A month into this crazy adventure and I am trying to find my way around in this beautiful culture. Every day I pray, "Jesus I want to know Spanish soooo badly! Help me in my weakness." It's not that I can't communicate - we have so many people around us who speak English. I just really want to be apart of this culture. I don't want to be the forever American who gets by with limited language abilities. We have been taking spanish classes 4 times a week which is very helpful. On top of that, I have been trying to read books in spanish, watch movies (lion king, 101 dalmatians, finding nemo...) in spanish, pray in spanish, even think in spanish. Whatever it takes! I know that I am growing each day, it's just not as microwave-ably fast as I would like.
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| Ecuador vs. Chile!!! |
So there's my frustration. That aside, I have been having so many cultural experiences. Last night I went to my first real South American soccer game! It was a pretty big match - Ecuador vs. Chile in a preliminary game for the 2014 World Cup. I must say, South Americans are extremely passionate about their soccer. The constant singing and dancing, balloons flying everywhere, the sea of yellow, blue and red, and the shower of beer over everything after every goal was a sight to behold. Fortunately, Ecuador won 3-1, otherwise I would have been afraid for my life.
Other cultural experiences have included (but are not limited to) having a dance instructor come to our house to teach us salsa dancing, learning the bus system through many missed stops and having to run, push, and hold on for dear life, exploring the streets of downtown, getting locked out of our home with no way to contact our family, and trying to find safe places to go on jogs. I must say, even with my deep desire to be apart of this culture there are some conspicuous things that I simply cannot change. Being 5' 10", having long blonde hair, fair skin and blue eyes makes it nearly impossible to blend into the crowd. Most of the time I am oblivious to the attention I draw, but there have been plenty of times when it has been impossible to ignore. I've been thinking about buying a hat...
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| Beautiful Down Town |
We have also been getting more and more vision for the ministry here. It is taking time, but I am more than happy to give myself to this process. We decided to give up teaching at the school because of how it was taking away from our focus on the ministry. However, the last day Lynda was able to lead one of her students from the senior class to the Lord! What an awesome way to end our time at the school. We also were able to pray and prophesy over the director of the school, calling forth the children as world changers, and encouraging her in her role as an influencer to the students.
On Wednesday we had the opportunity of speaking at a non-Christian school. We had a connection there with one of the teachers and they opened the doors for us to share with the kids whatever it was that God put on our hearts to share. We spoke to 2 groups - the middle schoolers and the high schoolers - all together about 120 students. All three of us felt like we were to talk about the Father heart of God and what it means to be a son or daughter. We each were able to share from our own testimonies. It was beautiful how each of our stories flowed into each another and presented a different aspect of God's love. To be honest, I wasn't sure if we could expect much response - these were teenagers and most of them were unchurched. We were told that many of them came from broken families and were normally cynical when other people shared any kind of hope with them. So all this to say, I was blown away when I asked if there was anyone who wanted to experience the Father's love and more than half of the room stood to their feet. It's hard to even describe what I felt in that moment as we helped these kids ask to receive the love of God. Hands were extended as if to receive a gift, eyes were closed in sincerity, and soft ripples of weeping were heard throughout the room. Afterwards, we got to hold some of the ones who were profoundly touched as they continued to weep. Some of the kids came up to us and told us that even though they didn't believe in God, they felt love like a heat inside of their hearts. I was undone!
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| Amigos! |
It is so encouraging to really see the truth of this statement - "Everyone wants a king like Jesus!" People are so ready to encounter real love. Everyone is longing for relationship with the Father. Most people don't realize that they have that deep desire, but it is inside of everyone. We were created for intimacy! So when people experience the love of God, they can't help but respond. I know that ministry often looks like being faithful to push forward even in the dry seasons, when there is no fruit and hardly any response. But I also can't help but believe in the God of the suddenly moments. I truly believe that the harvest is plentiful. For me and my team, I feel that it is a matter of leaning into the Spirit and finding where it is that He is calling us to be laborers in the field. I know it can be anywhere, but I also know that He is strategic with purpose in everything He does. So send us out God!
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