Estamos en Casa!

I made it back to Virginia just before 8:00 p.m. tonight. Thank you for all of your prayers as we traveled back! We had a wonderful time in Ecuador with those that we ministered to, and with each other!

All of us recognize the influence your prayers were having on our ministry opportunities and in our personal lives! Thank you VERY much!

Please pray as the work continues in Ecuador at Pan De Vida, Zambiza, Para Sus Ninos, English Fellowship Church, and Extreme Response as a whole. Pray also as our team processes the amazing things that God has done in and through us over the past couple of weeks!

Numbers 6:24-26

We are home!

The Fountain of Life crew of the Mission Ecuador team made it home safely. We had a couple of snags with our luggage (it did not make it to NC with us the first time), but all is well now. We are going to present some of our pictures and stories during the sermon on Sunday (8/15), so come and learn more about what we experienced and how God changed our lives. I can say that we are not the same as we left 2 weeks ago - Thanks be to God!

Earthquake Update

Dear Praying Friends,

Many of us have received e-mails and texts about the earthquake that occurred at 6:54 a.m. today. It had a magnitude of 6.9, but we did not even feel it! The epicenter was about 4 hours from here, closer to Ambato. Thank you for your prayers and concerns!

We board our flight at 11:30 tonight and will be back in Greensboro and the DC area by tomorrow afternoon.

Pray that we have a safe and uneventful trip back.

Gracias!

Last day at Pan de Vida

Today was our last day to work at Pan de Vida. We took 70 kids to the Quito Zoo (about an hour away from here on the bus, through the beautiful Andes mountains) and had a great time. We even got to see some Galapagos turtles (tortuga). When we came back, we played outside (no work today!) and helped prepare and serve supper to about 250 people (only 6 meals left over!). We had a hard time saying, "Good bye" to the people we met, especially the kids. Several girls did not want Jordan to leave, and they were actually crying! Please pray for safe travel. We will try to send a post from the airport tomorrow, but you may not hear from us until Friday.

Last Day of VBS

Today was the last day of VBS, and our lesson was on forgiveness (Joseph forgiving his brothers). We finished painting the "wall" and the green fence (praise to God!). No more construction, just a day to hang out with the kids at the zoo tomorrow. A couple of us went to visit Oscar (director of Pan de Vida) and Lori Aguirre and their baby Oscar Andres, and had a chance to pray for them with an intimate healing and worship service in their home. I knew that God had personally called me to Ecuador on this trip, but did not know the reason until tonight: "for such a time as this."

VBS Week 2 Day 1

Queen Ester was a hit. The children all turned a Burger King crown into a Brave crown. Why? Because Ester was brave to admit she was a Jew. The children all put the word brave "valiente" on their crowns. The theme of being brave was shown in all our activities. Tommy our Extreme Response Team Host brought in his Boa for show and tell. The Boa was 7ft long, and went by the name "Diamond". She was very nice and sat well in my hand and on my neck for a few minutes. Many people said I was "valiente" for holding a snake.

We finished painting the inside wall and the fence. We started painting the outside wall but will have to finish tomorrow. Up on the ladders one more time. When we loaded up to leave we all had white speckled faces from paint rolling. Showers were a must when we got home. It was a ton of fun, and we got a bathroom painted also.

A Special Sunday

We had another amazing day in Ecuador. We went to church at EFC (English Fellowship Church) again (we went last Sunday as well), where we sang praises in both english and spanish. The sermon was from Luke, about repentence. We'll have copies of the sermon when we return if you'd like to learn more.

After church, we went to Pan de Vida to prepare and serve lunch to the less fortunate in the community. We did this last Sunday and also on Wednesday evening last week. This is where an amazing thing happened that I want to share with you all. On all three days, including today, we had EXACTLY enough food for those that came. On Wednesday, more than 200 people came, I spilled a dish of food and prayed that we would have enough so that it would not be missed. We served the very last plate to the last person. Then today, Pastor and I were passing food out to those in line (about 130 people) and I realized there were only about 8 plates left and about 15 people still in line. I started to worry, but the others said "don't worry - the Lord will provide" - and he did. When I turned around again, they had found more plates. The last lady in line had a child - but we only had one plate left, so she gave it to the child and did without. Then Pastor walked into the prep area of the kitchen and found one more plate!! When Harriet walked it out to her, she was so grateful. Again, there was exactly enough food. Amazing. God is sooooooo good!

