I watched the angry red hives form on my wrist, and felt my throat start to itch. ‘Please, no, I can't have a food allergy. Not here, not in my line of work’.

Most of you know that I've been celiac for years, and by God's graciousness He placed me in a country where it's relatively easy to avoid gluten exposure in the diet. However when a course of antibiotics badly glutened me, my body was left badly compromised.

A week later, a friend graduated from university, and their family included me in their celebratory lunch. Hornado is a popular Ecuadorian dish, in which the star of the meal is a whole pig that has been roasted, and chunks are plated up along with various grains and salad.

We talked jubilantly around the table as the food was served. As I took the first couple bites of pork, I fell silent as a reaction flared up. I'd never reacted to pork before. Having celiacs means I can't eat wheat (among other things), but it's an autoimmune condition, not an allergy, and the reaction is very different. This pork issue was a whole other set of problems, ones that could have serious impact on my day-to-day life serving in my community. Pork is much harder to avoid in Ecuador - it's often served at community events, when visiting someone's home, or at celebratory meals. Pork fat is used in many dishes. As I read up on the symptoms, the research suggested that it could lead to an associated cat allergy.

I cried out to God: Please, don’t let this happen. How can I visit homes and engage in community with a pork allergy? Turning down bread is one thing, but if they’ve slaughtered a pig for me, how could I choose between causing offense and protecting myself? I was even planning to get a cat when I got back to Ecuador (he's white with orange patches and very cute)…

I know that God has called me to Saraguro. And He knows what’s needed for the mission to advance and flourish. With the date set for an appointment with the allergy specialist, I asked people around me to pray - and thank you to all who did! God’s repeated answer was simply to trust Him and expect a good report.

The day of the appointment came. Any of you who have had a skin prick test know it’s not the most fun way to spend an afternoon. But to my delight the pork showed no reaction at all! Though the doctor recommended ‘dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s’ with a blood test, he’s pretty confident that I do not have an allergy. I thank God for freeing me from this burden to be able to minister in Ecuador without restrictions!

This incident is yet another example of how God has been teaching me about His grace: He calls His people to serve Him, sometimes in difficult situations. But He knows what’s needed. Whether it’s stopping me from getting motion sick on winding bus routes until He provided a car, or healing this allergy completely, or any of the other ways He’s provided for me to able to overcome the obstacles of living in another culture, and protected me from the enemy’s fiery darts, God proves over and over again that His grace is sufficient, for His strength is made perfect in our weakness (1 Cor 12:9).

The mission is God’s, and He calls us as His servants to participate in what He’s doing around the world. He doesn’t promise it will be easy, but by His grace He makes it possible.