Our Last Blog in Ecuador

Thank you Jesus we have internet access! Here are some final thoughts from each team member. Thanks again for your prayers and continue to pray for our safety as we travel home. See you soon!


Angel- I came to Ecuador not knowing what to expect. I believed that it would be a positive experience, but I had no idea that my life would be forever changed by this trip. I wish I could stay longer and continue to learn and grow with the rest of the team. I have been blessed to have the opportunity to build relationships with my brothers and sisters here in Ecuador. God has broadened my perspective and allowed me to see the world through His eyes and it is beautiful. I am encouraged by the faith of all of the people I have met here. I am amazed by the way the people of El Carmen worship God without reservation. I hope to take all that I have learned here and apply it to my life when I return home.

Melody-I was truly impacted by the children that we have met in the Orphanages & small communities. When they see us their eyes light up & they have huge grins. They come running & want to be hugged & kissed. I have been privileged to be able to interact with them & show them love & the love of Jesus. I also enjoyed meeting the church in El Carmen. The joy that they have even though the struggles they have is truly humbling to me. The challenge I face when I get back is that I don’t go back to what I did but strive to change my life to be more receptive to what God wants from me & how I should accomplish it.

Chris – Ecuador is amazing! God is good, he is faithful and I have been blessed to see him working in Ecuador and in our lives. Growing while you are on a missions trip is easy, you just have to step out there and God will carry you through. I am amazed at everything we have learned about our brothers & sisters in Ecuador, our brothers & sisters from Daybreak & ourselves. I look forward to seeing how God shapes our lives going forward. I miss all of you and I wish you could be here working alongside of us. Our God is great and he is alive in Ecuador!

Pam – I cannot find the words to fully express how thankful I am for the honor and privilege for being a part of God’s plan for starting a new church in El Carmen. To be able to prepare the land for a foundation for a church is truly an amazing feeling!! How many chances in a lifetime will there be for an opportunity such as this. It was truly a joy to work with my brothers and sisters, knowing that God will use us to further his Kingdom. The hardest part for me was to say good-bye to the brothers and sisters in El Carmen. Their kindness, hospitality, and genuine love for God was truly amazing – what an example of Christ’s love they were – cooking for us, caring for us, and just welcoming us in their arms. I hope to visit them again.

Pat H. – I have seen some pretty amazing things this week and have been amazed by the hospitality and spirit of the people we are serving along side. God is doing some wonderful things! There are simply not enough words to describe it!
John – What a beautiful country Ecuador is! And what beautiful, loving people we worked with this week! So hard to say goodbye and hope that I can see them again before Heaven. God showed me some good things about His care the day I was weak and achy but now I’m back to 100%. It’s amazing what 50oz. of water and a good night’s sleep (with earplugs) can do for you  God’s challenge for me is to look at all of life with hope – not a glass half empty, but a life overflowing with hope. Why? Because His grace covers all that I do and all that happens to me. Such a deep-seated change (for me) is bound to affect the way I am with others. Deb, Caitlyn, Rebekah – I love and miss each of you. I treasure your cards/letters to me.

Kelly – It has been an amazing week! I have especially enjoyed playing with the kids at VBS. The children are so easy to love. They just want you to hug them and play with them. I enjoyed making new friends and visiting some friends I met last year too. I wish I could stay longer.

Sarah- After having a major moment of nervousness in the Miami airport, I have been blown away by the love and community of the Ecuadorian people. Praise God that my Spanish has come back to its original state of two year old talk and word blunders.  It has been such a blessing to meet more of my brothers and sisters here but also to get to know the interns and my team more deeply. I love Ecuadorian culture and the relaxed pace of life. Mom, Caitlyn, and Bex- I so wish you all could be here to sing (and dance Bex) with the kids, ride in the back of a cattle truck or motor cycle, and have amazing coconut-vanilla ice cream(You all would love it). I love you!!!

Jeff-Buenos Dias! Mis Hermanos de otras Madres! (Brothers from another mother! and sisters…). It has been amazing to see how God is already here doing work way long before we arrived. Building relationships with the people of El Carmen in just four days was really inspiring. It’s so awesome that when you are a part of God’s family we have one important thing in common that truly makes us brothers and sisters. I learned and it was reinforced that we came to build relationships not just a building. The people here are so special and I’m excited to see what God has in store for the church that is being built and for all the people that we prayed for. About to go shop and head home soon. Asta Manana Bebbinos!

