For God, There is no language barrier.

This is the rose I received this morning at church--How sweet? right? I thought so. 

But..what i constantly thought about while in my spanish speaking church this morning was how AWESOME our God is. 

This morning I had the opportunity to worship in spanish and listen to preaching in spanish. Did i understand it? Well, no. haha but i was reminded this morning, as I am daily here in Ecuador, is that the Lord who created us, the awesome God we serve, understands it all. 

It amazes me as I rack my brain while listening to a conversation or a sermon to try to understand at least one word that the Lord knows it all, hears it all and understands it all and most importantly cares about it all. (1 Peter 5:7)

It amazes me and I pray it will continue to amaze me. (At the rate that I am learning spanish, I have a feeling it will)  

However I did catch that we were reading from Matthew, chapter 10, verse 16. As we continued to read the Lord taught me a lot through verse 20 and I think it was no coincidence: 

            "For it is not you who will be speaking-it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking   through you"

So no matter the language, when it comes to the gospel and sharing the love of Christ with people It is never me doing the speaking (What a relief!! I barely know how to use my words in English, I cant imagine how my spanish would go) Its the Lord speaking through us. Thank God for the Holy Spirit. And thank you God for a wonderful message this morning. (No matter the language)
Saved by grace,
Kb

First week in Ecuador....Check.

Well Folks, its been a week and I sit here and have no clue where to begin. I can actually tell you in one word how I have felt over the past week but I feel like maybe I should elaborate so just for yall...I will. 

OVERWHELMED. If I could pick one would, overwhelmed would be the winner. This however is not all bad. The week started off with a day of shopping on monday for needed house supplies and then tuesday we dove right into meetings and meetings and more meetings all week. I do not have the best attention span and half of it did not apply to me so therefore I caught myself pondering and thinking of so many things...the thinking so much led to my state of being overwhelmed. 
Things thought about this week: 
2. When is lunch?
3. Will I ever learn spanish?
4. Whats everyone back home doing?
5. When is the first football game?
 Okay but seriously:
6. What is my purpose here?
7. How can I glorify God in my new house, at this school, and with my interactions with the other faculty and staff and eventually students?
The list goes on and on and on and on and on and on. However, the Lord is slowly answering all of these questions. 
The spanish is coming along. I write down new vocabulary words every day to make sure to learn them. I also attended a bible study primarily in spanish. When youre put in situations like that you either sink or swim and those situations are going to help me with my spanish the most ( and of course my fluent roommates). 
As far as everyone back home, I hope yall are getting along just fine without me. I do miss yall and wish yall could experience Quito right along with me. I never thought I would look at a city and say the word "bonita" (pretty) but I cant myself doing it daily. From the colored buildings to the grass covered mountains and volcanos and the snow capped peaks, even to the pot holes in the sidewalks, I find this creation by the Lord beautiful. 
As many of you may still be asking: What exactly will you be doing? Well, here is the run down. 
1. I will be helping Alliance Academy International with data entry. (doesnt  sound fun I know but I came to serve and that is where help is needed) 
2. I will be helping proctor MAP tests (no not geographical maps--what a joke that would be!) They are tests of measured academic progress--state tests kind of except they happen like 3 times a year and the results have to be presented back in a timely manner- hints the help they need. 
3. I will be working in the school cafe- kind of like a coffee shop/bakery.  I am so excited. Its my dream come true! I will be getting to know lots of students this way and learning a lot of spanish since the women there speak very little english. (lucky me :/) haha just kidding it will be just what a girl like me needs to learn my spanish. 
4. This one is my most favorite of them all- At AAI( the school I am helping) they have a program called CSO- Christian Service Outreach. It is an assortment of programs that the students are allowed to participate in on Wednesday afternoons. Most kids volunteer since there are no other school activities that day just for the CSOs. Some groups go to orphanages, some to soup kitchens, others play soccer with local kids, etc. etc. etc. Among the CSOs there is a group called Guardians- It is a discipleship program in which staff members disciple the high schoolers so they in return can disciple middle schoolers. I am so blessed to get to be involved in this CSO. Not only am I involved though, I am actually leading it. So I will be the head staff member (along with the head of spiritual life). I am so excited. One reason I came was to disciple girls and the Lord gave me a wide open door with this CSO. 
5.  I also may have the opportunity to help at a school called Carmen Bajo up north a couple of days a week. This has not been set in stone but I am hoping I can go!! 

