Day one and two Ecuador

Let me begin to by saying, I am sorry if there are spelling mistakes, missed words, or simply things that don't make any since at all. I am writing this late at night and Spiritually high, but I am emotionally drained.

OUr flights to Ecuador were fairly uneventful. We left Orlando at 11:00 am on Sunday morning and arrived in Quito, Ecuador at 7:15 PM. (This was after we had an hour and a half lay-over in Miami.) We were greeted at the airport by Operation Christmas Child reps with open arms. It was wonderful. The trip through customs was completely uneventful and went rather quickly we were on our way to the buses in no time. One thing that did catch us off guard were the people we saw waiting in the terminal of the airport. They all looked as though they came from a page from the National Geographic. It was crazy. They looked Indian (Native American almost), many war hats and formal Ecuadorian dress. They were amazing. They were a quick reminder that we were no longer in the United States. It was awesome. (I wish we could have taken pictures, but we thought it would be rude. ;) ) Eventually we made our way to our hotel, where we grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed off to a much-needed rest. Tomorrow would be coming way to early.

2/1/10

Today we were awaken by our wake up call at 4:15 am. Yep that’s right! 4:15!!!!! We grabbed a bottle of water and roll, and we were off to the airport to fly to Manta where we will be staying for the next three days. Although the process took a while to get us onto the plane, eventually it was a success and we were on our way. Manta, here we come!

We arrived at our hotel and immediately went to breakfast. There is a large supply of juices here and since we cannot drink the water, and can’t have ice as well, everything is served slightly chilled or cold. L It is funny how you grow accustom to certain things and you do not even realize it until you can’t have it that way. During breakfast we had the chance to share in the devotions of the guest pastor that has been brought on the trip from Fort Worth, TX. He was truly amazing! He used the scripture from Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” How perfect is that? He then reminded us of the Luke 15 where Christ taught the importance of the one lost soul through three different examples. It was such a perfect message for all of us to hear before we headed out on our distribution. We should never forget the importance of ONE!!!!!

At last we were on our way. Scott and I are part of the light blue team which is lead by our fearless leader Ken Chivers (pronounced Ch as in Church. . .CHivers. J ). Our team consists of 5 Area Coordinators, 2 Regional Managers for Operation Christmas Child, one OCC Worker from Boone, 3 interpreters and a bus driver named Julio. We travel in bus, and thank goodness we have a driver who is not only familiar with the streets of Manta, but also can drive with the crazy drivers in Manta. (It is a little scary.) J

We were able to go on two special distributions today. I want to be able to write down as many memories as I can, so they we have to come in bullet form. Sorry. I cannot write in paragraphs or great detail. It all goes beyond words:

Distribution One: Alianca El Porvenir

This is a church located in the community of Porvenir which is a very poor area in Ecuador. It is a Christian Church and there were 100 children waiting patiently inside for us to arrive with the shoeboxes. The church presented the message of Jesus and his grace through puppets, clowns, music (including some songs we sing at our own church), and a message presented by the pastor.

The actual distribution at this site was set up where each child who was receive a box was given a ticket. This allowed us to know the number of boxes that were needed. The children were then seated in circles according to their age and gender. We then gave each child a copy of the booklet, “The Greatest Gift.” Many of the child ren chose to read this book as they waited their turn to get a box. The children were told not open their boxes until everyone had one. They amazing thing is that they listened. As soon as the boxes were given out, the children were then allowed to open them up and see what was inside. We went around and interacted with them the entire time.

Highlights:

· The pastor was able to preach such a powerful message that even a non-spanish speaking person could understand.

· See the crates of boxes being brought into the church was overwhelming and exciting because you realized that the boxes really do go to the children and that we had packed boxes just like that were going to someone else in the world.

· We were one box short. Luckily, Scott and I were blessed to be given 20

insulated lunchboxes that we filled with items donated and discounted from Wal-greens. Along with items given from other members of the team, we were able to create a shoebox out of the bag.

· Oversized boxes can complicate things. On this distribution we were given two huge boxes. If they had been split, we would have had enough. The other thing is it was difficult giving one person a huge box and someone a much smaller one.

· I wish I could speak Spanish.

· At the end of the distribution we were able to pray with the pastor, his wife and part of their staff. We found out that one of the children from the group was actually in the hospital. His name is Kevin. He is three and he has kidney problems. They asked us to pray for Kevin as well. His father was there with us, so while we prayed for the pastor and the church, we prayed for Kevin as well. Later, we were able to give the dad a lunch bag with items in to share with Kevin. God is so good!!!

