More coming soon!

We are back from the trip but there will be more posts. The wi-fi was slow enough in the Hacienda that I could only do a few of the posts I wanted to each day. Keep checking in to see more from our trip. You can also follow me on instagram @mindonmissions to see some of the videos that I couldn't post on the blog from there.
Thanks!!

Zambiza Dump

We had the honor of serving a meal to the workers at the Zambiza transfer station tonight. We made a dinner of arroz con pollo and boiled sweet plantains. Earlier in the day we visited some of the families. The night workers work 7pm to 7 am every day. 

They make about $100 a month. But they only get paid for what they can find out of the trash to recycle. One family said they pay $60 a month in rent for 2 concrete shacks that are both about 12x12 ft for the living area and another 8x4 foot bedroom. There were no doors at all. A sheet was the front door and a sheet hung in the middle of the main room to give some "privacy" to the single bed. They had a make shift outhouse outside. 

They rarely have enough money for food so they look through the trash for meat that has been thrown out. This is often the only food they bring home to their families for the next day's meal. One family we visited had only one member that was able to work. The grandmother, Maria, worked nights at the dump for the last 30 years. Her husband has also worked for that long but is incapacitated now either by a stroke of the result of all the sickness and chemicals he has been exposed to there. They cannot afford medicine so he sits alone on the bed without being able to see or hear. Maria's daughter, Carmen, has a 1 month old baby girl, Shirley, so she is unable to work. The baby's father isn't in the picture any more. 

Their life is just a picture of how many of the workers live. They are in desperate need. They need food, clothing, shelter, education, and most of all the hope that only be found in a living God who cares for each one of them more than they know. 

Pre-school Visit

We brought about 6 suitcases of clothing to give out while in Ecuador. The Ladies' Ministry of Buen Pastor Church does home visits every week so we joined them to give away some of the clothes. Instead of visiting a home we met several moms and kids at a preschool in an impoverished area. We were also able to give out some of the beanie babies that Marilyn collected for the trip. 

Cuy... aka Guinea Pig

Lunch. Enough said!!

Yes, those are it's little front toes. If you look closely, you can see it still has hair. 

Cotopaxi Volcano

We went to Cotopaxi Volcano for a quick hike on Saturday. Amazing to see the national park. When we got to the trail head (14,500 feet) it was hailing, about 45 degrees F, and sustained winds around 40 mph. And we were in jeans and tennis shoes!! A few of us tried, but only made it about 1/2 a mile. It took us about 30 minutes. What an experience!

Cotopaxi is the white dome poking out over the clouds. 

Wild horses at the lake in the park. 

Trailhead! Made it across the parking lot!!

Buen Pastor Iglesia (Church)

We got to attend church at Buen Pastor in Pifo (another suburb area of Quto). It was a deeply moving experience to worship with these brothers and sisters in their language and country. Some of the songs were the same that we sing... Just in Spanish. Pastor Ramiro preached from 2 Peter 3:1-7. Lee Cooper and Craig Timmons were asked to help serve Communion. It was a huge honor to take the Lord's Supper with our friends here. What a sense of unity in the global Church. 

Ecuador-Volibol

They play a cool version of beach volleyball here. There are 3 players on each side. The net is about 10 feet tall at the top. They use a hard soccer ball. There are courts all over and you'll find whole neighborhoods out in the evening to play from when they get off work until 11 or 12 pm every night of the week. I've only seen men play. Some of our guys (Lee, Craig, and Gabe) decided to take on the locals (Paul, our Extreme Response host; Neri, one of the workers at the Hacienda; and Pachilo, one of the pastors t the church here). Jonathan jumped in to give Pachilo a break.  

Building progress

This is our last two days of work on the building. It's amazing how fast it has gotten to this point. We poured concrete on the roof by handing buckets of hand-stirred concrete up to the roof. It was rough on everybody but we got it done. Then we plastered the inside walls, painted the metalwork, and cleaned up some huge piles of sod behind the building. 

Driving around Tababela and Pifo

I wanted to include some pictures of the area we are in. Some (most) were taken from the van as we drove so might be a bit blurry.