Liz Ortiz

I love the Christmas season. One of my favorite memories growing up was on Christmas day, when my family would gather around the...

“It’s done!” I exclaimed with a huge sigh of relief. Several months ago, Ariana and I received a Togo sign language book. The book was...

We were driving to say goodbye to Clarisse. She was getting ready to leave for her teaching job in the north of Togo. We were meeting her...

“Joyeux anniversaire, Clarisse!” We all clapped and cheered as Christy cut the cake. This was a reunion that I had been waiting for. We...

“Je te comprends,” my tutor told me. A felt a sigh of relief, I was understood. Learning languages doesn’t come easy to me. It is a fear...

On one of my first missions trips with ABWE back in 2015, a missionary told me, “One of the first rules about missions is be flexible.” I...

A young girl came over to greet us as we pulled up next to the school for the deaf. Christy turned to me, “Do you remember her? It’s our...

“Hey, do you need to go to market?” my neighbor, Hannah, asked me. “Yes, I do.” Hannah smirked and handed me the car keys. “Good, because...

We pulled up next to the school and got out of the car. Christy asked me, “Ready?” I closed the car door. “I think so.” We were at Jonas’...

Four years, two months, and one week ago, I was returning to the United States after spending over a year in Togo. As I stepped into the...