And the Journey Begins...

But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. ~Acts 20:24

It's been awhile since I've blogged anything. I had a lot that I wanted to write from what happened at the end of my trip, but I ran out of time. Some of the kids were adopted the week I left. It was bittersweet to see them go, but knowing that they would be with families that could give them the indiviual love and attention they need was good to know. My time in Guayaquil was amazing. I was able to visit many people, and every second there was a blessing. I'm glad I got to stay for a week with some dear friends of mine who I may not ever see again. They got themselves into financial trouble and decided to leave Ecuador. They made mistakes, but we're praying for forgiveness and miracles- and just one more chance to see them.

What now, you ask?

Since my first trip in the summer of 2004 I've felt a special connection to Guayaquil. Even more so now.. I'll never forget returning to Guayaquil after being in Riobamba.. I was with my friend Joy and we had just hopped off of the 5 hour bumpy bus ride from Riobamba. Wacho was driving us from the bus station to my cousins house. On the corner of where the parking lot of the bus station and the main road were stood a little girl of about 3 years old. Her hair was in a thin greasy little pony tail, she had no shoes on, and was dirty from head to toe. She was so precious! And she just stood with her hand on the street sign.. just sort of waiting while the world went on around her. It's a picture in my mind that I won't forget. The kids in Guayaquil are heavy on my heart, and it's my goal to make a difference in their lives somehow. SO- I'll be working with a team of people to make that dream a reality. If you're interested in being involved somehow I'd love to know! Please pray!! Without prayer none of what has happened would have been nor will what's to come be possible... Specifically, pray for vision and direction, unity among those who will be helping plan the foundation work, and financial provision. I'm so thankful that I don't have any loans from school, however.. neither do I have anything in my savings, and VERY little in my checking! Ha! :oP Thank you to those who have been praying for me. I especially felt your prayers when I was in Riomamba. The Lord has heard you and he has been faithful. :o)

I'll try to update this with where we're at in the process of getting the foundation going.. so stay tuned!!

A Week at the Beach!

Hi Everyone,
I just got back from a week at the beach with the foundation! There was beautiful weather, so we're all tan and burned in some spots. We went to a place called Atacamas where some missionaries have a big house on the coast that they us use for free. It's a giant place that they rent out as a retreat center. It was perfect for all 35 of us (the kids under 10 years old stayed home). It took us almost 10 hours to drive there! And 10 hours back yesterday!! On the way down we passed an 18 wheeler that had flipped on the road. The roads are super curvy...some of the kids got sick on the way down. Blah! We did a lot of fun things while we were there! The 4 volunteers went to help be supervisors. My friend Joy and I got stuck supervising the boys becuase there weren't any guys old enough to supervise. It was fun though becuase they love to joke around and have fun. One night they stole my camera and took pictures of everyone sleeping, including me and Joy!! I didn't even know until I was scrolling through them the next day... Ay chay chay... But it was funny :) The waves on the pacific were much bigger and stronger than what I'm used to on the Atlantic. They really pulled us. Plus we saw some good sized fish jumping about 20 feet away from where we were swimming. I should've brough my fishing rod and we wouldn't have had to buy fish for dinner! We rented some boogie boards and the kids had a blast. :) One day we went to this place that sells cocadas. Cocadas are a sweet bar-like dessert that they make from coconut and sugar. They're really delicious! It was a cocadas "factory". We went behind the little shack where they were selling and saw how they shaved the coconut, mixed it in a huge pot over a fire and the put it out on a table to cool and cut it into slices. They let us drink some coconut milk and gave us samples! I'm going to look for this yummy recipe later! Later they made us a big batch of "batido de coconut" which is a milk/coconut/sugar mixture that was SOOOOOOOOO good! Yum! I love the coast!

I was very suprised this time though because the vendors were pretty rude! Some of the girls went to get their hair in tiny braids and the ladies were fighting over the girls- even pulling on their arms! One little girl was really scared until we finally said, no...none of you are going to braid us, we'll look for other people to do it. Another time there was a guy dressed in a barney suit walking around with boxes with suprises in them for kids "like a grab bag". He walked up to two of our youngest boys, shook their hands, and handed them the boxes with superman pictures, etc. on them. One of the boys started to open it and Barney said "okay, that's 3 dollars please!" Glenda was NOT happy, took the boxes from the boys and tried to give them back to Barney. Barney wouldn't take them back, so she forced them back into the bag. Barney insisted that she had to pay for the boxes, but she just explained that the boys thought they were gifts, and that she would not pay. Barney said "heeeey, we're just doing out job..." Eventually he walked off, but it was a scam to try and get the kids to open the box and force them to open. It was pretty rude. I've never experienced anything like that on the coast before... I like Guayaquil better I think ;)

Other things I did enjoy were hammocks, WARM AIR!, and eating oranges the special way they do on the coast. They peel the orange part of the rind off, cut a hole in the top and suck out the juice...then they eat the whole orange. It's SOOOO fun to eat it that way. :) I was excited when we found them selling oranges that way.

