Many Hands Make Muddy Work

Welcome to Ecuador!  We all arrived safe at El Refugio on Monday afternoon with no real problems. We were all a little sleepy and stiff when we dropped or backpacks in our rooms. Then Rick Borman, our host, took us on a hike around the grounds. El Refugio is a beautiful camp outside of Quito.  It is a conference and retreat center for groups to get away from the city and meet with God. They have three hundred acres of land complete with mountains, climbing wall, ponds, gardens, high ropes course, soccer field, four llamas, a beautiful tree house, and many more things. Their mission is to show the need for God, life-giving rhythms, community, missions, and bearing fruit. Their beautiful grounds help people coming from the crowded cities to relax and experience God in a new way. On our tour hike Rick showed us many things I found so interesting. He showed us a plant that looks like clover but you can eat it. It is so tart that your mouth waters. I love tart things and it made me pucker a little. All these new things make me so thankful for God’s creativity! When you are on top of the mountain you can see nothing but mountains for miles! The small mountains around El Refugio look as if they have been draped in a patchwork quilt. They are covered in fields of yellow, bits of purple, and green, all outlined by dark green hedges. The beauty God has made is beyond words or photos. I wish I could bring everyone here so that we could all praise God together in this place.

Tuesday we started helping the El Refugio staff prepare for the Todo Lodo race this coming Saturday (April 9^th). Todo Lodo (all mud) is their version of a “tough mudder” they are expecting around 1,300 people. This high adventure 5K is a perfect open door for people to see what El Refugio is about.  Please pray that through this event seeds will be planted in people’s hearts and that the staff will show Christ’s love to everyone they come in contact with. Our work includes spreading clay for the mud, hanging signs, digging trenches, mowing, and other things to prepare the grounds. It is amazing how much work 33 extra people can get done. I feel very blessed to work alongside the staff and interns. We have only been here for one full day and I already feel home. All the staff have such big hearts. They are made up of full time missionaries, interns from around the world, and locals from the town. Tim told us to watch and learn from the missionaries while we are here. Hudson Taylor said, “Let the people be who they are but let God change their hearts and parts of their culture.” I can see this in the missions here. I have been watching the staff and can see how much they love the people and culture; they are simply doing life with the people. I love getting to share in a little part of that discipleship. It has been a new experience for me to work with a language barrier. I have learned that hand motions are very helpful and if you can’t get anywhere just laugh and smile. We have a work day again today after which we will be testing out the muddy course - to work on our fitness and to see if it works well (but mostly for fun)! 

Check out pictures of the LIFT students testing out the course on the LIFT Discipleship Program Facebook page.

For the next eight days we will be in two small Ecuadorian villages working with churches, schools, and doing work projects. We will be heading to El Chaco Thursday morning, staying there for four days, then heading to Oyacachi for another four days. Please be praying that we will keep our hearts focused on what God has for us to learn and how we can serve him.  We are all learning and experiencing many new things and that is exciting, but our goal is to serve and show Christ’s love. Also be praying for our team’s health. I thank you all so much for your prayers.

Annita   (Hannah Watson)