From Worry to Worship

Posted on March 15, 2020 by Joel & Kim

I wish I could say that I came up with the title of the blog, but it was taken from a sermon I heard this morning. So, thank you Jeremy for the title and for the amazing sermon this morning.

By the way, as a side note before I jump in, I can’t tell you how encouraging it was to open up social media and see churches all over broadcasting their services. Supporting churches of ours, it was amazing to see you and hear sermons and worship. It was a far cry from the normal Coronavirus whatever to encouraging and uplifting words, tangible advice from the Bible to live by and encouraging worship to draw us to the feet of Jesus, so THANK YOU CHURCH!

The sermon I heard this morning was from Habakkuk, yes one of those books tucked in the old testament that is sometimes (or most times) hard to find because we may not read it very often. Such is the case for me. I have read it, but this was a very different take for me in light of all that is going on in the world right now. I won’t give a sermon or anything like that, but it was such a tangible piece of scripture today that brought together a few things God had been laying on my heart. In a time like this, I certainly don’t feel like I am helping all that much. I like to help and support and when I worked in the hospital, I always felt I was helping and feel I could be at this point. But yesterday I felt that I should be praising, worshipping and sharing that light with others over social media. Now, I realize this is no grand act of helping. But I realized today how much my spirit was lifted because I was in the presence of God and worshipping.

So, back to Habakkuk and where this all came from. Habakkuk has some questions for God and seems pretty confused. So this book is kind of a back and forth, Habakkuk asks questions and God answers. I love the dialogue, it is such a good representation of what we should be doing with God, right? Anyway, two things from the sermon was that Habakkuk remembered the ways in which God was faithful. We ALL have those, right? Times we can look back on and see God’s faithfulness. I stepped back today and remembered my journey in becoming a missionary. I knew this was God laid on my heart since I was 10 years old! Seeing His faithfulness woven through that journey is a reminder that His faithfulness is woven in our stories, no matter what we face, trials, struggles, viruses, etc, God is still God and His faithfulness remains.

The second thing was in the final chapter of Habakkuk there is a prayer that is beautiful and there is ONE word that changes the WHOLE passage for me. In verse 17, things look bad, there is no fruit, the crops are failing, things look pretty bleak, but then there is a word, “YET” in verse 18. YET, I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Soveriegn Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights…

One simple word, YET, changes it all. Yet, I will rejoice. Even when it looks bad, even when it doesn’t make sense, even when the chaos is all around, even when you can’t see the answer or the plan or the purpose, YET, I will rejoice. Whatever all the things are in your life BEFORE “YET”, remember God’s faithfulness because it is there, HE is here and that is all the reason to rejoice and praise and worship.

So, for those consumed with worry, anxiety, unsettled about the future and the chaos around, REMEMBER God’s faithfulness. Even when you can’t remember, even when you can’t see in front of you, even when it doesn’t make sense to praise, YET, rejoice. Sometimes we need to confess what we KNOW is truth before we actually believe it. So, I challenge you to two things in light of the chaos we are living in. I challenge you this week to REMEMBER and PRAISE.

REMEMBER God’s faithfulness in your life. All of us have it. If you have trouble in your own life, remember the faithfulness God shows us throughout the Bible. In Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Mary, Mary, the disciples, Peter, Paul. Faithfulness is woven throughout scripture. Write it down if you need to to remind yourself each day. And then PRAISE God for His faithfulness. Praise when it doesn’t make sense, when you don’t understand because we know that God is God, He is sovereign and He is GOOD.

So, I told you my Remember story with my journey as a missionary.

My praise is music today and probably will be each day for a while. I encourage you to listen and to share YOUR praise with others. We KNOW the world needs more positive. As I was encouraged by the CHURCH this morning, may we in turn encourage those around us through praise, prayer, partnership or what ever other ways God is calling you.

Habakkuk 3:17-19

¹⁷Though the fig tree does not bud
    and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
    and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
    and no cattle in the stalls,
¹⁸yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
    I will be joyful in God my Savior.

¹⁹The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
    he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
    he enables me to tread on the heights.

For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.