One day we got to take a boat ride. We had a guide that was telling us about the sea animals and the vegetation. They even gave us a demonstration about how they look for the sea shells. It was fun becuase as we strolled along the shore we could see the little red crabs sitting in the trees! They looked like little Sebastians from The Little Mermaid! :) It was fun! They we went up the other side and they let us get out and walk on an island. On the island we got a fresh coconut, but the top off with a machete and all tried coconut milk straight from the fruit- that had just come from the tree! Que vacaaaaaan! It was soo cool! The sand was really squishy and my feet would sink 2 or 3 inches with each step. They said if you go in a little ways and dig 2 meters down they get fresh water! This is because the sand is so fine that it acts as a filter. It was really interesting!

Well, I think I covered quite a bit. Last week Joy and I went out to eat tortillas with the cook from here. She wanted to take us out so we went with her, met some of her family, and ate yummy food!! That's another recipe that I'm going to have to look up. Sooooooooooooo good! :) Anyway...I have a lot of homework to do today and tomorrow! I'm leaving for Guayaquil on Tuesday where I"l lstay for two weeks before going home. From there I don't know how much I"ll be able to update you. Internet won't be as accessible. Love you and miss you all! See you soon!

Love, Emily

The Jesus Film Outreach!

Hi Everyone! I'm praising God for the FUN I've been having lately. The other volunteer, Joy and I have been able to get out quite a bit this week and I feel like I even know my way around the city now. (Although, we did get lost the other day...it took us an hour and a half to find the film developing store. Ha!) :) Anyway... I have to tell you about an AWESOME experience I had last night. Through the hospital ministry called Altas Cimas we met a guy that works for Samaritan's Purse. His name is Franklin and he's in charge of the projects that Samaritans Purse does in this part of Ecuador, although I guess he travels all over with them. But anyway, last night (Saturday) we went with him and a small group of people in a small town in the mountains called Penipe (about 45 mins from here) to show the Jesus film in an area that was affected by a volcano that erupted about two or three years ago. It was incredible! We drove onto the football field in the middle of all of the houses, without giving them any notice and started unpacking. In fact, some of them walked up to us and said "Hi, how are you? What are you doing? Are you guys camping?" :o) It was funny.. We set up the screen and sat on some giant stairs to watch the movie. IT WAS FREEZING COLD! The lady that I sat next to went to her house and got blankets to share with us. The people were so kind and welcoming. I would guess about atleast 30 people, maybe more came to watch the movie with us. Great turn out considering one person told me that about 40 people live in that little sector. It was great actually... I don't mean this negatively, but they seemed to me like the hicks of Riobamba. They were wearing their rubber boots and flannel shirts, some had ponchos and they were kind of rough around the edge. They were smoking and laughing and when we went to sit with them they were drinking whiskey- and kindly offered us some! They insisted it would warm us up. :) One of the guy volunteers drank some from a plastic cup, but I don't think he realized what it was until after he was already drinking it. They just offered him a cup, he drank it, and all of the Ecuadorian men started laughing really hard. :o) It was great! Anyway...we watched the movie and then Franklin shared his testimony and invited people to know Christ as their personal savior. He prayed with them and invited all that had invited Christ into their hearts to stand up and come to the front so he could pray for them. EVERY single person stood up and went to the front. PRAISE GOD for that kind of response! They kept thanking us over and over for coming and asked when we would return. There aren't any churches in that area, but Franklin will be working near that area with Samaritan's Purse for a few more years, so he invited them to visit any time. OH! by the way... one cute little old man was telling me about some gringos he knew...a missionary from MAINE named Nancy Jackson I think it was...does that name ring a bell anyone?? I thought it was an interesting connection. :)

When the volcano erupted people lost everything. The people were moved to refugee houses and the government said they would rebuild the houses for them, but they still haven't done it. So Samaritan's Purse is building 100 houses for the people so they can have their own houses. While we waited for the guys to set up the screen for the movie, Joy and I chatted with a woman who lived there. I asked her about what happened when the volcano erupted. With tears in her eyes she told us how without much notice the volcano erupted. They had heard that there was a chance it could erupt, but didn't really expect anything. Until one day the soldiers came up the side of the mountain telling everyone to leave quickly because the volcano was going to erupt. So they went to their houses to round up their animals and things. They were too slow! People died from the heat as the lava ran down the mountain. Hundreds of people just ran with nothing. They had no way to get money, no place to stay, only the clothes on their back. Most of them traveled far away to stay with family. But imagine.... most of these people are farmers with crops and animals. In an hour they had to leave it ALL behind. I tried to think of what that would be like for our family if our farm was destroyed. My dad especially would be crushed (me on the other hand...would that mean no more picking raspberries all summer??? :oD - just kidding...it would be horrible!) The cool part was that I've given to Samaritan's Purse before- operation christmas child and buying animals for people with our IV group. It was so awesome to see the how it all plays out on the other end. What a blessing! And it is SOOO incredibly beautiful up there. There's no way to describe the beauty of the mountains here. It's amazing... I have some pictures, but they don't compare even... I would recommend a trip to this part of the country! Especially if you like to hike. :o)

Anyway... I have a LOT of homework that I need to catch up on so I need to get going. Keep sending me e mails! I like hearing from you all! :o) Until next time....

