We arrived at our ministry sight yesterday. We are staying in the small town of
Conocoto, Ecuador in the concrete church building. We feel so blessed: We have a
church member cooking for us, an out house with caliente water, or so we think, and we
have a place to rest our heads at night. Our host family is so amazing. We can hardly
communicate with them, but love and most body language is universal.
The lady who cooks for us, Vanessa, has two beautiful daughters. They are 6 and 9
years old. I started to cry today while I was rubbing one of their heads. They remind me
of how much I miss my siblings, but at the same time, they give me comfort. The nine
year old started crying too, and I held her and sang and prayed over her. I kept thinking
about how Jesus said to let all the children come to Him… They are the closest we can
every get to God: Gentle, loving, and innocent. I felt great comfort while holding Jadira.
Actually, she just typed her name in the computer because I couldnʼt spell it. She is
intently watching me blog while her hand rests on my lap.
We woke up this morning and ate breakfast before heading out to work. We had peanut
butter, bread, jelly, kiwi, bananas, and coffee. Afterwards, we jumped in the back of the
pick up and drove down the road to the construction site. They have just started
construction on the church. So, after fumbling around for a while and trying to get them
to let us do something, we got busy “playing in the mud”, aka- mixing concrete and
putting up rows of concrete block. We eventually all found our own jobs and the three
hours went by very quickly. We had a good time.
We have made a new game: We like to put words other peopleʼs mouths. For example,
Joseph will say something in Spanish, and we will fill in the meaning: “I like Doritos!”. It
passes the time. We learned the word “chiste” which means just joking because Joseph
loves to joke with us.
My name here is not Kaitlyn. It is Catalina. It is just easier for them to say. AND,
somehow my friend Lauren is now Dorey…? How that sounds like Lauren, we donʼt
know. Figuring out how to communicate can be fun.
We are halfway through our first day of ministry. The second half of our days here will
consist of playing with children in the community. We are looking forward to this. For
now, it is siesta time.
I am greatly blessed. Please join with me in prayers for Ecuador. We want to see great
things for this country. Right now, our ministry is to serve. Pray that we serve well… This
is the desire of our hearts.
Love,
Catalina
