Day Nine: A day of tourism
Just to recap yesterday, we spent most of the day with our Ecuadorian hosts. Sunday morning we drove back to Paz de Dios to do a Sunday morning Bible School for the children. We had planned for about 200 children…we believe that we had about 60. We spent about one and one-half hours in three different stations. We began our time together with a song and a skit. The song we sang with them was a children’s song called “Alleluia” and the skit was of The Good Samaritan. Then we split the children into three groups and at each “section” offered coloring, making a salvation necklace, and another skit where some of our team told the story of the wise man and the foolish man. We then met with two other churches for our morning service. All three of our church families provided some music. Four of our team members provided their testimonies (Sue, Kasey, Nikki and Jim). We then presented the church with the banner that the ladies from our church made. The other visiting church then had two dance numbers for us. After almost a three-hour service, our host church honored us with cui (which is guinea pig), rice, potatoes, and a cooked salad. We then traveled back to Quito, unloaded the bus to repack our luggage (to pack our goodies from our shopping trip), and then went to eat at Crepes and Waffles. After a two-hour meal, we said our good-byes to Mario and headed back to the hostel for the evening.
This morning we again got up around 7:00 and had breakfast. Then we met for a debriefing that went for about an hour. It was a very interesting time for our team…we were able to talk about the last several days and our initial impressions about our work through the week, the people with whom we worked, and our Sunday service.
We then packed up the bus and headed to the basilica. The basilica was started in 1923. It has not been completed, but it’s a beautiful building—and it’s considered their national cathedral. We then went to another cathedral, but it was closed. Our third church was begun in the early 1600s and took over 150 years to complete. It was constructed with seven tons of gold. After a period of time with the country suffered a depression, much of the gold was stolen. There is still quite a bit of it in the church, but there is also many areas that had gold on it that now holds gold colored paint. We were unable to take any pictures of this beautiful building.
Then we went to Chris and Jenny’s house to make lunch and then to the park to eat. A smaller park, it was a nice setting to share our last meal with them. After lunch, we were off to Mitad del Mundo (the center of the world) for a tour of the equator and a history lesson of the Quitu people. These people were the original settlers of the Quito area. We had some time to discover the earth’s pull on the equator with water, walking on the equator, testing our strength on the equator, and balancing an egg on the head of a nail.
Dinner came quickly after at a mall, and then off to purchase some roses. Then we headed to the airport where we said our good-byes to Nelson our bus driver for the week and Ruben. We are now sitting in the airport waiting to board the plane. We expect that our flight will go well, that when we get into Atlanta tomorrow morning we won’t have problems with customs, and we will be back in Minneapolis on time. So as I sign off, I hope to see you tomorrow! Also, once we get back, we will share more photos with you on our blog…we hope you enjoy seeing them.
Update: We again left Quito late, and we had to stop for fueling in Miami, which caused us to miss our connecting flight. Our team again was split up during the day on Tuesday, but everyone was able to get on a flight, and by 10:00 p.m. Tuesday, everyone was safely back home in River Falls.
We plan to talk about our trip on Sunday, April 11, after our 10:45 service, and we invite everyone to attend. We will also be having a potluck prior to our presentation. We look forward to sharing with you what God has taught us and how we plan to use this in the future.
Also, we thank everyone for your prayers, support and encouragement for our trip. God indeed blessed us in so many ways.

The final goodbyes

Emily Gabriel
Kasey Manche
Kelsey and Nikki Ekstrom

Today was our last official day in Ecuador bonding with the people at Lote Tres. We had our Sunday school program for the children that went very well, however; it didn’t go as we had thought it would. We had planned for about 200 kids and we probably only had about 50, so there were a lot of extra bags of cross supplies and extra candy. :) There was a church service after and it was filled with singing, “praising the Lord with our hands”, and praying. Sue Kimball, Kasey Manche, Jim Harsdorf and Nikki Ekstrom gave their personal testimonies in front of the whole congregation which was translated by the amazing Ruben. We gave the banner made by the banner ladies to the people of Paz de Dioz and they were overjoyed. They, in return, gave each of us a handmade hat and/or scarf. They had prepared a meal for us, which was either eaten or picked at (or neither). After the meal we said our final goodbyes and got on the bus to go back to Quito for our last night in South America. Dinner was at Crepes and Waffles which is the new favorite restaurant for many people in the group. Ryan finished the desserts for five different people besides himself, and then an extra hot chocolate of Steve’s.
Tell us about your experience today…