PS- two more girls came today. They'll be volunteering for 6 months!!! yikes..that's a long time. But they're from Grand Rapids, Michigan! Ha! I have some family out that way and my grandparents used to like in Grand Rapids. :) Iiiiit's a smaaalll world aaaafter all.

Macas

Hi again! It's been WAY too long since I've given an update, so I apologize for that. We ended up staying in Macas for a week and a half. *phew* where to start! Well, the reason we went down was because Isaac had 4 kids added to his orphanage in 2 days. A 2 month old girl, 2 boys who had been living on the street and were arrested for stealing a stereo, and 1 other boy who was found on the side of the road beat up and in nothing but a t shirt. The last boy has paralysis on his left side and convulses quite a bit. This is all added to the 7 kids that he already had, so it was busy! I don't have time to tell everything, so I'll just touch on the things that were really interesting or that touched my heart... A few days after being in Macas 2 little kids were brought to us by the police. They were siblings, a boy 1 year old and his sister, 3 years old. They had been abandoned when their family moved to a different apartment- they left the kids alone in the apartment. They came to us with little protruding stomachs from malnutrition, they were dirty and both had sores on their feet, arms, and legs. They both had really bad diarrhea, and the little girl had sores on her head so bad that we couldn't comb it. They were in rough shape. They were brought to us in the early afternoon, but just before dinner the little girl broke out in tears. We were sitting on the couch watching a music video and my friend Joy noticed tears in her eyes so she went over to see if she was okay. The minute she said something to her she burst into tears. Joy picked her up to comfort her, but she continued to cry and say "Mommy". It was one of the saddest things I've ever seen. As she sat their crying the words to the song on the tv, when translated say something like this "you saw me when nobody saw me, you loved me when nobody loved me, and you gave me a name, I'm your little child, the apple of your eye, because you loved me." So of course it made me get teary eyed! The poor little girl cried for a good hour. I can't imagine what she must have been feeling... not having any idea what was going on, wondering where mom and dad were, in a strange place with a bunch of white people...The good part was that as soon as the grandparents found out about the kids they went to the judge and got permission to take custody of the kids. I think the kids were happy to see familiar faces.
On a happier note, I was able to get to know the kids better this time. We played with them a lot, and even taught some of them how to count and write their name. I always enjoy learning about the jungle when we go to the jungle. I learned a lot more about the plants, teas, and different food that they eat in Macas. One night they made us a special meal called "Ayampacos" (pronounced I-am-pacos) which is chicken and spices with onion, cilantro, etc. wrapped in a giant banana leaf and cooked over a fire. We ate them with boiled green bananas (they're called something else, but I can't remember...and they look like bananas). They also have a special grass that grows called "hierba luisa" that we boiled for tea! It was DELICIOUS and to me it tasted like fruit loops! :) The workers gave us recipes to make coladas (they're like energy drinks made from fruit and very liquidy-cooked oatmeal and blended in a blender). They're very tasty! I learned that Isaac had all kinds of fruits and vegetables growing in the backyard, including a lemon tree (but it didn't have lemons for some reason), guava, banana, another thing that looks like a banana-not plantains- I can't remember the name) yucca, papaya, papachinas, sugarcane, cilanto, and more I'm sure! One of the little girls that lives with him is a Shuar indian and she grew up planting all sorts of things. So she teaches Isaac how to take care of the plants. It's very interesting! Isaac says most of the kids even know how to use the machete better than him. Haha!
Another interesting thing that we did was making our own chocolate! Isaac bought "cacao" which is the fruit that has the seeds that we make chocolate out of in the middle. We cracked open the fruit to find really slimy beans that sort of looked like lima beans in it. We sucked the beans the get the slim off and spit them in a bowl. The slime looked pretty gross, but it tasted good! Then we cleaned the beans and put them out on the roof to dry. Isaac had some other beans that had already been drying for about a month, so we used those to make our chocolate. First we roasted them on the stove, and peeled a top layer off. Next we crushed them by hand as much as we could and then we stuck them in a blender with a little bit of milk. The chocolate bean itself tasted like baking chocolate. It wasn't bad! We used the chocolate to make hot chocolate. It was very tasty- especially knowing that we had made it aaaaaall by hand! :)
One of the great things about Macas is that it's pretty safe compared to the rest of Ecuador. In fact, I was able to walk downtown by myself to pick up one of the girls from school- something I would NEVER do in Guayaquil because it's not safe. People say the reason Macas is so safe is becuase if someone commits a crime they really have no escape. Macas is surrounded by jungle so they don't have any place to go without being found if they're in trouble.
Two days before we left another girl was brought to the orphanage. She was 9 years old and was found wandering Macas looking for her mom. Her mom had left the house and hadn't returned in a long time, so the girl went to find her. We thought she would only be there for a few days until they found the mom, but from what I hear it's been 5 days and she's still at the orphanage. She also cried a little when she first arrived at the orphanage, but the girls who have been there for awhile were very warm and welcoming. They took her by the hand and gave her a tour of the house, even inviting her to play with their own toys. It was nice to see how they took her under their wings.
Well, I think that's about it. OH- just a quick note about our weekend.... Friday was the 4th of July! So yesterday some other missionaries that live here in Riobamba invited all of the gringos they know for a 4th of July party. They let the Canadians go too, and even played the Canadian national anthem for them. :) I met several people from different parts of Ecuador, saw fireworks, and climbed a little hill to see the volcano Tungaragu smoking! I took pictures, but I'm not quite sure how they came out. I'll post them soon... It was really interesting though! Also- today about 20 kids from here were baptized! We went to the same place where the 4th of July party was, and they filled a big cement tank? thing with (freezing) cold water. A team from Texas was there and they had some games for the kids as well. It was a fun day and the kids were tired by the end! Even one of the Ark staffworkers was baptized!
We have an exciting event coming up in a few weeks! The kids are on summer vacation now for a few months and on July 22nd we're planning on going to the beach for 5 days. It will be needed time of relaxing for the Allans and a great time as well for the kids. The only problem is that it will probably cost around $1,000 for all of the people who are planning to go. The housing is free because some friends have a beach house that they're letting us borrow. However, other expenses including a bus for $150 a day and food, add up quickly. You can pray with us that the funds will come in for our little excursion!!
Oh! Also- the little boy that has cystic fibrosis and was in the hospital came home today!! They fattened him up and he's not coughing as much anymore! Thank you to those who prayed for him! Everyone is very happy to have him home and feeling better.
Well- I have buckets of homework to do so I have to get going. Keep sending me e mails! I love hearing from home!! Love and miss you all!

