Ecuador - July 25 || John
Today was one of the most stretching days of the trip for me. We woke up in the morning and went to an orphanage just outside of Esmeraldas. The orphans are so sweet! Most of them come from parents that are either in jail or drug addicts. Danny told a story, we played games, painted pictures, made bracelets, and then Daniel told another story. The story Danny told hit me in such a powerful way! As he shared the simple Gospel story I was so reminded that I am loved and forgiven by God despite my own rejection of Him! Pray that the kids would see this truth and accept God’s amazing grace for them! As we drove home I prayed that the Lord would help me to see and live from His love and grace. We definitely needed to be strengthened in the Lord because the night kids program was intense! (By the way, this is our last kids program in Esmeraldas.) Because of some unforeseen problems we had to jumble up the teams a little bit. This required me to teach for the other lesson team. We told the incredible story of forgiveness of a World War II POW named Louis Zamberini.On top of teaching the story five times and teaching the craft teams lesson for them, for some reason I had a sharp pain in my lower back and my voice was gone. It was such a stretching night, however God never fails to provide us with strength and love for the kids that we don’t have. Despite all of the mishaps, tonight was one of my favorite nights of the trip. As a lesson team we continually pray that God would do what only He can do. The Lord continues to push us beyond ourselves and show us that what He can do is much more then what we can do. Our job is to be humble and willing to do whatever He may want! Please pray for the kids of Esmeraldas that God would continue the work that He is doing in this city through the local believers. It is such a dark city. I believe that God wants to do something in this city. As a lesson team we have been praying for a revival that only God can begin in this city! Thank you for praying for us!~John