Kasey: Wow…. I think that my day today can be summed up in the fact that I am in a Life and God high! The children’s bible school was incredible, yet I find the most moving thing for me was the church service (The very long 2 hour church service  ). In the praising, those who did not know the words clapped and praised God in the only way they knew how at the time. There were three churches there, yet the sole purpose of the room was to praise the Lord Almighty. The testimonies were also truly moving for they came from the heart. But one of the most incredible sights was looking around the room as someone told their testimony. The people who it affected were nodding their heads as though they knew exactly what the experience in the testimony was like. God truly spoke to me this day and made me realize something… Though these people live in a whole other life, they are still my family in Christ. I was surrounded by brothers and sisters in Christ today. I believe that was what made the goodbyes so difficult. But the one assurance God gave many people as they boarded the bus is this… though we may never see these people again in our earthly lives, we will be reunited in heaven for eternity. I am leaving part of my heart in Ecuador when I board that plane tomorrow; part of my heart, but most importantly, part of my family that I have in the Lord.

Emily: Today was probably the most difficult day of our trip. I mean sure we had those days where we were so tired we thought we could never go on or couldn’t breathe because of the altitude. But today was different. We had to say goodbye to our new friends or as Kasey said our brothers and sisters in Christ. It was kind of like finding your long lost brother or sister and then leaving. Some of us had really gotten to know some of the kids up at Lote Tres. And we may never see these hermanas (sisters) and hermanos (brothers) ever again here on earth. But we had another goodbye which was also very difficult. Mario, one of our amazing translators, left. He had “business” in Colombia. Mario had become part of our family, another hermano. Mario was the one who was always willing to sit on the ground with the kids, to play soccer with them, and to do whatever we needed him to. He was always ready and willing to translate for whatever reason. Mario also always had a ready smile and a helping hand. He was truly a blessing to have with us on our trip. It was also difficult knowing that our time here in Ecuador is running short. I know that I could stay at least another week. I’ve definitely come to appreciate the simple things of life. Such as: the flowers along the road, or the scenery out the window. We were in a place where you could see for miles, something I’ll definitely miss. And the mountains, I can’t even begin to describe the longing I’ll feel for them. But it’s the people I’ll miss the most. Alex’s smile, Efrain’s mischievous look, Jessica’s shy glance, or Edwin’s openness. They have all showed me that just because someone lives in a different country or is a different nationality it doesn’t mean they’re not your brother or sister. And that Jesus’ family truly does include everyone, Ecuadorians and Gringos (Americans) alike.

Kelsey: Ok. So, me and Nikki have a pet guinea pig. Well, he was my brothers, but when he moved down to Florida he couldn’t take the guinea pig, so Leonid was left back in Wisconsin for me and Nikki to take care of. The meal that they people of Lote Tres served us was… guinea pig. I know right: yum, only not so much. Not when I got the head and could still see the eye sockets, its little fried ears the nose with the whiskers practically still intact, and when I flipped it over, I could see its little teeth lined up along its jaw. This wasn’t exactly my idea of a meal. Not when I have what is laying fried on my plate, back home running around in his spacious 3 foot by 2 foot cage with I purple hidey hut. I probably could of sucked it up and tried a little piece of the poor little fellah, but when I looked at it, all I saw was Leonid running around his cage; breathing; not dead. I just couldn’t eat it. Yeah, Kasey and Emily talked about the mountains and the people. And yes, the things like being 3 miles up in the air was amazing (and the lack of air made crying or anything that required breathing difficult), but the thing that stuck out to me the most was having what I consider a pet, dead, fried and set on rice with potatoes for me to eat. No thank you. Nikki told me it was God’s sense of humor, but I’m not laughing (actually I did for a second). Actually, it was kinda funny how ironic it was. I was the one with the pet back home, and I’m the one that has the biggest piece, and a head set out to eat right in front of me. And yes, the people were so accepting. Even after minutes of staring at us because of our light skin, and some of ours light curly hair and light eyes. I’m sure we looked like aliens to them. No matter what our differences it was amazing to work side by side with brothers and sisters of the Lord. There was this one man, Manuel, I remember him because he was helping with bending rebar which I did a little of. Friday, when I was sick and stayed back at the hotel with Mark Kimball, Manuel saw us walking on the sidewalk and cornered us to say hello. He recognized us from the previous day and even though he spoke no English, and Mark and I spoke limited Spanish we still got the point across that we had worked together and share a common love: that of Jesus Christ. These people have so little, yet we have so much in common with them.