*Phew*

We're back from Macas today! I have lots of stories to tell, but not enough time! Check out the pictures though! I'll update soon!

Macas Again!

Hey! Tomorrow I'm headed off to Macas again, so don't expect any more updates this week. Isaac got 4 news kids in 2 days including a 2 month old, 2 who were caught stealing (but, I'm told are very sweet kids), and one with epilepsy. So along with the other 7 things are pretty busy. Another volunteer, Joy is going too! I'm SUPER excited! Macas is much warmer and a bit more laid back than here in Riobamba. Anyway.. keep sending the e mails! I love hearing from everyone. Hasta Luego! :)

A Night on the Town :)

Hi Everyone! So, the good news first.. Last night was a lot of fun! There are a group of 5 volunteers here from Canada for a few weeks, and one from North Carolina that will be here until August. It's been nice having other "gringos" to converse and hang out with. The Canadians invited us Americans out to dinner with them. They taught me how to ride the buses and which ones take me to the orphanage, center of town, etc. They're staying in a nice hotel downtown for $8.99 a night per person. Anyone want to come visit me?!? :) We were walking to catch a bus and it started to POUR! We were soaked within 5 minutes and we hadn't even begun to find a place to eat or run the errands we needed to do, nevermind finding the right bus!!

Anyway...we decided we wanted to go out for street food. We've heard all the warnings about eating street food, but decided to take the risk anyway. (In case you're wondering, we're all feeling fine today. :) As we walked along the road a guy started clearing a table for us and was very persistent, as well as rather funny and amusing so we decided to eat there. 3 of them ordered "Guatitas" which is a potato and cow stomach soupy-ish thing over rice. They said it was good! *shrug* I stayed safe with fried chicken. We also had DELICIOUS cheese empanadas. :) Interestingly, I noticed a guy faking a disability to beg for money on the streets. He was standing around talking to his friends one minute, and the next was on a special bike for someone who can't use their legs. It has three wheels and has handlebars so that you crank with your hands instead of your legs to move. He hopped onto that, letting his legs dangle and went off to beg. It was an eye opener to me, as I often feel very compassionate toward people who I see on the street begging, especially when they're handicapped in that sort of way. Anyway..we finished the night by getting ice cream, and then headed home.

Unfortunately, one of the little boys here is very, very sick. In fact, the doctor gave hime 15 days to live. He's been sick his whole life and was severely malnourished as a baby. He was in the hospital as a baby and the nurses would give him food, but his mother would go in the room and eat it instead. The Allans daughter has been taking good care of him since they got him, but on Monday he was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis which means that he has really thick mucous in his lungs, making it hard to breathe. Right now he also has pneumonia, so it wasn't looking good. Everyone here has been praying for him, and he's starting to look much better! You can keep him on your prayer list too!

The Canadian team here wants to climb the volcano Chimborazo next week, so I think I might do that with them. They're going out to eat lunch today...an Ecuadorian delicacy...cow testicles. yuuuuuuuuuck. I'm not that crazy!! Anyway.. I miss you guys all like crazy! Write to me! I hope to hear from you! I love getting e mails from home!! :) Hasta Luego!

June 17, 2008

hmm....I really want to put pictures up but it hasn't worked all week. Sorry!

