Well today is the day we return home after a whirlwind of life changing experiences in Ecuador! To recap, our time has been spent participating in a variety of ministry and recreational activities including work projects on both the El Refugio base and the city of El Chaco, teambuilding experiences at El Refugio’s climbing wall and high ropes course, partnering with ministries in two distinctly different regions of Ecuador, visiting two of the largest waterfalls in the country (El Malo & San Rafael), mountaineering the nearly 17,000’ Illiniza Norte, holding a campfire celebration for GOD’S unfailing faithfulness and the return of Jesus! Our time spent in Ecuador has seemed more like a month than two weeks. Needless to say it has been amazing! I wish that I could even begin to describe the impact the Holy Spirit has made in connecting the hearts of the ministry of LIFT 31, the churches, and the surrounding communities which the churches are located in. However such understanding is even beyond me!
Our last evening at El Refuigo was a night of lasting
impressions as we sat around a campfire (fogata) and feasted on hotdogs and
samples of roasted of Cuye (Guinea Pig), an Ecuadorian staple. Shortly after
Arrelyo, a full time staff member of El Refugio appeared to us in his Native
Cofan attire. He shared some of his cultural experiences in Cofan as Rick Borman translated, then he and
Rick Borman delighted us with a guitar led time of worship. This closed with
trilingual chorus of “I have decided to follow Jesus” in English, Spanish, and
Cofan. Talk about unity among diversity! Following this was S'mores and laughs
as myself and John (a fulltime staff member at El Refugio) demonstrated our
impersonation skills of Presidents Barrack Obama and George W. Bush, in a
debate.
We ended
the night debriefing our experiences in Oyacachi with one very crucial question
dangling in our minds; if love and ministry is what we are called to as Disciples
of Christ, then why did we find it was so much easier to love in Oyacachi,
Ecuador than Speculator, NY (or anywhere home may be, really)? The bottom line
for all of us seemed to come down to the low risk of not having that love
returned. Some presumed that it is simply easier to love on kids than it is
adults. Others highlighted the fact that we were only there two days. Still one
person took it a step further by mentioning that loving back at home requires
us to intentionally and continually pour into the relationships – an often
times very difficult thing to do. As I mused over these questions, I think the
answer may fall into a combination of all three and more at best. At any rate
they only help to point out the deficiencies in our own ability, and highlight
our need to depend on Christ to strengthen us with His love so we can in turn
give His love to others. In essence abiding in Christ (John 15:4) is being
dependent on Him.
The following morning after
breakfast and a couple of morning activities, we exchanged heart-felt goodbyes
as we split from full time staff and interns at El Refugio. We became dear to
each other through the tremendous deal of encouragement and hospitality we
received from them. And despite knowing we would only be there for just over
two weeks, they never withheld a readiness to invest themselves into our lives
(friendship).
Our heartfelt
gratitude goes out to you, the supporters, for your role in making this
experience possible for all parties involved.
As we have a month left of the semester please
pray that Christ continues to teach each of us to depend on Him.
Christien Jackson
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