Nikki: I came to Ecuador thinking it would be fun to go to a different country and meet new people. I had in mind that I would be meeting new friends. Over this week and especially this last day with them, I learned that they were not only my friends but they were my family. Though we only knew each other for a short week, I felt so close to them. The first couple of days I was a little homesick and a bit scared to be so far away, but these people welcomed me with smiles and outstretched hands. From day one they were calling us brothers and sisters. I began to feel more at home here in Ecuador then I have ever felt back at River Falls. When I come home, I will be more Ecuador-sick than I was homesick when I was in Ecuador. As Kelsey mentioned before, we were served guinea pig. Ha...ha...yea…. that was something I will definitely not forget. During the amazing church service today, I got up and shared my testimony. I was shaking but I had an unusually sense of peace as I shared my story. Afterwards, many people came and thanked me and shook my hand. I have a lot more I want to say but I’m running out of time. God really showed himself to me this week and gave me this courage that I did not know I had. (That’s how I knew it had to be from God) I knew that there were other people around the world who were Christians (obviously), but to come to Ecuador and actually see these people and interact with them was just... I can’t even describe the feeling. It’s a really good feeling.
Even though I could not speak the language very well, it was somehow (most of the time) easy to understand each other. We would teach each other our languages; it was fun. But I gotta go now, toodles.

Day Seven: Today we actually got to sleep in for an extra hour. Once we were up, we again met for devotions and ate breakfast. Then we boarded the bus and headed to Otavalo, Cotacachi, and San Antonio (towns that are known respectively for their textiles, leather, and wood products). Please do not worry, because we have once again added greatly to the local economy—we will come home with more than we left with.
At 6:30, we enjoyed a delicious meal at Aroma Cafeteria. I’m certain that there will be some more practicing of the skits that will be performed tomorrow morning during our VBS for the children at Lote Tres. This is undoubtedly a wonderful day, but I ask you to talk with one of the team members, because we all went our separate ways during the day for shopping. This ends day seven…..

Day Six: Again our day started as usual. Up at 7:00, group devotions led by Sue, quiet time, breakfast, and on the bus to head up the mountain. And once we were at the worksite, we got right back to work. Today was a great day, we got a lot accomplished!

At 10:00, several of our team members, including Julie, went down to Lote Cuatro and spent two hours with the children. The children were divided into groups—those who had seen Julie and those who hadn’t. Our team then had an opportunity to interact and play with the children. Our group brought with them jump ropes, sidewalk chalk for hopscotch, Frisbees, volleyballs, and soccer balls. Everyone continued to play until Julie had seen the last child. After the checkups by Julie, she gave a demonstration on brushing teeth. And they were able to hand out toothbrushes and toothpaste to all the children and mothers who were present. Melanie had many questions about her leg. The children were very curious and touched her boot. We think it was a very interesting sight for them to see. The group then invited all of the children to the VBS on Sunday, and headed back to Lote Tres.
Sue, however, has been going down there all week to work with the teachers. She brought math materials that are usually used for students who have a hard time learning with traditional methods. Two years ago she got to go over addition and subtraction with one teacher but for only one day, but there were students as well, so she was unable to spend much one-on-one time with the teacher. This time she was able to spend concentrated time with them to go over the addition and subtraction but she was also able to cover multiplication and division. It was interesting to see the different methods they use in subtraction and division. But when they were able to see these applications with the touchpoint materials, they felt they had a clearer understanding of how to teach math with a much simpler method.

