I knew then the trip was changing my life, and it’s an odd feeling to be aware of such a change as it’s happening to you. But what I didn’t expect is the lasting impact it’s having on me. I find myself often thinking of Ecuador: the kids dancing at Colinas del Norte, Pastora Ruth singing to us after VBS, school kids racing to hug us.

I’ve struggled lately with being happy with all that I have when I know the people in Ecuador have so little. I nearly had a nervous break down Christmas shopping, because I felt like I was slapping God in the face by buying stuff that makes me happy but doesn’t feed or clothe me. Why should I have all these wonderful things (and that’s what they are – just things) when people in Ecuador face poverty with potentially no way out of it?

My head knows that God doesn’t want me to feel guilty. My head knows that God wants me to know his compassion and then share it with others. My head knows that God sent me on that trip to show me how his plan continues on in the face of impossible obstacles.

But my heart tells me I’m wasteful, shallow, selfish.

And, well, I am wasteful. I am shallow. I am selfish. And I may be a few more adjectives I’d rather not share. But I’m thankful that I love and follow a god that put me on a path (or plane?) to overcome those bad traits.

Because of God, because of Ecuador, I know…

• …the world is unfair, but we don’t need the world. We only need God.
• …at times I will doubt that all I need is God.
• …my family is financially blessed. And that’s a good thing because it allows us to help others.
• …church family is crucial to survival and growing in faith.
• …God’s always there, even if I can’t see him through the muck of my own self centeredness.
• …I’ll never understand why some people suffer and some don’t. And it’s OK to be sad about it. But it’s not OK to wallow. I have to get out there and do something about it!

So no more guilt. Instead I’ll focus on love. God loves me so that I can love others. Guilt is just another ploy for me to focus on me, but love forces me to look outside of myself. Guilt is inward, but love is shared. Guilt is stifling, but love is action.

This is Drufo. He was one of the dogs at the construction site in Ecuador. His favorite resting spot happened to be where the team was digging an 8 feet deep hole. But did that bother him? Heck no! He just jumped down in the hole and took a nap. And don’t worry – he had an escape plan . . .

It means “Hills of the North,” and it’s a special place in the hearts of our Ecuador mission team. In years past the team has worked with the children at the daycare here. The kids are ages 2-5. We visited them on our last work day, and they managed to touch all of us in just a few minutes.

Whenever I have a bad day, from now on I will think of these kids. They made me laugh and hit a spot of pure joy I didn’t know even existed in my heart. But they also made me cry as I finally saw with my own eyes how unfair life really is. The teachers told us the kids had no friends and that we were the only ones to visit them. Some of the kids are orphans who live with families who can barely support themselves.

Miss Alice, a lady at our church, crocheted about 100 hats to give to the kids. They loved them and were excited to find out they could take them home. The hats were adorable and brought smiles to all of our faces.

One of the kids’ favorite activities is dancing. The teachers turn on the music and the kids go nuts. We danced with them until the altitude stole our last breath (so we danced about 5 minutes hahah). I shot a video of the kids before a teacher pulled me into the dancing madness with them.

Someone on the team said they left a piece of their heart at Colinas del Norte. I feel the same.

Today Karen worked construction, so I led the music (Tanya, are you proud?!?). Even though I volunteered for this job, I was really nervous. The songs are in Spanish and the tunes are new to me. But today at VBS not only did I do a pretty good job leading the music, I had FUN! God was there.

Chris hurt his arm working construction and so had to join the VBS team for today and tomorrow. But it was awesome with Chris. The kids love him and he’s a great addition to our team. God knew we needed him there.

Travis shared a story tonight about how his working area was directly in the sun. The helpers at the church tried several times to make some shade for him with tarps, but it never worked. Later, the pastor told the translator he had something to tell Travis. He said, “We tried to provide you shade but failed, so God sent clouds.” Travis said the clouds stuck around the rest of the day. God provided.

We can’t fail. God is making sure of it, and I’m so thankful for His power. At devotion, Gail told us that God is always there providing for us, but we often miss it in the comforts of home. I tell you what I’ve learned – God’s love and power are magnified here. It’s like suddenly His love for us is in focus; it was always there but now I see it so clearly.

Thank you to everyone who gave me (and all of us) the chance to be on this mission. I know I’m not alone in saying that the experiences here are life changing.

And finally more pictures! First from the construction site. Today some of the church members came out to meet the team and see their progress.

I’m sorry again for the lack of VBS pictures. I’ll try to snag someone’s memory card and copy some of the photos. I snapped these while hanging outside the daycare between sessions yesterday. The kids come out from everywhere and love to have their picture taken.

