last day in Quito; zoo was fun; prayers for safe travel home

Happy Miercoles! (Wednesday)

Well, Matt is going to change is career plans to become an Ecuadorian weatherman. His prediction about seeing volcanoes and rain was correct again yesterday. We did not see volcanoes from our roof, and it did not rain! Today, Steve saw only a tiny part of Cotopaxi, so Matt's prediction is 10% chance of scattered showers. We will see if that holds true.

We had a good day yesterday of Vacation Bible School and painting. The kids behaved much better and learned about Zaccheus. They loved the photos of themselves! Today the lesson is about Jesus feeding the 5000, and our memory verse is "I am the bread of life." (pan de vida). We finished painting the outer wall, the blue room (picture above of Megan painting the room) and the salon. We only have touch up work to do today, then we are finished with our work here. The building team cleaned up the yard from all of the dirt and supplies so it can be used for the meal this evening. We went back to our hostel and packed the gift bags for the children. They will have a t-shirt, soap, shampoo, silly band, tooth brush, toothpaste, socks, a towel and sidewalk chalk. We will give them out this afternoon at the end of our program. (one picture above is of our team assembling the bags) We had dinner in our hostel (Papa Johns pizza) and played Phase 10 (a longgggg card game). It was fun just hanging out in the hostel.

Bruce - Kathy wants to know if Dave made it to Brazil. She is eagerly awaiting your message!

Thanks again for all of the comments and prayers. We can't believe that our time here is almost over, and are anxiously awaiting our trip back home. Have a blessed day!

Another day of work (day 10)

Good morning!

We had another day of work yesterday and the weather finally held out for us. Matt our weather man says that if we can see the volcanoes in the morning from our roof, we will have rain in the afternoon. Well, that held true again for yesterday. We had a beautiful day in the morning and early afternoon so we could finish painting, then right when we were cleaning up to leave, the rain came! We could not see any volcanoes this morning, so we will check if Matt's prediction is correct.

We taught 54 kids yesterday in VBS, which was a little rougher yesterday than previous. God will give us strength for today so we can continue to teach the children about God. Today's lesson is about Zaccheus, and we are giving the children pictures of themselves. Kathy took them yesterday, printed them last night in the hostel, and will give them out today. That should be a hit!

We finished painting the entire outer wall yesterday, inside and out. We also finished the downstairs bathroom, started the "blue room" and cleaned one of the supply closets. Today more inside painting. The building crew finished the first part of the bathroom, too. They worked extra long, staying behind when the rest of the team left to help the maestro lay concrete on the 2nd floor foundation. That will sit and cure for about 2 weeks, so they are now part of the VBS team. We will not get to see it completed, but most of the hard part is now done.

Thanks again for all of the comments and prayers. We finally figured out how to add some pictures, so I will continue to add more to let you know what we are doing. Blessings to you all from Quito, and we will see you all in Kernersville in a few days.

Feeling refreshed!

Good morning from Quito!

We had a nice day yesterday enjoying the day in Quito. We helped serve lunch at Pan de Vida (fed 163 for lunch), then went to lunch at either McDonalds or KFC (no different from the US). While in lunch, a hard thunderstorm came and it even hailed! It lasted about 20 minutes, but then on and off during the day. Lucky for us, we only planned on some walking around an artisan market that was mostly enclosed. We came back to the hostel and our ER hosts made us spaghetti in the hostel. What a nice treat instead of going out to dinner each night. We relaxed in the hostel and prepared for this weeks VBS, too. Today's VBS lesson is on Jesus staying in the temple, so pray as we try to teach the kids "Big big house" in English with the hand motions. I am sure it will be a sight to see! Hopefully we can get a video and show back at Fountain of Life.

The construction crew is at it again, with the roof/floor for the 2nd floor being started today. Matt joined the building team, so he is going to learn to mix concrete the Ecuadorian way as well.

The rest of us will hopefully finish painting the wall today, if it does not rain.

