Thursday, June 13, 2013--my last full day in Ecuador :-(

This morning we went out and did evangelism at Carolina Park again for the last time.  We met this one man who was very confused about his beliefs.  One thing about Quito is people want to talk to you.  They will usually talk to you for at least 20 minutes.  We talked to this man for probably an hour at least.  He was very confused about his beliefs.  I think he had taken about 15 to 20 different religions and mixed them together.  When we were talking to him he had confused a story about Jesus with Moses.  He also told us that he believed that Hell was here and that we were living in Hell.  He said because of all the bad things that happen that this is Hell.  He had gotten some of his beliefs from his brother who was a pastor.  He had tried to get him to change religions but he had told him that he wasn't going to. 

We also talked with four teenage girls who were 13 and 14 years old.  One was Jehovah's Witness.  We talked to them about the Evangecube and shared with them about Jesus.  They didn't have any questions about it.  We got their names and numbers and are going to have the IWC group go and visit them.  After evangelism we went to the mall to eat lunch.  We were waiting for Ron and Carolina so we got Ice Cream first.  Then we decided to eat without them.  We went back to Ron's house and watched part of Smallville and then did some more stuff for the IWC groups.  At about 5 Ron took me and Kayla to Pastor Patricio's house.  We played bowling on their Wii with Patricio's son Matthew.  I finished packing my suitcases and then at around 8 we went back to Ron's house.  We then went out to eat because none of us had dinner yet and I had my last Ecuadorian meal of the trip.  I had chicken, rice, beans, and salad.  Ron also bought plantains for us that had caramel and cheese on top.  It was quite an experience and was really good.  We went back to Ron's house and then left for the airport at 4:00 am on Friday morning. 

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

On Wednesday we went hiking.  We rode this car way up high into the mountains.  It was kinda freaky at first but then it was fine.  We hiked up and saw the horses.  It was really fun. 

After hiking we went to eat lunch at the mall.  Then we went back to Ron's house and worked on stuff for IWC.  For dinner we ordered Chinese food.  

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Tuesday was the last day that we worked with the children at the elementary school.  I found out after working with them that a lot of them have hepatitis A.  It's because they aren't able to wash their hands as much as they should.  Every day when they would have their snacks for lunch they would offer some to us.  It didn't matter what they had, or how little they had, they would still offer it to you.  One thing I've learned about Ecuador is if you have food or something to drink and you are in a group, you're supposed to offer it to everybody else.  If you have something that you want to eat by yourself then you need to go somewhere where there is nobody else around.  Also, if you are at somebody's house they are going to offer you something, whether it is food, a snack or a drink.  Even if you don't want it all or a lot of it, it is important that you take it and try some. 

After working with the children at the elementary school we went back to Ron's house. Kayla was there and we all went to the mall to eat lunch.  Then after that we went shopping at Super Maxi and at a phone store.  It was game day in Ecuador so we were able to buy national jerseys for only 5 dollars!  We had been planning on going to the park and doing evangelizing but because it was game day we didn't because there wouldn't have been anybody there!  We watched the game and then watched So Undercover on the TV through my kindle that was hooked up to the TV.  For dinner we had fish, rice, and fried plantains for dinner.  It had to have been the most amazing fish ever!  Later that night I went back to Pastor Patricio's house for the night.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Today me and my translator and Pastor Patricio went to the elementary school to work with the children.  This week was good, but they were extra hyper this week!  It was all we could do almost to get them to do anything!  We had them make butterflies one day.  We drew butterflies on paper and they glued paper balls on them.  The next day we cut them out and put straws on them so that they could fly.  Afterwards we went back to Ron's house and went to eat lunch at the mall.  We mostly spent the afternoon and the rest of the day at Ron's house.  At 10 or 11 at night Kayla arrived in Ecuador.  She is the missionary that is staying for the majority of the summer helping with IWC. 

Sunday--June 9, 2013

This morning I had worship at Pastor Patricio's house.  It was a really interesting experience listening to the pastor preach in an entirely different language.  I didn't have a translator either so I had to figure out what they were saying by myself.  Some of the main scriptures they referenced were Romans 2:1-3, Mateo 7:1-5, Romans 14:3, 1 Corintios 4:4-5, and Santiago 3:14-18.  In the afternoon we drove to a restaurant in the mountains.  Afterwards we went to look at the Pichincha mountains.  It was amazing to see God's creation in another part of the world.  My favorite part is looking at the clouds touching the top of the mountain.  

                   After we joined some of Pastor Patricio's family for coffee and bread.  When I was talking to Ron, one thing that I found out was that members of an Ecuadorian family might work 10 or 12 hours a day or even more sometimes during the week, but on the weekend, and especially on Sunday they spend with their family.  They are very family oriented which can be a challenge when trying to have bible studies, etc with them, because they want to put their family first.  Pray that the people in Ecuador will see the value of putting Jesus first in their life.

June 8, 2013--Los Marias, Evangelism in the Park, and Estudia Biblia at Ron's Casa

On the last Saturday that I was in Ecuador we went to buy snacks at Super Maxi for the children at Los Marias.  We ended up buying a lot more than we needed but it was fine because they could keep them.  We bought bread and some really cheap sandwich meat that they love a lot, and mayonnaise for the sandwiches.  We also bought them candy and soda and cups.  We played with the kids outside at one of the parks.  We just talked with them and played Soccer with them and gave them some snacks.

After working with the children we went to the mall and ate lunch and then went to the Park to do some more evangelism.  We talked to a young man named Christian, who we found out went to a Church in Ecuador.  He gave us the name of his church and the pastor's name and told us that we could look it up on Facebook.

We talked to an older lady named Theresa.  That was the first person we had talked to in Ecuador who flat out rejected us.  One of the things about Ecuador is that most of the people want to talk to you.  Most people will talk to you for 20 minutes to an hour.  Most of the time you don't want to just go up to them and talk to them about religion upfront though.  Most of the time you want to go up to them and ask them about their family, how they are doing, etc.  It lets them know that you are actually interested in their life and not just talking to them about Jesus or religion.  Theresa didn't want to talk about the gospel though.  Please pray that the Lord would soften her heart and that she would turn to Him and trust Him as her Savior before it is too late.  

On Saturday night we went back to Ron's house for a Bible Study.  They also had sandwiches again for dinner.  One of the things we talked about was Proverbs 31:15 & 18.  One of the main points they talked about is how the Proverbs 31 woman wakes up early and takes care of her family and she also works late at night.  The schedule we say we have is not enough.  It will never be enough.  The church needs to recognize what will be the good investments.  The Church needs to go beyond it's schedule.  There is no such thing as program.  How is it that a Church can wake up early and work late at night?  Those are some of the questions that were asked at the Bible Study.   

Friday, June 7th, 2013

Friday we went into the valley to visit the parents of my friend and his wife, who are both living in Texas.  He is from Ecuador though.  We also visited with  the mom's sister and some more of her family.  One thing I learned about Ecuador from living there for two weeks and from talking to Ron is that they are very family oriented.  They usually work 10 or 12 hours a day during the week but on the weekend and especially on Sunday they spend with their family.  One thing I didn't know about my friends mom before I went is that she was Catholic.  One one of her sisters is Christian.  The rest of their family is mostly Catholic.  Her sister told us that she had been praying for her family and that it was good that we were there.  I believe it was a divine appointment for us to show her the love of Christ.  We were able to talk about Church while we were with her but we never got around to really sharing the gospel with her.  Please pray for her that she would repent and turn to Christ.  After we finished visiting with her it was pretty late so I just went back to Pastor Patricio's.

                    View outside of the mall we went to when we ate lunch with my friends family.