So there you have it. Stay tuned though, none of this is set and stone and could change from day to day. Welcome to the mission field! haha
Some other things pertaining to Ecuador (that I think you all should know):
1. I have 9 keys to my apartment and an alarm system. So if any of you are worried about my safety. Have no fear. If they are able to come through 9 locks, I will personally had them a reward for a job well done. haha That would be pretty impressive.
2. Time is irrelevant in Latin American countries: Being a late person I am a huge fan of this aspect of Ecuadorian culture and plan on bringing it back to the states. 
3. As far as food goes, I love it!! all of it. Especially the fruit. Because of the altitude it took me a while to have an appetite but dont worry its back. haha 
                A few new things I love would be: 
                            ---Guanabana yogurt (guanabana is my favorite ecaudorian fruit so far)
                           ---other fruits--i forget the name, of course. 
                           ---And of course the convience of food. (for example the awesome bakery
                               on my walk to school every morning) 
4. I love my roommates! we get along great! What an answered prayer. 
Sooo that is my week in Ecuador...stay tuned to the things the Lord is going to teach me through all these different experiences and challenges. School starts in a week. So if you wanna know what I will be doing next week....well, I'll probably be in a meeting. 
Until next time, Adios. 
Saved by grace, 
Kb. 

Learning to be observant...one step at a time.

According to my father I am not very observant and he has insisted I become better at that, since I will be living in a foreign country and all.

So....I did it! I became observant yesterday. 

I made a very intelligent observation yesterday on my drive home from starkville, but before i get into that I will give you all a little background information. 

I headed to Starkville on Friday for my final goodbyes. (P.S. goodbyes don’t get any easier or any less awkward the more you tell someone bye) I learned this after I said bye to everyone about a million and one times. 

On friday I was able to go to the clinic. I know, doesnt really sound like thats where anyone wants to go before they leave the country. But that place is filled with memories ill never forget with people I have come to love over the years. And this began the start of many goodbyes to come this weekend. After that, I had dinner with Nicole and it was such a great time of encouragement; filled with wisdom and just good fellowship.

Saturday included breakfast, manicures, lunch and RAIN.....oh and bid day. 

Yes that sentence contains a lot of food and did I mention a lot of RAIN!!!

But we also spent time in the chapel on campus. The chapel is a place a cherish the most by far (except for maybe the purple house) but other than that its an important place to me and I loved getting to spend some time in prayer with my sisters in Christ one last time before I went home. 

OKAY, im getting to the point, the part about being observant, i promise. 

As I drove home I got to think back on all the people I got to say bye to and the ones I didnt. And in that moment I stopped in awe before the Lord. 

In that moment I OBSERVED that my heavenly Father crafted and created some pretty amazing people. He really out did himself with my friends, brothers and sisters in Christ and my family. In that moment Psalm 139:14 took on an even greater meaning. 

So thank you friends for being the believers you are called to be. Thanks for the encouragement, the wisdom, and most importantly the prayer. I am taking a part of you all with me to Ecuador, dont worry. (I even have letters to prove that) You are all so special to me and such a huge part of this journey. I can honestly say if it wasnt for some of you I would not be sitting in the ATL airport waiting for my flight to Ecuador to go spread the love of Christ and share the gospel with His people there. This fact is true!! If it wasnt for super supportive parents I wouldnt be here either because without their support and encouragement through the years I would have not been at STATE and therefore would not have met any of you beautiful people. So thank the Lord for my awesome Godly parents. I have been blessed being brought up under their roof. 

So again thank you everyone for helping me to this point. I hope and pray it doesnt stop. I may even need prayers more than ever now ( Lets remember I dont speak spanish) but i cant wait to learn and learn everything else the Lord has to teach me. I cant wait to be praying for you all back home as i sit on my rooftop in the mornings looking out at the mountains and volcanos in Quito. I will be thinking of you all in those moments: the moments when i wish you all were there with me to share in my joy, my experiences, and even my hurt, I will be thinking of yall in those moments wondering what you all are doing, how football games are going, and if the purple house is still standing ( haha) ill be thinking of you all and the struggles you will be facing back in the states. In those moments I won’t just be thinking thats when i will be praying for yall specifically and by name! So please keep me updated and I will do the same with yall! I love yall so much!! :) Be Bold!! 

Saved by grace, 

Kb

How one feels a week before they move to a foreign country..

Its crazy to think this is where I will be in a little over a week! I have so many emotions running through me at the moment I can't really keep them all straight to be honest. I am anxious..anxious to meet the people I will be working with, anxious to see my apartment, meet my roommates, and anxious to see what the Lord has in store for me. (I should probably remember Phil. 4:6-7)  I am also filled with excitement for these very same reasons though and to tell the truth I am very overwhelmed at the moment, all due to packing. Who would have ever thought packing to live in a foreign country for a year would be so difficult.??!! So yes, lots of emotions come with moving to a foreign country for a year but I think excitement trumps them all.
So, Lord willing I will be blessed by beautiful scenes like these on a daily basis starting August 19th.
I just wanted to give you all an update and please continue to pray for me through this next week..its crunch time but most importantly pray for the people of Quito and the ones that I will encounter while I am living in Ecuador. Pray their hearts be changed by the Holy Spirit. Pray that I "proclaim the excellencies of the one who called me out of darkness into His marvelous light" ( 1 Peter 2:9) to the people there.
I cant wait for you all to get to share this experience with me via my blog, twitter, facebook, and any other social network that comes about during the next 12 months.

Saved by grace,
Kb