Well, it's been another crazy few days. A group of 5 volunteers showed up Sunday and they're going to be helping for the next 2 weeks. Plus yesterday another volunteer from North Carolina came. She'll be here for 6 weeks or so, so that means I have a roommate now! It's been fun translating for the people who don't speak Spanish. :)

I can't really say that being here is easy. I love the kids! They're fun, very sweet and helpful, but I miss home. Sometimes I don't even feel like I'm in Ecuador. It's often chilly or cold, there are a lot of white people around, and probably half of the kids speak English.

I went with a worker yesterday to bring two of the babies to the doctors. Several of them have bad colds and one has pneumonia so they're pretty cranky. Hmm...there's not a whole lot else. Same old... but hey! I miss you guys so send me e mails letting me know what you're up to!! I love getting e mail from home! :)

Macas

Hi again,
I haven't written for awhile because last week they sent me to the little town of Macas. It's a little city on the outskirts of the jungle. We took a 5 and a half hour bus to go about (I think) 500km...which (I think) is just over 200 miles. The reason it took so long is because just about the whole road is dirt and it winds around the mountains. As we road, we were literally at times about 10 feet from falling thousands of feet off cliffs- no guard rail or anything! The REALLY fun part is when another bus is coming from the other direction and they pass each other baaaaarely fitting. There was one point when we went in a tunnel through a mountain, and also drove through several little streams. It was so cool! And the SCENERY!!! Wow...what a blessing to see God's creation of the mountains and valleys along the way. A lot of it reminded me of scenes from Lord of the Rings. Other parts I just kept thinking about how much my dad would enjoy the ride because we would pass farm after farm. It was really interesting to see how they would plant things on the slopes of hills. It looked like a patchwork quilt the way it was set up. When I bring me laptop down I'll post pictures so you can see.
The reason I went to Macas is because the Allan's son started an orphanage there sometime last fall. It's very small with only 7 kids. Isaac needed to go to Riobamba to get some new documents (his wallet was stolen with his drivers license, etc.) Plus, there's a new truck here waiting for him to bring back to Macas. Their older daughter Naomi was supposed to go, but the morning she was going to leave she was sick. So, instead their other daughter Zoe who is 19, plus one of the older boys who lives here (14 yrs), and I went in her place.
To make a long story short...Isaac didn't end up going to Riobamba because one of his kids, a 6 year old boy with cerebral palsy was very sick. In fact, the night he was supposed to leave Isaac brought the boy to the hospital instead and we found out that he had pneumonia. He was having a hard time eating and seemed to be in a lot of pain. THey wanted to keep him in the hospital, but there weren't enough beds!! So they sent him home. The trip wasn't in vain though... Isaac wouldn't have been able to bring the boy to the hospital that night if we hadn't been there because there wouldn't have been anyone to watch the other kids. We stayed until Friday morning and hitched a bus back to Riobamba. Naomi will go down to stay next week sometime I think so Isaac can run the errands he was supposed to do last week.
IT was SOOOO cool being in Macas. In the backyard there were all kinds of exotic things growing. Some, for example, included a really sweet type of banana (different from what we have), papaya, wild cilantro, sugar cane! (which we cut down with a machete and ate a few times), a berry called "Mora" which looks like a black raspberry and tastes like a raspberry, a yusera (I don't know how you spell that) tree that people use the roots to make a hot drink with, as well as all kinds of beautiful flowers. I took all kinds of pictures to show my dad!
Our responisbilities if Isaac had left would have been to make sure the workers who clean, cook, and watch kids were doing their jobs the right way as well as the bring the girls to school and pick them up, buy groceries or medicine if needed, etc. So Isaac showed us how to do all of that. The kids were great and I really enjoyed getting to know them. BEcuase of the confidentiality agreement I have with the University I can't post any pictures of the kids. Sorry!!
Interesting story....on the way back from Macas we were riding on the bus. About two hours into the trip a little red truck went driving by us. The bus stopped and a few people with matching shirts got on. (They were white and green and looked like some sort of nature conservation kind of people or something...i don't really know.) But anyway..they got on the bus and even started talking to a few people in the front who they must have known. It seemed normal becuase the bus is often stopping and picking up or dropping people off. As they walked to the back of the bus one of them bent over to look at my friend who was curled up asleep in the seat beside me. They went a few seats further and started shouting at some skinny guy with a pink button up shirt. They said "WHere is it?? Give it back now!!" and He kept insisting he didn't know what they were talking about.. SO they took the bag he had, opened it, and took out a laptop that was in it. THey they started asking about the camera "Where's the camera...c'mon..give us the camera..." He didn't give them a camera so they made him get off the bus with them and who know what happened after that. IT was exciting! I didn't know what was going on so when they started demanding his camera...I took the one that i had in my hand and hid it in my bag! I didn't want them to demand my camera too!!! :oP Zoe told me that they treat theives here really bad...and in some places even burn them alive ?? IT seemed strange to me because people here are always getting robbed. The saying is "get what you can, when you can get it."

