We are finally at our ministry site, where we will spend the next four weeks. I. Love. It. We are staying at the church, where Pastor Fernando and his family also live. And when I say family, I mean his wife and three kids, his brother in law and his wife and two kids, and her father. I love how important family is here. It makes me feel at home too. We all already love them all so much. They provided beds for each of us and a bathroom for the 6 of us!
We were not expecting this much luxury and feel so blessed by these wonderful people’s generous hearts. We also met about ten kids from the neighborhood who attend the church. I do not have pictures of them yet, but the plan is to learn lots more Spanish and teach them mas Ingles. Stay tuned for more pics of these great people.
Beets. We just ate the best lunch ever. Joana (pastor Fernando’s sister-in-law) made us vegetable soup, rice, a steak-like piece of meat, and….beets with tomatoes. I didn’t even think I liked beets.
My wonderful leader Kristen
I may be that I liked beets because we worked really hard this morning breaking ground on the new church building. They have a beautiful piece of land on top of a hillside and we have the honor of laying the foundation. Today we pick-axed, shoveled, pulled weeds, and cleared out a perimeter for the foundation. My fingers, arms and back hurt so good!
I flashed back to moments when I was sitting in my little cubicle, looking out the window, and thinking “I think I would rather do construction or landscaping instead of sitting here in my comfy little chair and warm or cool building.” Little did I know that God would let me do that in Ecuador! I read this this morning before we began working:
“The mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come…”
The land for the church
I used to sarcastically say that I’m livin’ the dream. Now I really am and I’m excited for more!!
(PS: I wrote this last Monday, so much has been done since this post…stay tuned for another blog for updates! Thanks for reading!)