This experience has been so wonderful. We have had fun, grown closer as a group, practiced our spanish, met new friends, prayed together and worked hard (yes, we are working a lot too). We have seen God work in so many ways. Today, before we served lunch, the Pan de Vida leaders led a worship service and 8 people came to Christ. On Wednesday night, 3 people accepted the Lord. It is so rewarding to be a part of such an impactful group.

We miss you all and are looking forward to coming back to share our pictures and stories with you. God bless you and keep you in his care (He is certainly taking care of us!)

Your sister in Christ,
Brenda

Day of Excitement

Today was very fun. First we went shopping at Otovalo and I got a very pretty bufanda (scarf). Then we went to a restaurant at Cuicocha which is on the side of an active volcano. We went inside the volcano, I'm surprised I'm not dead. Kidding, there is a lake inside the volcano called a crater lake. This is really cool because my last name is Crater, too. We all had a great day but we're all tired too. This is Abbey Crater signing off.

Field Trip!!!

Today, we took 66 children to Volqano Park, which is an amusement park. (ANY GUESSES WHICH VOLCANO IT'S LOCATED ON?) We had a wonderful time with the children. They insisted that I go on the Pirate Ship and Bumper Cars with them. An 8-year-old girl, Nayeli, was driving our car. It was great to see them being care-free and enjoying life, which for many of them, is a rare occasion.

Our team then worked to finish a few of the construction projects we were working on all week. We'll finish them next week. It's definitely helped us to sleep well at night and we have greater appreciation for those who have manual labor jobs!

Earlier this week, Tempy and George McCombe hosted our team for dinner. So, just so you know we're not working the WHOLE time, our first picture is from that evening with them.

Tomorrow, we're headed for Otovalo, and a few other places. Otovalo is the artisan's market about an hour and a half from Quito. We'll be working hard at shopping, especially the guys on our team! :D

Thank you for your prayers! We've had a great week and are looking forward to next week!

Trip to Zambiza dump

What an impactful experience! We learned about the Zambiza dump, greeted and helped to serve men and women on the night shift their dinner (about 60 people), gave out our toiletry bags, visited the children's daycare center and met the pastor of the dump (Jose Jimenez). We got a glimpse of what their day is life, making between $40-$60 per week, depending on how much garbage they can recycle. Let us all remember to be thankful for all that God has given us!

VBS Day 3

Since we were t0ld that the pictures look like we are on "vacation", we have added several work pictures today. After VBS today (64 kids - praise God!), we finished painting the fence, moved a huge pile of rocks that are used to make the wall mortar, dug up old grass to plant sod, moved the sod from the truck and are off to feed meals to the garbage recyclers at the Zambiza dump site. God has blessed all of us with strength and endurance for the day and great team work.

More pictures of VBS Day 2

We had a great day 2 of VBS. Even more kids today so hopefully this is a great trend. We worked the VBS until lunch, then some construction (building a wall) and painting the wire fence. We then helped in the Pan de Vida kitchen to serve supper after Wednesday worship (205 more people in an hour!). Home to organize for tomorrow's VBS and toiletry bags for the Zambiza dump community. God filled our empty vessels to overflowing today (that was our devotion). Pray for us!

vbs day 2

Vbs day 2 was funn! First of all i lost in tug o war against 15 kids of course. Then we played boys vs girls and well the boys lost (i only used one hand thats why they won). There was also these girls tht wanted me to hold them up so they could touch the ceiling and a couple kissed me. Today was great! Oh and if you were wnderin this is jordan but you could probebly tell when i said the girls snuck kisses on me. Bye now cant wait to see yall!

