Ecuador Post Part 3

PART 3

Next morning, we awoke to seagulls screaming and the sound of the tide lapping up on the beach. After breakfast, we met in a conference room where Wess Stafford shared with us about his passion for the Compassion ministry and his love for the poor! He told us about his childhood growing up in the tribal villages of Africa and speaking eight languages every day! He told stories about being a spy, an ambulance assistance and a disc jockey. There is so much passion in him and so much love for the people around him that it radiates from him! He makes everyone feel special and accepted, no matter how long he's known you; for five minutes or fifty years. I can't say enough about Wess Stafford and the work that God is doing in with and through him. I learned so much!

There it is! The beach!!! My first ever glimpse of the Pacific Ocean!

After that meeting, we loaded up in the shuttle and took a scenic drive to a very small town in one of the driest parts of Ecuador called Las Lagoonas (many lakes :). The church was, appropriately, built at the top of a hill that overlooked the city and I was touched with the love and acceptance of all the people there, not just the children! The excitedly welcomed us into their church family. We laughed, chased each other and gave many, many hugs and kisses.

The children gave us these foam faces that they made! I think I counted 21 in all between me and my dad! :)

There's Becca surrounded by beautiful little girls!

The hat was still a favorite!

Here's one of our trip leaders Justin and some new friends.

Once again, my big straw hat proves to be a great ice-breaker!

Tim holding another baby! Not a surprise at all!

Silly Mr. Tim!

Daddy was adored by the kids

This is Chloe. She too tried my hat, but it had those foam faces in it!

Once again! Smiles all around!

This is Ellie, her dad and their sponsored child, Evelyn! How sweet!

Lunch was tuna salad and chips with fresh fruit and a desert called “flan”. A mixture of sugar and eggs who's consistency is similar to nothing I've ever eaten. The closest thing would be custardy fish because of the way it comes apart in clusters.

Our home visit was eye opening. The mother Maribelle had two children and they lived in a sturdy brick house which was built by her husband who was out in the field that day. The main occupations in Las Lagoonas are brick-making and farming. Our translator, Roberto asked Maribelle what she would say if God asked her what she would want. She replied that all she wanted was for her children to be healthy! It made me think of how much we can take general health for granted here in America. There are lots of diseases that people can get from drinking water, eating poisoned food and so on. The people in Las Lagoonas get their water once a week from a rusty water truck that comes and fills their buckets. That's the water for the whole week. Talk about needing conservation skills!

Looking around Maribelle's home, I was touched at how evident it was, that she had done her very best to make it less of a shell and more of a home. She said she hoped that someday, they could add another room because she didn't like that it was all one big room. She had rugs and blankets up on ropes to simulate walls that separated the bedroom area of the house from the living room/kitchen. It reminded me very much of a modern-day "By the Banks of Plum Creek" (a Little House book by Laura Ingalls Wilder) scenario.

These are Maribelle's chicks. They're in an old gas tank with the top cut off

Here's Maribelle, her sons and I outside their house.

When our visit was over, we loaded back on the shuttle to visit another plant several miles away. I'm afraid I can't remember the name of that town either...We had a fun time playing with the kids and the family who had planted the church, talked to us about what they were doing there.

There was a rope-jumping competition. Boys vs. Girls :)

Next Day, after a meeting in the conference room, we boarded our flight back to Quito and drove straight to the market place from there. I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of it! My dad and I sort of kept one translator named Liseth to ourselves as we shopped around. We got so many great deals!!! I found matching blouses for my mom, my sister Marley and then little dresses to match those for Mandee and Mirial. Dad found hats for Max and Moses, scarves were really cheap and there were an abundance of trinkets and such for prices that were both cheap and overpriced :)

That evening over dinner, we met two of Compassion's LDP (Leadership Development Program) students. For $300 a month, a sponsor can support a young man or woman to go through college and help support their family. The young lady sitting at our table, I think her name was Naomi, was going through the most prestigious electric engineering college in the country. She was designing prosthetics for children who have lost limbs because of illness and wars. You could see how passionate she was!

This was my meal on our last night. The stuff in the bowl is ceviche. It was delicious! I tasted tomato juice and cilantro mainly. There was shrimp in it. So rich, I couldn't even finish it!

This is Naomi! She was very gracious to talk to us while her food got cold!

We had to leave early that evening to make our midnight flight. Everyone else was leaving the next morning, but Daddy said that we saved over $1,000 on our tickets by booking them at midnight. Our flight to me seemed endless especially because I don't like sleeping on planes. I barely caught a wink and was falling asleep on the escalator and trying to keep up with daddy as he moved us fast enough to get us through customs and security before we would be caught up in a long, long line.

After a quick breakfast a Chili's (not bad at all), we boarded our next plane back home. I slept the whole way :) As soon as we touched down, Daddy called the house and within half and hour, we were in the minivan on our way home! I had jet lag pretty bad for the next couple of days, but now I'm better (in case you were wondering :)

To sum up: I can't wait to go back!