The construction team is in south Quito, and the VBS team is in north Quito at a daycare. I don’t have a lot of pictures from VBS, but I promise Karen has taken tons of beautiful photos. We had about 40 kids this morning and 40 after lunch, all between 6-11 years old. We also had the help of two translators – Pamela and Margarita.

The kids listened to the story of Elijah and watched a skit. OK, the skit was not great the first time we did it, but by the afternoon we were getting much better at it. We also sang a bunch of songs (the kids love to sing!) and worked on crafts.

After lunch we had an hour of free time (thanks to Pamela and Margarita offering to prepare one of the crafts for next time), so we explored some of the area around the daycare. Our guide Adriana took us shopping and took us to the school where the kids went. The kids were so excited to see us. We had a great time being with them and taking pictures.

After work we headed to the market, ate dinner, and had our devotion. We ended the night looking at pictures Roger and Karen took. I know everyone is tired, but I also know we all had a great day. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.

There are so many stories. This blog posting is less than even the Cliffs Notes version. Just know that God is working here – even through those of us who only know a few Spanish words.

We made it to Ecuador! I don’t have a lot of time to write, so here are a few highlights. We landed safely last night around midnight. Earlier today I saw the airport and runway, and now I’m really happy we landed at night. Small runway, huge plane, and surrounding volcanoes – sounds like a good action movie.

Today was for exploring before our work begins tomorrow. We traveled to the Equator . . . twice. The first time we went to the actual location, where we performed some nifty science tricks. Water drains straight down – oddest thing I’ve ever seen. Roger has a movie of it and I’ll post it later.

Next we went to the “Middle of the World” where the French originally thought the Equator ran. Hey, they were only off by about 200 feet, so that’s not too bad! There’s a beautiful monument at the park and shops surround it.

Middle of the World is a really neat tourist spot. There’s a lookout on top of the monument, and we could see for miles.

After lunch we went to church at Mama Yolis. The construction teams last year helped build classrooms for Mama Yolis, and we got to see the finished rooms today. Church was done in Spanish with an English translator. That was definitely a different experience, but I enjoyed it very much.

Tomorrow we start the real work – construction and VBS. But for now, I’m off to dinner. We miss everyone!

Doesn’t the crawfish with a chef’s hat just crack you up? Last weekend Roger and I hauled all of our auction items down to my parents’. Then Mom and I put together baskets for each item. We learned that working with cellophane is NOT FUN. Sure, we laughed plenty, but a lot of it was out of frustration over what we dubbed the cello-PAIN.

However, we managed to finish a few baskets. This one is full of fancy hair products donated by Rick and Leslie (thanks guys!). I almost kept the Green Tea shampoo for myself, because it smells so good.

Mom bought shrink wrap this week and reported that it was much easier to deal with. So the rest of the baskets won’t cause the drama we experienced late Saturday night.

If you’ll be in town May 2, check out the auction and food. It’s for a good cause, and the company will be great. If you won’t be in town, but you still want to help out, you can send donations directly to the church:

Wilmer UMC
P.O. Box 156
Wilmer, AL 36587

Be sure to write “Ecuador Mission” on the check. Or you can give donations to me and Roger, and we’ll get it to the right place. Thanks for everyone’s support!

But then the weather struck. Friday night and early Saturday morning it stormed! The wind blew, thunder rolled, and lightning lit up the sky like a fireworks show. You may not know much about golf, but golfers tend to stay in if there’s lightning – seeing how golf clubs are essentially mini lightning rods you hold in your hand.

But all across Wilmer 20 Ecuador team members and their loved ones were praying the storm away. And at the 10:00 am start time for the tournament, the storm left. Then to spice it up, the sun showed up. We took it as a sign that God wanted some golf to be played!

Roger and I signed up to set up the sponsor signs, so we grabbed a golf cart and headed out to the back 9. It was nice driving around and setting up the signs, because no players had made it to the back of the course yet. It was actually kind of peaceful. We even saw a baby turtle sunning at a tee box – so cute!

When we got back to the club house, golf teams were already signing in. We hung out at the first tee to see the teams get started and then greeted them again when they rounded the corner to hit the back 9. Everyone had a great time, and the weather stayed beautiful the entire day. The tournament was a success!

More pictures from the golf tournament.

These signs will line the golf course during the tournament. The top half will include the designs you see here and the bottom half will have the sponsor’s name.  It’s nice to put my professional skills towards something meaningful (not that documenting the import process for a risk management information system isn’t totally worthwhile).

If you know anyone who would like to sponsor or play in the tournament, let me or Roger know. A list of all sponsors will be handed out at the event, and sponsors who donate at least $100 will have a sign. To play, it’s $200 per 4-person team (so $50 per person). The tournament is March 28 at Azalea City in Mobile, AL. All money raised goes directly to the Ecuador mission to cover travel and lodging costs, supplies, and materials.