Put God first and you’ll never be last

 Dear friends, 

I hope you are doing well and staying healthy; this last week was my last week of nursing school. I finished finals and now I’m preparing myself for my FINAL exam. To graduate from college, I have to take a 3-hour exam that has everything I’ve learned in the past four years, I also need to prepare a clinical case study and present it in front of the nursing faculty board. Once I am done with those requirements, I will be ready to graduate. Isn’t it crazy how time flies? I still can’t believe I’ll be graduating in less than two months. 

 

I’m so thankful for all of you who are reading this right now. Thanks to your generosity and support over the past 4 years I am now so close to accomplish this huge goal. I couldn’t have done it without your help and God’s guidance and providence. I know I still have a long road ahead and a lot of studying to do but for now I am cherishing this moment and looking forward to what God has in store for me. 

 

I also want to update you with things that have been going on in the church, my family and personal life in the past few months. So, here it goes.

 

It might be stormy now, but it can’t rain forever 

 

Most of you knew that my family was going through rough times this past two months. Some of you were intentionally praying for us and some were donating as well. For those of you who don’t know or haven’t heard yet, 9 members of my family had COVID back in April and we lost my uncle Miguel after almost two weeks of fighting for his life in the ICU. It’s so hard to lose a loved one, but it’s harder not being able to hug y cry with all your family members because they need to be isolated in a room. It broke my heart having to read a bible verse to my aunt Lupe through a window when all I wanted to do was hug her. 

After we lost my uncle, his son Fernando (my cousin) ended up at the hospital with his wife Mariana. Fernando stayed in the hospital for over 30 days and things weren’t looking so good for him at first but thanks to God’s grace he got better and was able to come back home with his family. He was admitted at a public hospital in the south area of Quito, this hospital didn’t have enough nursers or doctors to look after him, like most of the hospitals now, this one didn’t  have medicine for him, so the family decided to hire a personal nurse to be with him 24/7. The family also needed to buy some of the medicine that wasn’t available there. I praise God for having friends with such kind hearts, who donated to help Fernando and the whole family. If it weren’t for those donations and prayers who knows what would have happened. 

COVID is real, it has taken thousands of lives and continues doing so. You and I are blessed and lucky to be alive. Sometimes we take things for granted, especially in the States. (Health care, insurance, education, food, jobs, houses, cars, etc.) it is easy to forget about those families who can’t  buy medicine or supplies for their loved ones who are in the Hospital, can’t hire a personal nurse or even having to lose a family member who was sick with COVID and died because the family didn’t have enough resources to buy the medicine, fruits, vegetables, vitamins and all that good stuff he needed in order to get better. 

Let’s continue praying for our brothers and sisters around the world who have lost one, two, three or maybe more family members during this pandemic. Losing someone so close to us was heartbreaking and is still not easy on my aunt and my cousins, I can’t even imagine the pain of losing a parent, I know it will happen one day, but I just pray to God, he will give me peace and comfort during that trial. We might not understand why things happen in the way they do but we can find refuge in our Good Father who never stops loving us and being there for us during those difficult times. 

 

“The pain that you have been feeling, can’t compare to the joy that’s coming”.

Romans 8:18

 

God never stops working

God never stops working and no one can stop God’s work, what an amazing truth! In the past months we have continued working for our father and his people. Even the midst of change and uncertainty the lord has opened doors and mad paths for us to walk in and fulfill his purpose in our lives.  

I had the amazing opportunity to work with a group of nursing students from Northwestern University in  Minnesota. I help translate in each one of the unites they were working on. It was such a nice experience, being back at the hospital, even if it was just for a little while. I didn't get to do clinical hours the last 3 semesters due to the pandemic, so being in the hospital was just what I needed to feel more like a real nurse. 

I was translating in 5 different areas: ICU, ER, OR, Med-Surg floor and Walk in clinic. While helping in the ICU, I got to see one of the patients die, this was the first time a patient dies in front of me. I was sad and shocked for a moment. It's crazy how life ends so fast, one second you are here and the next one you are gone. I'm glad I got to pray for him before he passed. Something I miss about being in the hospital is praying, I love to pray for my patients and their families, I deeply believe prayer is powerful and the Lord always hears our prayers. I hope to be back in the hospital soon so I can give the best care to my patients and their families.

I have two amazing news I want to share with you. The first one is that I have been able to continue giving and pouring into for the junior group (11-15 years old) and Sunday school kids thanks to the donations some of you made this past December for the Christmas party. I had some money left that I used to buy special treats for Children’s Day. It’s always a blessing having the resources to invest in the church and share with the community. I’ll continue using those $40 I have left during the summer. I’m sure getting the kids of the church ice cream will be one of the highs of the summer. 

What I’m going to share with you now brings me so much joy! So, here it goes. As all of you know I went into nursing school because I had the calling to serve God and my community in the medical field. I hope to become a missionary nurse one day and spread the gospel wherever the Lord takes me. God has been so faithful and has provided so much for me and those around me in the past 4 years. He has put wonderful people in my path that have helped me continue my studies without having to quit my job at the church. Yes, you are one of them. THANK YOU!

 

When I first started raising money to pay for my studies, I had doubts. How in the world people who don’t know me are going to give me money? What if I can’t find enough sponsors to pay for school? What if I have to quit nursing school after 2 years because I can’t afford it? What if, what if… I think all of us at some point in life have had questions and doubts, but God always finds a way and supplies all our needs. When God gives vision, He also gives provision. Right?

 

                      TBT- First day of college

Little did I know that the Lord was going to provide so much for me and my community. Thanks to the many many donations I have received from you these past 4 years we created a new Higher Education fund for Cristo Liberador College students. There's money left in my college fund that I am not gonna use, because I don't have to pay tuition anymore but we want to use that money to help other students from Cristo Liberador Church to fulfill their dreams and go to College.

 

We are also starting a new discipleship training group that is being created with the purpose  to help those same college students grow deeper into their relationship with God through worship, prayer and studying the bible. I’m really excited to lead this group and witness what the Lord will do in these students and how He will use them to spread the gospel to all the nations of the world. 

Are you jumping of excitement at this moment, just like me? We certainly do have a Good Good Father who cares for his children and wants the best for them. Thank you for making all this possible, if it weren’t for you, for your willingness to give and your trust I will not be here today. There are so many Brendas out there waiting to be given an opportunity, Maybe like me; they have a big desire to help others and want to go to college but don’t have the resources. Maybe they come from broken families, maybe they will be the first one in their family to go to college or even receive an education. Thanks to people like you, others like me have hope for a better and brighter future. 

 

On my next blog post I will share with you the stories of our college students. Once again thank you so much for your help and for reading this update. Please keep me in your prayers as I continue studying for my final exam. If you want to donate to my ministry fund (for the kids and different church activities) contact me; I will let you know how to do it. May God bless you and your loved ones. 

SOMETHING YOU CAN PRAY FOR

• Please pray for my final exam, it’s a very stressful season, I know I’m really close to graduation and don’t want to mess it up.  
• Please pray for my church and our community, that we may continue working for God and his people.
• Please pray for my family, especially for my Aunt Lupe, my cousins Fernando, Andres, Bryan as they grief the loss of their dad.
• Please pray for guidance, I’m looking for a mentor who can help me grow deeper in my relationship with God and help me process things.
• Please pray for my upcoming visit to the States, I am still figuring out some details, but I hope to go visit y’all this fall. Pray that everything goes well, and I can travel without problem.
• Please pray for my country, slowly more people are getting vaccinated, but not everyone. I still don’t know when I’m getting my vaccine. Pray for a better health care system.