Ecuador 2012 author unknown

Sunday, July 22

                Today we slept in until 7:30 because we were off work for the annual soccer tournament.  We had hardboiled eggs, sweet rice pudding (muy delicioso), and buns.  Scott fixed the table like a boss with 6 pieces of wood.  It had stormed the night before so the soccer field was very muddy.  We got there and found out that the girls had to play first.  They got very muddy because they were trying so hard.  They played a great game but unfortunately they lost. L. The boys played next and did well but also lost.  Out of 22 teams both boys and girls got second place in the tournament!!!  For the awards ceremony, Rebecca gave her testimony describing her journey through her knee surgeries and her walk with Christ.  After that, the first and second place girls and boys got their medals and trophies.  We stayed for about an hour and a half playing with the children, eating enpinatas and chicken, and played ecua-volleyball.  This is much like American volleyball but the net was about 10 feet high.  Also they play 3-on-3 using a soccer ball.  We drove home and bathed before going to where the girls are staying

author unknown

Ecuador 2012 Lindsay

Hola mi amigos!

Como estas? That’s about the extent of my Spanish knowledge, but I felt like I should go for it anyways, just to get you into the mood of this thing. But anyways. I would like to start out by telling my mommy and Jorge that so far, I’ve eaten broccoli, coleslaw, blended potatoes, baked beans (an entire plate, I might add) veggie soup, pea soup, plantains, yucaroot, and lots of other yummy new things J but on a more serious note, we’re on the bus ride home from Huaticocha now, and saying goodbye to the people and community there was one of hardest things I’ve ever had to do. I’ve fallen completely in love with the children, the culture, the people, and the Ecuadorians working alongside me who taught me so much about truly serving the Lord with all of your heart. They are the servants of God who I strive to be, and I couldn’t have asked for a more amazing group of people to help me realize that. My absolute favorite part of this trip was interacting with the children in a community called Guamani. Out of the 500 people living there, we only know of 2 Christians. They held the soccer tournament (don’t worry mom, I didn’t play) and as soon as we pulled up, children started running towards us from all different directions and within seconds, we had a lively game of ring around the rosy going. I really connected with a girl named Adia, and looking into her smiling face gave me an incredible amount of joy. I never got bored of playing pattycake with the kids, braiding their beautiful hair, giving them piggy back rides and playing game after game of duck duck goose with them. I knew how desperate each and every child was to be loved, and giving it to them gave me more satisfaction than winning any gymnastics meet, learning any new piano piece and acing any test in school. God has taught me so much this week, but if I typed it all out it might take up another three pages. So, I guess the gist of this was, this trip has been an incredible experience for me, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world, because God has truly been doing an amazing work in and through each and every one of us this week.

Love you all!

-Lindsay

Ecuador 2012 Chloe

Chloe 7/22/12

This past week has been an amazing experience for me through everything, through the work, people, devotion time and the culture.

                To start describing my time I’ll tell you about the work that our team has been doing… On our first day in Quito we had the opportunity to help put together what used to be a mansion but is now rented by IncaLink in order for it to be a home for children ages 2-15 to live and learn about the love that Christ has for them.  After seeing this beautiful home I could feel God’s blessings for them.  On the second day we arrived in Huaticocha travelling through the jungle was also a reminder of God’s gifts, witnessing the large mountains and foreign plants reminded me that God gives us many gifts each different but all are important.  On the third day we began our day breaking off into teams, the team that I was on needed to take remove all of the water from a ditch and transport it to a nearby stream, this job was difficult do to the fact that I (of course) was the one to get both feet stuck shin deep into the mud (thank goodness for the interns not being afraid to get their hands dirty).  All of these jobs were difficult but the exhaustion went unnoticed do to the joy given to me by God.

                This past weekend was an amazing opportunity to embrace the culture of Huaticocha.  Our team had the opportunity to travel into the community for a time of games and fellowship.  At first I was afraid that the community wouldn’t be open to ministering of a bunch of teenagers.  But through devotion time we’ve discussed things such as the definition of courage and to my best capability of defining it is that courage is when you stand up for what you believe in what is right and just.  Through this teaching and a prayer for God to open the hearts of the people my fears were nonexistent.  Upon arriving into the community we were greeted with a flock of eager children who just filled me with joy through there kindness and smiles.  Being able to embrace them and play with them was simply an awesome experience. 

                My time in Quito these few days have been truly memorable and I can’t wait to see what God has in store for me for the rest of the week.    

Ecuador 2012 Nate and Aaron

Nate

I woke up at 6:50 this morning to the sound of “Big Red” the rooster crowing outside of the boys’ dormitory. Breakfast consisted of bread rolls, hardboiled eggs, yogurt, and fruit. After morning devotions and our prayer for the following day, we headed out to our respective work areas. Mine was the same one for the past 3 days of work, and that involved filling in a nasty bog that attracted breeding mosquitoes, and it was an eyesore that could be converted into fertile planting ground. It was really cool getting to see the project coming together and the teamwork from the people involved in it. We formed two long terraces today along one of the edges of it today, and started digging a hole for where the septic system will one day be.

I’m typing this on the bus ride to Guamani, where we had VBS yesterday and where we are having it again today. It is very close to where the soccer tournament was, so I am seeing many of the same kids at VBS. It was a lot of fun yesterday playing with the kids, and watching them as they colored pictures and tried to brush the model of a person’s teeth that Jenny Turnbull had brought. I’m praying that the kids will see Christ in us and want to have Him for themselves as well.

Aaron Reay

7/26/12  16:51  Return trip to Quito.

