Ecuador Project

My Compassion Child & Family

Nuevos Amigos Christian School Child

Making a beads bracelet

I have seen things in Ecuador that no man should ever have to see let alone live but at the same time I have seen joy, satisfaction, contentment, commitment to one’s family, love and the love for God that I have never seen before. But let’s start from the beginning. After several meetings at Rivertree with Rick and the team we were finally ready to go.

Saturday, July 18th, 2009:
The day has finally arrived. We all met at the Akron Canton Airport except for Rachel, Jonathan and Karissa. They would meet up with us in Atlanta. During the flight I had a lot of time to think and pray. I really wanted to make an impact on my compassion child, her family, and the Ecuadorian people. At the same time I needed this trip to make an impact on me and help me to understand who I am, what is really important in life and what God has planned for me and my life. I am a very detailed person that focuses on details, tasks and time and that is not the culture in Ecuador. It’s relationships that are important to them.

The flight from Atlanta to Quito Ecuador was smooth. After arriving in Quito we took a bus to Extreme Response (ER) that would become our home away from home for the next week. We arrived around midnight, unpacked and went to bed with lots of anticipation for tomorrow and the week ahead.

Sunday, July 19th, 2009:
Our 1st full day in Ecuador has arrived. The morning started off with devotions and then we were off to church in San Pablo. The service was amazing. They had a full praise band with singers. Even though everything was in Spanish it didn’t matter. The spirit of the Lord was there. Michelle translated the sermon in English. The message was simple but from the heart. After the service it was a joy to meet everyone. So much love. One thing I did notice was that the service was focused on worship and not time or structure. It appeared that there was no set time for the service to end. We were there at least 1½ hours. In the states people would have been looking at their watch for the last 30 minutes wondering when the service would end.

Later that day we went to the park to play with the kids. What a beautiful park and so many children and families. We had a nerf football and started throwing it around. It didn’t take long until children started coming and playing, too. Again, the language barrier did not hinder the interaction with the children. Later that evening after returning to Extreme Response we had our debrief with Rick about the day. It had been a wonderful 1st day.

Monday, July 20th, 2009:
After a really good night’s sleep the morning started off with devotions and then we were off to Nuevos Amigos Christian School for a work day. Some of the team painted a classroom while others painted the railing outside and others worked on the patio removing the grass and rocks. I worked on the patio and it really felt good to get in some hard work. The grass roots are so large and deeply rooted it took a pick to dig them out. The ground was also full of rock making the task really difficult but we were able to finish it.

After finishing the patio work we still had some time left so we played soccer with the kids at the school. They are really good. I also had the pleasure of taking pictures of and with the children. They really enjoyed taking their pictures with us. The children are so loving. The soccer field was just dirt with rocks at the ends as well as left over construction materials. In the states it would have been considered too dangerous for kids to play but there it is all they have and they are really thankful to have it.

After playing with the children I had the honor of going to the home of a local family for dinner. It was amazing and the food so good but I also knew that this was more food than the family would have to eat for several days. It was hard to sit at the table and eat this wonderful food while others in the family sat there with no food in order for me to have enough. I made sure that there wasn’t a single piece of rice left on my plate after being given such an honor.

The home was clean but so small and about a dozen people lived there. In the US a family of 2 would have found this home to be too small. Living there were the parents and their children as well as their aunts, uncles and all of their children. I had written on a piece of paper the Spanish words to tell them that they had a beautiful family and that the food was really good. They showed so much appreciation that I made the effort to say this to them in Spanish. It was an amazing day.

After returning to the ER we had our debrief with Rick about the day. I really enjoy the debriefs and hearing all of the team express their feelings about the day. The home that I went to for dinner was a family that would have been considered to be fairly well off. They even had some furniture. Others on the team went to homes that didn’t have much furniture. There was one house that was one large room with sheets making up the dividing walls.

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009:
After another really good night’s sleep the morning started off with devotions and then we were off to visit the Child Survival Project. This is a program for mothers that need help keeping their young children healthy. Actually, it’s a matter of survival for their children. The program is really amazing and the mothers we met were so appreciative and so full of love.

