For Such a Time as This

I have been in Quito for the past several weeks. Living life with Ruby & Fletcher has been a JOY, to say the least! I love being a REAP team member and a niece in the house of my Aunt Ruby & Uncle Fletcher! We’ve had major construction going on in their apartment for the past two weeks and today things are beginning to be put back into place. Four years ago when I lived with them and planned to teach English classes, a volcano erupted a week after I got there! My schedule shift to major disaster relief for the next three months! So hey- what’s a little cement dust! (Okay- I know Aunt Ruby- it was more than a little ;) I’m glad to be here…for such a time as this!

My translator project is complete! I presented the re-vamped “Translator Ministry” notebook to Ruby and Fletcher on Wednesday night. Over the past three weeks, I’ve been meeting with small groups of potential translators to share what REAP is, what we believe, and what we expect of them as translators. Now we have updated profiles and pictures ;-) on each of them! I’ve also contacted many through phone calls and e-mails. It has kept me busy and I have loved every minute of it! I love projects that I need a “To Do List” for! I love to organize things and to meet new people so it was a fun job for me. So I am thankful to be here for such a project as this!

I’ve been very thankful for some of the people that I’ve met through this. I made a wonderful new friend with a young woman. Through one of these routine translator meetings, I was drawn to this girl. I knew there was more to know about her beneath the surface. Through reading her profile and a later e-mail from her, I learned of some questions and burdens that she is carrying as a new believer. Since then we’ve been able to meet and talk about these things! It’s been so evident that God orchestrated this whole thing. What a gift this dear friend is to me! Such a reminder that behind every face is a story! Stories of pain and joy. Stories written by God intricate in design and rich in purpose. I know God gave me this translator project for such a friend as this!

Tomorrow morning we leave for the weekend to visit and encourage some friends near Ambato, where I spent a semester with the Dickersons in 2006. We are excited to spend time with these dear friends. They are faithful servants and missionaries to their own people. Just like when I get back to Henderson and Wake Forest, and just like you right where you are right now, God has purpose for us for each day! That purpose never differs from sharing the greatness of our God and living out the Gospel to every person you encounter. God put you exactly where you are for such a time as this. Look for those moments and rejoice in them!!

Please pray for my new friend, for safety as we travel, and for rich encouragement to be exchanged among us and our brothers and sisters-in-Christ this weekend.