 Hey it's Nate...          

            God is alive; and He is living in Ecuador.  This past week I have seen His hands working in so many different ways and in so many different people.  Over the past week we interacted with three very different communities, and God’s presence, power, and love permeated all of them.  The first was in the capital city of Quito.  Just a week before we arrived, IncaLink received permission from the state to open a home for children whose parents are in prison.  The government program was closing down due to lack of support, and the children, aged 2 years to 15 years, would have had nowhere to go.  They call it Tesoros, which means treasures.

Nate Turnbull

Ecuador 2012 Caleb

Sunday July 22,  

I woke up at 6:30 and started a 6 and a half mile run in Huaticocha. I nearly got bit by a dog while I was running through the city (that really made me run fastJ). It rained in the morning and afternoon for the first time. The girls arrived at the Mission School and we had breakfast at 8. After breakfast Jess, Joy, and Jenny cleaned the dishes. Then we had our morning devotions. Joy led the singing, and Uncle Jim delivered the message to us. At 9:15 we loaded onto the bus collecting more passengers as we drove for about 45 minutes to Guamani. Ryan, Jeremy, and I joked around with Fernando, our cook, poking him and calling Tyler “Chinito”. We packed lunch onto the bus so we could eat in Guamani. The girls played soccer first in the mud pit, which was a ‘soccer field’ on Saturday.  The rain made mud which caused a new strategy to play by. You would be running with the ball and then the ball would stop and get glued to the ground but you would keep going, leaving the ball behind. The guys played after the girls against the team that won last year. The first half ended zero to zero, but there were more shots on our side. The next half the scoring began. The other team put five goals in before we even shot on them. Then a miracle happened and I found myself on a breakaway. I somehow got by the other team’s last defender who was a huge, but very fast man, slightly intimidating. I scored which got us onto the scoreboard then soon after we scored again. We held them and finished the game two to five. Daniel had a great game as goalie making incredible saves. Then we played with the kids and I learned a new game. It was called Ecua-volleyball. The game was volleyball, but on a higher net and with a soccer ball. We played three on three against some other soccer players that drove eight hours to get there. They kept on nagging Derek to spike the ball but he could not. Derek kept trying but knew he could not. You could actually grab/hold the soccer ball because it was so much heavier than a volley ball. Nate enjoyed being flocked by the children. Grant got clothes lined by an actual clothes line when he ran to get an out-of-bounds ball. He got a small battle wound across his nose. I really disliked when we ate our lunch in front of the kids. We shared our food, but I did not feel comfortable eating in front of them. For some unknown reason we got second in the tournament even though there were only two teams. We were told twenty two teams played on the field that we were at, but we never played them. They were playing into the evening when we left around 2pm with more teams still coming. The awards ceremony went smoothly. The men and women’s teams lined up and received our medals. Rebecca shared her testimony and Jim translated for her. Mark said the community welcomed us well, which was our goal and an encouragement. There was a food shop next to the soccer field that sold empanadas for twenty five cents apiece. Crazy cheap! The empanadas were cheese filled croissants with sugar on the shell. We had a wonderful day besides the rain.

God Bless

Caleb Wakeley

Ecuador 2012 Sarah T

Hey everyone! I’m extremely grateful to all the people who made this trip possible. So far I’ve jumped off a thirty foot high bridge into the river, found a rooster under my bed in the middle of the night, eaten beef at multiple meals (my family would be proud), and gotten a wonderful freckle tan line.

One of my favorite parts of the trip has been doing VBS. VBS has been amazing. The kids there are adorable, and they love to be played with and held. I’m so glad that we’ve been able to share God’s love with these precious children.

I’ve also loved being with our team. This group has been the smallest group I’ve ever gone with on a mission trip, and I really like how close we’ve gotten to each other. The people we’ve worked with here in Ecuador have been amazing too. There are about five guys that help Mark and Cheryl work on the mission school every day, and they are awesome. They love God so much, and we were able to build friendships with them, even though some of us don’t know much Spanish. We’re on the bus right now, heading back to Quito, and I’m going to miss Huaticocha so much.

I love my family, you too Rizzo, and I’ll see you guys soon!
-Sarah T.

Ecuador 07/26/2012

Hello everyone! We are all safely back in Casablance- Quito. The end of the trip was tremendous, actually the whole trip was. Several students have some entries and I will post them next. You should be very proud of the everyone. The students far exceeded the expectations of the missions team in Huaticocha. We cleared land, cleaned up, moved tons of dirt and mud, built fires and eliminated areas of standing water. Rumor has it that the area we created will become the Joy Ike Amphitheater. The afternoons were equally excellent. Sherese led the students though the VBS's each day. We played, did puppets, sang, played, taught oral hygine (Jenny Turnbull did great), colored, played and presented the Gospel and had young kids respond at both locations. We gave away tooth paste and tooth brushes- and lolli pops. (does that seem odd?) We celebrated yesterday at the river. It was fun to jump off the bridge and swim around the very chilly but refreshing river. Since this was the largest water source, many took the opportunity to wash. Our cook, Fernando, and my daughter, Rebecca took the opportunity to get baptized - what a wonderful bi-lingual service. We have eaten well all week, really. One student believes that during this past week she has eaten her body weight in rice. Today's trip back to Quito was another amazing spectrum of God's handiwork. So many cameras - look for pictures to arrive soon. Tomorrow we jump off to the center of the earth and to Otavalo to worship with another Alliance Church and to do some shopping. Please continue to pray for us. We leave Quito very late Saturday night. Peace, P Scott