Today was the day that the trip became real. We all have seen the pictures of the homes that some of these families live in but it never really hits you until you are actually in one of those homes and that happened today. After meeting with the mothers we went to one of the mothers homes. It was down a extremely run down alley and then there was a opening in a cement block wall. That opening led to a passage way that led to a door. After entering the door we were in her home that consisted of 1 dark room with plastic as the ceiling, a bed, a small table and a few shelves with a small amount of food on them. There were no appliances except for a small table top 2 burner stove. The bathroom was an outdoor shared facility and washing clothes was done in an open well that was outside, too. Sitting in this room I now know what true poverty is. She paid $20 a month for her rent and $35 a month for her 1 light bulb electric bill and water. After the visit Rick asked her if she could have anything she wanted for God to provide what would it be. Her answer was amazing. She only wanted to be able to keep what she currently had. To her this tiny 1 room hole in the wall was her home. To us in the US we wouldn’t keep our car in that room but to her she had all that she needed, was happy, had a husband that worked and made $55 a week and a healthy child.

What really struck me was that she at least had electric and water.  There are other families that live  in a single room wood structure, with a dirt floor, no electric, no running water with incomes of $120 a month or less.  It’s hard to believe that they have even less than this mother has.   When I see these people in these living conditions but still strong in their faith and love for each other I truly have nothing in my life to complain about.

Later that day we went back to the ER and had dinner with the compassion LDP students. This is a very small select group of individuals that were in the compassion program and then they are sponsored through college. They were explaining to us what it was like being sponsored through compassion and what the sponsors meant to them. The most important thing were the letters they received from their sponsors. After hearing that I will write even more to Gabriela.

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009:
This morning our devotions was an exercise to hear God and then answer these questions. “What does God like about me” and “What about me pleases God”. This was very difficult for me. I hear others tell me how God speaks to them through their thoughts and dreams. I did my best on this exercise but it’s very hard for me to differentiate what thoughts come from me or God and then there are those thought you wish you didn’t have and you know that they didn’t come from God. I will continue to listen and pray that God we help me to hear him.

After the exercise we went to the Quito dump to see the children of the parents that work at the dump. There is a daycare there that watches their children. Before the daycare the children went to the Quito dump with them either on their backs on had to sit in a cardboard box for 10 to 12 hours.

The children at the daycare were wonderful and so beautiful. After playing with the kids we all walked down to the dump to see the parents working. I felt terrible seeing this. I felt as if we were looking down on these people from the structure above. It was the hardest thing to look at that I have ever seen. People sorting through raw trash to try and find plastic, glass, aluminum and cardboard to sell for recycling. It is very dangerous too due to the fast and continuous turnover of the garbage trucks coming and going. They wouldn’t even look up at us. They feel that they are a lower class of people since they work in the Quito dump but they are not and I really wanted to run down there and tell them that we are all equal in the sight of God. I also wanted to tell them that they should be proud that they do this to support their families. In the US people would not do this. It was a very disturbing sight. No one should have to do what I saw today.

To see a video of Quito Ecuador dump select the link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnaEmbaxhDo

After the dump we went to the soup kitchen called Pan de Vida. I was 1 of 5 of our team that was responsible for seeing that everyone washed and dried their hands. There were 102 children that showed up that night as well as many adults. It was also disturbing to see children show up without any parents or adults and them eat only some of the food and then take the rest home to the rest of the family.

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009:
There are no words to describe the joy that today brought to me. Today I met my compassion child, Gabriela. The day started off with our devotions at the ER and then we were off to meet our compassion children in the park. We passed a covered grandstand and saw the compassion children. While I was walking to the grandstand I heard the team yell to me, Jeff, its Gabriela. They were actually in the grass before the grandstand. I turned around and saw her running to me. Within seconds we were hugging each other while her mother was in tears. Along with her mother 2 additional children attended, too. They were Frank who is 9 and Karen who is 7. There were 2 additional children at home that were 13 and 16.

