Wednesday, February 27, 2013

God Will Make a Way

Since November, I have been planning a trip to Colombia to visit my first sponsored child, Daniela, and my first correspondent child, Sara.  Over the past two years I have been able to build a good relationship with each of these girls and I was beyond excited to be able to visit them in April instead of November.  

Daniela, age 8                              Sara, age 11

I have been gathering gifts and preparing for my visit to meet these two precious girls.  On January 3rd, I experienced one of my worst fears.  Sara was missing from my Compassion account.  When I discovered this, it was was after Compassion hours so I had to wait for an answer until the next day.  I was terrified of losing my sweet Sara especially since I was planning to visit her so soon.  The scenarios ran through my mind: Sara's family could have moved out of Compassion's sphere of influence, however, this seemed unlikely since they had recently moved; her family's economic situation could have improved so they wouldn't need Compassion's help any more; or, the mostly situation would be that she had lost her financial sponsor giving me the first option to take up her sponsorship.  I spend the evening fretting and praying that God would show me what to do.  The first two scenarios would leave me no choice but to keep Sara's memory in my heart. The third left me with two options: say 'goodbye' or say 'welcome to my sponsored family.'  My heart was broken at the thought of losing the bond that Sara and I had formed and an evening of prayer and discussion led me to the conclusion that if Sara had lost her financial sponsor, I would pick up her sponsorship.  My answer came the next day from Compassion that Sara had indeed lost her sponsor.  I immediately called the Compassion office and Sara became my fifth sponsored child.  

As my trip nears (5 weeks from tomorrow) and preparations are coming together, I am getting more and more excited to meet these two precious girls.  From her letters, I believe meeting Sara will be a day treasured forever!  Additionally, Daniela is such a sweet young girl who no doubt will have hugs and bright smiles that will lead to memories we can both cherish for a life time.  I pray that our time together will blessed and full of special memories for us all.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Experiencing Ecuador: Sight Seeing

It only took me 6 months to get to this post.  My final day in Ecuador. 
(6 months ago today I met my Aida for the first time) 
We spent our last day eating breakfast with a group of LDP students and sightseeing in Quito.  It was a chance for us to just relax and enjoy seeing the country and reflect on all that had happened during our time in Ecuador.



We had a chance to visit several sights including the presidential palace and the virgin statue.


Presidential Palace

Virgin Statue


We ate lunch near the statue and had a marvelous view overlooking the entire city of Quito.





We shopped in the local market and met some of the many street vendors of the city.




This little girl was just the cutest thing EVER!

The Fun Group! (half of our entire group)

Our final surprise was the chance to sample some of the local cuisine.  


Yes, that is guinea pig...


Ecuador is such a beautiful country with beautiful people!  I met some amazing new friends both from here and from there.  I hope to some day be able return to Ecuador and spend more time my girls and all the amazing people there.  God blessed us so much on this trip and I have been forever changed by this experience.