Let’s climb: Antisana
So here it is guys! The first mountain! If any of you feel called to give $100 dollars a month for a commitment of two years OR a one-time gift of $2,400, please click the link below which will take you directly to our fundraising website where you can commit to either a monthly gift or a one-time gift. We are praying for 10 supporters who feel called to give $100 dollars a month!
Click here to make a donation!!!!
As supporters commit, each week we will be sending out updates and you will (hopefully/prayerfully) start to see the white “$100” dollar dots on the mountain start to be filled which signifies a supporter committing to that amount.
Thank you so much! We are so excited to see how God is going to move and how we are going to scale this mountain together! 🙂
Also, once you decide if you want to give monthly or a one-time gift on our fundraising website from the link above, there will be an opportunity to write a “Giving Note”, if you want, ( you do not have to) you can mention what mountain you are “climbing” with us, i.e. : Antisana.
Peace and Blessings.
love,
the santanas
the liturgy of life
It’s a rainy Thursday, and we’re enjoying some much needed peace and quiet, indoors.
E: baking
R: reading/studying
We are in a time of limbo:Â knowing we will be leaving to Ecuador, but not quite packing our belongings into plastic bins and saying our goodbyes.
Lately life has been like a gusty autumn wind, blowing this way and that, up and down, picking up leaves here and tossing them over there. For a while, we were letting it take us where and when it wanted. There was no routine, no time for daily habits, no time for rest, and no time for peace.Â
But (now), we are learning to be thankful for that which causes us to grow, and maybe, even before being thankful, we are beginning to notice that which gives us opportunity for growth (which I think is harder than being thankful for it), because in the midsts, it has slowly taught as (and we are still learning) to hold tight to moments of reprieve; to hold tight to those daily rituals/habits/routines that bring life and peace and self-care and beauty and rest.
We’re finding out that life needs liturgy.
Something that gives intentional form, to the rhythms of life.
So what does a life of liturgy look like?
We’re still finding out, creating, engaging, encountering, listening, and discovering. And I think that is how it will be because life is fluid….there will always be change, there will always be chaos and busyness…but God, in His great faithfulness and goodness as a Father, will always give us opportunities and moments (even amidst the chaos) of:
rest
and
peace
and
renewal
and restoration.
Maybe the liturgy of our lives right now looks like folding laundry every Monday, still warm and smelling of lavender. Maybe it is the country drive, to and from my parent’s house, soaking in the beauty of corn fields and blue skies. Maybe it is welcoming the Sabbath every Friday night by bread, grape juice, and prayer. Maybe it is the breaking of bread every Saturday with family, maybe a weekly baking, daily walks, morning quite, and listening.
So may we continue to fight for the grounds of peace we now stand on. May we hold tight to routines that bring life and rest. May we actively seek peace and purpose in the fluidness and rhythms of life. And may we purposefully look for or step back and recognize the liturgy in life and give thanks to the good Father who is in the routines and detours of life.
tea, toast, and an interview
Hello and happy beautiful Friday!
I am sitting down with my husband to a cup of tea and toast. And the music of Gungor is a lovely undertone to the moment.
And as we are sitting here, I am thinking of you and the best way to explain “Why Ecuador?” “Why Merge?” Why now?”, etc. Â And it brought a memory to mind of when I was being interviewed at a radio station and I clenched so tightly to the chair I was sitting on while being interviewed that my hands turned white and not even the strongest wind could have torn me from that chair. I also remember that my throat all of a sudden became so dry that I was having a hard time talking, even opening my mouth. So embarrassing!
Formal interviews are obviously not my thing. I would much rather talk with you like my husband and I are now, over a cup of tea (or coffee), in our home, with some music, the windows open….so let’s just go with that:
Where will you be living/doing ministry?
When will you be leaving?
How long will you be gone for?
Who is involved?
We are. You are. The Evangelical Covenant Church of Ecuador. Merge Ministries.
Who is impacted: We are. You are. Pastors, youth pastors/groups, local churches, and communities. Ministries, families, schools, and individuals as we partner with many different people in many different ways and as God uses each of us to bring His Kingdom here on earth; how He calls each of us to partner in what He is already doing. It is through God in partnership, community, and commitment that we can do what we do.
Why Ecuador?
Why Merge Ministries?
It’s so beautiful and humbling to see how God works; even in the midsts of confusion and uncertainty, God is faithful. And how beautiful to look back and see where he has been leading and walking beside us and to know that He is still leading and walking alongside of us as we continue on with his call on our lives to ministry in Ecuador. Thank YOU, for being apart of this journey!
love,
the santanas
(being commissioned as short-term missionaries at the Evangelical Covenant Church annual meeting)
First and Last Minnesotan Summer
I’m watching the tops of the already 9-foot tall corn bend and sway, all in uniform, as the gentle summer breeze passes by. I’m sitting in our car as my husband drives along on a backcountry road, somewhere in Minnesota. The sky is a perfect blue with white, puffy clouds and I…am perfectly content.
This is my first, sweet Minnesotan summer since six years ago and it will probably be my last for a while, not forever, but for a while.
Like you probably already know from the video we posted, my husband and I are in the process of fundraising to partner in Ecuador as short-term missionaries with Merge Ministries for two to three years.
I’m not quite sure how to explain what we’ll be doing or what we’ve experienced so far in our journey of becoming short-term missionaries in a way that isn’t an overload of information or that does not do justice to the faithfulness of our Father. Maybe bit-by-bit is better.
So for now, I will say that we have been so grateful and humbled by the love and support we have been shown thus far. Truly, we have learned a greater depth of grace and love as we have experienced overwhelming support from families, friends, and individuals as we walk this journey together. We are so grateful, so, so grateful.
So, until the next blog post, I will continue to watch the summer corn grow, enjoy evenings eating dinner outside with my family, bonfires with friends, fireflies blinking in the night, camping with my brothers and sisters, humid summer nights sitting outside talking with my husband, slapping at mosquitos, canoeing down rivers, swimming in one of the 10,000 lakes, spitting out watermelon seeds, walking around barefoot, reading under the shade of familiar trees, walking in fields, stopping to pick wildflowers on the side of the road, and truly trying to be present in each moment, lifting my heart in thanks to the One who’s timing is always right and who offers us peace and rest as he leads us through the quiet and rushing waters of life.
love, the santanas
