Divine Purpose

Can you believe I’m a sophomore now? Wow. It seems like yesterday when I started raising funds to pay for school. Time is going by very fast. Next June I’ll be half the way done with nursing school. Isn’t that crazy?  

Once again, I couldn’t do it without your help. Thank you for supporting me. Thank you for helping me continue my education in nursing school. You have given me hope for a better and bright future. 

I started classes over two months ago and oh boy! I’ve been non-stop as always. This semester is harder and crazier than the last two, as I have taken the role of class president and many other new responsibilities in my college. have to be honest, It’s a bit challenging for me.  Between school and my job in the church, I barely spend time with my family, even though we live in the same house, and I don’t have time to go out as much as I used to or have solo time.  Even with all that, it is still worth it. Just thinking about going into missions as a fully prepared nurse one day makes it all a lot easier. 

I’m sure you would like to know what I have been doing the past couple of months so here it goes: 

Summer in the USA

Most of you know I was in the USA this summer as I visited friends in South Carolina and did some fundraising for the following semesters. I had such a great time catching up with some good friends, meeting new and amazing people, and going to some cool places. I had a hard time getting used to the heat and humidity of SC again but I have to admit it, this time wasn’t as bad as last time when I almost passed out 😅

I was able to visit and help at Holy Cross, St. Peter’s, St. Bartholomew’s, St. John’s, and Grace Church. It’s always a blessing when people from a different country that speak a different language and have a different culture than you do treat you as a member of their church community and make you feel as part of their family. I had the privilege to introduce myself in these churches and say thank you. I shared a little bit about Education Equals hope and how a great ministry it is, and talked about Ecuador and my home Church Cristo Liberador. For those of you who were there and had the chance to hear me out: THANK YOU!  I’m so thankful God brought us together and is allowing us to walk side by side in this journey of Hope.

I also had the amazing opportunity to go visit some Hospitals and free clinics in South Carolina, Thanks to my dear friends Eileen Schell, Deborah Flanagan & Katrinnia Lee for make it happen. It gave me a better idea of how the Health Care system works int the US and all the good job opportunities for nurses.

Junior group 

About a year ago Mother Lourdes and I were talking about the youth of our church and the big impact they were making in the community. In the middle of our talk a question came up. We have a Sunday school group (3-10year olds) and we have a youth group (15-21 year olds) what happens with the 11-14 year old kids? Some of them don’t feel like kids anymore, they may act like kids but don’t want to be treated like kids and don’t want to be part of the Sunday school group, but they are not ready to go to the youth group and  be involved in their activities. What do we do now?  Hey! Maybe we should start a new group for kids their age? 

That’s when we started the Junior group, a small group of adolescents that have a lot of questions, intrigues, doubts, want to experience new things and are still trying find themselves. 

I’m the one in charge of that ministry and I love it. When I first started I had no idea it was going to be that hard; God opened my eyes and gave me a new perspective. I almost forgot how hard it was to be an adolescent. You feel like no one is on your side, and you stop talking to your family and find refuge in your friends. (sometimes bad friends) 

Working with this group made me realize that everything happens for a reason. I had to go through a rough path when I was a teenager, made a lot of bad choices and closed my heart to Jesus but it was all for a reason. Now I can talk about my past and share it with my kids. I have a lot of stories and good advices to give them. It crazy how all of them feel so connected with my past.

It seems like the group is getting bigger and stronger, 3 of them are ready to be part of the youth group, which makes me a little sad because they won’t come to our group meetings anymore but I’m glad they are finding Jesus and understanding what love and family really means 

I have a lot of ideas of how this group can grow and bear fruit (some of them need your help) and if you are interested in helping please message me (on Facebook, Instagram, Etc.)  and I would let you know what I have in mind. 

Comitas 2018

Last month we had our annual happening reunion called Comitas for all who participated in Happening Ecuador the past years or people that are interested to know more about the Episcopal church and Happening. I was the lay Rector in our last happening #8 and had to lead our annual reunion this year. It was so good to worship and pray together as family.

One of our dear friends Erika shared her testimony after happening. It made us reflection about our relationship with God. It is so easy to forget about our daily prayers, our commitment to our church, our family duties and others... we try so hard to fit in this world that forget what it feels like to be at peace with God. We stop praying, we stop going to church, we stop talking to our real friends and close our hearts to the Lord. sometimes unintentionally but others even knowing we are doing wrong we pretend that everything is just fine and ignore it. 

Roberto Vivanco preached about returning to the Father and explained the parable of the lost son (Luke 15:11-32) such a great example of the overwhelming never ending love of God that no matter what we do and no matter where we go our Father will be always waiting for us to come back to him. 

Once we give our lives to God there is no turning back, we can go out and get lost but our hearts will always pull us back to HIM.

Clinicals round #2 

I love so much spending time in the hospital, it gives me energy and courage every day. I’m still learning and I think I will continue on learning for the rest of my life. Every day is a new adventure and I’m so grateful I get to experience it.

I’m currently working in a public hospital called “Enrique Garces” in Internal Medicine, it takes me about 2 hours to get there every Monday and Thursday morning. I start my morning shift at 6:30 so that gives you an idea of what time I need to be up in the mornings. I’m loving it so far but since it’s a public hospital they don’t have a lot of supplies which makes it complicated sometimes. We as students have to buy our own supplies in order to work there. 

I’m going to be rotating in different hospitals and in different hospital departments. I already finished my 1st rotation in the OR, still have one more week to go in Internal Medicine, after that I’m moving to a different hospital where I will be working in the ER, Gastroenterology and General Surgery department.

 If you know me you already know this, you know I like to make people happy (there’s no harm in that of course) but I often tend to forget that their problems are not mine and I can’t fix them even though I wish I could. Working in a hospital with people that are sick (physically, mentally and spiritually) makes me want to desperately help them fix their problems and I get angry at myself when I can’t, I feel useless and helpless at times. Maybe you feel the same way when you can't help people you love or even people you don't know that well. As humans we have a protective instinct which means we fight to protect our loved ones in a context of danger. What we don’t realize is that we can’t always protect or help our loved ones.

 

It still gives me a hard time when I have to let go and understand that is not up to me to solve other people's problems,  I can’t fix them but I can help them go through them with a better attitude, having someone by their side that cares and makes them feel loved.

 God says that he is the regulator of the divine purposes during crisis times. Those times are the steward of God working to a certain purpose. We may rush during those difficult times trying to help other people end it because of our christian hearts but what we can’t see is that God is at work in people’s lives through those crisis times and experiences.

It is only through those difficult times when we can find ourselves and God. Let’s not rush during those times but understand that He is at work, it can be painful but it’s part of the divine purpose of God. HE is the one that never fails and will be always protecting us. I encourage you this week to look at all of your problems as part of the purpose of God and as a way to overcome your fears and become a better person every day. Thank you for reading and for all your help.

SOMETHING YOU CAN PRAY FOR: 

• For my studies and clinicals
• For all the doctors and nurses all around that are working hard to help people get better.
• For my work at the church 
• For my church community, especially for Mother Lourdes and the vestry 
• For finding more sponsors that can help me continue in school 
• For wisdom, that I can balance my time and don’t get overwhelmed 
• For my personal life decisions, I need to make in order to renew my relationship with God)

If you want to contribute to my education you can click the link below and follow the easy steps to make a donation or contact me on Facebook or email.
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http://educationequalshope.org/