hugs & drug rehab

Wow, I can’t believe we have been on the race for 10 days! It is amazing all that we have seen and experienced in this short span of time. Upon arriving in El Carmen, I wasn’t sure what was going on with my body, if I was just tired or something more. Turns out I had a fever of 102.2 and got the dreaded travelers diarrhea! I am SO thankful for my team and ministry contacts who prayed for me and allowing me to get well so soon! Obviously, I am feeling much better and even more thankful for the health we have each day now that I am done with that episode. Was that too much information?
 

We have been busy and yet had time to adjust our bodies to a completely new culture. We have already been painting the church building, doing door-to-door ministry where we pass out invitations in communities for a bible study that night. So far, we have been invited into people’s homes and prayed over the sick and weak. Our ministry host, Elmer, comes with us and also leads the bible studies at night, so this is an awesome way for him to grow this ministry even after we leave Ecuador.  We have attended an intervention meeting for drug addicts overcoming their addictions and restoring families. The night we went we were supposed to lead the people in games, but before we got there we heard they were doing an intervention for a family. This was a very intimate time of restoration as this young man was admitted into this rehab program. We will go there every week.
 
New cultures are just plain interesting to me. It creates a lot of questions in my mind, but for now, will share some interesting things I have noticed from our time here:
 

1. Babies ride on motorcycles in their mother’s laps- they also ride in cars without car seats.
2. We have chickens on the roof of where we live. Not sure why, but it could be where we get our chicken dinner from.
3. Dogs are EVERYWHERE.
4. Cars here do not require the “clean air� inspections- making it hard to breath when walking down the street. I feel like I am gasping for fresh air- and then a car goes by….
5. If you want some meat, it is hanging in the doorway of the butcher shop in 90-degree heat. I think we refrigerate things too much in America.
6. When you walk into a room here, you shake everyone’s hand and say, “Hola� or “Buenos Dias� and then, when you leave, you do the same thing (Buenos noche and Adios). There is a whole lot of hand shaking going on here in Ecuador!
7. If you see water dripping from the side of a building, do not wash your hands in it….
8. Everything is about a 10 minute walk away….or so that is what they say before you start to walk there….

 
The children here are so sweet. Everywhere we go, we run into children who just want to hug us and play games. I went downstairs to the courtyard the other day (where we live) and the children were sitting down there and we were able to just laugh (probably at my lack of Spanish speaking ability) and the next thing I knew I was playing hide and seek. The kids are so funny because I am 6 feet tall and here in Ecuador, most adults are like, 5 feet or less. So, I am running around trying to avoid clotheslines and crouching down behind rock piles…One time I was hiding and they were trying to make me hide in this portion of a small cupboard (which I  was an old refrigerator without doors) which was facing the wall.  Hello, bugs live there and I can’t fit but it was a good hiding place.

How have you been encouraged this week in your faith? Do you have a blessing story to share with us? Please comment so we know you are doing well!
 
***Support update: Thanks to your support we have raised an amazing $29,248.82!!! We are SO ENCOURAGED and BLESSED. We need to get to $32,000 to be fully funded and I know the Lord will provide!