Sunday, June 16th

Day 3!

After a long day of flying on Friday, we had a good night’s rest at a comfy hostel in Quito, and woke for a lovely breakfast on Saturday. Afterwards we loaded up a van and a pickup truck with all of our gear and headed out for Huaticocha. The ride through the Andes is long but breathtaking, and we arrived safely at Ninawachi by mid-afternoon. For those of us who have been here before, it was sooo good to see Mark and Cheryl (and some other friends) again, and also to see the updates and improvements made to the campus by the students and missionaries here. The rest of Saturday afternoon was spent unpacking and settling in before attending the church service here. Angie and I were blessed to be asked to help lead worship, Amanda shared her testimony, and “Pastor” Shawn delivered a great sermon about preparing our hearts for Jesus. It was the perfect message for the night before the big celebration: the wedding of Santiago and Venita on Sunday!

So, today was wedding day!! After an early breakfast, the team got to work turning the campus - where during this time of year it rains  A LOT - into an outdoor (albeit undercover) wedding venue! Tasks were numerous and time was short, but the team worked incredibly well alongside the students and missionaries, and God held off most of the rain for a lovely ceremony! Afterwards we all got to serve the reception meal to 100+ guests, another daunting task at which our team performed admirably!

A bittersweet moment came when we said our temporary goodbyes to Shawn, Laura, Angie, and Mark as they headed out for the canoe trip deeper into the jungle, to bring the word and love of God to the un-reached villages there. They will reunite with us Friday afternoon. Please join us in praying for their travel and that God would give them each an opportunity to shine the light of Jesus for the people they encounter. We miss them already!

After another hard push to clean up the campus after the reception, the team got some downtime to recharge before dinner. Then it was time for our first time of worship and prayer in the “choza” (prayer hut) along with the Ninawachi students and missionaries. It is so moving to sing familiar worship songs alongside people singing in a different language! Wow! Justine shared her testimony and we heard the testimony of one of the students here as well. From now on we’ll be doing morning and evening sessions in the choza every day, and these times are always among the most meaningful experiences of every trip. (YOU should come see for yourself next year!) 

End of day 3! Tomorrow morning we’ll do some work at the school, where construction is underway on a new building, as well as the reconstruction of a large hut that should be very familiar to the 2016 Ecuador team! In the afternoon we will have our first experience doing ministry in a nearby village. Can’t wait to see what God has in store for us! 

We’re all plenty tired but everyone is doing very well. Please continue to pray for us, we covet your prayer support!!! Back with another update soon!

Joe (on behalf of all of us!)