Hey everyone! I thought I’d give a blog about what I did in Portoviejo, Ecuador! That’s right, Portoviejo. Not like the many times I’ve spelled it “Puertoviejo”.
Portoviejo is a city by the coast in the Manabí Province of Ecuador. The city is hot and humid all year round, and luckily for us, we were there in what the locals said is the coolest time of the year. When I think about a city by the coast, mental images of lush tropical trees and beautiful architectural buildings with clear blue skies pop up. Portoviejo, although beautiful and charming, isn’t quite like that. It’s actually quite strange because the city almost seems to be part of a mountainous desert region instead of a lush beach town. The hills are dry and dusty; however, you’ll find patches of wildly green trees. Weirdly enough the city also actually produces an abundant amount of produce! Some of the towns buildings that were once up are now in a pile of bricks because of the tragic earthquake that took place here in 2016. Although, this town’s functionality and image doesn’t quite match what most people think of a beach town, it’s rising up. It’s growing, producing, and building in ways that I believe are more than just physical. I believe the Holy Spirit is doing a spiritual work in this coastal city, and I find my spiritual growth relating to it in more ways than one.
As some of you know, our first week here, 4 of us on Team Valiant were able to work at Fundación La Vida! There was about 10 doctors from the U.S. who came to Portoviejo for a week to work with the foundation and complete surgeries that are too expensive for the people here to afford. All 4 of us girls had a chance to be inside the OR and watch ACL’s, elbows, shoulders, and hands being operated on. It was all so exciting and crazy at the same time and I think each of us couldn’t believe we got to do this for a week. For most of the week I was outside of the OR, translating for the physical therapist and practicing all the Spanish I asked the Lord to help me grow in. Other than my Spanish expanding, I have so much new knowledge about exercising and moving different body parts post-surgery. Haha I have no idea when I’ll ever use these therapy exercises, but I feel like maybe the Lord will randomly surprise me and remind me that I once learned everything there is to know about exercising a recently operated ACL. Hee 🙂 These doctors were such a blessing to serve and I was deeply impacted by their willingness to donate their time and talents to help those in need.
Our second week here, the 4 of us joined the other 5 girls in our regular assigned ministries. One of them being, serving in the town’s local Senior home! Wow, I love the elderly and to be able to serve them here was a heart filling service the Lord allowed us to take part of. We served breakfast, sang, painted nails, colored, listened to Christmas music, had random wheel-chair strolls, and even got to take part in their little exercising program that the home provides for them.
If I can be completely honest though, some days it got quite monotonous and uncomfortable. It was hot and humid and most of the elderly there struggle with illnesses that won’t allow their minds and bodies to function like they once used to. Seeing them in their current state and thinking about the young people they used to be without the wheelchairs and illnesses constraining them made my spirit feel heavy. I would have flashbacks of my own grandparents in their own own illnesses that eventually robbed them from being the people they used to be. Although I knew why I was needed there, I found myself growing tired of feeling sad whenever I left. I had to remind myself that most of them have the same routine of sitting around until the day is over, and to have a group of girls come in and change things up for 3 weeks was something they looked forward to. If I would do this for my grandparents, I would do it for them.
Along with that reminder, little did I know that the Lord had something special planned, and He appointed 4 people at the home for me to share the gospel with! One of them was a security guard who overheard me sharing my faith with a fellow Christian man I was chatting with. After the man left, the guard approached me to ask if I could explain what we were sharing with each other. He explained that what he had overheard about our assurance of our eternity in heaven sounded so different than anything he had ever heard or known. He accepted Jesus that day and, man, let me tell you, it was a divine appointment.
After our morning Senior home ministry hours, we had our afternoon ministry hours at the garbage dump. I had never participated in a garbage dump ministry, but it blew my mind.
Depending on each city’s regulations, these people make their homes near or inside the actual garbage dump to make a living by collecting recyclable waste and selling it. These people live surrounded by garbage and their income is $20 a week at most from what they gather at the dump. With this income, some of their kids don’t get the choice to go to school, or get new clothes, or get something special during the holidays. The parents do what they can to provide for their children and at times it means robbing from the locals. There are about 45 kids in this little garbage dump community and at the moment only 25 are sponsored by donors. These 25 kids are taken care of every month by their sponsor’s donation of $46. Our hosts, Percy and his wife Gemma, do their very best to provide for all the kids even if they’re not sponsored and sometimes use the money out of their own pockets so that the kids don’t feel left out. The goal of this ministry is to impact the lives of the children that live here by teaching them Bible stories, songs, games, fun learning activities, and passing out food every Monday through Friday. All the sponsorship money is spent in making this possible for them.
If any of you reading this would be interested in sponsoring one of these children, please contact me and I’ll tell you exactly what needs to be done. If you don’t know if you can do monthly payments of $46 I ask that you please pray about donating towards their upcoming Christmas party. All 45 kids are expecting gifts on Christmas and it’s ours hosts goal to spend $10 for each child to have a decent toy. If that’s something that you’re interested in doing, please contact me about that as well!
If there’s one thing I’ll never forget about Portoviejo is our host family. The Lord blessed Team Valiant and showed His love and care for us this November month with Percy, Gemma, Mila, and Ami Figueredo. Both Percy and Gemma took us in like we were there daughters. Their home was our home, and to have that during a month where we so longed to be with our families meant everything to us. We got our fill of dad jokes, dad and mom talks, mom’s homecooking, and the presence of younger siblings. This family has impacted the people of Portoviejo with the love of Jesus in more ways than one, as well as, the lives of Team Valiant.
Thank you so much for reading another one of my blogs! I’m currently off to Cusco, Peru to do ministry with Calvary Chapel Cusco! Pray for our team as it’s our last month in South America!
