It's official, I have been approved to go to Ecuador for nine weeks this summer!!! Nine weeks, whoa!! It seems long, but I know it is going to fly by. I have never been on the mission field for longer than 2 weeks, so I know this is going to stretch me and grow me in ways like never before. I remember when I first felt the call of missions on my life. I was on my first trip as a leader. We were in Ecuador at a daycare center, and the conditions were horrifying..
It was a dreary day, I can remember it was raining. I had to hop over puddles because I didn't want to get my shoes dirty before walking into the daycare. I didn't want to drag mud all over their floors, out of respect. Little did I know that the floors themselves were made of packed down dirt that the children were sweeping as we entered. As I walked through the door the smell of feces, mud and uncleaned bodies hit me all at once. I remember trying to hold down my gag reflexes as I walked further into the small building. There were some kids in the front room hanging around a caregiver, and there was a small kitchen off to the side where a woman was preparing some kind of lunch for them in a big pot.
We walked further in, and the back opened up into a big room that was sectioned off into two different areas. One area had tables and the other area was just a big open dirt floor, that's where I figured we would be doing our program. Some kids looked up at us curiously as we hesitantly began to explore further. I went around the curtain and saw all the rest of the children waiting patiently in their chairs at little tables. I had never ever seen kids waiting so quietly for guests to arrive. Then I looked up and saw flies swarming around each child. It was such a shock coming from my culture back home. How could they stand it, how could they live like that?? I can remember praying something like, "God please help me to love them like you love them, and also please help me to not throw up." I mean that's how bad it was.
Soon a little girl caught my eye. She had a sadness about her, and I knew God wanted me to show her His love. I went up to her and we talked, in my broken Spanish, enough to know her name was Emily and that she was three. She asked me to pick her up, so of course I immediately hoisted her up and have her a big hug. I told her how happy I was to be there and that we were going to be doing a little program for them. Once program time came, she did not want to leave my side. I would put her down and she would beg to be picked back up. So we sat together and watched as the team of students did dramas and Pastor Ashley presented the Gospel message. It was fun and excitement filled the room, but little Emily remained quiet. I would see a smile every once in a while, but it wasn't that great big smile accompanied with giggles that you expect from a three year old.
By this point, the smell didn't bother me at all. It was as if it had never existed. The time came for us to go, and I picked Emily up and held her. As we were leaving we told all the kids that Jesus loves you, or "Jesus Te Amo" in Spanish. As I told Emily her little eyes looked up with that same sadness as she shook her head and said, "No..." No?!! My heart broke into a million pieces right then and there. Yes He does Emily, yes He does! How can you not know that? How many other children in the entire world did not know that??! Why have I not told them before? Why has no one else told her? Oh my heart! I knew in that moment that they had to know, they all had to know, and I wanted to be one of the ones The Lord used to tell them!
That moment has always stuck with me. It's what drives me when I feel like I don't have a purpose. It's what reignites the fire in my soul when I feel like God is far. Some have never known His love, and some will never know His love unless we act! Over the years my passion has grown to involve young adults as well as children. Interning this summer will allow me to get a taste of all of it! I could not be more excited for this opportunity. Now, I just need to trust God to help me to get there!!
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