As promised...here's a small rundown from the little mission trip from which I just returned. Okay...no, it wasn't a little mission trip...it was a big fat deal! It was big - mainly because my God is BIG. He doesn't play...especially when His people are faithful and lay it out there for Him to be glorified and do His thing.
So, it wasn't any secret that I didn't want to go. It was all fun to get caught up in the moment of the Go Serve mission and sign my name on a dotted line, along with several other names. It sounded cool and all, but I didn't think much about it past that day. I kind of secretly thought that maybe my part of the Great Commission didn't need to be fulfilled and that Jesus might return before I had to face leaving the fam to go to some random place in South America. But, no, it wasn't....and so, August began coming to an end and we started having meetings about this trip and actually having to pay $. Yeah, it was legit. In the days before we left, I cried. A lot. Kinda pitiful tears. My child was even asking "Mommy, what happened?"....as if I wasn't torn up enough. How was I going to leave my people for eight days? What if something happened? How would they live without me? How would I live without them? What if she thought I was neglecting her? What if, what if, what if? So, what it came down to was what I just should've done in the first place. I prayed. Really hard. Quite possibly the hardest I've ever prayed in my life. There was sobbing involved. I actually gave it to Him. He answered me back. Yeah, call me a Jesus Freak...but yeah, He answered me back. Right there. On the spot. The answer was Hebrews 13:5 "...never will I leave you, never will I forsake you". That's what I'm talkin' about! That's MY God! My Savior. He wasn't gonna bring me to this point and sit back with a bucket of popcorn and watch it all unravel while I was out working for Him. He promised that He wouldn't diss me....and you know what?!? He didn't.
All of that said, yes, I missed my family like a fat kid misses cake when she's on a diet. I felt a little hole in my heart without them. But, I knew that I had an important role in Ecuador, an important purpose, that for some reason, only I could fulfill at this particular time, on this particular trip. God told me to go tell others and to help others and so, that's what I did. I was on a team of some stinkin' awesome folks. Everyone came with their own spiritual gifts and talents. We did well checkups in school, daycares, and at the camp. We did a VBS - in a PUBLIC SCHOOL!!! woot! and we (okay, they) helped build a church :) That's a lotta cool stuff in 8 days! Wowza!!
Long story short - but believe me, there are 4 million stories that I'd love to share :) Here's my take aways from the trip:
* The US gets a lot of things right...we are pretty industrialized and we do have great technology to help people with medical conditions. Plus, there's something to be said for sterile technique, proper handwashing, and hygiene in general. We do get to throw our pee pee toilet paper in the toilet. That's one thing I missed while away. We do have wonderful opportunities here...that said, the US gets a lot of things wrong, too: our kids don't have the camaraderie and the love for one another that these Ecuadorian kids have. While at the school, I never saw the kids picking on one another or fighting or leaving one another out. I saw a lot of kids with arms around one another, waiting on one another to retrieve his or her backpack, or sharing the crayons. I saw the kids run up to our truck when we arrived...all smiling and wanting hugs. I never saw a sneer or a snarl from a kid about having to sing songs about Jesus Christ or about listening to Bible Stories, or making a rainbow out of crepe paper and a paper plate. I never ever saw an iPod or an iPhone or a DS or any handheld electronic device that our kids so desperately NEED to survive. They - wait for it, wait for it - played outside!!! It was cold with a small drizzle and they still played outside. I bet the school didn't get any phone calls from irate parents threatening to sue bc Jose played outside...or no irate phone calls about the "gringos" that came and taught about Jesus, either.
* I need to learn Spanish. Stat. Why yes, I have had about 4 1/2 years of the language in various schools. I can conjugate a verb like a maniac...but, I just can't say that much. Must change this.
* People are inherently in need of the same things. Food, shelter, love, and Jesus. I can translate this from Ecuador all the way to my city. I took away a different view of my everyday world as well.
* While I enjoyed spreading the love of God and visiting a new place, and seeing a different way of life...I did not, however, enjoy the Ecuadorian love of pork. Ugh. The food was icky. The positive take away, or shall I say, I left a few pounds of weight in Ecuador :) Yay. The only thing I loved were sugary vanilla wafer cookies and Ecuadorian moon pies!
* Camp Chacauco is changing lives! Steve & Carol Thompson. Google them. Annointed. For sure. Again, a big lesson in faith. Uprooted their lives 24 years ago to move to Ecuador and serve this people group. They have since gotten this campus and are actually building a seminary and have built numerous church plants. It's big stuff. God sized stuff. They build stuff bc God told 'em to, not bc they have $. Imagine the faith!
*Everyone can't just grab a Tums when they have heartburn or take some ibuprofen when their backs hurt. I don't know why this hit me so hard. Maybe bc I was doing well checks on people and the majority had minor problems that we could ride to the local CVS and fix immediately. We would provide them with ibuprofen or tums and you would have thought that we just gave them $100. Big shocker for me!
* It's not hot on the equator. I thought it was gonna be a lot warmer. I packed my Patagonia pullover (lovingly known as Patty) and my Bama sweatshirt (longtime nicknamed Terrence Cody) "just in case". By the end of the trip, Patty could probably stand alone and T. Cody was probably blocking people with it's stank. Next trip, I'll be more prepared.
Yes...you read that last sentence right. Next trip. I will return. I want my husband to go. I want him to see what God's doing there. I want him to teach those kids of God's love and watch their faces light up and hear them tell him how much they have learned and how they realize that we love God, too. I hope that my daughter can go one day. She needs to see how other people live. How blessed we are. So, readers, as I lay my head down tonight in my comfy bed and under my roof that I've complained about so much that I'm blue in the face...it's just not so bad. Heck, it's not so important. That was one of the lessons that God had for me in Ecuador. If you ever get the chance to go...please do. It's life altering. Funny, but my big lesson was on faith in Christ. So...on Saturday, I get a text from my good friend and Spiritual go-to girl, Liz, who asked me to co-lead Bible study while she goes on mission. My typical answer would be "um, negatory" and hurry up and turn off the phone before she can say anything else. This time, I admitted that I would vomit 47 times before Bible study that morning, but that she could count on me. God's got me steppin' outta my comfort zone - after all, Hebrews 13:5...He came through for me. He'll do it again - as long as I'm keeping my eyes on Him and doing it for His glory :)
Good stuff....good stuff. Thanks for the prayers while I was away. They were surely felt. My family was safe when I arrived home...my house was even clean :) Yay Daddy!!!
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