August Breakthroughs
August Breakthroughs It’s been a long month and this is a long newsletter, but it’s worth the read! I hope you find time to sit down and catch up on what the Lord is doing here in Quito, Ecuador! Take Two: Cuicocha Edition In November of last year, my best friend and coworker, Anastasia, and I attempted to hike Cuicocha. Key word: attempted. The trail is a 12 km (about 7.5 mile) loop around a crater lake. We hiked for about two hours and only made it to kilometer marker three before a storm rolled in. Honestly, I was relieved—it felt like an excuse to stop, because at that point I… Read more
Sharing Truth
One question I’ve been asked since being here is “How exactly do you share the Good News in your country?” Good question. The short answer is that it happens in the context of relationships. We try to be involved in the community and be a consistent presence. Through relationships, we’re able to build trust, have conversations about both faiths, and become a regular presence in people’s lives. Ideally, we want to meet people out in the community but share truth with them in their homes. In their homes, they are more likely to open up and be receptive to what we share with them. The best… Read more
New Friends and Open Doors
Recently, I’ve had more opportunities to meet with new friends! What an answer to prayer! Game nights, house visits, picnics, coffee dates, and birthdays filled my summer. Luckily, more relational time meant more open doors to talk about Jesus. My teacher and friend, M, and I often get into spiritual and religious topics, comparing cultures and whatnot, but she generally believes we basically believe the same thing. When she asked about the penalty of a particular sin in class, I took the chance to explain an area that we differ. I said that all sins have the same penalty, and that there’s… Read moreJuly Update!
These past few months have been very hectic, so I'll try to keep things brief. I have been dealing with a lot of loss and hardship. I have lost friends, seen my parents' health decline, and have even discovered I have health concerns I wasn't aware of previously. But through it all, God has been good. He has continued to provide for me and those around me in these tough times. I won't lie, it has been hard sometimes to look to Him for strength. I find it can be really easy to get complacent, lazy, and angry when you can't see God in certain situations. The thing to remember is that it… Read moreMay’s Flowers after April’s Showers
May’s Flowers after April’s Showers: Seeing some Fruit after a Long Season of Planning and Sowing Starting to Disciple + Jane’s Story This month, I began my discipling journey! I am being trained by different coworkers who have been discipling these women for years. During these trainings, I sit with an Amada—one of the beloved women we serve—and a team member as they lead the discipleship conversation. This is how I met Jane*, a 24 year-old mom who has already spent many years in prostitution. Jane gave her life to the Lord recently. As we sat and talked with her about the story of Jesus… 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 moreWorshiping Amid the Mundane
What comes to mind when you first think of worship? For me, it’s music consisting of a modern contemporary style band on Thursday nights on my college campus. Or the Brandon Lake songs that seem to overtake the congregation on Sunday morning corporate worship services. Or even the times I find myself driving down the rainy Washington highways belting out the lyrics to Josiah Queen or Chris Renzema as I drive home from work. For me, my immediate association with worship is music. But worship doesn’t have to be purely music-driven. It’s much simpler than we think. During the spring… Read more
Refreshing New Year
Happy New Year! This year has been a refreshing reset for me. I feel more at ease, am enjoying Arabic more than ever, and feel excited about the future. (Of course life is also mixed with stress, fears, and new challenges.) My highlight of the year so far has been getting coffee with my friend M (who is also teaching me Arabic). I was able to speak in Arabic the whole 3 hours as we talked about mental health, God’s will, culture vs religion, and doubts. I even got to share about one of my favorite books, Hosea (or hooshi’ هوشع). After feeling intense inner guilt and pressure to appear “… Read more
A Crazy Experience
“We want you to have a reconciliation ceremony for us.” As he spoke, the village elder revealed a shocking chapter of the village's history. Around 80 years ago, German missionaries arrived in this village, hoping to share the love of Christ. Tragically, they were not welcomed but instead murdered and eaten. Yes, you read that right—eaten. Hearing this was surreal, and while I felt no fear, an eerie chill ran down my spine as I stood before the man whose grandfather had participated in such horrific actions. Over the years, the village has grappled with the shame of their ancestors' deeds.… Read more