Today was our second full day in Ecuador. One of my favorite times is always evening devotions when we worship and share how God has shown his light in circumstances. The theme this trip is power. Nine on the team have been to Ecuador on this trip before; ten of our group are here for the first time. A few highlights of those sharing last night…
John and Jay, two men on the VBS team, were in charge of recreation. They have both served as youth pastors. Everyone played and had a great time. Eventually, they did the the bat head spin game under a parachute, and then kids had to run across under parachute to their place in circle. Lots of laughter. Then the two danced, and the women of the church laughed at them and would move dancing kids out of the way in order to still see the men dancing. There are five youth from Lifesong Church in Russell, KY. They have loved being loved on by the Ecuadorian children.
God’s light is shining in darkness. The pastors in the Galilee church have been discouraged and in somewhat of a desert spiritually. However, the team (VBS portion) had planned for Submerged VBS in the church with service to community children, also. The church leadership was ignited and joined together with renewed joy.
Medical team went to Gualsaqui. The pastor, Roberto, there has a huge passion for Christ and the people of his community. Due to only being a half day, we we not able to see all that we usually see in this community. However, Roberto said that the sickest and those that needed to be seen were seen. My heart was touched by a woman who has declined physically since a family member passed recently. She had many internal manifestations of outside stress. Even though we are worlds apart, we see many of the same issues.my favorite answer to the question “Que paso?” (What’s wrong) was when an aging woman told me she wanted her graying hair black again. I had to laugh out loud.
One of the devotions I read yesterday (Joni) was about being a blessing. God gives us so many opportunities to bless others. His life flows through us to others. We come to bless others, but instead we are blessed so much more by the Ecuadorians. To be blessed by God means being drawn deeper, higher, and further into his heart.
Thanks for all who have been praying. Traveling was unremarkable: no plane delays, no custom issues, safe travel.
My prayer today:
Make me a blessing, make me a blessing,
Out of my life may Jesus shine;
Make me a blessing, O Savior, I pray,
Make me a blessing to someone today.
Blessings to all,
Kim
The medical team traveled to a new location today, Palmira. Few North Americans have been to Palmira, but thanks to a recently built road, we were able to treat around 200 people today. It also rained for hours today which made the 2 hour truck ride back a little scary at times, but God is GOOD and he protected and provided for us.
