Hi everyone!
I have had a whole ton of stuff happen to me since the last time that I wrote, so I apologize in advance for the lengthy post that this will be. It all started two weeks ago when a group from Daybreak church in Pennsylvania came for a week to do ministry. This was not just the typical high school youth group; it was actually a group of mostly adults, and I was in working with a couple other girls in my group (who were all younger than the group just like me) and we were leading them around. It caused for an interesting group because there was a mom and a 12 year old daughter, a father and a 24 year old daughter, another 24 year old girl, a 29 year old guy, 30 year old girl, a married couple that were both in their late 20's/early 30's, and two people in their early 50's. Although it wasn't what I was expecting, I was very happy with the group that we had. Everyone was so connected and prepared and excited for this mission trip they were taking. The mom of the group was the leader, and she knew how to lead the group through debriefing each night to really get at the heart of the day. We were all able to learn a lot about what it takes to lead a mission trip and be accountable for an entire group.
So, on the first day that they arrived, we took a 3 hour bus ride to El Carmen, a town that is near the coast (it is technically considered the jungle, but it didn't look much like a jungle to me.) We were introduced to the three families that we would be staying with for the next couple of nights, and the really cool thing was that one of the houses that some of the girls were staying in (I stayed in a different one) was the house that I went to during the Amazing Race last month and got to cook lunch with the ladies there. They remembered me and it was really exciting to see them again, and also their willingness to open their house to another group with Inca Link. After that, we helped set up for the special church service they were having that night for Father's Day. They are only renting a space for the moment to have their church services because they are working on clearing land to help build the church, and that is what we got to work on all week. The church service at night was so amazing and they welcomed all of us with open arms.
After the service, I played with a lot of the kids in the congregation that I knew we would be doing a Vacation Bible School for the next day. They were real cute and enjoyed letting me chase them all around the building, and no matter how many times I tried to tell them I was tired, they weren't, so I kept chasing :) They were great.
Monday morning we woke up to meet for breakfast for a long morning of work on the land for the church. I was staying at a house with two other girls, and we were just ready to walk a couple blocks to get food, but the dad of the house we were at was ready to give us a motorcycle ride over there. Basically, any time in the morning or at night when we were getting back to the house we were sleeping at, Rudolfo was there to give us a ride. It was a fun cultural experience to be on a motorcycle flying through town, and it caused a lot of glances because a gringa girl was riding on a motorcycle, but it was still really cool :) After breakfast we went to the field that I also got to clear a part of during the Amazing Race, and I saw the progress that they had already made. All the brush was gone, we just needed to put it all in a pile in the corner so they could burn the excess. Then, we started our large project-- we had to dig up this huge hill (which we referred to as a mountain because that made it sound a lot better) and move the dirt to level out the ground so they could be prepared to build the foundation for the church building. We worked alongside of a lot of the people that belong to the church, and even though they only knew broken English and we knew broken Spanish, we still had a good time communicating with them and getting to know them. I enjoyed seeing some of the people I had already met during the Amazing Race quickly and being able to actually get to know them besides just a passing hello. The whole group didn't know any Spanish, so they looked at me to be the translator a lot of the time. I tried to tell them that it was a pretty scary thing when I was the Spanish translator, but I was able to do a lot more and understand a lot more than I ever thought I could. After we broke for lunch, we went straight to an area outside with children to do a Vacation Bible School. I enjoyed seeing some of the girls and boys that I chased around the night before, and we all basically jumped out of the cars and started playing with any kid in sight. They loved bubbles, jump rope, a parachute game, and of course- soccer! After play time, we sang some songs with the kids (in Spanish of course!) and did a lot of hand motions to really get them into it. We did a Bible story about the feeding of the 5,000 and made a craft with them afterwards. Since we all fell in love with the kids and they didn't want us to go that day, they asked us to come back the next day and we immediately said yes, even though we didn't have anything planned at the moment. After being a little run down and completely sweaty from our day, they took us to a river and we got to just swim and relax and basically that was our form of bathing. It was relaxing and beautiful though.
Tuesday we woke up and after my motorcycle ride to breakfast, we went back to move that mountain. We definitely enjoyed ourselves even though we were tired and sweaty from digging so much. We told riddles the whole time or just goofed around and sang songs. It was amazing how much this group really invited all 4 of us Inca Link interns into our group- they told us from the first day that we were now part of the Daybreak family, and they really meant it. We ended up getting a plan together for the VBS that day, and it was easy to see that not only all the kids faces lit up when we showed up, but also all of our faces. We loved being able to come back and continue the relationships with the kids we saw from the day before and even meet some new ones. Kids had brought their parents that day and were getting their parents to take pictures of us with on our cameras and just wanted to show their families their new friends. After more games, singing, another VBS story and more coloring, we had to sadly say goodbye. We then went to another river that was just as beautiful to do our cool off again. We got to float down this long area, and had to try real hard to avoid some rocks, but the current would just take you so you just went with no effort. Once again, a lot of fun.
Wednesday morning we went back to our mountain and dug it up some more. But, that afternoon there was a huge parade in the middle of El Carmen because it was celebrating their anniversary of the foundation of the town. We got to go down and see all the dancers and music and groups that took part of this celebration. Later that night, the church decided to quickly put a service together to say goodbye to us because we were leaving the next day. They got most everyone together and they shared some music and testimonies with us from the week, and we then shared some of our music and testimonies for them. It was really amazing to see our group and the people of the church really come together and just freely love one another. They would pray for us and we were praying for them, and it was just a great God moment that night. It was really hard to say goodbye to all the people that night that we had been staying with or working with or eating with, and even though I know I will be back in a couple of weeks with another group, I still didn't want to leave then. We woke up the next morning to crack away a little more at the mountain, they fed us lunch, and then we took the trip back to Casa Blanca in Quito. We got back around dinner time, ate, and then after another debriefing session, went to sleep right away to catch up on some of our exhaustion.