Hospital Ministry

Hi Again!
Things are going well here at the Ark! I've been working with the toddlers the last few days and boy are they a handful! The things that go on with the toddlers remind me of the tv show John and Kat plus 8- a family with sextuplets and a set of twins!!
Last night I went with the Allan's daugher Naomi to a hospital ministry that she's involved in. People from churches throughout Riobamba get together to visit people in the hospital and give them food and tea. It started at 8 I think, but we arrived late. We listened to a short message and then sang some worship songs, as well as played some games to get to know one another. In fact, they told me that they wanted me to play a game- so I went up front and they said "okay! sing!" It was funny, and a bit random. I tried to play a game that I learned in Guayaquil with them called "Conoces a Juan" but it didnt really work. We headed over to the hospital where we handed out bread and tea on 3 different floors. It was akward for me because the hospitals at home are so private and you can't just walk in to talk to someone. We went from room to room visiting people, chatting with them if they were up to it. I was with one of the group members and we stopped to talk to a woman who was pregnant and thinking about having an abortion. She was in the hospital because she got pregnant and her boyfriend told her to get rid of the baby and she didn't want to, so he got drunk, beat her up, and threw her out of the house. It was a terrible story, but the guy I was with chatted with her about the hope have in Jesus and that God has a purpose for every human life, even the ones that haven't been born. Her and her friend prayed to accept Christ! It was a really neat experience for me. The other cool part was that she was actually from Guayaquil. From the sector called "Florida" that I would pass going from Rosa and Victor's house to Mapasingue where Pastor Dario's church is. When my friend was telling her to look for a church I was able to tell her right where the church was and that they were my good friends that would be there. God was so good in that moment. If you'd like to continue praying for that woman that would be great! I don't know what her name is, but God knows...
We met up with Naomi's group (becuase we had split into two groups to cover more ground) on the top floor where we hung out and shared testimonies of what we had seen God do that night. It was really powerful! I met some good people last night and it will be fun to get to know them better. At the orphanage I almost don't even feel like I'm in Ecuador becuase the weather is so cold, and so much english is spoke, plus there are so many gringos. It's fun to meet more Ecuadorian people and learn more about their culture here.
I'm also really thankful that Naomi invites me out on the town with her. I went with her 3 times this week to run errands, etc. She's lived here 11 years and knows a lot about the people. It's fun to go town with her.
Well, I've been working with the toddlers today and I'm a bit tired! Time for a rest. Love you all and miss you lots!

Pictures

The pictures I posted last night are from Guayaquil last week, in no particular order. Enjoy! :)

*phew*

Hey everyone!
Sorry it's been so long since I've written, but last week everyone was too busy to bring me to the cyber! I'm in Riobamaba now at the orphanage, but I want to write about last week too. I absolutely enjoyed my time with Rosa and Victor and their family. We spent a lot of time laughing and chatting. Saturday night the neighbors BLASTED music until 5am. I didn't sleep much and we left for church at 7:30am. Ha! I saw soooo many people at church! Betsy's family came and I got to see Chelsi, the new sister. Sunday was the day of the child here and there was a party in church. The kids all dressed up in costumes, sang songs, and played games. It was cute! They played this one game where they had a pole about oh, 20 ft high I would guess, they tied prized to the top and spread butter aaaaaaall over the pole. The kids had to climb it to get the prizes. It was hilarious becase they couldn't do it. They got SUPER nasty from the butter and ended up putting 3 people on each others shoulders to reach the top. It was funny. Although, I did feel bad for the one little boy whose shorts feel halfway down his legs when another boy was trying to climb higher than him. :) I have pictures (not of that boy in particular) and I'll post them when I can.

I spent almost the whole last week just passing time in Rosa's house and I get to church and for my last afternoon there EVERYONE wanted me to hang out with them...Pastor, Raquel, Gretchen and Luis, Wacho! ay ay ay! I decided to have lunch with Oscar and Raquel. They took me out to a restaurant called La GranChef. It was a bit high class and yummy! Then Sunday night I went to Carlos and Christopher's house where my friend Gretchen is staying for the summer. I brought twister with me and they LOOOOOVED it. It was hilarious and we had a lot of fun playing it!

Tuesday night at 12am Rosa, Victor, Sarita, and I left the bust stationg for Riobamba. they told me way to many robbery stories for me to feel comfortable there. Plus I could tell Rosa was nervous so that made me nervous. Once the bus left for about 2 hours everytime someone got up or the bus stopped my heart would start racing. :oP That may sound wimpy, but oh well. :) We arrived in Riobamba at 5:15am and called the orphanage, but nobody was up yet. We walked in the freezing cold, (enough that my teeth were chattering) to a nearby gas station. We waited there until 6:15am until Ron came to get us. Rosa and Victor stayed about an hour to see the orphange, etc. and they they turned right back around to go home. I felt bad about that, but they had class and work so even if they wanted to stay they couldn't have.