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A Night to Remember

Posted on February 29, 2020 by Joel & Kim

A week ago Thursday night, Rolando Escola and our staff held an amazing Appreciation and Fundraising Banquet for many of the people that have been so supportive of the Home For At Risk Children in Cayambe over the last several years. The mayor of Cayambe was there along with many other important Government officials as well as leaders of organizations and businesses in Cayambe. We also had our visitors from Canada with us as well. It was a beautful night of talking about the project, giving thanks and asking our guests to make a commit to support the Home in 2020.

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Categories: 501c3, Cayambe, Ministry, Updates | Tags: Cayambe, Ecuador, Home, Ministry, Partnerships, Updates | Leave a comment

Breaking Chains

Posted on February 29, 2020 by Joel & Kim

Last week we personally witnessed the Prevention Program in action and the word used to desribe it with is WOW! We watched and listened as two of the workers from the program taught in a room with 92 parents. The goal was to talk with them about how to prevent alcoholism in their children. It started out with jokes and laughter about why people drink alcohol, when and with who? Then asked about behavior that happens while drinking and then how do you think this effects your children? There was a line written on the white board for all to see with “grandparents”, “parents”, “children” and “grandchildren” asking who is it that breaks the cycle? With the answer being PARENTS! The mood went from joking and laughter to quiet and pensive. Then it was asked of the parents to do an activity where each puts a hand print, representing a signature or promise to break the cycle. The very ones joking were then the ones leading these groups to come up with promises they can sign to break these cycles in their families, to show their children they are serious. I can’t tell you the feeling of watching friends and fellow workers in the trenches helping people break chains of addiction! You may ask why is this important? The programs happening and the countless hours put in to the programs, workshops and individual conversations are making a difference. They are breaking chains, there is healing happening! It is important and it is life-changing! As we have mentioned previously, this prevention program is made possible by the Ecuadorian government as well as funds from Covenant World Relief. THANK YOU for helping make a difference!

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Thank you Canadian friends!

Posted on February 29, 2020 by Joel & Kim

What an amazing week! Our friends from Canada are preparing to leave and we are sad to see them go. As always it was a life-giving adventure serving together. They have an on-going partnership with The Santiago Partnership where they partner with the project in Cayambe and serve in San Antonio, a Kichwa community, through counseling, VBS, womens ministries, building a retaining wall, communion and more. They also saw first-hand the prevention program working in a community an hour from Cayambe. They spoke with families about how to prevent alcoholism in their children. It was amazing, sombering, eye-opening and something that made us proud to see how those working in the the project are literally breaking cycles of addiction in families! We are so thankful for these ladies working in the prevention program to change their communities!

Highlights from the trip for the team members:

“The hospitality”

“The food”

“The relationships”

“Continuing partnerships”

“My heart is full”

“I was vulnerable and helped solidify relationships”

The child, how hard they work and how strong they are”

“We understand the word “Minga” now”

There aren’t a lot of words to fully describe how amazing this time together was. We are thankful. Grateful. Amazing. Life-Giving.

Thank-you always seems too little to say to our Canada friends, but THANK YOU! You all hold a special place in our heart. We miss you already!

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Going Deeper, Partnership Together

Posted on February 29, 2020 by Joel & Kim

We said in one of our last posts that we would keep you informed and updated about the new program called the Intervention Program.

The program we have talked about in the past, the Prevention Program is in part, financed by the government, but not fully. This program serves 80 families in 8 different communities to check-in with the families, provide workshops, identify systemic holes and help with needs caused by a lot of those holes in the system. This is a broad program with a broad spectrum of care.

In turn, the new Intervention Program, as well partly financed by the Ecuadorian government, will be a more targeted program, engaging with 30 families in at-risk situations. The program staff comprised of a social worker, community facilitator, and clinical psychologist. They will go deeper with these families on an individual level and work in conjunction with them to hopefully better the issues identified together. The goal of both of these programs is to prevent the need for the home for at risk children.

Please continue to pray for our staff and new staff members working specifically with this program. They are in part, “first responders” to some of the most impoverished areas in Ecuador and that takes a toll.

The Santiago Partnership is excited about this new initiative and new way to help and go deeper with Ecuadorians.

