Humble Sacrifices
The past few months we've been preparing for the School Supply Drive that we hold every year at the end of August and the beginning of September. One of my coworkers and I are in charge of calling each Amada (beloved woman we serve) who hasn’t received school supplies in past years to find out if she has a child, nephew/niece or grandchild who is studying, gather the beneficiary’s information, and give her the details of the event, until we fill the 100 spots available. It’s a long and rather difficult process that we start at the beginning of July to be able to finish on time. This whole… Read more >>
The Hard Reality of Outreach
Outreach is bitter for many reasons. Almost every woman we serve tells us that she desperately wants to leave prostitution, but her and her family’s survival depends on that work. They feel trapped in an economic system where there are more people looking for jobs than there are job opportunities. The available opportunities go to those with the most education, and many of our women still haven’t finished high school. If they do find a job, in most cases it’s not a healthy work environment: they work long hours in poor conditions and still don’t earn enough to live on. For many of them, they… Read more >>
Bittersweet
If I had to choose just one word to describe my time in Ecuador so far, it would be: bittersweet. For every beautiful moment, there is a painful one. I feel like I am always living with both joy and grief at the same time. For example, every time I go to the grocery store, I feel so much gratitude when I’m able to buy everything I need, but I can’t help but think about how the women we serve are selling themselves just to be able to buy food for their kids. Or when I’m talking with them, I feel so grateful that they trust us enough to share such vulnerable things, and many of them inspire me… Read more >>
First Time Working With Women in a Situation of Prostitution
I went to my first outreach. Every week, our team goes to the historic center to visit our amadas (beloved women), talk with them, pray with them, and write down their needs so we can help meet them if possible. It was very hard to see so many precious women in a situation of prostitution due to the difficult economic situation and the machismo that are present in Ecuador. But at the same time, I felt very strongly from the Lord that this is exactly what He wants me to be doing and this is exactly where He wants me to be. Drawing near to the amadas, sitting with them, listening to them, and… Read more >>