Thanks for all of the comments - we love to hear from you and know what is happening in Kernersville. Keep praying for our strength!

Awesome worship service! (Day 8)

Good morning from Ecuador! We had an awesome worship in our hostel this morning. We sang songs and hymns, read the same scriptures that you read in church today and had a Bible study on "strength". For those of us still here, please pray for physical, emotional and spiritual strength as we continue to do Gods work here in Quito.
Yesterday was a more relaxing day after a hard week of work. We helped with a yardsale at Pan de Vida then went to Mitad de Mundo (center of the world, the equator), or so we thought. Dave brought his GPS to see if it was real, and unfortunately, it was off by about 300 yards. We still took a picture in front of the monument.
We had a reflection time with Oscar yesterday, where we shared what this week has meant to us. We all have changed from when we first arrived and cannot wait to share that with you. It was an emotional time for all.
We said good bye to 7 team members last night, and last we heard, they made it safely to Atlanta. Our prayers were with them as they travelled back home. We will miss them and are excited to see them again next week for our worship service. Dave is leaving this afternoon for his additional adventures in Brazil, so pray for safe travel for him, as well.
Today is another relaxing day, more team bonding and a chance to get some souvenirs for our loved ones back home. We are helping with lunch and the service at Pan de Vida (Mark will hopefully get a chance to play the drums or bongo for the music at the service, too) then off for our day.
One of the scriptures for today in the Gospel of Matthew is about Jesus feeding the 5000. Without knowing that, we had actually chosen that lesson for our VBS theme tomorrow. God is sure in control of what we are doing at Pan de Vida.
Blessings to you from Quito, and please pray for our renewed strength! Still trying to get pictures... (but we will definitely have them next week during the worship services and Sunday school hour).

Day of rest- helped with the yard sale then went to Mitad del Mundo(equator). We needed some rest after our busy week. Safe travels to those leaving.

What an awesome day!

We had another very busy day on Thursday! We had 54 kids in VBS learning about Jonah and the big fish. The craft was a winner! We got the outside of the wall painted and all of the trimming finished. We started to paint the inside of Pan de Vida and will finish that today and next week. The building crew has the columns started and all of the holes filled with concrete. They are learning how to mix concrete the Ecuadorian way!
We ate dinner at the food court in the mall, and the ice cream is wonderful! From there we rode to Zambiza dump to feed the workers, but hit a snag. The gatekeepers would not let us past the gate. They would not call the supervisor who knew we were coming. We knew it was Satan was getting in our way and blocking us from serving the workers. We said a prayer on the bus and within minutes the gatekeepers opened the gate! Praise God!
We made 100 sandwiches, fruit and hot chocolate to feed to the miners (that is what they call themselves) and set up the feeding area. We heard from Pastor Josea and his wife about their ministry there and all they are doing to provide for the miners. Once the miner started coming, we greeted them and handed out the food. We also gave them gift bags that contained a t-shirt, socks, soap, toothbrush, tooth paste and soap. They were very appreciative and wanted to personally thank us. We got a chance to talk with them and take a few pictures, and we were blessed by being able to get to spend some time with them. What a moving and God-filled time we all experienced.
Today we go to the Volcano Amusement Park with the kids, then back for painting and cleaning. We will try to call home tonight after 8:30pm your time since we cannot skype.
Please keep us in your prayers!
Oh- people are wondering about the weather: wonderful sums it up! It is about 65 during the day with sun, then some clouds. We have had a little rain but nothing that is stopping us from working outside. God is blessing us with a wonderful trip!
Still having trouble with pictures, but we will keep trying.

2nd Work Day!