VBS DAY 1

Today was a wonderful flexible day. Plans were moved around many times, but all went smoothly with no bumps. Adjustments came as quick as a button. Here are the things we enjoyed about the day: The children's faces were filled with joy, especially with the puppet show when Bubba the puppet's hair fell off. The children taught us the Ecuadorian version of London Bridges. We had such a great time playing games with the children and seeing them laugh and run around. It was great to experience learning a game without understanding any directions. We learned by watching the children and joining in with them. During crafts the children put tons of energy into their crafts, paying attention to the details. Once VBS was all over, we let the dogs out so we could scrape cement off the fencing. Those who were not scraping enjoyed playing with the dogs.

Tonight we spent time with Oscar, Lori, Tempy, and George over dinner at George and Tempy's home. We were able to talk about Pan De Vida and how God is blessing us in all our different ministries. At the home which is a 9th floor apartment, we had a great view of Quito from all four sides, including the roof.

We are all now ready for a good night of sleep.

Team Building Day

Today we went to El Refugio (The Refuge) for team building. We went to a low ropes course (The Spider Web, one picture), "hung" out for lunch (picture in the tree), then a high ropes course (picture below). We learned to depend on each other and God to get past our fears and conquer the course. Most of us have never done this before and had a great exerience.

Can you identify this?

Can you identify this "thing?" Write your comments below, and we will give the answer in tomorrow's blog.

Our first day was amazing!

Our first day in Ecuador was amazing. We went to worship at the English Fellowship Church (lots of contempory music). We then went to Pan de Vida to help cook, serve lunch and play with the kids (see one picture). After lunch, we went to stand on the equator (0-0-0) (second picture). We also went shopping at Super Maxi (worse than Wal-Mart). Now off to bed for a day of team building! Thanks for all of the prayers. God has blessed each of us with special moments today!

Sunday Worship

Today we got to experience worhsip in a whole new light. It was a Worship service filled with music, teaching and a baptism. The songs were in English and Spanish. It was awesome worshiping God with people from all over the world and singing praises to Him. Seeing the baptism was amazing and the boy's testimony was life changing. He started to preach in his testimony; the pastor said we are looking at a future pastor. It was sweet!!!!

We made it!!!!

We arrived in Quito, Ecuador with all of our team and all of the luggage! First picture- on the van to Extreme Response housing in Quito; 2nd picture - hanging out in Atlanta; 3rd picture - checking in luggage in Greensboro. We had our orientation meeting, saw Quito from our rooftop and off to bed.

Packing for Ecuador

Tonight we met to sort out the supplies and clothes we are taking to Pan de Vida. The luggage weight limit is 50 lbs, but we got everything into our suitcases. Praise God!

Commissioning of Team Ecuador

At both worship services yesterday, Team Ecuador was commissioned as missionaries from Fountain of Life Lutheran Church. Seven of our team members were present, and the other 2 were represented in a picture on the altar rail. May God pour blessings on our team for His service! (5 days until we leave!)

Less than two weeks until we leave for Quito. We commission our intercessors today and get the last details in order. Exactly two weeks from this morning, we (God willing) will be worshiping in English Fellowship Church and then preparing food for lots of hungry people at Pan de Vida. If you are reading this blog, would you pray for us and the ones we are going to serve?

Praise Him for pulling us together as the Fountain's first international team! Vamonos!

Beautiful Ecuador

Here are a few photos from the city of Quito that I took while I lived there from 2004-2007.

3 Weeks.....

Three weeks from tonight, Team Ecuador will be packing and weighing suitcases; making their lists and checking them twice.... because the next morning, we'll be flying to Quito! How exciting!!!!

It's been amazing to watch God provide for this team through prayer and financial support. There are 9 of us going; 8 from North Carolina and 1 from Virginia. We're representing our Lord Jesus Christ together as we reach out to the impoverished children and their families through Vacation Bible School, health clinics, provide clothes and shoes to them, and bring the Gospel through our words and deeds.

1 Corinthians 2:9 says, "However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him." Not one of us on the team can imagine the great things God has prepared for the lives of those we'll be ministering to nor the amazing things He has for us who are serving!

Please, join our team by supporting us in prayer as we prepare and go! We'll post blogs during our time there to keep you updated.