3/16/2024, Day One at Fundación Dunamis

I woke up this morning, after the best night of sleep I’ve had on the entire trip, with a heart of gratitude, peace, and bliss! I decided after waking up to spend time with God in nature. I roamed the property where our house is and uncovered a glimpse of the beauty of the Ecuadorian countryside, I made friends with three of the dogs that live here with us, each of the dogs here are rescues from the streets of Ecuador. After my time outside, I came back inside the house and read a few chapters in Judges, this morning I was learning about the story of Ehud and Eglon, and I am now reading about Deborah. The folks here provided breakfast this morning, which was scrambled eggs and plantain arepas, it was quite interesting but very good. After breakfast we had an orientation about the history of Fundación Dunamis and the mission behind the work they do here, it was really wonderful to learn about how they got started and how everything is intentionally planned here with God at the center of it all. I will say, this ministry is completely different than the work we were doing in Colombia, it’s hard and heartbreaking, but at the same time beautiful and encouraging to see God at work here. In orientation, we discussed how severe the issue of human/sex trafficking really is, it was very eye opening to say the least, we learned how children get into this industry and also how deeply the actions of America and other developed countries affect developing countries, such as Ecuador. D, our host, also told us that we need to have open hearts and no expectations about ministry here because unlike Colombia, we may not see the fruit of the work we are taking part in here, but he also said it is a great atmosphere to discover God’s purpose for your life and to truly serve others. It is very secluded here, the only sounds are of nature and the views here are not comparable to anything I’ve ever seen. D gave us a tour of the property after orientation and I was reminded of my love for countryside living, agriculture, farming, and animals. I met the girls that are here in the foundation, their ages range from twelve to seventeen and all are victims of human/sex trafficking that are in the restoration process here. I cannot fathom how anyone could ever possibly harm these beautiful girls. However, they were so sweet and welcoming despite everything they’ve been through. Around 3:00 to 6:00 today we spent time with the girls, they are currently studying the book of Revelation in their weekly Bible study so we participated in that and then we played ping pong, Uno, Dutch Blitz, and hand games. It was so fun to teach them Dutch Blitz! In our time spent with them, they had worship music playing and during a game of Uno, there was an English worship song playing and I looked around and every girl in the room was singing the song, even the girls who don’t speak English, and I was brought to tears, Jesus is universal and that is such a cool fact. Fundación Dunamis sits at 11,000 feet in elevation, so we’ve been adjusting to that today, but I’m loving it here so far! I ask for continued prayers for my team and I, we are so excited about what God has in store for us here!