The Wheels On The Bus Go Round and Round!
The day starts at 5:45 in the morning as we begin to roll out of bed. We rub our eyes and thank God for the day He has blessed us with once again. Packing our bags and getting dressed to get downstairs for breakfast at 6:15. Now we have thirty minutes or less to eat, get our lunches, shoes on, out the door and down the road to the bus stop. It’s now 6:45 and we’re at the end of the road waiting on our school bus. The bus that will be taking us back to school this month. The bus arrives a little before 7 and we start to load. We’re on the bus and off to school. Now to pick up the kids and teachers on the way. One by one they get on and we make our way to school. School starts at 8 and most of the time we get there right on time.
Yep, this past month Ecuador we went back to school but this time as teacher aids. We are working with the teachers in the Anderson Christian school here in Ecuador. Although it’s a Christian school the teachers and kids don’t have to believe in God. I was even told because of the government pressures God isn’t supposed to be brought into the school even if it is a Christian school. The school has students from 3 years old to 18 year olds. Each of us were assigned to a different teacher when arriving on our first day. Lyndsee and I were put together in the gym class which, if you know me, you know I’m not all that great at sports and only played volleyball in school. Our gym teacher Henry only knows football (soccer), basketball and volleyball. These are the only sports the kids learn in gym class here at Anderson which is really different from the states where you learn all sports from ping pong to basketball, softball and so many more. The main sport here in Ecuador is football (soccer) and its usually the only sport they want to know how to play. Luckily Lyndsee is a fantastic athlete and played both soccer and basketball, so she normally takes over on teaching those and I just help as much as possible. Since I played volleyball, I’m usually in charge of teaching them more about it. When I first got put in the gym class I wasn’t sure why and was a little thrown off. I was hoping to be in an art class but I have enjoyed being in this class so much. I haven’t played volleyball in over 6 years and teaching these kids have shown me how much I miss it and love playing. I never thought I would enjoy teaching it at all but I really do enjoy it and have found a lot of joy in doing so. I love being around the kids and its been fun getting to know and try to talk to Henry. He speaks very little English and I speak very little Spanish. He wants to learn English so badly and is always trying to communicate and has Lyndsee translate so we can both learn a little. Through Henry I’ve learned that Equa Volley is a huge sport here in Ecuador. It’s very similar to volleyball but then again its very different. There are only 3 players on the court at a time. They also serve very differently, instead of using their hand they use their elbow to serve. Yes, I said elbow and let me tell ya it’s not easy (or at least for me its not). The balls are heavier but have an extra spring in the bounce. Imagine a regular volleyball net in the states now bring that up twice as high- that’s the net they use. However, they only tip the ball over and never actually hit/spike the ball. It was neat to learn a little about Equa volley. Kaitlyn and I even got to watch a little part of a game we saw in the park one day. Overall, sports are played and taught so differently all over the world. In the states, football and baseball are our most popular sports. Here in Ecuador, its pretty much just soccer. Anytime we got in a taxi or an uber if there was a game going on you better believe it was on the radio. It is so big in this country that they really don’t pay much attention to other sports really.
The teacher that had told me that the government doesn’t really allow God in schools also wasn’t following God. His name is Juan and he’s the teacher Kenna was assigned to work with. I don’t know a lot about Juan or his story. A couple of our girls prayed with him one day after school and then he started coming around the last week and half we were there. He joined us at the house we were staying at for worship one night, game night another and just to hang out the night before we left. I did get to hear a little part of his story the night before we left and the conversation started with art. Juan is very artistic and has this drawing he did that my leader Myles had shown me. After I saw the drawing Juan went on telling me what the drawing was and what inspired him to draw it. There was a bubble in the middle and a picture of his face in it just screaming. Around it were two rings interlinked and a dying tree behind it. He went on to tell me that the picture was of him being trapped in this bubble and just not being able to get out. The rings represented demons, troubles and hardships that were taking over his life. Lastly the tree represented how he felt his life was just dwindling away and he didn’t feel like he could grow past all these bad things. He used to struggle with hearing and seeing demons. It was something that scared him and also controlled his life to where he was living in fear all the time. He wasn’t sure what to do. Let me tell you though, God is good and he wants so bad to save his children. Juan is back on a path of finding God and wanting to grow in that relationship. He plans to stay in contact with the people at our hostel so he has those Christian friendships. If you were around him before he chose to follow God and now after choosing to rededicate his life to Him you would definitely be able to tell the difference. Juan is so much happier and just truly freed. Myles had given him a picture he drew of a tree and Juan described this picture as his life now. It wasn’t fully blossomed with leaves and flowers but it had a few leaves growing on it. He said this was like his life now because he is growing in God.
God is good and even though this month we were ‘just’ at a Christian school, God was moving in big ways, through the love we got to share spending time with the kids and teachers. We also were able to bring God into this Christian school of so many lost people. We were also given the opportunity to paint a mural at the school. Of course I was extremely excited for this. I drew up a sketch and the team liked it so we got things set up so we could begin painting. The last two days we were at the school I spent outside painting the mural. One of the classes came down and helped on it some and whenever the team wasn’t in class they came to help as well. For me, this mural just represents that God loves us all. It doesn’t matter where you are in the world, you will always be God’s child. No matter what color of skin you have, no matter what language you speak or how old you are, you will always be a child of God. Now this mural will be there at the school hopefully for years to come to remind the kids and teachers that they are loved. It proclaims that they have a daddy in heaven that loves them so much. Hopefully it will also remind them a little bit of us and how much we loved them because God first loved us.
This month was great and another hard one to leave but a great one to add to the books. I just know God has such great things in store for the people in this school. I truly believe He is going to use Juan to reach other teachers and students in the school. God is going to be winning over hearts one by one. Our journey here started with us laughing about getting on a bus to go back to school. I’m not someone who would ever want to go back to school again but if I could go back and know that the outcome would be so beautiful, I wouldn’t even need to think about it. God heals and moves whenever you invite Him into your presence, no matter where that may be.
