For those of you who know or don't know, Joel and I have had a dream we feel God has given us to start a center for at-risk children and a medical clinic here in Ecuador. We have been in discussions for some time with the leadership of our denomination here in Ecuador, called IPEE. From the beginning, we wanted to partner with the national church here to see if this is even something they had on their radar. We originally had thought of an orphanage-with the idea of having individual homes with house parents for the orphans. We have since realized that there are not a lot of orphans here in Ecuador, but there are a lot of children who are at-risk, as well as their families. At risk can mean there are many kids in the home, mom is a prostitute and kids have to stay home by themselves at night, parents are drug lords, parents are alcoholics, abuse situations, child prostitution, human trafficking...the list goes on.
So, going back to IPEE, the decision was made by 2 leadership committees for the center for at risk children and clinic to be located in the North of Ecuador, specifically in Otavalo. Some of you may know Otavalo for its large artisan market, but for the Evangelical Covenant Church here in Ecuador, Otavalo is a central location between 2 districts or conferences, the Quechua district and the North district. The decision was made for otavalo because of location. With being centered between 2 districts, hopefully both will be able to support the center and clinic. As you can imagine, after having this dream for over 10 years, and finally seeing pieces fall together is more exciting than you can imagine!
To add to the excitement, I recently received great news that I will probably be able to practice here, in a little different way, but I can still practice. When we come back to Ecuador after our year in the states, I will be doing a rural medicine rotation with the medical school here in Ecuador. After this year, I will be given a license to practice, as a doctor. For me about this story, check out our ministry blog, The Delplog and click on Licensing in Ecuador.
Additionally, tomorrow (sept 9th) we will be having a group of people that will hopefully eventually serve as part of our board of directors for our non-profit organization (more info to come later on that). We are excited to spend a week visiting current ministries we will be partnering with in the 2 districts mentioned above and dreaming together about what God has for the future. You can check out our ministry blog for more info about this as well.
Please continue to pray for this time over the next week. That the Holy Spirit will be leading and guiding us each step we take!
Blessings to all!
1 comment:
Praise the Lord for dreams coming true! This is just amazing, you guys! We will continue to pray!!!
JoEllen Hummel and family
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