I've been on mission trips before. Twice internationally and numerous times in the states. I've always been impacted in some way, shape or form on each trip, but I've never experienced anything close to what I experienced in Ecuador. I left Boone on Saturday, June 30th with everything to gain. It had been a hard 6 weeks with my mom stuck with tubes in a hospital bed and my dad once and for all proclaiming that our family as I've known it practically my whole life was no more by getting re-married. I hadn't been in Boone except to work and sleep at all in 6 weeks and I was tired, emotionally, physically, spiritually. I truly had everything to gain. As I told you earlier, Ecuador was not going to be my testing ground. I was going to go to Ecuador and prove that I was competent, could be trusted, and knew what my purpose was in Christ. Plenty of times in the last few months, I've combatted feelings of insignifcance and confusion of purpose. I battled feeling as though no one was for me. I battled the desire to move and leave all that I knew to start a new adventure figuring that it would be the answer to once again regaining the joy and clarity that I used to have. I was finished battling feelings. I was tired of daily resisting the devil, because he was not fleeing. I'm just being honest -- I had EVERYTHING to gain.
It wasn't until I set foot in the hotel in Miami that I realized that while I had everything to gain, I was after gaining the wrong things. Sunday would be a monumental day for me. We split up by gender and the ladies did something cool that I've never done before. We spent a lot of time in worship and prayer and then wrote what we wanted to release on lanterns and physically released the lanterns that carried our burdens into the Miami evening sky. We let the lanterns go...they floated higher and higher until we could no longer see them. We circled up and sang "Break Every Chain" and prayed. We attracted a crowd in downtown Miami and it didn't matter because we were each being significantly impacted in that moment.
It was at that very moment that I realized that what I would be gaining in Ecuador would be far greater than clarity for my flesh. It would be spiritual breakthrough. It would be understanding of love. It would be the power of the presence. It would be satisfaction in who I was created to be. God was faithful in providing those things and so much more.
We traveled all day on Monday and set foot in Quito just as the sun was setting over the monstorous mountains. Truly, the mountains in Boone are small hills compared to those in Quito and the pictures don't do that city justice. It was the most beautiful city I've ever seen. It was perfect in every way. There was such a hunger and thirst for Jesus there -- an element that physically blocks much of the United States from receiving freedom in Christ. I can't really describe to you what it felt like to fly into the active presence of God, or to look outside of my hotel room every morning to see only potential and thirst for truth and love and to KNOW that victory was already there. No manipulation, just victory through Christ. Quito was supposed to be the place where I released ministry...but trust, more that I gave my ministry, I was ministered to.
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| Hotel room view. See what i mean? |
The first time we pulled into the church where we would be based out of all week, I saw them. The translators who made our trip. The translators who took time off of work and school without pay to help US out. The 40 incredibly talented 17-24 year olds who will revolutionize and transform the city of Quito. The most amazing group of people that I've ever met. I could cry right now writing about how we had to leave them, but I could also rejoice knowing the fire that they have and the confidence that they have to see the city transformed in Jesus' name.
We minstered in prisons, rehab centers, cancer centers, hospitals, city centers and community parks. I learned that the presence of God has no limits, it has no specific timing, it is always available. I learned that God is not a respecter of persons -- He wants to bless and provide for every one of his children all of the time. I learned that my heart for reaching people isn't limited to overseas missions, but that I'm responsible to reach my best friends, my family, people in my office, people in the United States and all people that I have the honor of connecting with. I learned that the ability to connect and form relationship is truly something to be cherished. I learned that God's progressive and he's still a good God today. He still releases people from burdens. He still moves mountains. He still fights for us. He's still a healer and restorer. He's still my father; a father who I can trust, who I can love unconditionally and who loves me with an unfailing love, a father who provides and a father who cherishes and knows the important things. I learned what it truly means to have a trustworthy father.
For you, Ecuador, I will forever be grateful. You provided an opportunity for me to grow in grace, to abound in love, to exponentially challenge my mediocrity and develop an appetite for excellence. I am not the same.