After long glorious hugs, kisses and introductions the team and their compassion children walked to the park. The park was beautiful with paddle boats and acres of green lawn to play games on. Before going on the paddle boats we went through the backpack of gifts I brought for Gabriela and her family. To my surprise they had a gift for me. It was an Ecuadorian souvenir that had a message on the bottom they wrote for me, 2 Ecuador wrist bracelets and a box of chocolate. It was such an honor to see Gabriela, her mother, brother and sister knowing that they had to travel all night on a bus for 10 hours to see me.

After going thought the backpack of gifts and seeing her mother’s tears as each item was removed from the backpack we all went for a paddleboat ride. After the paddleboat ride we went to a large grassy area in the park and played with the games and soccer ball I had bought her.

At 1pm we all had lunch together and then we left for the amusement park. At the amusement we all rode rides and played games. All 3 of the children won prizes at the games and they were so excited over these small stuffed animals that they won. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and at 5:30pm we had to say our goodbyes. That was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do in my entire life. I have never seen such emotion, appreciation and love that I saw that day from my compassion child and her family.

Friday, July 24th, 2009:
Today after our morning devotions we headed back to the Nuevos Amigos Christian School for a carnival that the team put on for the children. What a day it was. There were 166 children at the carnival. We had Hawaiian leis for the girls and colored bracelets for the boys. The team broke up into different stations. We had tattoos, coloring, ring toss, stacked bottles to knock down, the leg race where we tied 2 people’s legs together and had them race and a football through a hoop toss. The children had a great time and the appreciation and love that day from the children was amazing. When the carnival was over we had a bag with prizes for all of the children to take home with them. Everyone was a winner that day.

Saturday, July 25th, 2009:
What a week it was and how fast the time went. We had one last opportunity to visit and play with the children one last time today and then we were off to the airport at 8pm for an all night flight back home. I am actually at the airport now as I finish this blog. In closing I have to say that this was an experience that I wouldn’t have missed, I will never forget and I will go back again.

My goal was to make an impact on the Ecuadorian people and my compassion child Gabriela but now looking back it is the impact that they made on me that was overwhelming and life changing. Please pray for the Ecuadorian people and for poverty stricken people all over the world and if you sponsor a compassion child go see them and take this trip. It will not only change their life but it will change yours.

To sponsor a compassion child go to http://www.compassion.com

Jeff Porter

Thursday (7/23/09) was the day that everyone was able to meet their sponsor children from the Compassion program. I wasn’t sure how the day would unfold being that my sponsor child would not be attending due to the fact that she lives in Columbia, but seeing everyone just encouraged me to want to make the trip to see my Compassion child. God called me to be a servant for the day and I graciously accepted the roll. I was fortunate enough to be able to spend some time with several families. I could not help, but think that He is using this trip to prepare me for something bigger. I was given the opportunity to spend the majority day with Jeff and his child, Gabriella. His child and family brought tears to everyone as we met them before seeing the other families. I heard her mother yell “Carrera! Carrera!”, which means run, run. The exchange of hugs and emotions were overwhelming. The morning was spent in the local park getting acquainted with the children and the exchanging of gifts. There was time for play in the grassy fields and even take a ride on the paddle boats before we met up as a group for lunch. Afterward the whole afternoon was spent at the local amusement park. Some of these children road buses up to ten hours, the amusement park was new and exciting for many of them. It was a great joy to help document Jeff’s day with his Compassion girl. When it was time to leave, it left me equally heartbroken as well. Towards the end of the day as we were heading back to depart, there was this overwhelming sensation telling me that this is not the end, but only the beginning.

Shawn Hassig

My double blessing: both compassion girls- the newly sponsored, and the past sponsored.

