Rice and Beans

LIFT 37 Ecuador Mission Blog Post #1
by Elizabeth Flannery

We as a community spent Monday through Friday of last week at CAMP-of-the-WOODS practicing a fast of rice and beans (1 serving 3 meals a day) to prepare ourselves spiritually and physically for the adventure God is bringing us on and to get a taste of how the other half of the world has survived most of their lives. This was a really special time for us and God spoke and moved in our hearts in amazing ways. There were stories of healing and breaking and remolding and just awesome, sweet time with God.

During my fast, I was brought to Proverbs 2:2-6:

“Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding.

Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures.

Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you will gain knowledge from God.

For the Lord grants wisdom!”

This is a passionate and reckless pursuit of the satisfaction of God. I can (we can) not settle for being empty or downcast. Because discouragement is never from God, we will never be disheartened in our “passionate pursuit of true, deep, and lasting satisfaction” in Jesus. This transforms every single facet of Christian Life: that if we desire God more than we desire anything else in this world, we will find true joy and peace and he will use us in that space. So if we live this time we have in Ecuador focused on God’s constant presence and the reckless pursuit of him and not what we can do for him, He will make the rest fall into place. This is my prayer for my friends and myself these next 16 days.

            

We had a full 20-hour day of travel yesterday (Monday, March 20th), and arrived here safely at El Refugio late last night. After an orientation session this morning with Rick Borman and Jim Olsen, we spent the better part of today working in different teams on projects around this beautiful property and learning about what we’re going to be doing and how God might be using  us while we’re here. Llamas graze up and down the soft green mountains that surround us and the fields and forests are covered in little patches of tropical flowers and fruit trees. We ate papaya for breakfast and pineapple for lunch.  We are happy to be here and anxious to get into what Jesus has for us! Thank you for all the prayers and support! Gloria A Dios!!

Jeremiah 1:7-8 MSG

“God told me, “Don’t say, ‘I am only a boy.’

            I’ll tell you where to go and you’ll go there.

I’’ll tell you what to say and you’ll say it.

            Don’t be afraid of a soul.

I’ll be right there, looking after you.”