Day 4

Sorry there was no email yesterday. And today's email won't be complete. I simply cannot put all of today into one email. In the next couple of days, as I process through all God has shown me, there will be emails on yesterday's church service, the LDP program, and some of what happened today. It's just too much for me to even put into words. I am emotionally drained, but spiritually full.
Today, in Ecuador, many people came to know Jesus. Today, in Quito, many saw firsthand how powerful and awesome our Lord is. Today, in my tattered heart, I fell more in love with my almighy God. Today, he humbled me in a way I didn't even know possible. And He used me. Me! God used me. I cannot even believe that I have the honor to be a child of this God, but even further that He would choose me for a special moment. It's unfathomable.
On Saturday (Day 2), I wrote briefly about our home visit. I described her living conditions. The mother's name is Belen and her daughters are Pillar (2) and Samantha (4 or 5). Belen was moving toward salvation but hadn't completely committed her life to Jesus. Belen's story is so sad. Her husband left her when she was pregnant with Pillar. The are in the process of divorce. She has very little income, although she is grateful to have a job as a maid that does give her some money. Today, on this day, she received her first set of divorce papers from her husband. The reason he gave for divorcing her, what he wrote on the paper that was delivered to her today, was that she was the worst thing that had ever happened in his life. His biggest and worst mistake and that she was worth nothing. He wrote that on court documents. She received it this morning. As you can imagine, she showed up at the project today broken. She did not tell anyone until after several hours.
Sweet Roxana, who is one of the gals on the trip, shared with the women today.  It wasn't the plan for Roxana to tell the story, but the Holy Spirit prompted our group leader to deviate from our well-made plans.  The Holy Spirit is always right!  You see, Roxana is Hispanic so she was able to tell the story in Spanish without using our translator, which can sometimes be a distraction.  She shared the planned story of Daniel in the Lion's Den.  She then proceded to preach the gospel to these women. I couldn't understand a thing she said, but I agreed with every word. You could, quite literally, feel the Holy Spirit fall on that place. Belen broke into sobs and told the project leader about this morning. The project leader gathered Belen into her arms and the few of us who were near-by began to gather around her. She shared what her husband wrote on the papers and told us how worthless she felt. I have felt that way before. Satan loves to attack the minds of women, does he not?  The enemy wants to convince us that we are worth nothing. There have been times that I have had to claim my worth in the Lord, my beauty before him, my perfection as His creation, His healing for my brokenness...His truth to combat Satan's lies. Many times.

God's truth is IN me because I use the weapons of that truth very often. When Satan starts filling my head with lies about my worthlessness, I fight back with God's truth.  When I heard Belen share her feelings, I knew. I KNEW exactly how her heart ached to be loved. To be worth something. To someone. How she longed to be beautiful. The words that God has given me through His word just started pouring out of my mouth. Others were also speaking the truth to her. Her heart lifted in a visible way. As God's word came out of our mouths, we SAW her countenance change. Never, as long as I live, will I forget that moment.
There were other moments. But if this email gets any heavier, the invisible waves of the internet won't be able to get the words to you. I'll stop for your sake. Later I will tell you about Nancy and Pablo. Just get ready.
Love, Tricia