The Day I Met My Compassion Child
Christy got up this morning and made eggs and toast for everyone. Amazing since she was the last one to go to bed last night. She keeps us all laughing. I decided to eat better this morning so I wouldn’t feel sick. The altitude sickness is real. I was really nervous about meeting my Compassion child and excited at the same time. We all wrote the names of our children on the dry erase board. I gathered my stuffed book bag. I had left a few things at home because they wouldn’t fit into the book bag. I grabbed my matching tote bag that had my usual things needed for an outing (water bottle, toilet paper, sunscreen, sunglasses, etc). Off we went on the bus to the park to meet our Compassion children.  We all envied Jeff because he had such thoughtful gifts for his Compassion child. He was wearing at shirt made with a picture of his sponsored child. He had made a t-shirt with his picture on it for his child to wear. We all decided he should get the best sponsor award because he emailed his compassion child often as well. When Jeff’s Compassion Child saw him in the park, she ran ahead. Her mother was shouting, “corre, corre”-
(run – run in Spanish). When the mother spied the shirt with her daughter’s picture on it, she gasped and threw her hands over her face. The child was hugging Jeff. The rest of us were in tears. I had to pull myself together to meet my child. Then I went to the place where the children were waiting. My daughter, Krista was hugging Dayana. I recognized her from photos sent by Compassion. Someone yelled out my name. It was Jennifer Michelle. Instantly someone was hugging me. I met her mother and tutor from Compassion. I was confused. Jennifer was dropped from the program, but yet she was here. I had sponsored her in the past. Because Jennifer was dropped, I picked up another child in Ecuador to sponsor.  People were asking “Where’s Kimberly?”
They said, “Lorena is here.” I said, “Oh, over there is my other  sponsored child.” I went to her and hugged her. I met her mother and her tutor. Then I discovered from talking to Omar, (the Compassion director),  he sent for Jennifer- my old sponsored child. I had two children today! I had planned for one. I had a two for one special. Omar explained Jennifer was pulled from the program but wants to come back. He said I should feel no obligation to sponsor her again. I recalled how God had blessed me in my job. I was chosen over others who had more experience and higher degrees to be a senior instructor. I recalled the hardship I endured with other co workers to be in this position. I was originally told I would have a raise in July, but in May I was told this would not happen. Then right before the trip (Friday), I was told there was a mistake…indeed I would get a raise. I have to think the raise came through for such a time as this. How could I say no to sponsoring two children now? Both children were very happy. I split the items in my book bag and gave one child my tote bag to carry her gifts. Karissa carried my personal items.  I was so happy to finally know  what happened to Jennifer. Her mother was a single mom. Grandmother helped raise Jennifer. Grandmother is not a Christian and did not like Jennifer spending so much time away from her at the Christian School.  Omar said Jennifer may come back to the program but it may cause stress between the mother and grandmother. He said the fact  I chose to come overseas may influence the grandmother’s thoughts about “overseas missionaries”. WOW! Who ever knew? Michelle, the missionary living in Ecuador,  said Jennifer’s mother may have more conviction after spending the day with me to stand up to her mother. Now I see why Satan was working so hard to keep me from coming on this trip. I had an amazing day with two families! I was doubly blessed! God is good all the time!

Kim Kunkle

Well, not the whole country. Just the 1/2 acre hillside beside the building we are living in for the week. We came “home” from our Vacation Bible School yesterday to find it charred and smoking. And Dan Malloy with Extreme Response (the ministry that manages our building), who, amazingly enough, is from Akron, OH, told the story. He arrived in the afternoon to find the whole hillside in flames. And no one was putting it out. So Dan called the fire department and then went on the roof with his daughter, got a hose hooked up, and started dousing the flames. When the fire departement arrived 30 minutes later……………yes I wrote 30 MINUTES LATER…………..Dan, his daughter, and a neighbor had the fire mostly out. But check this out: the fire department was 2 dudes on motorcycles with water filled backpacks! That’s crazy and cool all at once. So these guys really took over once they arrived (sarcasm intended). They went up on our roof and used the hoses Dan and his daughter had used and made sure the fire was out.

So either all the buildings in Quito, Ecuador are concrete because they don’t have a fire department, or there’s not much of a fire department in Quito, Ecuador because all the buildings are concrete. Or both.

But what is really burning in Ecuador is the hearts of my mission team for these people and these children, and God inside them. I am so proud of how they came here open and ready to experience everything and soaked it all in. Yesterday’s VBS/Carnival was a blast with 166 kids from the La Comuna neighborhood. We had about a dozen game stations and smiles were to be had all around. The sister’s Finley wrote an incredible skit (performed mimed) and recruited some of the team members to act it out. It was about a girl who kept trading her heart for the the things of this world and the deceitfullness of wealth. She ended up with it torn in pieces. Jesus (aka Tom Valentine) came and blew away her broken heart and gave her a new one. I really enjoyed watching from the back as all the kids got silent and stood on their chairs to see. A sacred moment for me for sure. Video on youtube to follow.

