Ecuador 2010

Waking up at 6:00 is not my idea of fun, but this is what we did today. After a short night, we all got on the bus to go to San Juan de Minas for a morning of kids’ programs. A long bus drive started off our day as we went down into the valley where San Juan de Minas is located. It was a scary drive seeing as how there were no guard rails between us and the long drop down the hill side. Learning to trust God is an important part of our everyday lives here. I realized that worrying would not keep the bus on the road, so I decided to trust God with it and enjoy the trip.

We arrived (safely! Yay!) and set up for the kids in a courtyard. Around forty five kids showed up for our program, despite the Catholic Church’s dominance over the town. Everything went smoothly as we and another group both did presentations for the kids. Seeing God work through us to teach kids was really cool.

After teaching the kids for about two hours we all piled back into the bus for the ride back home. We stopped off at the airport to pick up our fifteenth team member, Amanda Forman. We now have three Amandas on our team and two Daniels and two of our translators are named Andrea. We have already had several confusing situations. Amanda’s flight had been delayed so we left a few people at the airport to wait and the rest of us went back to Casa del Padre to pack for the eight hour bus trip to Esmeraldas. After about an hour Amanda got to the house and soon we sat down to dinner. This night is the first time that we have had a home-cooked meal on this trip. YEA!!! We love food.

Please pray for the team that we will stay healthy and that God would use us for His glory. God is teaching me every day to rely on Him more than I have before… such as when there are no guard rails. But we can do all things through Him who strengthens us.

Daniel Fox, signing off for the team.

The courtyard where we put on our children’s program in San Juan de Minas.

Tim telling the story of the shiny lures with John as the expert fisherman. That IS John underneath all those wigs and hats.

Crystal talking with some of the kids. We really appreciate Crystal’s skills in Spanish!

Sunset in Quito

We finished off the evening with a bonfire. Another mission team, just back from the jungle, stayed at the same place with us for one night. We shared stories, songs, and s’mores before heading to bed early to be ready for our trip to Esmeraldas in the morning.

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Ciao Iglesia Carapungo! Les vamos a extranar! (Goodbye Carapungo Church! We’ll miss you!)

After several fun-packed days we were relieved to take a day off and sleep in til 8:00! Yay! Devos were uplifting and we finished with a time of praise in singing which our hostess was very touched by. The hostess and all the cleaning ladies are very kind and helpful. Today we took over their washer and dryer which ended up being only a washer by the second load. =/

Off to eat some empanadas we found ourselves back at the mall where we love the food (or I should say the guys love the food and the girls try to find something healthy or else hand off the leftovers to the starving male members). We shared about 180 of the little 2 inch deep fat fried friends. Rico! =P

The last night with our precious children in Carapungo was the best! Upon arriving the pastor and his wife blessed us and gave us each Ecuadorian key chains and presented our leader with a massive, beautiful painting of a little townhouse. We were invited back with much anticipation.

The children came in with smiles; over a hundred showed up! I hadn’t been feeling all that well but as the night went on God gave me extra strength and allowed me to share the gospel a couple times. Knowing it was the last night I decided to give an invitation for those who weren’t sure of their salvation. Amy taught Phil. 4:4 while I gave a quick explanation to those who weren’t sure of their salvation. About 10-12 prayed silently while I prayed for them. Only God knows their hearts but praise Him for seeds planted and continued prayer for them that they will grow into strong vessels for His kingdom. =D It was sad to say goodbye but we left with precious memories and new friends!

After some supper our World Cup believers were officially satisfied when they finally got to buy some blow horns from KFC! “EEERRRRRR!!!” Go Holanda-The Nertherlands! (for John and his followers) and Go Brasil! (for Adrianna -our awesome translator!). =0)

However, our day did not completely end til we came home to rain and wet clothes sitting in bundles outside in a half open side room. Inside they went and now lay scattered all over our rooms. “God gives grace to the humble.”

Love from Quito,

Crystal (Profe Cristal)

Daniel Fox with a kid on Game Team 1 (the mustache is left over from the skit)

John and Drew (along with Daniel) were the “bad boys” in the skit about Andy’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

Drew and Lorianne’s team made “happy hats”… or something like that. The theme for the evening was joyfulness.

