Salvation is in His blood

Hey friends! Sorry it took me so long to write a new post. I’ve been busy doing a lot of things the past couple of months. 

After my mission experience in Haiti I came back and had to go through the 5 Fs ( fun, flee, fight, fit, fruit ). For those of you who haven’t heard about this, the 5Fs represented all the stages a person goes through after a short term mission. When I first heard about this I thought they were not real but now I know they are.

Fun

The fun stage of returning home from a STM, whether that is to another country, or just across town.

Flee

The flee stage has to do with your expectations of being home not matching up with the reality. 

Fight

The fight stage has to do with misplaced passion. The world you returned to seems so different than the one you left.

Fit 

Tolerance of differences, also known as aborted processes.
 A lot of people stop here and just go back to normal.

Fruit 

This stage is when you intentionally put into practice in your ‘normal life’ what you have learned, what God has shown or taught you during a STM.

I had a lot of feelings when I came back. I missed Haiti a lot, I missed its mountains, people, and culture, etc.... it just felt so right to be there.  When I got back I was happy to see my family, friends and go back to my lovely second home Cristo Liberador but I was still missing Haiti. I wanted to go back so bad and I still want to. I feel like God is calling me there for some reason. 

It’s hard having to adjust to your culture and life style again after you have seen a different reality and have experienced a different culture. Going through the 5Fs is hard, some people experience it different than others, for some it could take a few weeks, for others months or even years. What really matters is that you can bear fruit after your cross- cultural life experience and don’t get stuck in your daily life routine. 

I’m still learning and trying to understand what the Lord wants from me through all of this. He is the one who has given me so many opportunities to travel and make amazing friends from all over. I’m still processing my experience in Haiti and praying that I can go back soon. 

St. Mary’s team

Shortly after I came back from Haiti I hosted an E=H team, St. Mary’s from Richmond, Virginia. We worked at Emaus Episcopal Church. Is a small church located in the southern area of Quito. Some of my good friends from Happening go there. We painted the inside of the church, did some home visits, had some workshops and also medical checkups. 

I love when I get the chance to work with other episcopal churches and make new memories with teams from the States. 

St. Mary’s left on a Sunday and I started classes again the next day. Currently I’m almost done with my 4th semester of nursing school. I have two more weeks left (final exams are coming up 😬) 

This semester has had its ups and downs but I loved every second of it. I did my clinicals in two big hospitals. One was “Hopsital Andrade Marin” (public hospital) and the other one was “Hospital Militar” (private hospital for the military) I rotated in 4 different areas: traumatology, oncology, urology and neurology. I learned a lot in each one of these areas but there are a lot of things I still need to learn for sure. 

Nurse's Capping Ceremony 

Most of you know I received my nurse’s cap a couple weeks ago.  The nurse’s cap symbolizes the goal of the nurse, which is to provide service to those in need. I’m honored to wear it, not only as part of my uniform but as a reminder of my compromise to help and serve those in desperate and difficult situations. This is a huge step on my professional career. I know i still have a lot of things ahead of me but I completely trust in the Lord and I know he has my back. We started this together and we are going to end it together. Can’t wait to see what’s next for me in this crazy journey.

Ecuador’s happening #9

Happening #9 was on May 3-5. We had a blast! As some of you know I was the Rector  of happening #8 last year. This year the rector was Evelyn Toapanta, one of my dearest friends from Emaus Church. I had the privilege to witness her lead during that weekend. She is a natural leader and did a fantastic job. 

Happening is one of the main reasons I’m here today.
It helped me during some rough times in my life and I’m sure it helped and will continue helping the new happeners. Every happening is different than the other, this one was not the exception. A lot of people came from different provinces and churches that have never send people to this retreat sent candidates this time. This makes me think that the Episcopal church is growing in Ecuador,  it fills me with joy and it gives me hope. 

Hillsborough Community College & Roane State Community College

This past month I also had the amazing opportunity to translate for a team of nursing students and professors from Tennessee and Florida. We visited “Central University of Ecuador” which is the oldest university in Ecuador. They have a good nursing program and have been partnership with Hillsborough Community College for the past 9 years. 

We visited some of their laboratories and museums, 

learned the differences between the nursing program here in Ecuador and in the USA. We also had tours in two hospitales. “Hospital Voz Andes” (private hospital) and “Hospital Eugenio Espejo” ( public hospital). Visited a couple of nonprofit organizations, the first one was a wheel chair factory for people with disabilities. Augustin is the former director and is the one started this incredible organization. His life story is so powerful and so is his love and passion for community service. 

Dunamis foundation

The second place we visited was Dunamis foundation. Dunamis is a non-profit organization who serves under aged girls who have been rescued from sex and labor trafficking. There Boris works as director and he is not only making an impact in the life of the girls but also in the life of the community who lives around this area. We did some medical checkups with the community and also talk about prevention and treatment for different diseases. 

The last we visited was “Fundación Ayudemos a vivir”.  This is a non-profit organization that helps provide a medical and rehabilitation service for children and adults in Quito who suffer from mental disabilities. We did some medical checkups and taught the parents body mechanics tips for their daily routine with their kids. 

Having the opportunity to serve in these organizations reminded me once again of why I’m studying nursing and why I think it is so important not only to graduate and get a nursing degree, but also become a nurse who cares for their patients and treats them with dignity and respect. There are a lot of professionals on the medical field that have lost their mission, which is to help individuals, families, groups and communities to reach an optimum state of well-being by restoring, maintaining and promoting their health and also providing emotional support to their patients.  I believe a nurse is in the ideal position to assess and address emotional needs of patients.

A nurse can make a profound difference in how a patient and their loved one go through their disease. For me is important to remember every day that I can make a difference in this world. It may not be huge, but it could make a positive impact in the life of a lot of people. 
I encourage you this week to recognized that you re perfectly made by the image of God. He placed you in this world for a reason. Always do your best because what you plant now will harvest later. 

Thanks so much to all my sponsors and friends who have helped me make all of this possible. Thanks to your help I can study while continuing my ministry in Cristo Liberador church.  I’ll be in the States this summer (July 23rd- August 15th). I’ll be visiting some churches, sponsors and friends. I would love to catch up with you and tell you more about me and my ministry here in Quito.  Send me an email or Facebook message if you have any questions. 

SOMETHING YOU CAN PRAY FOR: 

• Please pray for my studies, that I can find more sponsors who would like to commit to a monthly donation.
• Pray that I can balance my time between school, church, family and social life. 
• Pray for the candidates and staff of Happening #9  so they can peruse their goals and continue in their path of obedience and love. 
• Pray for people of St. Mary’s team
• Pray for the students and professors of Hillsborough Community College & Roane State Community College 
• Pray for the teams we have coming to Cristo liberador this summer ( St. Bartholomew’s & St. Peter’s )
• Pray for more funds for Education Equals Hope
• Pray for my visit to South Carolina this summer that it can be fruitful and an enriching experience.
• Please pray for my wisdom, emotional healing and relationships 

If you would like to help me continue my studies in nursing school and give me hope to a better and bright future you can make a donation by clicking the link below. 👇👇👇

https://educationequalshope.giv.sh/25b3