Friday morning we took the team to the Center of the World, which is the tourist place to see some of the old tribes of Ecuador and to stand on the equator line. I enjoyed myself there too because I had not been there yet. Later, we went to another orphanage around the area and did another VBS program for them. The kids there were real cute too and loved having us there. Saturday morning we went to a handicapped orphanage that is also close by and got to sing some songs for the kids and just do whatever we could to help out. I was real nervous about going, but I was definitely doubting my ability to work with them. Right away when I walked in, I felt no insecurities, and I loved being there with the kids. It is hard when they don't jump all over you or can talk with you, but just being there with them or blowing bubbles around them or dancing with them is exactly what they want and need. That afternoon we took the group to the market and I got to practice my skills at cutting prices and getting good deals to help the team buy some gifts for their friends and family back at home. Saturday night was another hard goodbye because it was our last night together before they left real early the next morning. They really were such a great group of people with a heart for missions and serving others, and I know I was blessed to know them all.
Riding around in a truck-- basically our main form of transportation in El Carmen
My favorite girl at the orphanage in El Carmen :)
The parade in El Carmen
Me on the equator!
the orphanage in Quito
Ah-this is such a long post. I apologize again. Okay, so the past week I have been back in Quito and staying in Casa Blanca for the most part. We got to sit down with two of the missionaries on Monday and talk about what we want to do and have to do for the rest of the summer. Until July 18th when the next team comes, I am allowed to find my own ministry and pick my own schedule for what I would like to do. There was an orphanage that I visited before the Daybreak team came, and I decided that I wanted to go back there and check it out a little more. So on Tuesday morning, I woke up and went to the orphanage. Right away, the kids pounced on me and basically thought I was their new jungle gym and climbed all over me. I didn't mind, because, well I love kids a lot. We played outside all morning on the playground, and then I got to help serve them lunch. There was one girl that I really loved, her name was Anilie and she is 6 years old, and something happened that upset her at lunch. I didn't see, but she was crying a lot and refused to eat, so I went over to her, and she just jumped in my arms, so the ladies asked me to take her to her bed thinking she was tired. I asked her what was wrong when we got there, and she didn't want to say anything, and I asked if she wanted to lay down in bed, and she just squeezed me tighter, so I just sat there with her in my arms for about an hour and let her cry a little and slowly she would fall asleep. Every time she fell asleep, she would occasionally wake up and then just squeeze tighter and hug me more. I thought about how she probably never had anyone really sit with her for an hour and devote all their attention to her when she was upset so she would know she was safe in someone's arms, and that broke my heart a little. I was so happy to be able to love her for that hour and really be there for her. The next day I wanted to go back to the orphanage, but we ended up going as a whole group to a street kid ministry for the day. They were real rough there because the kids didn't really want to connect with us, they more wanted to be there to get their food and have a place to go for some time. I was there for a couple of hours and I had to break up a lot of fights between the kids. They were real rough, but I did have some good conversations with some of the older boys that were preparing for a soccer game they had the next day. Thursday I was real excited to go back to the orphanage and see the kids, and right when I got there, my little Anilie saw me and ran to me and said "Hola amiga" and I was probably even more excited to see her and that she remembered me than she was to see me. I played with all the kids on the playground again in the morning and helped even more with lunch. The kids wanted to know my name, and they had struggles pronouncing it, so a lot of them started calling me "Lisabella" or "Elisa" which is the Spanish version of my name. I am real excited to continue to go to that orphanage for and really get to know all the kids there.
Thursday night we decided to take off for Guayaquil, which is 7 hours away from Quito and near the coast. One of the girls here sponsors a little girl in Guayaquil through Compassion, so she had to opportunity to go and visit her for the day on Friday. So she didn't travel alone, Gustavo, Cassidi, Sarah, Allie, Sara, and I went with Michelle. We took a 7 hour bus ride through the night to get there, and after we got Michelle to meet her girl, Gustavo found his friends there and we went to an orphanage to do some ministry there. We got to help teach English to the kids during the morning for their school program. I worked with Gustavo and Allie, and after we worked on some of the basic English, we thought it would be a great idea to teach all the kids the Hokey Pokey. They loved it and had me write down all the words on the board so they could copy it in their notebooks. Then, we got to sing more songs and color with the kids. We told some of the kids to draw a picture of their best friend, and one of the boys around me named David who I had been playing with chose to draw me and him together. It was the cutest picture, and he gave it to me afterwards. He labeled the people "David" and "Elisa" and we are standing in a park or something. I will definitely hang that up when I get back home :) After we left the orphanage, we got to spend some time walking around by the Guayaquil river and then just hanging out with some of Gustavo's friends who are from all over the world and all interested in ministry. We took a flight back to Quito, which was only 30 minutes, but of course because I have travel problems, it was like 2 hours delayed, but we still had fun in the airport, even though we were exhausted.
Sara and I on the bus ride to Guayaquil
Jose and David from the orphanage in Guayaquil
Well, that has been a lot of what I have been doing the past two weeks. I will try to update again sooner so they aren't such long blogs, but I hope you enjoyed reading about it and seeing some more pictures.
Happy 4th of July in the States! We are having a BBQ shortly for some of the missionaries and their friends here to celebrate. We get to celebrate the Ecuadorian independence day on August 10th, so I don't completely miss out this summer!
Peace and blessings!
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