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Partnership in Action

Posted on February 29, 2020 by Joel & Kim

We are very excited to announce another new development in our partnership journey. Covenant World Relief will be partnering with the ministries here in Ecuador to vulnerable children and the medically underserved. Covenant World Relief, the humanitarian aid ministry of the Evangelical Covenant Church who participates in God’s transforming mission in the world through disaster relief and community development among the most vulnerable will be partnering with The Santiago Partnership, IPEE (Iglesia del Pacto Evangelico del Ecuador) and FACE (Fundacion Adelanto Communitario Ecuatoriano).

We have told you that although both the Intervention Program and Prevention programs are supported by the government, they are not fully funded. Covenant World Relief will be providing the finances not provided by the Ecuadorian government for both of these programs, the intervention and prevention. By these funds being provided, it will free up the Santiago Partnership budget to be able to serve in other ways, like an additional careworker for the Home for At Risk Children, finishing construction for the second floor of the Home or even saving money for opening a second Home for At Risk Children! Isn’t that amazing to dream about?

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Serving as a Whole

Posted on February 9, 2020 by Joel & Kim

This past week we had the pleasure of serving alongside Dr. Kristi Lundblad (Santiago Partnership volunteer) and a large team that came from the area of Chicago, Indiana and California to serve vulnerable children as well as others through a wholistic medical caravan out of the Medical Clinic in Cayambe. Through the medical caravan we saw just under 400 patients. We had a diverse team that included a pediatrician, nurse practitioners, audiologists, pastors, a social worker as well as people who provided general assistance. Some team members were also able to connect with the Home for At Risk Children and its ministries. This included helping our chaplain Cecilia in doing outreach to some of the most vulnerable in the area. What an awesome week of wholistic service together!

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God With Us

Posted on December 31, 2019 by Joel & Kim

On Christmas Eve, one of those memories came up on Facebook, which, let’s be honest, kill me almost every time I see them. Whether it is friends or family or our kids when they were much younger, they always bring a little bit of a sting to my heart as I realize time goes by so quickly, life happens, death happens and so much in between. So, I was reading one of these memories, which was a reflection I had written, with a 4-month old Ephraim picture. You can read it here.

As I read through it and as I reflected on a song and a conversation I had about “God with Us”, I started to think what that really meant. In all honesty, I don’t know that I had really thought about what “God with Us” really means and the significance of it in my life, not just during the Christmas season when we talk about it, but what does it mean in the daily life? And why hadn’t I ever thought about it before? I had a short conversation with my best friend about this yesterday who really is the one that started this whole conversation in my mind. The bottom line is I really don’t think all that much about God with ME in the sense of what I think this verse captures in Matthew. Mathew 1:23 says:

“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they call him Immanuel”

(which means “God with us”)

GOD WITH US.

As I thought about this more and wondered why I hadn’t really ever thought about this before, I kept waking up with the same song in my head each morning for about a week. I continued listening to it on repeat and God was speaking. If you would like to listen to that song it is here:

In the middle of it. I feel like I am there, in the middle of the battle, the storm, the (fill in the blank) a LOT! How often to you think that He is there with you? We say that and believe it sometimes, but have you thought that His VERY name means “GOD WITH US”? He was made flesh and dwelt among us as John 1 says. He is God and became flesh to not only be with us but to experience it as we do. When I thought more about it and why I haven’t thought much more beyond the words “God with us”. My best friend said, “maybe we don’t notice God’s presence in the middle of our situation because we are too busy looking at the surface.” HOW PROFOUND!

But how liberating and what PEACE it brings knowing that God is WITH US! No matter what we face, cancer, criticism, illness, depression, crisis and all that is in between. He is there. He sees you, He sits with you and weeps with you. You are not alone. The Prince of Peace is with you. He is good. In the middle of it all, He is good.

So, as you go in to 2020, maybe you are carrying so much and are in the middle of it and don’t feel like you can face another day, another crisis, another…ANYTHING. Remember, God is with YOU! His very name and His life proves it and says it. When you can’t face more, He is with you and has so much more for you.

So I go back to the initial sweet stinging heart picture of Ephraim from 4 years ago. Him sleeping so peacefully, knowing his needs are cared for even among the craziness and danger of the world. God is with US in this world, no matter how bad it gets. He is in the middle of it with us and we can “sleep in heavenly peace” as the sweet song goes, knowing that God is in the middle of it with us. This peace, perfect peace, passing all understanding is with us, always. Rest in His peace, live in His peace.