Monday 1 August 2011

Pictures!!

Here are a few pictures from the last month and a bit. If you want to see more, they're all on facebook =)














1.5 Months Summed Up

I know I haven't posted in a long while, sorry about that! Things have been pretty busy around here since returning from Portoviejo mid-June; I've lead three teams and have done various ministries in between.

My first team was from Daybreak church in Pennsylvania -  there were 15 youth and 3 leaders that came. We stayed in Quito and worked on building a new addition to the church in Caupicho, which is in South Quito. South Quito is very different from Northern Quito where I've been living when not with teams. Most missionaries and businessmen live in North Quito, so it is a richer area. Plus, Gringo Land is also in North Quito. South Quito is where all the Native people, the Kichwan, from the Otovalo area come and live. I led this team with Reese and often we were both caught saying, "When we get back to Quito..." just because it is very different - there's a lot more poverty in the area. While we were in Caupichu we spent the mornings working on the church, and in the afternoons we went to the park nearby to put on a VBS for the kids. A lot of the kids came from the church, but then we also managed to get some kids to join us who were just playing in the park at the time we were there. Also while we were working in Caupichu, we lived in the church there for five days and four nights. The church is no bigger than a mobile home, with only one room. The first night we got there was a Sunday, so when we arrived there was a service. A few of the youth went up to share their testimonies, Pastor Matt led the sermon, and both the team and the congregation took turns going up and singing songs in their language. It was definitely a cultural experience for sure! Afterwards the men of the church grabbed a bunch of carpets and mats and proceeded to nail them to the support beams to create 'rooms' for us to stay. The church was divided in half the long way; one side was for sleeping and the other side for eating/hanging out. And then divided in half again on the sleeping side; one for the girls and one for the guys. The remaining carpets were put down on the concrete floor and then a few thin mattress were provided to sleep on. Very different from the nice, comfy beds we have here at Casa Blanca.
The construction we did during the day consisted of digging eleven holes that were about two feet by two feet, and either five or six feet deep depending. Surprisingly we got all the hole dug on our first day! It was hard, but we managed to do it. The rest of the days we were there we worked on tying rebar for the support columns, moving rocks, and mixing concrete.
After our five days there we headed back to Casa Blanca for the remainder of their time here. We did various jobs around CB, helping Mabe and Fabian with whatever needed to be done.Then we also did a lot of tourist stuff, such as visiting Mitad del Mundo (the middle of the world) and the Basilica.

Okay, next team:

My second team was from Cold Lake, AB (Yeah! Fellow Canadians!). It was nice to have a team come down from Canada, because then for the next 15 days the teasing stopped (I am the only Canadian interns and get picked on regularly for it - all in love I've been told ;) ). They arrived at night, so the following day was our tourist day (one of them). We went to Mitad del Mundo (again) and then toured Old Quito. It was a relaxing day because the following day we were headed off to Hauticocha, which is in the jungle about five hours away from Quito. We stayed in Hauticocha for six days, doing construction in the morning and VBS in the afternoons. Mark and Cheryl Shafer, missionaries with Inca Link, bought a piece of property in Hauticocha. Their plan is to build a missions training school for people who want to become missionaries. The back half of the property is for the school and the front half they have donated to the church there to build a new building. They also plan on building there house there so they can live in the jungle and help with the school. Our construction duties there consisted of moving gravel and laying it on the path that the previous team cleared - it's so muddy there and it's the type of mud that you just sink into when you step in it; full of clay. And then digging a hole for the septic tank. It doesn't sound like much, but when you're working in the heat and the humidity it's pretty tiring. In the afternoons, after lunch, we drove to this community 20 minutes away called 10 de Agusto for VBS. We went back there for three days and it was so much fun getting to the know the kids. There was this one boy, Lester, in particular that I found really hard to say goodbye to. Most of the kids were pretty shy and reserved, but he went out of his way to try talk to all of us even though most of us didn't know any Spanish. He also helped out a lot with the VBS, helping us get the craft ready, getting the other kids organized and getting them to listen, etc. The first day we were there he told me his story, and it was heartbreaking! I won't share it with you now because I need to keep this 'short', but I will share it when I get home. What an amazing little boy!
On Saturday the plan was to go to Peas, a small Shaur community in the deep, deep jungle. It was a three hour drive from Hauticocha (it actually took us longer because we hit a mud-slide on the way there) and then an hour by canoe to get to this community. However, things don't always go as planned... We made it all the way to the river only to discover that we didn't really have a way of getting to the community. The guy from the community who owns the canoes was suppose to bring his large, 30-person canoe, but instead he brought his small 8-person canoe. So we wouldn't have all been able to fit. Then we thought half of the team could walk for an hour and a half and a few of us could go in the canoe with all the supplies that we brought. The problem with this was, we didn't know if we would be able to leave the community that night to get back to Hauticocha; none of us were prepared to stay the night. The river was, apparently, also too low for the canoe, so we would have gotten stuck. Needless to say, there was no way to get there. How disappointing!  There is only one Christian couple in this community and they were really looking forward to our visit. We were suppose to do a VBS there and just visit with the people. In the end we had to turn around and head back. On the Sunday we went to a community 40 minutes from Hauticocha to have a church service with this one man, who is among the only Christians in the community of Guamani. There is only one other family that is Christian, but they were away that weekend. We had a service with him, prayed with him and encouraged him. That night we had another service in the church at Hauticocha. Tuesday we left for Otovalo, spent the night there and the following day we shopped before heading back to Quito. The team left early, early Thursday morning.

Last team:

My third team, and finally team, was from Greenville, South Carolina. We did a lot with this team! We stayed in Quito, but helped out with a lot of the ministries here, though our main focus was working on the church in Caupichu, various job at Casa Blanca, and with the kids at Ganas. I loved the chance to go back to Caupichu; to see the progress that has been made since I was last there end of June (so a month ago) and to see all the kids agains! I was surprised when the kids actually remembered me, and remembered my first team. They kept asking me where the girls were from the Daybreak team and it was hard telling them that they were back home in the States and that I was there with a new team. They still remembered all the songs that we taught them at VBS, so we often took breaks from the work to sing songs and play games with the kids. We were there for three days; however, this time we didn't not stay there. We communted back and forth from Casa Blanca each day. The last day we were there was pretty hard. Saying goodbye once already was tough, but for a second time it was pretty difficult! The girls kept asking when we were coming back the next day and it was hard telling them that we weren't coming back.
We were also able to take this team to Ganas three days. The first day there we just played with them and did a craft, but the last two days were awesome! On the Tuesday we took them to an amusement park; for some of them this was their first time on rides! To see the joy on their faces and hear their laughter warmed my heart. What a blessing it was to be apart of that! They had such a good time! Then on the Thursday we had a Christmas in July party. We played Christmas/winter games, decorated sugar cookies, had them act out the Christmas story, and gave them gifts. Again, what a blessing it was to be apart of that!

Before this team left, another team came. Once my team left I had a chance to return to Caupichu one last time with them. I was so glad that I went, but man that was hard! After the service Mark called both Reese and I up to the front (we were both there from the start and both had a chance to return multiple times this summer) to say goodbye for a final time. That was hard to do without crying! The girls gave me the biggest hugs, refusing to let go. One of them asked me when I was coming back the next time, crying, which made it really hard to tell I wasn't coming back at all this summer. Once was hard, second time was difficult, the third time was heartbreaking! I love the girls I got to spend a lot of time with this summer, and knowing that I may never see them again is super difficult. Maybe next summer when I come back, or maybe the following summer; either way, I want to try see them again!

So there is a month and a half summed up! I tried to keep it as short as possible, but in the process I left out a lot of stories. I will definitely share them when I get home!
Also, I'll post some pictures once I get some organized.

I'm off to Manta today for the next week; I'll try to remember to update once I get back!

Until next time!