-rick

i love blessings from the Lord, and i am thankful for his blessings (or at least im pretty sure i am). i know that i have many blessing, and i am probably oblivious to many of the blessings He has given me.
i really do not understand why God has given me so many blessings. why did God decide for me to be born in the U.S. with so many blessings that follow (i.e. freedom, no poverty, etc.)? i really do not understand that. what boggles my mind more than anything is why did He send His Son to carry all my sins, sicknesses, and diseases upon Himself and then die? i cannot tell you, or express, the times i have turned my back on Him. i can be a huge, huge jerk towards God. and i mean a huge jerk. but he has blessed me on this earth with so many things and has blessed me eternally though Jesus. this love i just cannot comprehend.

tom valentine

Wow. Today was incredible. Today we met our sponsored children. I woke up this morning, completely awake, ready for what the day would bring. Or so I thought. Packed and ready to go, we all nervously and excitedly boarded the bus to the park. We couldn’t get there fast enough. We finally got there, and piled out of the bus. The first sponsor to meet his child was Jeff. The Eagle Scout who made the rest of us look bad (haha). It was very touching; we all cried. To see the child’s face when they first hugged… priceless. And Jeff had made a t-shirt with his sponsored child on the front, which surprised the child’s mother. I was so glad that I got to witness Jeff meeting his child. Teary-eyed, we walked to meet our children. Seeing my child in person was priceless. The first thing that I did was give her a huge hug. I had so many emotions surging through my veins at that point… It was electric. We took some pictures, then walked to the lake together in one big group. Dayana was very shy at first. We asked each other questions, and made small talk until we got to the lake. Once at the lake, Dayana opened the backpack that I made for her. At one point, Dayana’s mom told me that she was praying for some of the things packed in my bag… It was a very delicate moment for me. God is so good. After attempting to repack the backpack (with eventual success), we all went for a boat ride. Dayana, my translator Michelle, and myself rode in one boat, while Dayana’s mother and Dayana’s project leader were in the other boat. With Dayana steering, our boat never once went in a straight line, but it was fun regardless After boating, we walked around with my mom and her sponsored children. Dayana loved watching the boys ride BMX and skateboard. We played in the grass for a while, then met up for lunch in a very artistic pavilion. After eating some KFC and jumping rope some more, we headed out to the buses to drive to the “amusement park”. Ecuadorian amusement parks are nothing like American amusement parks. However, we had a blast. Dayana, her mom, the project leader, Michelle, and myself all rode rides and played games. We had such a good time… the bond between Dayana and myself grew much stronger as the day progressed. Near the end of the day, our group went up a mountain in a cable car, called “el teleferico”. The view was incredible. My pictures do the view no justice. The whole way down the mountain, the project leader thanked me for loving Dayana, praying for her, and taking time to visit her. Her mom was also very thankful. It was very awkward for me to be thanked so much, because I felt like I gained so much from the day. I tried to thank them, but I felt like my thanks were not doing the crazy emotional train inside of me any justice. Saying goodbye was very difficult. After having Dayana attached at my hip for hours, it was very hard to part ways. Not knowing when or if I would ever see her again. She is a wonderful girl, and I feel so privileged to be sponsoring her.

I am taking away from this trip way more than I can possibly be giving. God wanted me in Ecuador this week. God wanted me to know that the whole world is in his hands. God wanted to take me out of my comfort zone and into reality. Reality check: God is love.

-Krista

Hola Amigos y Familia,

Well its day 4 here in Ecuador and we are all having such an emotional time. It’s a mixture of the the high altitude, the foreign language, the impoverished (yet joyful) people & the heart warming experiences. It’s making everyone a little home sick yet terribly happy to be here. I have met such wonderful people and we have all become fast friends… Rick was right!!! We are all different ages and come from different background yet have bonded pretty much from the beginning.

