Ecuador Mission Trip Day 1 and 2

Day 1: June 6

The Crenshaw County Mission Team departed from South Luverne Baptist Church in the early morning on Saturday, June 6, 2009. We flew out of Atlanta to Miami then into Quito, Ecuador. The team members included Will Tate, Tracy Watson, Terry Lyne, Mr. Jesse, Allen & Tammy Byrd, Joshua Shavers, Jerry Cottney, Dr. Charles Topkins, James Norman, Mrs. Holly, Annette Stephens, and Kelly & Karissa Seales. Sorry I don't remember everyone's last names! I went to Honduras two years ago, but last year, I told Will, our team leader, that I could not go on the mission trip. He told me that if I didn't go, then I would never go again, and I wanted to prove him wrong so bad! While we were in the Atlanta airport, I looked up at Will and said, "I just want to say I told ya so!" I think he was happy to be proven wrong just this once. I knew I was going to forget someting... my watch. I bought a watch to go down there, and I forgot it… so sad. I sat by a guy named Jerry Cottney on both planes… he met up with our group in Atlanta. He’s really cool. He’s from above Roanoke, Alabama, and he is engaged to a girl in Tuscaloosa. On the plane, there was a guy wearing a Georgia hat that said, “Ya’ll have the prettiest missionaries!” The man beside me on the second plane was from Quito so he got to tell us about Quito, which was very helpful.

I roomed with Tracy and Terry. We have three beds in the room, and it’s really nice. The first night, I introduced peanut butter and oreos to Tracy! She loved them!

Day 2: June 7

Quito is B-E-A-U-tiful! Tracy and I found the roof and got some pics! For breakfast, we had good ‘ol eggs and bacon, but they did taste kinda funny, but not the worst thing ever! The weather is compared to women’s moods; it is constantly changing! LOL! Ecuador has 2 seasons instead of 4: rainy and dry. We are in between the seasons now. If you thought our politics were weird, you should see it here! They have had 7 different presidents within the past ten years! And the country has seen 13 different constitutions!

We went to the equator! So neat! I stood in the middle of the earth! There was a small village (it looked like a haunted village from Scooby-Doo!) at the equator that was really neat! The guide told us the chief of the village was buried in a pot, and his wife would be buried alive with him. That was really creepy! Tracy talked me into climbing into one of the pots for a Kodak moment! They showed us some really cool tests to show how cool the equator is! If the water goes down the drain north of the equator, it spins clockwise. If it goes down south of the equator, it spins counter clockwise. If it is on the equator, it doesn’t spin at all! So neat! You could put an egg on a nail, and it would stand up! They showed us a shrunken head that was totally gross and told us (with pictures) HOW to make a shrunken head, which was even grosser! They had an anaconda that was 21 feet long in an aquarium that was kinda creepy but totally awesome!

You will not believe this! I actually tasted the guinea pig!!!!!!! I said I wasn’t going to, but then I did! It was so gross! The flavor wasn’t bad, but the texture was terrible! But I am so proud of myself for trying it!

We went to the Mama Yoli House for a church service, and it was so incredible! The kids were so cute, and even though we could not sing the praise songs, we were worshipping the same God so the language barrier did not matter! The preacher read Ephesians 2:1-10, and we had an interpreter to help us understand.

We had a meeting with some of the leaders of SIFAT (Servants In Faith and Technology), and they said the goal was to "give a piece of eternity here on the earth to the children." They tried to give us a preview of what to be expected. There are so many children here that are mistreated and neglected. There are many single mothers and sicknesses and most children do not even finish grammar school. They told us that a few years ago, the country switched to American money, and after that, 84% of the population went into a poverty state (ironic right?). The man in charge of SIFAT said "it is a challenge from God to be able to serve the children. The gospel belongs to everyone." He encouraged us to be like disciples and spread the gospel. The engineer of SIFAT said “Dreams can come true… even if they seem impossible.” SIFAT is helping build a children’s clinic with classrooms, a library, computers, and a kitchen! The lady in charge of VBS said the children come with "open hearts" ready to receive love because they need love. She shared a few stories with us that made everyone in the room at least tear up. Some children have so much violence in their life that they will hit the other children, the pastor, or the VBS workers because that’s all they know. One that really stuck out in my mind was a 5 year old that heard the story of the Good Shepherd. His stepfather beat him and he always came with hugs and kisses to the workers and he always asked for the Good Shepherd. He thought the Good Shepherd was the pastor! Most kids go to work at 6 AM or they have to go without food. We have watched children on the side of the road selling strawberries or anything they can to get by! We watched two kids would walk up to cars at redlights and juggle for money. It was so sad!

Will lead us in devotion. He asked the questions: What do you intend on doing while we are here? What was your motivation to come? What do you hope will result from being here? What do you plan on doing when you get home? How does it change you? The purpose of the devotion is we get fired up for God while we are here, but we need to go home and not let the fire burn out. He read us 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Colossians 1:28, and Philippians 1:4-6.