They were actually excited about this new way of teaching and the following day they were teaching the students the methods they were shown. Sue could see the appreciation on the teachers’ faces and could tell they were very happy to learn these things and to teach them to their students. They look forward to Sue’s next visit.
Tonight we head to the Lomas residence for our last meal with them, and then we head back to the hotel. Some of us will venture out for ice cream (Magnum bars, Leah), and others may head to the internet café. Still others will crawl into bed for the evening. Tomorrow’ agenda…shopping!

Day Five: We plan, God laughs
Today was another typical morning with breakfast, devotions by Sue (today was about Noah, his willingness to follow God’s instructions even in the midst of ridicule by his peers), quiet time, and a bus ride to our worksite. But today was different in that we were able to begin some of the projects that we had come to do. But before I get into what we worked on, I would like to try to give you a better picture of what we have been seeing as we have been here the past few days. But we were missing two of our members, as Mark Gabriel and his daughter Emily traveled to visit their sponsored child through World Vision located three hours south of Quito.
Lote Tres (Lot Three) is a smaller community that is located in the Andes Mountains. Paz de Dios (Peace of God), the church at which we are working, was started by Jaime Lomas in 1985. Because the church has grown in size, the people have outgrown their current building, which is very small, has a dirt floor, and has one light that hangs from the electrical cord. The new building will be used for church services, Sunday school, and a community center. The building also will house a small kitchen.
We are working at an altitude of about 12,000 feet above sea level. The air is very thin and it has been a challenge to even walk up a hill. It feels like we have asthma. Often it can take us a minute or two to catch our breath when just standing. But our surroundings are green and full of life, which is demonstrated by the people that we see walking and working in the fields of the crops they are growing.
The roads that we travel to get to our worksite are rough. Sometimes they are paved with rocks, and other times they are just dirt. So we travel very slowly up the mountainside. Some of the turns we take while we travel up the mountain are very sharp and steep—and because we are traveling up the mountainside, sometimes we are right next to the edge, which can drop as much as several feet, although most of the road has land on both sides of it.
The logs that we have been carrying to the church have been fresh-cut trees. The trees are located in small forests, and the forests are about one to two miles from the worksite. The trees can be as long as 12 feet with a diameter of four to six inches. Because they are freshly cut, they still hold their water and can weigh as much as 75 pounds. While it takes two of us to carry some of these logs, many of the local women have been carrying one by themselves. Several trees will be needed to hold up the roof while it is being constructed.
When we first arrived in Ecuador, we planned on putting up the roof. But the building was not quite ready for a roof. Another layer of block is needed, and they have run short of supplies. But yesterday afternoon, a truckload of supplies came up to the worksite bearing gifts including rebar, concrete, and wire mesh. So today we spent the day cutting the rebar, bending the rebar, and carrying blocks from one area of the worksite to another. Another project that we planned to work on was building benches that also can be used as tables (the back of the bench flips up to create what looks like half a picnic table). Mark Gillis and Chris purchased the lumber yesterday and we picked up the lumber today (we brought the lumber to the worksite on the bus. It was stacked in the aisle of the bus). So Mark and Joann spent most of the day building a “prototype” and now are ready to cut all the lumber and assemble ten benches for the church.
Jerry, Steve, Jim, and several others took turns cutting the rebar with a grinder. Quite a few of us also worked on bending the rebar into rectangles, over 200 of them. Justin and Dana worked on wire tying the rectangles onto longer pieces of rebar. They created wire reinforcements ten meters long for the beams at the top of the block walls. These reinforcements will be used to stabilize the long walls and span above the windows. The roof supports will sit on these concrete beams. The ten-meter rebar assemblies were lifted from the ground to the top of the second story block walls by hand in a team-building exercise. Then the church members formed up and poured concrete on top of the back wall to make the first beam. They mixed the concrete by hand using the concrete mix, sand and gravel that we had carried up to the second floor the day before.
Today seemed to be the first day that the people at the church and our team really worked side by side. It was sometimes a difficult task to communicate at times, but it was exciting to try!
After working, we again loaded the bus and headed to the Lomas home for dinner. After a wonderful meal, Jaime gave his testimony. He is known as the Billy Graham of the Andes, bringing the word to the indigenous people for the first time. He is credited with founding over 12 churches and five small groups (churches of less than 25 people). I invite you to ask one of our team members about their impressions of Jaime’s story. I also understand that there is a book about his life…I’ll try to find out the name of it. We also were joined by Cadie Boyung, who is in Quito working on her internship before spring graduation at UW-RF. She will be with us until Monday. For those of you who don’t know Cadie, she is Pastor Tim’s niece and was part of our team to Ecuador in 2008.
Once we returned to the hotel, several went for ice cream. Others headed to showers…hasta manana!

