Our last day in Ecuador!!!!!!!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! It seems unreal that it's actually time to go home in a few hours... At the moment, we're all packing our suitcases and determining whether or not we want to sleep for a bit before we leave for the air port at 3:30 am. We just finished our second Alita celebration of the day, eating cake and ice cream!

Today was a ton of fun!!! We began our day celebrating Alita's birthday! Some enterprising members of our team constucted a pancake-cake for Alita, layered with chocolate and cookies and apples and whatever else could be found in the kitchen. It actually turned out pretty fantastically. We then left for our trip to the Quito market!

The market was excellent. We practiced our bartering skills, (they got better as we started running out of money...) and picked up a lot of neat items. Again, remember to look for those pants! (A lot of us have them, and will be wearing our Ecuador gear on the plane ride home!) There were so many things to choose from: beautiful alpaca blankets and sweaters, scarves, bags, toy llamas made out of llama fur, coffee, vases, bracelets, earrings and other jewelry, pants (can't forget the pants!), chocolate, art, and so many other things! We look forward to showing you all our fabulous purchaces when we get home, along with sharing our stories and photos!!!

After the market, we drove about an hour out of town into the jungle, where we hung out at El Refugio. It is a super cool place! The ministry there focuses on building into and training leaders, and in meeting God through team work and nature. After our orientation we hiked up into the jungle a bit to the treehouse - seriously one of the coolest things I've ever seen. We had about an hour for some "solo" time to reflect and journal about our time here in Ecuador and how God has been working in our lives. Some of us stayed in the treehouse while others hiked further up into the jungle. It was beautiful, and we all really enjoyed getting to spend some time in such a natural sanctuary.

We then hiked back to the main area where Wade talked to us about following Jesus' example and serving others, referring specifically to John 13, and then as a group we washed each other's feet. It's not an example we regularly follow, so it was definitely out of some people's comfort zone, but was a really neat experience, especially because of the close community we're already sharing on our team.

We then went to supper - a giant hotdog roast!!! It was more exciting than we would have expected to do something so familiar. (The food here has been great, but we're also missing home...) Along with our hotdogs we also had a chance to try some "Cuy" (guinea pig!). It actually tastes a lot like chicken, only greasier.

Mmmmmmm, guinea pig!

After supper we had some campfire worship time, and ended the evening sharing words of encouragement with each other. It's been such a great experience here in Ecuador, and our team is just so fantastic!!! We all have gotten so close, and seen and done so many great things while we've been here. It's nice knowing that the experience doesn't end when we get on the plane; if there's one thing we've learned while we've been here, it's that our time in Ecuador is only the beginning. All of us look forward to the fruit God will continue to bear in us as we come home, letting this mission be the start of some great changes in our lives. We're so excited to see how God will continue to use us back in Canada!!!!!!!!! :)

See you tomorrow!

Tonya

P.S. This is for Dave's family, who wishes they saw him in more pictures... :P

To the ends of the earth!

Or at least, one end of it...

<>

At the EQUATOR!

We started our day with a trip to the ecuator! It was very touristy, but also very fun! We took pictures of our team standing over the ecuator, hugging over the ecuator, high fiving over the ecuator, and Nicole even did a back flip on the ecuator! (It did't go quite as planned, as you'll see in the video, but she was excited to be able to check it off her "bucket list"!) (Also, she's okay.) (Haha)

Leaping from one hemisphere to the other!

Eating a most fantastically delicious lunch!

We did some shopping, (look for some really excellent pants when you pick us up at the airport!), ate lunch at the ecuator and drank a lot of super tasty Mora juice (blackberry), then grabbed some icecream before moving on.

We drove up to the gondola where we rode up to the top of the mountain. We had barely reached the top when it started to rain. Then it rained harder. Then it started to hail. Then it hailed harder... Some of the team had gone hiking, and got to experience the storm up close and personal. (I've been told it made the experience more exciting.) A few of the rest of us happened to be near a cafe so we ducked inside, bought hot chocolate and Ecuadorian desserts and watched the storm from the comfort of our table. We also laughed a lot as we watched members of our team group by group filter down the mountain and run into the cafe to warm up. Still others spent their time in another building taking pictures on llamas. Those of us not there were very jealous.

A view of Quito from the top of the mountain!

Back to the hostel for dinner and our last debrief time. One of our hosts, Manuel, had us close our eyes while he reflected on the journey of our mission experience here in Ecuador. It was a really cool time of listening to God, praying together, and worshipping. There were a lot of tears by the end, but good ones. One more day in Ecuador! Tomorrow we go to the market, then out to El Refugio for some solo time and team bonding!

Until then,

Tonya (and Nicole, who helped!)

Our last "work" day!

"Wade's Angels"

Hola!

Laquering the skate ramps!

Today was our last official work day. We spent it out at La Roca again, where we laquered the skate ramps and painted the churches classrooms! (The paint here is really watery and the walls really bumpy - made for some messy painting, but fun!

The fed us lunch and then we went back to the hostel to rest and just hang out for a bit. (Some of us were feeling a little unwell, so the rest time was much appreciated!!!)

One of the painting teams!

For supper, we all hopped on the bus again to go to the mall! It's huge, and comparitively really expensive We had a chance to reexperience some "American" cuisine (aka, fast food...) and stop at the Supermaxi to buy some of the teas we've been drinking here, as well as other treats.

