Roosters and Grandmas

I hope to be able to upload some pictures soon; I've been having trouble with the computer lately, but I cannot wait to show you the photos that I've taken so far! For the first time this week, I was really able to see how beautiful this country really is. You can't really tell when you're in the center of the city, but as we were driving along the outskirts of it, I realized that the whole city of Ambato rests on massive cliffs and mountains, surrounded by three huge volcanoes that blow smoke into the air from the top of their peaks. It's breathtaking, and I've really enjoyed driving through the Andes and seeing how people live in different areas, for the way of life varies drastically from the mountains to the valleys. It's a really beautiful country they have down here.

Yet, the greatest entertainment around the house has been the grandma, who has diabetes but refuses to accept it, so she sneaks into the kitchen when she thinks no one is looking and grabs a handful of pure sugar, or a liter of coke, and takes it back to her room. (The other day we found an entire stash of candy under her bed). Then, when Anita or Favi catch her and yell at her to stop, she just yells MENTIROSA! I DIDNT DO ANYTHING YOURE A LIAR....as she's holding a gallon of coke in her hand. Then she sighs in resignation, lets go of whatever it is that's she's holding, and returns to her room, only to try again a couple hours later.

The second greatest thing about this house is the food! It's mostly soup, rice, chicken, and tea every day, but I've heard rumors that when the American group comes, we're going to eat pizza, so I'm really excited about that. Unfortunately, however, there's a rooster outside my room that is slightly unsure how to tell time accurately, because it starts crowing at about 3:30 AM...so I'm sort of hoping to see that one in the soup soon.

One thing that has been really cool is that I've had the opportunity to talk to a lot of people about YoungLife, and one woman in particular really wants to get it started, which is awesome, but I'm in way over my head there! Well, first its Latin America, so everything takes about three times the amount of time it woud take in the states, but I'm praying a lot through that, because one thing that I have really learned in being here is that I really do believe that Younglife is one of the best ways to reach the kids and teens who do not know Jesus and don't want to, and those are the ones I want to reach, especially in a place like this where life is hard and very bleak sometimes. Yet, even if I can't be actively involved in the start of YoungLife here, I'm thankful to have the opportunity to talk about it's purpose and describe a little bit about what it's like, and hopefully it can spread here eventually. I've had the blessing of being able to meet a few of the young people in the city already; they've all been very sweet to me, but it's just really had esatblishing friendships in a different language: the cultural barriers are hard to break through, but I hope to get to know them better soon.

Anyways, thank you for your prayers; Monday, after the earthquake, was definitely a low point for me, and I even doubted whether or not I would be able to make it all summer here. But I have learned so much already, not just about Spanish or Ecuadorian culture, but just what it means to be broken, and that it's ok to feel that way; we're free to struggle. I think I just get really comfortable in my life at home, so I don't very often practice my trust, and as it turns out, when all my comforts were stripped from me, I had a lot of doubt and lack of belief in my heart. The Lord just hit me with that really hard, and it was difficult to come to terms with that weakness, but I've really been leaning into that brokenness and seeing what means to believe that the Lord is faithful. I've been reading Brennan Manning's Ruthless Trust, and it's really good; it talks a lot about how trust isn't something that we can generate  ourselves, but it's an outcome of hope, faith, and experience; our trust grows when we recognize and have faith in God's faithfulness, and He's showing me a lot of that right now. I'm just trying not to have expectations and just resting in what this experience is and in who I am in the Lord, not in what I want or try to be.

Thank you again, and ciao!