The orphanage...*phew* I was feeling super overwhelmed until this afternoon. I helped out a bit yesterday while I got to know the kids. I was exhausted by the afternoon from the lack of sleep on the bus. This morning I went to work at 6am! I'm staying in an extra room with another volutneer from Canada. I got up at 5, the temperature was probably 40 degrees maybe? and I took a freezing cold shower. haha :) They taught me how to take care of the babies today. I changed about 10?ish cloth diapers today- each time washing them out in the toilet. :) We ate lunch at 2:30 finally- but it was a greenish pureed soup... not good to eat after changing diapers all morning. There are about 8? babies that we took care of, so there's always something to be doing- feeding, diapers, putting to sleep, dressing, undressing, bathing, carrying from room to room, making sure they don't chew things they're not supposed to. (Bourget family- you guys were too easy and nice to prepare for this kind of thing ;) The other workers are very patient with me. The people here have a different accent which makes it really hard for me to understand what they're saying. I'll learn soon I hope. Anyway- so now I have some free time. Yes- I promise to put some pictures up this week. With love,

=)

Hi again! Im at the cyber with Michelle this afternoon for a quick minute. Its 96 degrees in the shade today!! ay ay ay! Although Rosa tells me that the weather in Guayaquil is changing. For example, the first two mornings that I was here it rained really hard for about and hour or two- Im not sure as it was early in the morning and just heard it clanging on the tin roof while I was half asleep, but it never rains when Im here so it was strange for me.

First off- Anna, I saw a few of your kids yesterday!!! Victor and the two girls took me to the church becuase we were going to see Pastor, but he had already left for his house. However, we were walking down the road that the church is on and I caught eyes with Julio. I looked and him...he looked at me... and he didnt say anything so I wasnt sure if it was him, but I said hi and he smiled so I knew it was him. I gave him a big hug and said it was from you, Anna! Then Kayla showed up while I was talking to him. She was suprised to see me too. What a chatter box she is! Julio was quiet as always. =) We walked a little further and saw Manuel- for those of you who went to Guayaquil hes the one that lived\s in the church and is a nurse. As we were talking to him I spotted Betsys mom and ran over to give her a hug. I think I really suprised her but she was happy to see me. The first thing she asked about was you and Josh and "los bebes", Anna. They really love you and wanted me to tell you that. I asked them to come to church on Sunday so I can take pictures for you and give them the gifts that you have for them. She said shes not working so she can come. And then..ta da! Betsy came over. She looked SOO grown up. She was wearing heels and her hair was up and everything. She looked very pretty. I gave all of them that I saw your little thumb kiss, and they smiled when I did that. Besides them, and the people I saw at the airport I havent seen anyone else for the church. I cant WAIT until Sunday so I can see more people. Hopefully Gretchen will be there too.

Last night I finally got to visit my moms cousin Mike and his wife Sue who are missionaries here in Guayaquil. They live in a beautiful part of town! Wacho picked us up and the whole family went. We laughed a lot and they think Mike his really funny. =) He had some peanut butter from the US that he let them try and Rosa is determined to find it in the stores here, but Im not so sure she will. Hopefully when I come back to Riobamba in August I can stay with Mike and Sue to visit with them some more. The´re actually leaving for the US tonight.

A ver...que mas... we really didnt do much yesterday or today. Rosa used my laptop all day yesterday to do powerpoint presentation for her class this morning, so while she did that I played with Sarita. Today we´ve just been hanging out, but I think they´re taking me out again tonight. I have no idea where we´re going. I´m just going with the flow. =)

By the way mom- Rosa and Victor and being very protective of me! They both want to go to the orphanage in Riobamba with me to make sure that its safe- Theyre worried becuase I told them Ive only been communicating with them by internet, but Barb C has spoken with them when Javier was there and I know its a fine place. And they sure are feeding me well. Every morning they tell me "te vamos a poner mas gorda, nina!!" or... we´re going to make you fat while you´re with us! So much for all of that exercising that I did all winter... *sigh* haha..

Oh yeah... for those of you who wanted to talk with me using Skype...the cyber cafes here done have it on the computers so if you want to video chat we´ll have to use MSN messenger from hotmail.

Alright.. love you all! Until next time...

I´m here!

Phew! After a loooooong day of traveling and a quick, but teary goodbye to my parents in the airport I arrived in Guayaquil without any problems. I even had a flight from Atlanta to Quito (5 hours) with a whole seat by myself. I was really thanking God for providing that as I wanted a window seat so I could sleep. I wouldnt have had it if an older woman sitting next to me requested not to sit in the emergency exit seat- as a result I even got to stick my feet up! The airport was much different than the last time I was there, but the airport employees in Ecuador are 50 times more friendly than the ones in the US. (Youll have to forgive my punctuation as I cant seem to figure out how to make the apostrophe work again.) I had several visitors at the airport to greet me including Gretchen, Luis, Carlos, Christopher, Wacho, and my host family, Victor and Rosa and their kids. When we arrived at Rosas house we stayed up until 1:00am chatting and catching up. They asked by name about every single person thats been to Ecuador and wanted to know how they were and what they were up to. I slept on their second floor, where I had to climb a ladder to get into as they havent finished building the stairs. In Ecuador they just build as the money comes in, and sometimes that takes awhile. Theres a wide open window so they put up a bug net and I felt like a little princess with all of the drapes around me. :)