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“I will lift up my eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.  My help cometh from the Lord who made heaven and earth.”

This morning we stood breathless at the top of a mountain overlooking Quito.  I say “breathless” partly because the scenery was so amazing and partly because we couldn’t breathe due to the altitude (somewhere around 13,000 ft).  Below us, the city stretched for miles to our right and left.  It seemed like an endless maze of streets and houses enclosed in an equally endless range of mountains.  My first thought was “wow!” which was soon followed by “I can’t breathe!” and ended up in “I’ll just rest here for a photo-op.”  :-) But once the initial shock wore off, the grandeur of God’s creation was overwhelming and how small we were in comparison.  This was one of the many reminders of how big and powerful our God is.

Shortly after coming down from the mountain, we were back to work.  Tonight’s lesson was “initiative” and everyone had their share of demonstrating it.  Soon we were cutting out paper temples on the bus, and using the scraps as confetti for the large group skit.  All too soon, our bus was parked in front of the church and we all rushed to our stations to meet our very excited group of kids.  In every group they learned a little more about initiative, from their special initiative glasses, to the story of the four men bringing their crippled friend to Jesus.  It was all about seeing a need and meeting it without being asked.  All in all, it was a good night and went really smoothly.  To use Spanglish – it was mucho fun!

As the week goes on, God’s hand becomes increasingly more evident and I am taught again and again that it is His work first and foremost.  I get to get in on the action.  It is His strength I am learning to rely on completely, and it is amazing to see what HE is doing, both in those we are ministering to, and in us.  I can’t wait to see what’s next!!!

“And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.”

– Amanda #2, i.e. Gayle, also known as Amanda Martin

Amanda teaching at the kids’ program.

Drew and Lorianne’s team creating “initiative glasses.”

The initiative glasses were a big hit.

A team on top of the world!

The view from the top.

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6:30 AM-Wake up! Time to eat breakfast so we can do devotions!  Today was a run-out-the-door kinda day. As soon as we were finished with devotions, we jumped in the bus, practiced our team song for only the second time before we had to perform it in front of a school´s chapel service- no pressure! Arriving exactly when the service started, we basically jumped on stage and began our program! We sang our song, Vengo Adorarte (Here I am to Worship).  Elizabeth Fox played with her younger brother Daniel, There’s Power in the Blood.  We did the Shiny Lure skit, that skit is always funny!  Immediately after the service, we were mobbed with kids asking for our autographs, and phone numbers, and emails.

After an afternoon visit to a natural preserve, we got back to Quito for our afternoon kids’ program. Even with the larger number of kids that we had tonight compared to other days (about 60-70 kids are showing up every day now), it seemed that this was the smoothest day yet.  Tonight´s character quality was patience, and the kids seem have received it well.  The group I´m in charge of is craft #2 with Lorrianne Barclay as my partner; we made butterflies and learned that we can’t rush what God has placed in our lives. The large group skit was the bubblegum treasure skit, teaching us that true treasure is worth waiting for.

Drew Gaddis for the team

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Bienvenidos al Mitad del Mundo! (Welcome to the middle of the world!) What an incredible opportunity we all had today to visit the equator. After taking dozens of photos indicating our fascination with the fact that we could be in winter and summer at the same time, we browsed through several souvenir shops, complete with alpaca hats, scarves, and quilts (so soft!). We completed our tourism escapade and took off for another fabulous day with the Ecuadorian ninos!

Todays theme: dependability. I think our entire team would concur that our preparation today was much better than yesterday. Crafts made heart key chains and paper clocks (we can be dependable all hours of the day). The lesson team reenacted the Bible story of the house built on the rock vs. sand. Games (my team) played 3-legged races and other activities in which one must depend upon their partner to be successful.

As we taught, it hit me that God calls us to be dependable even when others are not, but we must remember our human frailty and how easily we fail. When we cannot rely on others and when others cannot depend on us, we have God to depend on always. Praise the Lord for his many blessings and promises!