Day Four—Another workout!
Oh, what a day. This morning we again met at 7:00 a.m. for devotions led by Sue, quiet time, and breakfast (continental-style breakfast consisting of cereal, bagels, and yogurt). Again we were on the bus around 8:00 and headed up the mountain for a day of log moving (at times we felt like mules), sand and rock hauling (small loads that were shoveled into potato sacks), teaching (by Sue down in Lote Cuatro), and clinic work (by Julie and some of our youth).
Today we would like to share with you some of Julie’s impressions of who she has met while running the clinic and the health issues the local people experience. With the help of Ruben, she saw about 100 patients between yesterday and today. Interpretation can be difficult because Spanish is their second language and some have a limited ability to communicate in Spanish because they live in the Quichua district and speak Quichua at home. The people she saw had a variety of ailments. But Julie felt that the most important thing has been getting to know the people and speaking with them on a one-on-one basis. On Monday morning, before heading out of Quito, we stopped at a pharmacy and picked up a recommended parasite medicine. Julie was concerned about running out, so last night she and Ruben stopped at three more pharmacies and picked up more. Today again, she is almost out. This seems to be the most needed medicine for the people she is treating. However, this medicine is just one of the many issues that these people face.
Julie had lots of help from the youth who are part of our team, including Melanie, Dana, Justin, Britta, Kasey, Murray, Ryan, Kelsey, and Nikki. Later on in the afternoon, Melanie, Kasey, Kelsey and Nikki spent much time with some of the younger children. They were fascinated by the camera, and many pictures were taken of the Gringos and their new friends.
A special story that Julie has involves an 87-year-old woman, who came to the clinic yesterday. Julie asked her to come back today. She found the woman’s son and was ready to walk to their home. But the son said no, that he would make his mother come to the church. One of the interesting things about this woman was that she was barefoot. Anyway, she came back up the hill today for her shot. She left and later came back to give Julie some onions as a gift. The estimated weight of the bunch of onions was about 25 pounds. Julie would like Vi to know that the distance the woman walked was about a mile—uphill.
Another thing that impressed Julie was that some of the local children were standing outside the clinic and talking among themselves. One of our teenagers overheard their conversation—some of the children who had been to the clinic were telling the other children to express a stomach ache so that they could get a chewable vitamin along with the parasite medicine.
Our workday ended at 4:00, when we were able to gather to worship with our brothers and sisters. Pastor Nelson, the representative from the Evangelical Covenant Church headquarters located in Quito gave today’s message. He spoke of mercy. We also sang many songs—first as a complete group, then the local women sang a couple songs for us, and then we Gringos got up and sang a couple songs. We ended our service with prayer. We again loaded the bus and headed for our evening meal at the Lomas residence. Tonight we were served fresh trout that Laura caught this morning. It was muy delicioso! The evening ended early for some. For others it was a trip to the store for ice cream. Until tomorrow…