Sunday: We arrived safely after a long day of traveling and got to our temporary home… Extreme Response at bout 1am. Everyone got on their laptops to email home. I drew the short straw and had to sleep on the top bunk. That has proved to be somewhat challenging especially getting up in the middle of the night. We got up early in the am and went to San Pablo church which is a Presbyterian church to worship. After that we went to eat at the mall food court and then to La Carolina Park and played with local kids in the park. After that we went shopping at a market where local merchants set up on the weekends to sell their products and then to a grocery store and then to a local restaurant ( Bom K’fe) that was opened up just for us.

Monday : We woke and went for a work day at the church school Nuevos Amigos. I opted to work on the hard labor crew busting up the rocks with pick-axes, pulling up the grass (with foot long roots!! ) and leveling out the land to pour a cement landing. While others painted the school classrooms, railings and window frames. We were all exhausted. The rocks… the deeper you dug the more we unearthed and the task seemed never-ending. We broke for lunch and soon neighborhood kids trickled in and all of us exhausted people formed teams for an impromptu soccer game. You would not believe how responsive these kids are to love and attention. They want to be held and hugged and to play and it’s rejuvenating. That night (after returning to our ‘home’ to find no electricity to shower and prepare for dinner) 4 families invited us to their humble homes and made us dinner. Have you ever had people who have nearly nothing, share all they have with you? really moving…

Tuesday: This was my worst day so far. We took a bus to the Child Survival Program sponsored by Compassion and I got sick on the way. That pretty much put a damper on the rest of the day. Marty and Rick prayed for me and that started me crying and I was homesick and cried pretty much all day. After lunch we did home visits of the mothers in the survival program. The first home was a single room much smaller than our normal sized bedrooms, and the room served as the entire house. The kitchen, living room & bedroom. The bathroom was down the alley outside and water was drawn from a large hole in the ground and caught in buckets in order to do laundry. One of our team asked her what does she pray to God for and she responded that she prays that He will continue to provide for them as He does everyday. It was a real wake up call. I have never imagined poverty at this level.
Finally we invited some college students over for pizza dinner at our place. They are in the leadership program – graduates from Compassion International (where i sponsor my girl…. Jessica) They told us all about the program from their end, how the letters their sponsors wrote them made them feel, made them believe in themselves, made them believe that there must really be a God… since this person who doesn’t even know me loves me enough to see that my needs are being met. I get to meet Jessica tomorrow!!!

Wednesday: Today was a much better day! I still felt homesick but at least physically I felt better. What a long and tiring day. We went to the city dump today and that was the most heart wrenching experience I have ever had. I had to really concentrate on not letting the smell get to me. They have a daycare there and we got to play with the kids. Look up Extreme Response on youtube and they have the video of the tour we went on there. When we were done at the dump we got to go to Mitad del Mundo which means the middle of the world. We did some shopping, ate lunch at a quaint restaurant, and got some great photos!!! We then went and worked at a soup kitchen and fed over 200 people…. over half of them children. The name of the ministry is Pan De Vida. We met the man who founded the program and he told us how he started the program. There was another mission team
there from South Carolina that we worked with. After the soup kitchen we went to a chinese restaurant for dinner. There was 22 of us and it was a little confusing dealing with 3 different languages but we got our food quickly and it tasted good!! When we got back to ER we worked on planning for the VBS/Carnival that we are having on Friday for about 250 kids.

It has been an honor serving Gods people in need and I feel very blessed to be here.

