Ashley Arneson: First Team Experiences

Romans 12:4-5 was the last verse I posted, and I thought I had first handedly experienced that entire verse. The week before my first team came, I experienced what it meant to be of one body in Christ, but I didn't understand what it meant when it said that all members do not have the same function. Fortunately, God has been revealing what that looks like with the ministry sites I visited and the teams I have hosted.

The first team I hosted was from Nor-Caroliiina (yes, they made fun of my Minnesotan accent everyday). The ministry site we worked at was Cristo Liberator, where we got high from painting, built cupboards, cleaned the church from top to bottom, hosted a VBS, Bible studies, had a grandparents day at the park, and did some home visits. All the things we did seemed like it was a good pat on the back, but what became more important to us was the relationships that were built at Cristo Liberator. It was truly devastating seeing the team cry as they said their goodbyes.

Grandparents Day

After 4 impacting days in Quito, we packed our bags and drove out to RioBamba. There, we experienced God's beauty and the importance of receiving. It says in the Bible, "It is better to give than to receive." If you refuse to receive, you are robbing the receiver's opportunity to give. Sometimes, it is hard to receive, especially on missions because we think the only purpose is to give and give, but then the scripture is derailed because the relationship becomes a one-way street, rather than a two-way.
So, when it says that all members do not have the same function, sometimes we need to be on the receiving end of things. It is also true that God gave us different gifts. A reason we all have different gifts to be able to reach out to others in order to further God's kingdom. We are all a body of Christ, but to be a body, we must have different functions to make it work.

Oldest Church in Ecuador. After an earthquake the demolished the city, this church was the only thing that remained.

Volcano Chimborazo

After the team left, Youth World had its mid Summer Beach Retreat. We celebrated the 4th of July, went boogie boarding, ate lots of shrimp, drank every kind of batido, ran on the beach every morning, studied the book, Crazy Love, and enjoyed everyone coming back together.