For lunch we sat on the hot bus and ate sandwiches. It was actually quite awesome. We were waiting for the pastor of the church of the next distribution to come and pick us up. This was great because we happened to be right in front of the hospital that Samaritan’s Purse is in the process of building. It was attached to the medical building that other charities have provided. We are going to have a chance to work on this Wednesday. We are looking forward to it.

Highlights:

· there are no doors on the building itself.

· Outside on a large Bulletin board is a list of services you can have done the cost for each one.

· There were probably 10 different types of doctors in the building and one doctor for each field.

· When we went inside, they allowed us to use the restrooms and while we were there they made sandwiches for us and poured soda for us. They gave to us!!!!!

· There was no air conditioning. The ceiling was vented, but it was very warm and humid outside.

Distribution #2 : Inglesia Shadai Missi

This church was also in Portoviejo and was in the middle of a farming area. The church had a school attached to it we were expecting somewhere between 400-500 children. This was to be the largest distribution of the week. At the site there at least 500 children inside and at least another 100 outside who could not get in.

When we arrived at the church the children were already seated in a sweltering building. More and more families continued to arrive. All chairs were already filled so people began sitting on the steps of the stage and lining all of the walls. The worship program was handled by the youth of the church with several of them dressed as clowns and signing secular and Christian songs. Unfortunately as the program began, the electricity went out. YEP! It went out. The children leading the service did their best to entertain and share the story of Christ as best they could, but with a microphone no one could here them. (I knew Satan was trying to do something at that point.) It did not take long for everyone to realize it was just best to give the shoeboxes out.

Unfortunately, there were not any tickets or anything else given out, to let us know who should get a box or whether or not they received one. We gave “The Greatest Gift of All” out again, and again the children dove right into. The problem came when we began distributing boxes. We did our best to try and ask people to stay in their seats and let us bring the boxes to them. This lasted for a very short time. Almost immediately, parents were encouraging their children to get out of their seats and ask for a box. Some parents came to us even without the children. We could not control who was coming in or leaving and although we tried very hard to keep things under control, it was not easy.

I will say that the electricity did eventually turn on. Unfortunately things had already started getting out of had and escalating. People were getting concerned that their child would not receive a box, it was very hot, and people who were pouring in from the outside. We finally had a put someone on guard at the door, and after a while we had to leave. There was concern that a mob scene was going to take place and they did not want anyone to get hurt. Although we did not get to interact as much, there were a lot of amazing God things that took place.

Highlights:

· Before the program began, I was talking (with a translator) to a group of boys in the front of the room. One of them told me he wanted to move to the United States. I told him that we could sneak him into my bag and he thought that was funny. I told him that I always wanted a son. He told me that may be true, but I wouldn’t want one that was black. (He was black,) I told him yes I would and that color didn’t matter to me. The translator included the fact that it did not matter to God either. It made him smile.

· No one got hurt or totally out of hand.

· Moms are moms no matter where you live and they all want to give their children whatever they can. I realized this most clearly when I had several who would follow me around begging for me to give a box to their child. We were encouraged to give them to the ones following instructions first. It was difficult because you could see the true desperation on their faces.

· Scott juggled for the children up on stage to try and get them to quiet down. They loved it. Another one of our group organized everyone to sing “Allelu, Allelu, Allelu, Alleluia” It was beautiful.

· Over 500 children received boxes and the gospel information they needed to understand God even more.

· As we left, children were all of the streets going through their boxes.

· The boy who wanted to come to the United States waved good-bye to me.

· There is no doubt that God allowed the boxes to keep on coming! He was obvious and although it was a little crazy. . .We had nothing to do with it, but God was all over it!!!

Needless to say, that when we got home we were very exhausted. I took a quick and then we were off to dinner. During dinner, we were introduced to the Ecudorian team. They are awesome!!! The woman who is charge of the discipleship program shared with us about the details of what happens after the boxes . Again, I do not want to bore you with every detail, but here are the highlights:

· there are already 2500 volunteers trained to share the Discipleship program with the kids. (This is the follow-up program. It is much like a Bible study.)

· In 2005 (When it began), 3000 children have gone through the program. 1598 of the children graduated and gave their lives to Christ.

· In 2009, over 19,000 children graduated!!!

· They have many prayer requests, but in nutshell they just need us to PRAY!!!!

Once this presentation was over, our night came to end. We were sent to bed and were encouraged to get plenty of rest because we would need it in the morning. They were kidding!!!! I am mentally drained, but spiritually. . . I am ON FIRE!!!