A Call for Missions

     I was born and lived in Millersburg, a small town in Indiana until I was 11.  In fifth grade my family made the decision to move to Manta, Ecuador to be missionaries working with street children.  I was excited for this move.  In preparation for moving, my three younger sisters and I practiced taking cold showers to get used to using cold water as it is very common in Ecuador to not have running warm water.

     Before moving to Ecuador, my family lived in Tijuana, Mexico for about three months for cultural training.  We lived with a Mexican family and had a wonderful experience.  Absolutely love real Mexican food!

     Then in April we moved to Ecuador.  April is the month when school starts in Manta. The school year is different because Ecuador is located on the equator and the places to the south of the equator are on the opposite school schedule. So a week after we arrived, my parents dropped us off at the Spanish Christian school.  We didn’t know any Spanish except for a few words.  Immersion was the best way to learn Spanish even though there were tough moments.  One of the first memories I have is sitting there not understanding a thing but expected to write down everything the teacher dictated. I tried to copy off the girl sitting next to me on the two person desk, but she was no help as she looked at me and covered her notebook.