La Familia

During the 2 years that I was in ministry school, I was constantly hearing the message on "Family."  "Have mothers and fathers in your life who can speak wisdom and counsel into you and challenge you to be the best you you can be."  "Have community around you who are pouring into you, strengthening you, calling you out, and running with you."  "Don't try to do life or ministry on your own, you will burn out!"  And my spirit has always resonated with this message.  The Lord has graciously lead me through process after process of learning how to truly live within family - how to go from independency to inter-dependency, how to become vulnerable and weak with others, to believe in myself as worthy of being poured into and believed in, etc...

But family is not something that can be achieved or a place to which you can arrive.  Family is not just a happy concept.  You can learn all about family, gain all the tools, and fully believe in family.  But if that is all there is to it, you will constantly need the perfect environment for your family to survive.  If it is anything but an ideal situation, it will shrivel up and die.  Family is so much more.  Family is a value that must first be established in your heart and then it is a culture that you must cultivate and fight for wherever your current situation in life may be.

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately on this whole issue of family.  It has been something that has been stirring in my heart since being here in Ecuador.  I honestly didn't anticipate it to be one of my focuses this year, or something that the Lord would be teaching me about.  I anticipated to be growing in things like how to do ministry, or how to fully love "the one" in front of me.  These things I have most definitely been growing in as well, but the Lord has been showing me that doing ministry and loving on people HAS to be done within the context of family.

I have been working with one of the most incredible families I have ever met.  The Toledos came to Ecuador from Guatemala as missionaries - to start a church and whatever else the Lord might call them to do.  For over 20 years they have sown into a country that is not their own as if it was their own.  They raised their kids here, established their lives here, built life-long relationships here, ministered here and given everything to love the people here.  Now that their kids are all grown, they are all able to share in this beautiful family unit of life and ministry.  Ministry is a way of life, it is not a separate entity.  And it is always done within the context of their family.

Luis & Maria Tersa Toledo
And their 2 grandkids - Paz & Elias

Sabri & Mela

Simply stated, the Toledos do life really well, both ministry and family.  And I am beginning to realize that when those two entities are married together, there is an overflow and an abundance of life.  The more time I spend with this family, the more my heart is stirred to cultivate this marriage in my own life.  I don't want to merely participate in a family or slide into the place that is open for me.  I want it to be something that I carry in my heart and something I create wherever I go.  Where I am right now, there is no easy way to slide into a family or community.  I don't speak the language.  I am far removed from everything that is comfortable and familiar.  It is not the ideal setting for building relationships.  But family is worth fighting for.  It is worth paying the price.  And I am realizing that ministry flows freely from that place of family.

This past weekend my cousin Rachel came to Ecuador to visit me!  It was a whirlwind of a trip, as she was here for only 3 full days, but the time that she spent with me was pure ministry to my heart.  I had so much fun doing the "tourist" thing with Ray.  We blew way too much money at the market, toured the city at night, fell in love with hot chocolate and cheese, rode horses in the mountains, and hung out with the girls at the prison.  But simply having genuine quality time with someone I dearly love, left me with greater desire in my heart.  Having a piece of my family here definitely made me miss home, but more than that, it gave me an urgency to fight for family right where I'm at.

Hacienda Pachamama

Rachel & Me en el Mercado

I know that the Lord has called me to Ecuador not only to pour myself out in ministry while I'm here, but He also wants to equip me for the life ahead of me.  I know that I am going to be doing ministry the rest of my life - it's just who I am.  So while I'm here, it is my heart to experience family and ministry done simultaneously in a healthy way.