Wow, did today go better! We have no internet access on our only computer at the hostel, so we will not be able to skype as we thought. We will use the Pan de Vida computer from now on! Yeah!
Our second day of VBS was much better. Rebekah led us in a devotion about putting on the full armor of God, and that gave us strength for the day. Praise God! We had 54 kids today, and all activities went much smoother. We taught about the Gifts of the Magi and the kids loved it, especially the Ring Pops (jewels of the kings).
The bathroom project is progressing, too. They are building a 2 story room now, with the bathrooms on the bottom floor and more offices on the 2nd floor. The offices will be added later, but the structure will all be built at the same time. They have the 4 holes for the columns dug and are starting to fill the holes with cement and gravel.
The rest of the work today was trim painting and spackeling the outer wall, inside and out. Tomorrow we roll paint, then the wall will be done! We finish our day today helping with the service and dinner at Pan de Vida, then dinner ourselves. Tomorrow we have a full day then serve the workers at the Zambiza dump.
We are all well with lots of team bonding. Hopefully we will be able to send pictures soon. Please keep us in your prayers, and THANKS for all of the comments - keep them coming! WE are praying for all of you back home, too. Blessings from our team!

FIRST WORK DAY!

We are still having computer issues, but all is well. We taught VBS to 55 kids and started the bathroom project. It was a hectic day, but we had a debrief session to figure out better ways to manage the kids. We also did some painting prep (yes, the same wall as last year) and window washing. Thanks for the prayers!

We are here!!! Hard to get wifi so we will write more from pan de Vidal.

Pastor sending us as missionaries!

This morning at the 8:30 worship service, Pastor Speaks sent us as missionaries representing Fountain of Life Lutheran Church in Kernersville, NC. Love those brown ER shirts, and I promise we will not all match again! May God go with us!

Packing!

We had an awesome time packing our suitcases last night. We packed all of the VBS supplies for 8 days of VBS, as well as cases of clothes for the Pan de Vida clothing closet in 19 suitcases. I think each of us reached our 50 lb limit! That was our last meeting before we leave on Sunday and I think we are all very excited. Please keep us in your prayers! I know God has huge plans for us in Quito, Ecuador!

Less than 1 week!

We are in the final stages of planning for our trip. We are also putting together a prayer team, so we know that people are praying for us back home. Comment below if you want to be on the prayer team!

Photo of the Team

Since we have not taken an official team photo, this is the best one we have. Hopefully we can take a better one when we are actually on the mission trip. Please keep us all in your prayer!

Less Than Two Weeks

I am happy to say we are fully funded and still the money keeps rolling in!! Praise God.  He has provided more than enough funds for our initial projects! Now we are able to build a bathroom as well!!!  It's great we have plumbers coming down with us, and many people who have a construction background.  God is using all of our gifts to help Pan De Vida, and the people of Quito. 

Please keep the team in your prayers as we prepare our hearts, mind, and body for the mission God is sending us on. The names of all who are going are the following: Debbie, Mark, Chris, Stephanie, Megan, Sarah, Pat, Matt, Bekka, Larry, Gwen, Lourdes, Steve, Kathy, Dave, Erica, Debbie, Dinene, and Rebekah. 

Thank you for the prayers and support.

We Have Tickets!!!!

It is official. We now have our 19 tickets purchased and will be leaving on Sunday July 24th at 2:05PM. To start our trip off right we will go to church Sunday morning and get commissioned, and then head to the airport. I am so excited to see how God has blessed us this trip with a wonderful team, and great contacts who have helped us make this journey possible. Thank you.

Mission Trip 2011

Hello Everyone,

Fountain of Life Lutheran Church is putting together another team headed to Quito, Ecuador. July 24th - August 5th!!! Them team is coming together with 19 people and counting. Praise God!!!

Please start to pray for the Mission Ecuador in the following ways:

1. For the families we will be ministering to in Quito.
2. The mission of Pan De Vida where we will be doing VBS with the children and working on the facility.
3. For each members relationship with God to grow stronger
   
4. The members of the team stay healthy.
5. For each person who reads this or works with us is touched by God
6. Help us to stay focused on God and not allow our fears or anxieties get in the way
   

Thank you for all the prayers. They help out more than you know. Look forward to writing more later as the team comes together to keep everyone one posted about what is happening.