Pregnancy in Ecuador

The other day we went to some peoples house from the church to pray for the new baby. The baby was 10 days old and so precious. Her name is Melody Isabella. She was beautiful. I held the baby for some time and I also got to hear the labor story.

When the girl walked in, she was ready to deliver. The nurse told her to walk, while the baby was on it's way out. There was another girl there who had twins but they only delivered one baby and let the other one stay in and it's decaying. Another young girl was sitting in position and the nurse walked to the side to wash her hands and the baby came out and hit the floor and broke its shoulder.

I heard that this was common for Ecuador. I compared it to deliveries in America and how much different they are. It's easy, you go to all your check-ups, the doctor knows you...therefore you have peace about bringing the child into the world with no complications at all. Here it is a different story. Please pray for those mothers who have and are going to have to go through this experience to bring their little one into the world.

Life is precious. Pray for advancements in this area. Thanks.

Friday Night Service

On Friday night's we have a evening church service at 7:30pm. The worship is glorious and the Word is powerful. Tonight we had a few guests (from Cali!) and they spoke english! haha! I was excited to speak English...to an English speaker.

The guests were the ones that were doing the dental work in the Mountains with Pastor Patricio. They said that they were able to treat 100 people but, they will need to come back to do the rest. They seen many needs but were able to be God's hands!

They are planning on coming back in December. They have a church in California of about 80, and 35 of them are youth! Praise God!

Cow stomach...?

Ok so, tia (aunt) calls me to lunch. We always eat lunch at about 2pm. So I go out there and she has me try this soup. I get a bite of a potatoe, it's very salty...but over all pretty good. Then she gives me a bite of something else in it...it's texture was a cross between soy and raw clams...

So, I ask what it was. It was cow stomach. I asked if it was the insides or the skin and they weren't sure...
needless to say... I didn't eat anymore.

welcome to my new life :)

a few differences...

ok! So, we totally don't flush the toilet paper...which is WAY different. We put it in the trash. (that probably has something to do with why the water is very bad.

We have milk in a bag...which is actually good...

Some people put queso (cheese) in their coffee...

Coffee is very very tasty and very very cheap! (probably one of my favorite parts!

The people are very receptive to the gospel...because they have to rely on God to survive through the week.

There are idols...EVERYWHERE.

The money is USD and Ecuadorian...

Here are some pictures!

Pray on, dear one-

Mary Slessor wrote to a friend who had long prayed for her: "I have always said that I have no idea how or why God has carried me over so many funny and hard places, and made these hordes of people submit to me, or why the Government should have given me the privilege of a Magistrate among them, except in answer to prayer made at home for me. It is all beyond my comprehension. The only way I can explain it is on the ground that I have been prayed for more than most. Pray on, dear one — the power lies that way."

All that I can say right now is that God's hand is always visible in my life. If you are praying for me, please continue. I live in a city where there are Idols on nearly every street. It's very grieving. Yesterday, I seen a statue of the Devil in front of a beautiful house. The devil was torturing a man. After much questioning, I found that it was a casino. I will put up more pictures and try to blog more often.

May the blessings of the Lord overtake you!

Okay, soooo...never nails!

Here's the latest update.

I have been to cell groups, the mall, peoples houses.

I have eaten many strange things....like:

They are wrapped in leaves.

I did get sick from some food, very sick. But not from this! :)

I got sick from the McDonalds here.

Go figure.

Today I was able to get my suitcase back. I was very excited! So, now I have all of my belongings and things are going smoothly. Im on a strange diet now because of getting ill. No fried stuff, no grease...etc. It's pretty much fruit and toast and tea.

More to come!

Little Late update

Hola!
This is day 2 of my Ecuadorian journey.
So, I am going to catch everyone up.

I departed at Indianapolis Airport at 2:30pm, There was a technical difficulty so they had to wait for the ok and then we had a new route that was a little longer. I landed at Atlanta, GA at 4:15PM. I came in at gate A and needed to go to gate E15 before 4:45PM so I had to take the underground train to get me there. That flight was about 10 mins late on boarding and none of us knew why, until...a mechanic came in and put a window back in.
While at Indy I had to check 5 bags and at Ecuador I found out that they had sent one (the one with my favorite things in it and my socks...which I am missing right now because its very cold.) to another place and they are trying to get it to me here in Ecuador. I spent 2 hours trying to talk to the Delta Rep about my luggage.
I then went through customs very quickly. This little Ecuadorian man just grabbed my things and threw them through and kept saying, ¨tips? tips?¨ I am finding very quickly that everyone wants a tip.
Í was greeted by Pastor Edison and Teresa, Pastor Angel and Caty and their two kids, and Pastor Henry. They had some flowers for me and had been waiting for almost three hours.

I did not get to sleep until 2:30 AM Indiana time...and they all got up at 6AM Indiana.

I barely get an English conversation, which is at times difficult. muy dificil.
I have been to the school where I will be teaching and all of the children are so precious. They all told me ¨hello¨ in English as best as they could. They all want to hold my hand and just show off for me. It was so sweet.

Food is much different, but it is good. I will eat almost anything. I have been told that in the mountains, if you do not eat all that they give you, it offends them. Im praying that they will not put guinea pig on my plate.

Right now, I am getting to know the culture and customs. One thing I found out right away is everyone hugs and kisses everyone. And when you walk into a room, you kiss everyone on the cheek and you do the same when you leave.

The most difficult challenge is communication. I left my country, my family, my friends, my church, my customs and came (alone in the flesh) to a place I had never been before. I have already had to rely on the Lord to pull me through, when I didn´t get enough rest and I was missing my loved ones. When I was the only English speaker for 9 hours. I am finding I am spending more time in His Word daily than I did before. One, it´s in English and two, it´s my comfort and my direction.

I am very thankful to have been taught how to seek His face and be in the quiet place with my God. Thank you Pastor Jan and Pastor Martie. Thank you to my Mama and Papa bear. Thank you IGO and Susan and Monty Scales! I love you guys very much.

Prayer requests: Language to be absorbed, customs to be learned, relationships to be built.

Dios te bendiga!
Bendiciones!