Last Wednesday my team and I set out for what was essentially a mission trip within a mission trip. We were invited by our ministry host to spend 4 days helping to build houses near Perdenales. Last year on April 16th, the coast of Ecuador was hit by an 7.8 magnitude earthquake and we were helping to build a house in a tiny fishing village called La Chorrera. We arrived at the church we would be staying at on Thursday morning and got right to work.
We spent to day making and mixing cement for the foundation of the house.
That evening we took a group of kids we had made friends with to the beach. 
The next day we woke up with sore backs, but high spirits. We got to start laying bricks – this was one of my favorite parts of the trip because we got to get to know some of the Ecuadorian men we were working with better.
We taught them English, and they taught us Spanish. We asked about their families, and they laughed at us for our poor (but quickly improving) construction skills. That afternoon we walked around the town to hand out snacks and tell people about the VBS we were having that night at the church.
That night we got to hand out diapers, clothing, and pray over the mothers who brought their children. 
On our last day we worked until that afternoon, then debriefed with our team, the team from English Fellowship Church, and the Ecuadorians we met. They are some of the funniest, sweetest, and loving people I have ever met. They gifted us little keychains and left us with warm hugs and full hearts. 
A piece of my heart will forever be with the amazing people on the beach in La Chorrera.
