Before & After
Here’s a fun little comparison sequence for y’all that helps describe some of what we have been experiencing during our first few months in Quito!
June 22, 2019 - December 11, 2021
Meet Sophie!
In June a few years ago, we did a high ropes course together as part of a girls’ retreat when I brought an (accidentally) all-girls team of St. John’s youth. We connected. She was kind. She was also terrified. We inched across two wires in the air and I suddenly understood how men feel when their female partners are in labor… she squeezed my hands so tight!
In December, she was one of a few youth that traveled to the jungle to lead - LEAD - songs, games, and activities during Christmas parties at some of our partner ministry sites. Picture a typical youth group gathering in the US, but for younger kids. The same weekend, we all went ice skating for the Youth World Christmas party. Sophie had never been ice skating before. She rocked it. She didn’t even need to hold my hand, much less squeeze it.
I am so proud of Sophie. There is nothing better than a front-row seat to watching people grow into themselves and become who God created them to be.
March 23, 2021 - January 5, 2022
This is a group of friends who have walked through almost the entire process of getting to Ecuador with us. The first picture was taken at our two-week training at One Collective headquarters before any of us left the country. One Collective sends people all over the world, and it just happened that all 7 of us were moving to join the team in Ecuador. We barely knew each other. We thought we knew what to expect, but we had no idea.
The second picture was taken a few weeks ago in Quito, celebrating a birthday! It’s amazing to think about all the change - physical location, spiritual growth, relational depth - that has occured for each of us in less than a year. We are so grateful for these people. It truly feels like God has given them to us to walk alongside as we navigate this new missionary life.
Before, after… AFTER.
In Quito, we live on the slope of Pichincha volcano (don’t worry, it’s not active). The volcano has 3 peaks, and some friends invited us to summit one of them - Rucu Pichincha.
Our house sits at roughlt 9,300 ft. above sea level. The first step is to take the Teleferico, a cable car/gondola, up to the base of the trail, which is around 13,000 ft. high. That’s where we are in the “before” picture. My heart was already beating fast during the stretching.
After prayers, snack breaks, helmets, and even a little rock climbing, we made it to the top. Rucu Pichincha: elevation 15,406 ft. Whew!
You may have thought that was the “after,” but nope, we still had to make the trek back down the mountain. That was considerably easier, but still a challenge.
It was an amazing adventure, to say the least. So fun to make memories with this wonderful group of people, and to push ourselves mentally and physically. Also, we were in awe of our friends who carried their almost-2-year-old on their backs the entire way. That is one fit mama and daddy!
A lot of our ministry is just normal life, and isn’t too exciting or photo-worthy. Especially with a new wave of Covid, we are doing less in-person ministry right now and more prep work for when we can be more fully together.
Excuse the poor quality photos of a computer screen, but this is a project that I have worked hard on for a while. It’s the Education Equals Hope Team Leader Manual, which we give to people who bringing teams to Ecuador (like the teacher or youth minister in charge). It got a serious facelift! One of my tasks when we don’t have teams on the ground with us is to update and “brand” all of our documents. Hopefully it more than just looks pretty. The idea is that it makes the content more entertaining, digestable, and professional.
Sometimes it can be tedious work, but it’s also a chance to get a little creative, which I enjoy. I’m pretty proud of these 60+ pages!
That’s a peek into some of what we spend our time doing. We’re excited to see even more “after” - more growth and transformation as our ministry here progresses!
Thanks for being part of the journey,
Abrazos, J&C