God Bless!!!! Lisa

Compassion child survival program visit

Rivertree visits Compassion's Child Survival Program moms

July 21, 2009
Today was a very special day for me. Our group learned about the child survival program at a church run by Compassion. This program helps mother and children less than three years of age. It teaches mothers how to care for their children and improve their lives. It is a holistic approach. The workers teach them skills to improve their economic status, give emotional, spiritual, and physical help. Workers make visits to the homes and check on the mothers and children. I can identify with these workers because it sounds much like the job I had with Visiting Nurse Service. I have much sympathy for the mothers raising their children in such poverty. The workers explained the program and asked if a couple of Americans in our group would pray for the mothers that came to the church to share their testimony about the program. I was honored to speak to them. It was fantastic to be able to encourage them because I had an excellent translator available. I feel handicapped many times here because I love to talk to people, and I know such little Spanish. Michelle Schario (mother of 5) also spoke to them. Steve Schario prayed for them.
It is amazing that I am so far away from home in a different land and culture, but yet many mothers all have the same struggles.
We all want the best for our families. We went to two of the mother’s homes for a visit after being at the church. One mother lived in very poor living conditions- the worst I have ever seen (and I’ve seen same bad ones). Words cannot describe what I saw.  I had to look past her living conditions and look at her as a person. She was only 16 years old caring for a 1 year old baby and husband. Her worker reported  she was so proud of her. Her baby was growing and developing normally. I was honored to be able to pray with her with the help of the translator. I was doubly blessed to be honored to pray for the second mother in her home as well. I feel the Lord looks at these women and loves them. He knows their heart. They are very different from us, but yet we share some things in common. Christ unites us.

After the home visits, we saw a major landmark in the city of Quito. It is a virgin Mary statue that towers over the city stepping on Satan the serpent. How cool. We bought a few souvenirs. Next we had a pizza party with Compassion International Students. They told us what it was like being a sponsored child growing up. One of the main things I learned from their testimonies was we should all write our sponsored children more often. Write to them, it is SOOO important. It makes such an impact. You can go on line now and write on the compassion website. It only takes a few minutes.  The days here are so full. It feels like we have been here a long time. We stay very busy and are exhausted by the end of the day. It is physical and emotional. It is compassion in action. It is God working through us, we are his hands and feet.

Kim Kunkle

today was very, very moving for me. i believe God spoke to me today when we were at 124 (the compassion place with the mothers). when the mothers were up in front of the group, the Lord put a scripture on my heart. its a scripture in Isaiah (however you spell it), and it says something to the effect of that when Jesus was dying on the cross, he saw his seed (all of us believers), and he was pleased. i looked at these women, and i thought to myself, Jesus saw the faces of these women here when He was dying. He saw the faces of these women, these women whom i dont know, who live in a different continent, who have a different culture and speak a different language. everyone is equal in Gods eyes. we are all equal in the body of Christ. He know them, everything about them, loves them, and has great plans for their lives. we (believers) will ALL be together in Heaven.
As i see these poverty stricken homes/neighborhoods, i also see that these people are perfectly content with everything. they are content with what they have, and they have the Lord in their heart. this goes to show me that “man does not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” God is all we need. if we trust in Him he will supply our every need. If we fully lean on God, we will be content and full. i am totally blown away by these people that live down here– they understand this concept sooo much more than i do.

Tom Valentine

Today we visited 2 homes of mothers in the Child Survival Program. The first home belonged to a 16 year old mother and her husband. It was quite amazing to see what struggles they had to go through each day with how tiny their house was. Their home was a single room much smaller than our normal sized bedrooms, and the room served as the entire house. The bathroom was down the alley outside and was a large hole in the ground.
It was so crazy for me because her son, Anthony, was 1 year old.. meaning she was 15 when she had him! It’s unbelievable for me to even comprehend that because she is 2 years younger than me!! Even at 18 I can’t imagine having a baby in the United States and being as fortunate as I am, but to have a baby at 15 years old in her situation is just amazing! She works so hard to take care of her son and her husband who is a masonry. It was just incredible to meet her and hear her story!
The second mother’s home we visited was a 38 year old mother of 3. She had a 12 year old son, an 11 year old son and a 10 month old daughter. Her 10 month old daughter was born with a hip problem and has to wear a rather large and constricting brace until she is 1 year old. Even when she turns 1 she may have to keep wearing the brace depending on what the x-rays show. Whether she will be able to ever walk is simply up to God. The mother was so amazing in that she didn’t complain about the fact that the father wasn’t around much because he wanted the new baby to be a boy or that the baby daughter was born with a hip problem. She simply wanted to ask God to watch over her family and all of us there in her home. I truly felt the hand of Jesus on her while she was speaking to us today.
My view on life has completely changed after visiting these 2 amazing mother’s homes. Every time I even start to think about wanting something I don’t have, I will stop and remember this day and thank the Lord for how much he has blessed me with.

-Rachel