Day Three—A day of surprises
Breakfast today was a “cold breakfast.” Sue led us in a Bible study, looking at Hebrews 11, a look at Abraham. Who would go to an unknown land for an unknown period of time? We took a look at what some of our fears were.
Back on the bus, we started up again to Lote Tres. We traveled a road that Jaime Lomas said is now a good road. We looked hard past the ruts and bumps to visualize the horse trail he traveled to start the church we are building a roof for. We arrived to be greeted by our brothers and sisters and hear of our beginning plans for the day. We arrive and there are logs to be carried up from a little ways down the mountain.
10 meter rebar was cut first with a hacksaw into many shorter pieces. Justin carried the suitcase of extension cords and power tools, but there was not enough electrical power to run the Sawzall. But the grinder worked, and Murray traded in his hacksaw for the grinder. All the Marks (yes, we have three here again) and Chris (our facilitator) set up the rebar bending bench where about 88 rebar pieces were bent into rectangular shapes that will be used to reinforce the concrete beams, the basis for the roof.
Julie, Kelsey, Kasey, Ryan, and Ruben, our translator, transformed the old, smaller block church building into a clinic, and about 40 people came, were seen, and assisted (most of the people who came were mothers and children). Throughout the morning we exchanged greetings with the local people (Buenos dias, mi hermano—which means, good morning, my brother). There is a connection that transcends cultural differences here at Lote Tres. There is a sweetness in working side by side with our colorful family in sight of Mount Cayambe.
A smorgasbord lunch was served from low benches gave us energy and time to share the morning status. And it’s back to more logs and rebar, concrete blocks to cut and build and treks down the side of the mountain.
Sue Kimball readied her supplies and headed to the school at Lote Cuatro with Britta and Chris. They were received with great hugs and joyous faces. Norma, Blanka and Alicia (three teachers at the school and who became friends with Sue two years ago) have been looking forward to today’s encouragement and instruction in addition and subtraction.
At 5:00, we ended our workday and boarded the bus to head to Jaime and Laura’s home for dinner and wonderful music that was performed by Reflexion, Pablo’s band. (Pablo is Jaime and Laura’s son.) We shared a wonderful evening praising our Heavenly Father with instruments and singing. We were glad to hear that Reflexion is recording their first CD, and they plan to “release” it in about three months. At the end of the evening, we head back to the hotel for some much needed rest.

Day Two: Our first morning in Quito
This morning we were allowed to sleep in. (For some of us team members, our first day started at around 4:00 because of the daylight savings time, so our traveling day got to be a bit long—sleeping in was a small blessing.) We all met for breakfast at 8:00. And our facilitator, Chris, met with us around 8:15. To sum up what he said, be flexible, be approachable, and be teachable. We are guests in this country, and our way is not always the best way…there are many different ways to accomplish a task (this writer just shares with you her “impressions” about our “meeting” this morning, but she will also add other team members’ comments as the week progresses).
After our meeting, we loaded the bus and are currently heading to Cayambe, our housing town for the time As I write, we are traveling through Quito. We stayed on the south end of Quito and are traveling north. As I look about me, I see mountains…they are very steep and rugged. The colors are brown and green. But the sky above is blue with billowy clouds hovering over the higher ranges. The view is breathtaking! And because we are riding on the side of the mountains, our way can be steep and slow, so we are able to take in quite a sight.
This morning we were informed that we will not be working in Cangahau, but we are going back to Lote Tres (Lot Three). Those of us who worked at Lote Tres in 2008 are very excited about seeing what has been accomplished since our last visit. We still are working on the roof, but it will be for the church that we helped to lay foundation for in 2008.
The weather is very nice and it is sunny and warm, and we are looking forward to traveling up to Lote Tres this afternoon. Hasta Luego (until then).
It is now about 8:30 p.m. and we have had a wonderful afternoon. After we got into Cayambe, we unloaded our gear into our rooms and organized our supplies—the medical, work and educational supplies. We then got back on the bus and headed for Lote Tres. Now, it must be shared that Lote Tres is only 30 miles from Cayambe, but because of the way the road goes up the mountain, it takes an hour.
Once we arrived, we were able to see how much work the people had finished on the church. We met some of the members of the church and had an opening ceremony with them. The pastor of the church shared some words with us, and then Mark Kimball shared words with them. They sang for us a few songs, and we also sang some songs. We ended today’s visit with a visit to the pastor’s farm, which is not far from the church.
We then left Lote Tres and traveled to Jaime Lomas’s home for our evening meal. The Lomas home is located right on the equator, and we travel by their home each day. Interestingly, this week we will sleep in the northern hemisphere and work in the southern hemisphere. I will share more about Jaime And tonight’s meal consisted of potato soup, salad, beets, carrots, pork, and Yappingatchos (sorry, I don’t know how to spell it, but it’s a pancake looking thing made from potatoes and cheese, and it’s totally delicious). For dessert we ate pineapple.
After dinner, we came back to hotel and met for a few minutes to share some of our impressions of the day. Tonight is an early evening, as most of us are tired.