Patrick L- Ecuador was everything I had prayed for and more. Being able to share the daily lives of our Ecuadorian brothers and sister was both an honor and a blessing. The journey with God is incredible, at every turn He challenges you and rewards you, all you have to do is trust him. On this our last day in Quito, my heart is filled with sadness and joy; the sadness of parting and the joy of having been a part of this journey. Via con Cristo hermanos y hermanas.

Deb – God is sooooooooo good! His faithfulness to our team has been something I will never be able to wrap words around. But what I can say is that I am very proud of this team. Every single one of them allowed God to stretch them beyond what was comfortable and they fully accepted the challenge…NO they embraced the challenge because they all agree on one thing… they don’t want to come home the same as the left. Questions to ask: What was it like swimming in the river? Did you dig up a tarantula? How were the bananas?

And we have a connection...I think!

Hello Daybreak family! Thank you so much for praying faithfully for us we have had an amazing trip so far. We have been in a very rural area in the jungle surrounded by banana trees. God's hand has been on this trip from the very beginning. Right before we arrived in El Carmen they experienced lots of rain which is rare for this time of year. Uusally it is very hot and dry. But when we arrived it became cloudy and "cooler". Which was an amazing blessing because our job was to move a mountain. Literally we cleared the church site and began to dig out a large hill that was on the site. Which we were thankful was softened by the unexpected rain. We dug and dug and dug for days. On our last day as we were loading the shovels onto the truck the sun came out in full force so we did get to see and experience the beautiful weather that El Carmen usually has but we were very thankful we didn't have to work in it.

We stayed in homes of church members who graisously cleared out of their rooms so that we could sleep in there beds. Their hospitality was humbling. We were truly blessed by the community of our Ecuadorian brothers and sisters. We are now back in Quito and I have to admit a hot shower felt GREAT! But we are exhausted and looking forward to a good nights sleep. If the internet connection is good tomorrow I am hoping to post a blog with a little note from everyone.

For now know that we are well and healthy. We've come up with a few nicknames for some team members see if you can figure them out. There's A-Lo, J-Studly, K-Byz, Pam the Blam & Rocky.

Don't forget to check back tomorrow! And pray for a good connection. We LOVE you guys.

A Picture of the Team

Hello, everyone!

This is Mel (not the team), and I realize that many of you have been checking faithfully each day for an update from your friends and family. They are in a part of Ecuador with no internet access and have been unable to update us. So I just wanted to pop in and say THANK YOU for praying for them! I am confident that they are having an incredible trip and wait right along with you in hopeful anticipation to hear all of the stories of life-change both from them and the people they have met.

So, since they had not yet posted a picture of their team, I thought I would. :)

Posted by Mel (on behalf of the team)

P.S. If anyone of you would like to welcome them home, just a reminder that they will be arriving back at Daybreak between 2:00 - 2:30 AM on the early morning of Monday, June 28th.

Better late then never I always say!

We began our journey at Daybreak on Friday evening and had our most awesome team of drivers drop us off at the Dulles Sheraton. After a few winks of sleep, we got up at 3 a.m., shuttled off to the airport, hurry up and wait through check-in and left Washington, D.C. at 6:30 A.M. After a long layover on Saturday in Miami, we flew to Ecuador and arrived safely ... but not in Quito....IN Guayaquil. Due to foggy weather we weren't allowed to land so the flight continued. The airlines put us up in a Hilton with a beautiful view of the city and gave us a free buffet dinner. We got to bed around 11:30 p.m. and were awakened at 5:30 a.m. to head back to the airport and leave for Quito.

Now we are in Quito at the beautiful CasaBlanca property enjoying breakfast and getting to know our interns. Everyone is doing well and I am so proud of our team as they practiced amazing grace and flexibilily in our unexpected, ever changing plans.

We are leaving now for the jungle where I don't expect to be able to blog. But check just to be sure you never know where an internet cafe will pop up. We will be back in Quito on Friday and will up date you then. Please continue to pray for our safe travels and health. We appreciate all of your support and prayers.

Posted by Deb & John