Home for debrief and now we're either playing card games or getting ready for bed. (Still so sleepy...) Our last two days here are "fun" days! I'll let you know all about it tomorrow. :)

Mmmmmm... Burger King!

shopping away in the Quito mall!

Buenos Noches,

Tonya

Hangin' out at La Roca

Watching the skate contest

Hola again!

Today we went out to La Roca, a skate church ministry run with the help of one of the local churches. The skate park is behind the church and until very recently, they have been funding everything themselves. We're actually one of the first group of missionaries to partner with them and they were very thankful for our support to help continue building what they started.

The Ecuador Team practicing skate boarding...

After hearing a bit about the skate church, we went to the Sunday church service! One of our Youth World hosts, Manuel, translated the sermon for us, and we took communion together. One of the best parts was during the worship time; we sang a song: "Gracias, Gracias Senor, Gracias mi Senor Jesus"... Because we all understood the words, it was easy for us to join in, and it was a cool experience to be able to fully participate in worship with them in that way.

Morgan about to show us his sweet skate skills

After the service we spent the afternoon hanging out at the skate park. Some of us tried to learn how to skateboard, and we actually have some pretty excellent skater-girls in the making! Jonathan brought his unicycle which also provided a lot of entertainment. La Roca had a skate contest that afternoon, which we stayed to watch, and then we headed back to the hostel.

Chicken dinner!

An excellent dinner out at La Pinchos, then back to the hostel to debrief the day and what God's been teaching us here. Everyone is just winding down for the evening now; making snacks, playing games, and getting ready for bed. We have an early morning tomorrow - we'll be leaving at 8:30am to do some work projects at La Roca before lunch.

Tell you more about it tomorrow!

Tonya :)

P.S. The kids all really enjoy listening to the comments left on the blog as Wade and I pass them on, so keep them coming! If you haven't left one yet, I know they would definitely appreciate hearing from you!

A Day at Casa G

Buenos Noches!

Team Ecuador with the Casa G boys!

Today was just excellent, but quite a change from the past days here in Ecuador. We left at 9:30 this morning for Casa Gabriel, a leadership training program for street boys. It's a really cool program! Unlike other programs for street kids, this isn't a soup kitchen or a shelter. The boys have to apply to be there, and they can leave (or be asked to leave) at any time. They are there because they choose to be, because they want a future and are willing to invest in that by making any necessary life changes and abiding by the rules of the house. There actually aren't many rules; Casa Gabriel is based on Love, Respect and Servent Leadership, and it's less about rules than the expectation that the boys will live by those three things. The only non-negotiables are that the boys can't bring drugs, alcohol or pornography into the house.

There are eight boys currently living at Casa Gabriel and they are just fantastic people. They were a little shy with us at first, but after introductions and each of our groups sharing a couple of testimonies (thanks, Shaun and Andrew!), we started to really make connections. They shared their break dancing, and a few of our group joined in (most notably Nicole with a really excellent back flip that impressed the Casa G boys a lot)!

One of the boys, Miguel, played us some worship songs that he wrote, and Jose Louis shared his testimony rap. We were moved by the faith we saw in the house, and really enjoyed all the talent there as well! We spent the rest of the morning before lunch outside in the backyard. The boys took turns playing some two on two basketball, while some others showed us how they backflip off the wall. We thought that was pretty impressive until they showed us how they backflip off the roof of the shed! Some of our team practiced backflipping off the wall with the help of the Casa G boys. (We stayed off the roof though, don't worry!)

Playing a very chaotic, but fun game of soccer!

Lunch was so good; they definitely know how to make delicious chicken here!!!! After lunch we helped them make thank you cards for their donors, then walked a couple blocks to a big field where we spent the rest of the afternoon playing soccer, sharing dance moves, and waging thumb wars.

Tomorrow we go to church, and then spend the rest of the day at La Roca (a skate church ministry). I'll tell you more about it tomorrow night!

Tonya

Hasta La Vista, Santos Pamba!

Hola mi amigos,

Today was our last day in Santos Pamba. We had a lot of time to just play and hang out with the kids. We made fruitloop necklaces and bracelets with the ninos, and played a lot of soccer. (Needless to say, we also lost at a lot of soccer...) We were able to finish painting the outside of the church! And our leaders gathered together with our Youth World hosts and Pastor Pablo to discuss the future partnership between Santos Pamba and Heartland Alliance; it was an exciting discussion for all sides, and while we took prayer requests for them, they also are praying for us and the growth and spiritual health of our church!

The last church service tonight involved some more dance presentions; the hip hop group Disciples for Christ were back again, and they pulled Danielle in for a surprise addition to their routine. Renee, Andrew and Janelle performed our second drama, and Sam shared his testimony. Wade preached a sermon about faith, encouraging people at the end of it to accept Christ. Many hands were raised, and the response of the children and youth to commit their lives to Christ was very exciting! Pastor Pablo expressed his excitement about the future of his church and the partnership with us, then called everyone to the front where Wade prayed over us. The church presented each member of the team with a small gift - a hand crafted heart, each with a Spanish blessing on it!

My heart with the words "Confidence in God", and some really excellent homemade bread!!!!!

The remainder of the evening was spent taking pictures together and giving and recieving lots of hugs! We ate one final meal and were packed up on the bus to go "home" to the hostel.

Tomorrow our day starts very early (9:15) as we go to Casa Gabriel - a home and leadership program for street boys. Until tomorrow afternoon,

Tonya :)