Extreme Team

This past week I was able to join a group of firemen from Alabama to minister to the Quechua people high in the Andes mountains. Life is simple and hard for the people here with the cold climate and lack of resources. For four days we washed feet, passed out new shoes, and shared the love of Christ with both children and adults. Every day we went to a different village doing Happy Feet. You can see the pics of the kids lining up to receive shoes. It was quite an experience and was definitely extreme! We camped at 12,500 feet with no hot water, very cold temps, and lots of guinea pig! Here are some pics of the week. Hope you enjoy them. --Greg

The Youth Church

The youth church started 3 weeks ago for ages 12-18. We've been meeting at the soup kitchen on Sunday afternoons. Modeled after the early Christian church, it is a place of community and sharing. The first week Steve had the students write anonymous questions about issues they were facing, questions about God, about family etc., and in the weeks following Steve has been addressing these questions. With the number of students increasing each week, we are hopeful that it will be a place where many youth learn, grow, and take leadership responsibilities.

Helping with homework...

This week, we have started to help the kids with their homework at the soup kitchen after school. Many of the children need help with Math and English, but do not receive the help at home due to working or uneducated parents. We have had a lot of fun helping the kids and it's been a good way to practice our Spanish.

New Friends

Here are some pictures of some new (and old) friends of ours here. Upper left hand corner is Amy and Brigette, one of the girls from the soup kitchen we met last year. Upper middle pic is Greg, Steve and Katty (Steve's Ecuadorian daughter) enjoying a meal at a local joint. Note the size of the calzone in Greg's hand! Upper right pic is Amy and Katty. Lower left is Greg teaching some kids how to play pool at Steve and Micki's house. Lower right is a pic of our first dinner guests at our house this past Friday night- Veronica and her daughters Liseth and Andrea. Because of the language barrier, we laughed a lot and used the dictionary a lot! Bottom left hand is of Greg showing some of the soup kitchen kids some pictures of our family and friends in the U.S.

Hiking Elalo

This past Saturday, Greg and I hiked a nearby mountain (top right picrure) with a huge 40ft cross on the top. At 10,500 feet high, we were huffing and puffing most of the way! On our way back home, we had our first bus and taxi ride solo. It was quite an experience! We practically had to stand in the middle of the road to wave a bus down in the pouring rain because there aren't any designated bus stops here. The taxi drivers here make the ones in NY look like they're standing still. Off roading for them is no big deal. I decided Im going to carry a blindfold with me everytime we have to take public transportation (which will be a lot!).

Hogar dulce hogar (Home sweet home)

Here are some pics of our new home. We are renting the bottom floor of a house within walking distance to Steve and Micki's home as well as the supermarket. We did not anticipate renting such a nice place for such a low price and great location. We feel quite safe with the iron gate, bolt locked doors, and high surrounding cement walls with shards of glass on the top. Did we mention there are bars on all the windows, too? To us, this level of security seems a bit extreme, but is very typical of the houses in this area. We have lots of space and extra bedrooms that we hope to fill with guests, teams members, and children when we host events.

Thankfully, we have a hot water heater (a commodity here), running water, and toilets (although we cant flush any toilet paper down them because of the delicate plumbing here.) Coming from Arizona, we are so excited to have a yard with Grass! We also have avocado and lemon trees in our yard! Mmmm. It is definitly more than we could've asked or imagined!

Dinner Time!

Mmmm....who needs marshmellows when you can have GUINEA PIG!?

The locals prepare roasted guinea pigs over an open fire. Did you know guinea pigs are considered cuisine for royalty in Ecuador? There's food for thought.....