Welcome to Ecuador was well received by our squad mates who wearily walked through customs to see the smiling and loving face of Gustavo! One of the teams of our squad was swiftly directed to a bus and started their journey deeper into this beautiful country. As the remainder of our squad walked out of the airport to find our bus we were captivated by the soaring mountains and the hustle of the enveloping city scape. Following loading the bus and listening to one of the Inca Links’s ministry interns the general statement of the choice became “I could live here”.
We unloaded the bus and began filling our selves into the rooms and finding beds, with my team having a different ministry this month, (where we will be traveling around the country and seeking out ministry sites around central Ecuador) we were asked to wait to settle in to assure that the ladies who are spending the month here have a bed before we take one. We quickly figured out that there were not going to be enough bed so we resolved to setting up our tents and grow accustomed to life for a few days in our tents. A few of our team mates had a very cold night in return did not sleep well, where I slept amazing and woke up hot … the temperature is in the 40s at night which does explain a chilly nights sleep!
In our first day in Quito we went to a spanish speaking church and enjoyed being able to worshiping along side brothers and sisters in Quito. The members of the church were extremely welcoming and loving. There were a few words thrown out to assist us Gringos in the navigation of their service, where the very welcomed whisper from the row behind us. Following the service we were welcome with sweet hugs from everyone!
Since, our first day our team has been digging in and praying about direction for our ministry this month. We were chosen for the Unsung Hero ministry, which hold lots of prayer and seeking after the Lord for direction of where a ministry by be! So far, we know that we will be headed to central Ecuador, first to a city called, Cuenca, then to a recreation and leisure town called Banos, ending in Shell. Please join us in prayer for God to open us moments to meet people or moment to find ministry contact through the journey to these cities.
Personally, I have been on a roller coaster of stress, some of you may know and some may not, but I was given the role of Logistics leader along with one of my other squad mates to help our squad in many ways. Some of the ways that have been presented are assisting in checking in at the airport for 56 people and the self service stations froze! Then getting sim cards for our phones so we are able to communicate with all of our teams. The most fun thing I have been able to do so far, is plan our first debrief! It is such a joy to be able to plan a splendid time for my sweet squad and help make the end of our first month a blessing to them as we prepare to push on and head to Peru! I absolutely can use your prayers for logistics and also my other logistics person named Zach Murphy, we love this task but it has its hard moments!
Thank you all for loving me so well and joining me on this journey!!
God Bless