May we ask for your prayers that God may work int he children’s lives and that we may build personal relationships with them. May our words and lessons be meaningful and applicable. Above all else, pray that God might be glorified and delight in what He has done and will continue to do through our team. Love to you all!

Suzanna, for the team

Summer on one side of the line and winter on the other. You could totally feel the difference. (NOT!)

Foxes at the equator

The lesson team – outdoors on the roof. It was beautiful weather today.

Craft team

This is the area where we are working – view from the roof of the church.

John and the kids watching a story about how a lack of dependability blew up the class volcano.

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I like sleep. That may just be me but I really enjoy my sleep. There is no such thing as a nap with me, at least with the definition of a nap being 10 to 20 minutes then waking up and feeling totally and completely rested. NOPE! If I were to take a nap it would be for as long as I could and when I wake up I still feel as if I should sleep more! SOO with this point being established, imagine me, the sleep lover, going to bed at midnight then waking up to Daniel’s (Cavanaugh) arms shaking me and going, “ERRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!” The time is 3:30 IN THE MORNING!!! WAY TOO EARLY TO BE WAKING UP!!! I stayed in my bed for as looong as possible!

I think I ended actually getting out of bed at 4, we had to be out of bed dressed, completely packed, and ready to go by 4:15! I am very not happy! We all packed the rest of the bags in to the two suburbans and filed into the church’s 15 passenger van. We drove the 45 minute drive to the Miami International Airport.

After we said good bye to my dad (Mr. Forman) and Amanda (Forman) we went and checked in our 21 suitcases. Then we got in the very long security line. WHO IS TRAVELING AT 5 OCLOCK IN THE MORNING?!!?! Besides us, lots of people. Finally, we got onto our plane, Avianca. After 4 hours of being in the air we landed in Bogota. We met up with some relatives of Drew and Amanda Gaddis and ate lunch with them in an airport restaurant. The food was REALLY good.

After 6 hours of layover in Bogota we took off for Quito! Flying into Quito is so pretty but scary because the city is basically in a bowl of mountains. We then met Pastor Benjamin and drove to our host house, Casa de Padre. The house was beautiful! After eating sandwiches and cheetos at the house we had a team meeting. I was assigned to go pick up Amy from the airport, but I had to go early because another team was coming to the house from the airport at around 10. On the bus I got to have a good talk with Senora Monica. After the team from Open Air Evangelists came I stayed with Senor Rafael and waited for Amy. Her flight ended up being delayed plus a long line for immigration so she didn’t come out till about midnight! We finally drove back to the house for some much needed sleep! That night I woke up because my blakets had dropped on the floor so I was sleeping in 40 degree weather with a top sheet. AHHH! (Did I mention I am from Florida?) When I finally woke up I went down stairs to breakfast which consisted of eggs, bread, cereal, coffee, orange juice, and Yogurt stuff.

Immediately following breakfast we had a team devotion on 1 Timothy 4. As we were about to leave when someone realized that the suitcase with all the stuff needed for the upcoming week that we had prepared the night before was gone! Senora Monica had accidentally taken it with the other team thinking it was supplies and was on her way out to the jungle! We drove to Pastor Benjamin’s Church. Pastor Benjamin had more than enough supplies for us to work with and he generously allowed us to use them.

We all got on the bus and went to the church (not Pastor Benjamin’s) and set up for the kids program. We expected 150 kids and 20 showed up. Oh well, God changes plans. It was soo much fun! Daniel, Suzanna, and I were in charge of game team #1! We played rojo verde (red light green light), a balancing game, and a candy toss game. The character trait that we were working on was self-control. In large group Tim, Susanna, Elizabeth, Daniel, and I did a skit about a fish that lacked self-control and sang the Stand Alone song.

I am learning more and more every day about trusting God no matter what may happens! I am especially going to need trust in God for strength for the rest of this trip because I could never keep up the energy without Him! I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!

John for the team

Crepes and Waffles in Bogota

The team look

John, Daniel (Fox), and Suzanna with Game Team 1

Amy and Crystal with Game Team 2

Nathaniel working with the kids on the Lesson Team

Go Orange!

A story about self-control… from the perspective of one very curious fish (aka Tim).

The crazy fish

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