This morning when we woke up, little Sarita- who just turned 3 last week was FULL of energy. We were playing hide and seek under the covers, and she would laugh and laugh and laugh. Every once in awhile she would stick in an "ay ay ayyyyy!!" It was funny. This morning Rosa was carrying her down the ladder and Rosa asked her who I was and she replied "My Cousin!!" haha.. She does say my name, but just refers to me as "mi prima." :)

This afternoon Im going to call my moms cousin to see if we can go visit them for a little bit. He lives here and pastors a church, but every time we come down him and his wife are always in the states. I couldnt seem to contact them when I was at home, so we will suprise them. After that we are going to see Pastor Dario and I can not WAIT to see him and his wife and just be in Mapasingue!!! Mapasingue is the neighborhood the church is in, so maybe Ill see some other people I know as well. Before lunch we walked to a little shopping mall nearby and we bought a phone. I didnt know that I needed my passport number as identification to buy a phone, so I bought it under Victors name and paid for it myself. After I bought it I wondered if it was really a good idea to give my passport number out, so Im glad I forgot it. When I get a chance to call Efra, I will have to ask him. By the way- I have a cell phone now and I have free incoming calls, so if you would like my phone number send me an e mail with your phone number and I will call you. Tomorrow Rosa invited me to go to english class at the University with her. It sounded fun to me so Im going to tag along. Gretchen wants me to visit the orphanage she is working at too, so I might go there on Friday, but we will see. Im just going with the flow.

Well, I think thats it for now. It still feels a little surreal that Im here. And I dont think its sunk in yet that Im here for 2 and a half months. Wow.. thats a long time. Victor said he might go with Wacho and I to Riobamba. Some of you still express your fear of my safety while Im here. I certainly understand as you have probably heard stories and I admit it isnt the safest place. However, my friends here are taking good care of me and really watch out for me. Thanks for your concern, and dont forget that your prayers are definately welcome. I love you all! Until next time...

Answered Prayer!

One of the biggest concerns that I've had about Ecuador is the long 5 hour bus ride from Guayaquil to Riobamba that I'll be taking on June 1st. That's really the only piece of the trip that I've been nervous about, and of course it's been bothering my parents enough that one of them hasn't been sleeping well. So, we made it a matter of prayer. :)

Two nights ago I was able to talk to 3 different friends in Guayaquil. First, my friend Gretchen arrived in Guayaquil last wednesday because she's also doing an internship in Guayaquil for the summer as well. I guess her fiance, Luis is nervous about my bus trip. From what I've read online, bus trips aren't the safest for single female gringas. So they decided they were going to ask the director of the orphanage at her internship if they could take the day off to drive me to Riobamba. I thought it was a nice gesture, but that would be much more expensive than my $5 bus ticket, plus a day off from work for Luis, and a day away from her internship for Gretchen. It seemed a bit inconvenient. However, my friend Wacho called that night. He calls every so often and wanted to know my last minute plans about arrival into Guayaquil, etc. Just before we hung up he asked about how I was getting to Riobamba. I told him I was taking the bus alone. He hesitated, and I asked "Is it dangerous?" He replied, "a little" and said "I'm going to accompany you." *Phew* Thank you, Lord for answering that prayer!! I'm pretty sure that made my parents day, and it did make mine!. It was reassuring to know that God's taking care of all the little details for me.

My friends Victor and Rosa, and their 3 children have graciously invited me to their home while I'm in Guayaquil. Their whole family was online Thursday night and I got to chat with their daughter, Michelle. She can't wait to "pasear" (hang out) and stay up late chatting! Ha! I hope I remember my spanish pretty quickly! I can't waaaaaaaait!!

Almost DONE!

It seems strange that for the first time I have no idea what I'll be doing after the next 3 months. I'm praying that God will reveal some sort of plan for my life through the trip this summer. I'm absolutely positive that he'll lead me somewhere...I just hope I have my eyes open when he does!!

6 DAYS UNTIL GRADUATION!!!! Yeahhhhh. :o)

Counting down the days!

Yahoo!! We're down to 35 days until I leave for Ecuador! I'll be at The Ark Children's Home in Riobamba, as well as visiting my "family" in Guayaquil. Word must be getting around the church in Guayaquil that I'm coming because I've been getting phone calls from people I haven't heard from in awhile asking when I'm arriving and who I'm staying with, etc. I'm SUPER excited, but I'd also be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous. I've never flown by myself before, and I'm not tooooo excited about riding the bus from Guayaquil to Riobamba by myself. I'm trusting that God will pull all of the loose ends together as I prepare for the trip. There are still a lot of uncertainties that I won't know until I arrive- like housing,etc. Please pray for me!! I can't wait to meet all of the cute kids at the Ark (especially all of those babies!!!) :o)