Day One: A day of traveling
We met at the church at 7:00 a.m. Once all 21 of us were there, with some of our family members there to see us off, Pastor Todd met with us and, and he led us in prayer. We packed up three vehicles and one trailer and made it to the airport, (thanks to Dan Pearson for driving the van and Terri Pearson and Craig Amundson for the use of their vehicles and for transporting our team). But we were very surprised to be met by a great wave of people who were traveling. It seemed like a million people were headed out of Minneapolis to destinations unknown—the start of spring break.
Needless to say, it took us some time to get up to the ticket counter and check all of our 22 bags (most of the checked luggage was carrying work supplies, such as tools; medical supplies, for Julie’s medical screenings; and school supplies, for Sue’s teaching and our Sunday morning children’s program).
Our flight to Atlanta was delayed about an hour. I must admit that we were just a little nervous about catching our connecting flight. But God was faithful, and we were in Atlanta in plenty of time to catch our connecting flight to Quito. Even Melanie with her broken ankle was doing quite well. She was able to get around by wheelchair with the assistance from some of the people who work for the airline.
The flight from Atlanta to Quito was just under five hours, and without incident. It took only about an hour to get through customs and to pick up our luggage. Once we were out in the “public” area, we were met by our facilitator for the week, Chris Hopkins. We also were met by a friendly face, Cadie Boyung, who went on the previous missions trip and is now in Quito working to complete her internship. (She will be joining us on Thursday evening and spend the weekend with us.) We also met our bus driver, Nelson, and our two interpreters for the week, Mario and Reuben (Mario is from Mexico and went to CBC in Canada. Reuben was born in Cuba, moved to Spain and then to California at 17 with his family. Both are volunteer interpreters for Merge, the organization that provides facilitation for missions teams.).
It was a short trip to our “hostel” for the evening, reaching our evening’s destination around 11:00 p.m. We were given our room assignments and all welcomed sleep.
One of our team members is Kasey Manche. Kasey says her favorite verse is found in 1 Corinthians. I thought she summed it up beautifully: Your foundation is your relationship with God and you can either build on that with hay and straw or gold and silver, and each man is going to be sent through the flames and those who build with hay and straw, they will come out but will be burned, and they have to start building again, but those who use gold and silver can escape the flames with a secure structure and keep building on God…
Another of our team members is Mark Gillis. He says that he feels very close to God when he is on a missions trip. He doesn’t worry about his car, house, job…he can just meet God in this place. He also gets a chance to meet his brothers and sisters in Christ. His favorite verse is: Prov. 15:15 “All the days of the oppressed are wretched; but the cheerful heart enjoys a continuous feast.”
(A note for our readers (written on day four): This trip has been much different from our other trips in that because we are eating our dinners at the Lomas home, I have been unable to get to the internet café as often as I would like to get you these updates. Because of the time constraints that we have been facing, I have limited this blog to just words for now. I will try to get you some photos very soon. But I would like you all to know that we are all doing well, we have remained healthy to date, Melanie is doing wonderfully despite her broken ankle, and the worst we have been suffering is the sunburn from the beautiful weather that we have been experiencing at Lote Tres.)