I have not been on a long bus ride since I went to Washington D.C. in the eighth grade with my church. That was nothing compared to this adventure!
Once the seats were designated I learned I could have one to myself. I was giddy at first. Then a Colombian lady sat down next to me… she spent most the time on the phone and kept to herself. She cried a lot. Of course with a language barrier I couldn’t ask what was going on, but what I have been learning, especially about myself is that words are not always necessary. All either of us needed was an occasional smile.
In South America bus drivers allow merchants on board to sell things. This lady bought something every time. She offered me her snacks to share and then once the bus emptied out she moved to a seat by herself.
I think God puts you in places or situations on purpose. Trust the plan, trust him!
Debrief in Banos
After a long first month and bus rides, we finally arrived in Banos. What a beautiful and magical place!
We had sessions with mentors, coaches, and leaders, then we were free to do what we wanted. Katlyn (a teammate of mine) and I went on refreshing jogs, got our nails done with Erika, and piercings with other girls from other teams. I even splurged on a massage… all activities were vital in working up the energy for another month of ministry!
There was a beautiful cathedral in the town square. For the first time in more than a month, I got to experience a full-length mass. I squeezed in and focused on the service. Next thing I knew I saw and heard a commotion to the left of me. The sweet old lady that was sitting while we were standing was ransacking through my fanny pack. I simply picked it up and went back to praying. Once it was time to sit down I turned to check my seat and the lady who stopped the thief asked if I was okay and the little old lady was gone. Had she of stuck around I would have given her the money in my purse. The way I see it if she was that desperate to steal at church then she needed the money more than I did.
The whole experience was interesting. I have never seen street dogs or beggers IN church before. Overall it showed me how much I have grown. The old me would have lost my mind! I did think to myself, it would be nice to have a good Catholic man to protect me, and then God wrote on my heart that he was there. He has always been there protecting me!
Casa Blanca En Quito
Our host house for the month is one house of many on the property. There are many rooms with many bunk beds and bathrooms with hot showers!
While going over the house rules the host shared with us that as much as it costs to come on this race (around twenty thousand dollars) is as much money as him with his two jobs and his wife with her three jobs make altogether. If that doesn’t put things into perspective than I’m not sure what would.
They run a pretty tight ship which is something I am a huge fan of. Most of what we eat is grown on the property and we all have chores. He went on to share that in some of the other homes on the property house teen mothers. Some of the money that we have paid to stay on the property goes to houses those young women as well. That made my heart smile!
We are sharing the house with another group of women. They are in month eleven of their race and they have been a good learning tool. Not only have they spoken valuable words into us but they have also been a sight of example for us. Mostly a sight of what we do not want to happen. They are wonderful woman, however, they do not value the same things as we do, as much as we do, and for that, I am thankful that our team holds on to the same truths or principles. It all truly does seem to be a part of some ‘divine conspiracy’!
ISM And JESSS
First day of school! When we arrived at International Scholastic Model or ISM we were ushered into the teacher’s lounge and introduced to the teachers we were going to be paired up with for the month. One teacher was not assigned to anyone because she taught both Social Studies and English. I love Social Studies! The teacher I was paired up with did not have a class afternoon on Mondays so I then moved to another. Unfortunately, I was feeling really nauseous. So much so I spent some time in the bathroom. When I felt better I was told that I could help the Social Studies teacher, I was SO excited! Still feeling ill the ten and eleven-year-olds interviewed me, after that we all went to the auditorium for a debate! I would say our first day was a success!
As I was writing this blog one of the teachers from Ghana asked if I was reading my Bible. I said no, and then he went on to say ‘are you a part-time Christian’? Of course, since I am on a mission trip I said, ‘no’! He replied with, ‘I am’! We went on to discuss what that meant… he is an English teacher at a Christian school but he doesn’t believe in the story of Jesus… we are now thinking that we are not at the school to just teach English and that is ok.
The other school JESSS is quite different, it is a private school, but not as pretentious as ISM. It is a very open school as in most of it is outdoors… the cafeteria is in the courtyard if that makes sense… their programs are not very well organized and there are only five or six kids in each class. On our first day, we split off into two groups of three. We were to sit in on the lecture for a bit then present our own, this was easy with two other partners, then we had a snack, and after I was separated into a class by myself. It was okay until I had to give my lecture! I had no idea what I was doing. Luckily, I found some English learning games online, and we did that for the remainder of the class, but needless to say, I did not really like that situation.
On the last day of school at ISM, the sun was shining bright and it was a beautiful day. We came in and started chatting as usual. I finished grading papers that I didn’t get to the prior week because my teacher Edgar, and I got to talking! Then we had lunch and I went to class with my other teacher Patricia. She gave then a worksheet and asked me to grade more papers. She then advised the class that it was my last day and they should write me notes, which they did, she then proceeded to make them stand up and say something nice to me one by one. It truly was so sweet. As we went back to the teacher’s lounge one of the non-believers at the Christian school said we were good examples of the faith or something along those lines. The day held so many blessings.
The last day at JESSS was just sweet. The teacher’s made us a fruit salad, coffee, and humilita. We sat, ate, and shared the highs and lows of the month. One of the kids I got close to was a seventeen-year-old guy named Martín. He was walking around the cafeteria and not in a class, we discovered why though. He had been at the doctor’s then was told to stick around the nurse so they could keep an eye on his heart monitor. We had no idea! Luckily he was there though because he then got to hang with us and ended up being our photographer for the afternoon. Most of the time, it seems to me, people don’t need to be preached at, but they do need some companionship, and the preaching can come later.
“Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him- a threefold cord is not quickly broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12).
