MANDY HUR

Once on a bus ride back to school, I prayed and asked, "God, I just want to be used by You and serve Your kingdom. Would You reveal to me what You want me to do, and I'll do it." It was then that God convicted me to go on STSM and spend a month spreading His gospel to the nations. Going to Ecuador was a big challenge to my faith because, contrary to what I had expected, the large majority of ministry we did was VBS. Our daily routine for 30 days was: wake up, eat breakfast, head to the schools, do VBS, come back, and rest. Because leading VBS ministry was something I could be doing back at my home church, I started becoming very tired of the repetition and questioned my purpose for being there.

With no phone and lots of time to myself, I was forced to spend it either praying, reading the Word, or journaling and reflecting. As time went on, I noticed how my heart grew colder and more resentful toward the Lord. I had given up an entire month of my summer, thirteen weeks of commuting from San Diego to OC for our weekly Sunday training, a week of preparation, and another week of intensive retreat— all for what? I had sacrificed so much time and emotional effort to prepare and train, only to do the same morning VBS every day in Ecuador. I felt useless and thought that God owed me something for the time that I sacrificed for Him.

In the last few days of our trip, we had one more VBS left to do at a new church called Hermosa Church. However, on the morning of the first day of VBS, we found out that the head pastor, Pastor Armando, had gone to the hospital because of a heart issue. Our plan to do VBS for the kids was completely thrown out the window, and we had to come up with new ideas for ministry that day. We decided to buy some bread and soda to pass out to a nearby village and pray for each person we encountered.

The first grandma we approached only spoke Quechua, a native dialect in Ecuador. We asked her questions like, "Do you know Jesus?”, and told her that “Jesus loves you!” but we knew she didn’t understand a single word we said and just continued to drink and eat. Nevertheless, our team still prayed for her, and I remember crying with so much joy. I was comforted by the fact that, even though she didn’t understand our words, God is still sovereign, and will continue to work in her life.

The next grandpa we encountered also only spoke Quechua but spoke very broken Spanish as well. After conversing with him, he told us that he was a believer and had faith in our God. He desired to read the Bible and know more about God but couldn’t because he didn’t have access to a Quechua Bible. The last family we approached were also already Christians, so when we asked if we could pray for them, they graciously invited us into their home. After praying and laying hands on them, they started to cry and praise God for how beautiful and vast His love is.

After that day, I was able to see that God loves Ecuador so much because He loves the people there so much. In a country where I couldn’t see God moving, He was faithfully and abundantly working in people’s lives. God showed me that He didn’t need me or my team because before and after we left Ecuador, He was still moving. However, to have been brought there regardless to witness how He moves is a testament to His grace in allowing us to see and experience His love.

At the beginning of the trip, I thought that God owed me a huge encounter with Him for the sacrifice I made, without even considering the ultimate sacrifice He had already made for me when He died on the cross. I reflect and repent because I wasn’t anchored in the truth of the gospel, and as a result, I ended up shrinking and limiting the power of the cross. As I’m back here in the States and resume the life I left, I pray that God would remind me of the gospel every day. To die to myself and see that His mercies are new every morning.