This is the Day.  Each morning, before we start our work, we all stand in a circle and sing this song.  Today, we learned it in Spanish.  While we had trouble pronouncing some of the words, it was a beautiful moment.  As the day went on, you could hear people singing or humming the song while they worked.  I began thinking, what if that were the first thought we had each morning?  This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.  My guess is we would start each day with a grateful heart.  

As children of God, we are so very blessed by His grace.  We take for granted the things that others only dream to have.  Watching these children makes me realize how great our God is.  The fact that they have nothing, yet they come to learn and worship with a smile on their little faces each day.  Today, we made crowns and masks after our lesson on Esther.  Each child wore his or her crown with pride and then proceeded to have a "sword fight" with the multitude of balloon swords we made for them.  I decided to take a step back and be still.  As I listened to the laughter, the voices, and all that was happening around us, I realized that we don't need a lot to be happy.  All we really need is our faith.  God will provide the rest.

SIFAT is a wonderful organization in that they teach cultures practical ways to survive off of what they already have.  Whether it be showing them how to get clean drinking water or how to make a stove out of things from their surroundings, these people are learning to care for themselves with very little. People all over the world are learning how to take care of their basic needs because one family had a love in their heart for those who were less fortunate than they.  Wow.  Their organization has changed the lives of so many. Thank you SIFAT for the opportunity to grow with you and with Christ.  

I think that our photos tell more of a story today than anything else... I hope you enjoy!