Galapagos Islands!!

We just found out today that we will get to go to the Galapagos Islands! At first, they said that they weren't going to let us go because they closed down the airport on the San Cristobal, which is the island that the church is on, but we now will be able to fly to another island and take a 3 hour boat ride to the island. Please be praying for our safety since it is a small boat going across the Pacific Ocean, and also be praying for our health, because we could get VERY sea sick, and be throwing up for the straight 3 hours! So, as long as we can get tickets and everything, we will be going there on June 7.

We are leaving to go to the coast tomorrow. A group from Alabama flies in tomorrow at 11:00 PM, and we are picking them up from the airport then, and driving straight to the coast. We will probably get there at about 7 AM on Saturday morning... that's going to be a fun night! Please be praying for there to be good weather, because when there is a group there we will need to be doing ministry outside most of the time, because they do not yet have a church built. Thanks for praying.

Atacucho!

Today I went to a feeding center in Atacucho, which is a town outside of Quito, at about 13,000 feet. I went on a bus for almost 2 hours with a girl named Lucy, who was really nice. We got there, and I found out that it actually was one of the places that partners with Compassion International for sponsorships. I thought that was really interesting. I looked through the names of the padrinos (god-parents - literally or sponsors) because my parents sponsor a child in Quito, but it is not the same place. We were hoping it would be. They have about 210 children right now and are going to get 30 more this summer. I get there and they tell me that I have to tell the kids about myself in this megaphone thing, and then I had to pray (in Spanish) and the kids repeat after me. It was very interesting. We fed the kids Ceviche, rice, and french fries. I ate it too... didn't get sick praise the Lord. Then I got to visit all of the classes, and then they put me in charge of the 10-12 year old classroom... all by myself... it was absolute chaos, but I had the opportunity to help some of the older children with their English homework. It was a really great experience, and when I get pictures on the computer I will put them up. I wish I could go back there, but today was the only day I would be able to go because tomorrow I have to help them finish packing, and then we are leaving on Friday for the coast. Please pray that we will get everything packed up, and ready to go Friday.

Corey went to the coast to set up the beds and stuff in the apartments, and then they were going to take a bus back today, but the people who went with him didn't have enough money to ride the bus back, and the truck driver is coming back tomorrow, so they are just coming back tomorrow. So he's still there and not super happy about it. He asked if he could just come back by himself, but they told him that there's no way he'd be able to navegate the bus system for 8 hours back, so he had better just stay with them and come back tomorrow. Pray for safe travles for him. Thanks.

Mitad del Mundo

Yesterday, we went to Mitad del Mundo, or the equator. In the picture below you see Corey and I standing on the equator line, and then you see me "holding the world in my hands" - that is the typical thing that all Ecuadorians do if they come here. We went with Matt and April and their daughters. They are missionaries who are planning on coming down to Ecuador full time in August. They are absolutely amazing people with amazing stories to tell. They lived in China for a year and taught English, and were illegally pastors of an underground church there, and they have gone to a language school in Costa Rice, and just endless stories. They have 3 daughters - Darbyjule (5), Maria (3), and Catherine (1 1/2). You see them all in the picture below. We had a great time relaxing and shopping and visiting.

Today, we helped the missionaries pack things up some more. We took down all of the curtains in their house, all the rods too and the screws and stuff - it was hard work. You wouldn't think so, but really it is! Thank you for your prayers. Please be praying for Tori, the other girl here. She has been sick and has a fever of 101.3 right now. Thanks.

Somethings don't turn out as we expect them.

So, this week has been trying for all of us, because the Mills have been selling everything here in Quito and their house and everything. Something that I learned about most Ecuadorians - they don't really respect your time and you can't depend on them. The Mills had a garage sale today, but people were over here ALL week, from 1 until about 8 everyday, looking at stuff. Even when we told people not to come back until Saturday, they still came over! They were just constantly here. And you can't just tell them to leave, because they don't call before them come. They either show up after traveling for like a half hour to an hour, and you can't just tell them to leave if they came that far. Or they call you when they are on their way, as they are close. Anyways, so people have been here constantly, and nobody can get anything done that they need to. Ahhh... so anyways, yesterday, we were planning on going to Mitad del Mundo (center of the world), which is where the Equator is and everything. Well we were going to borrow a car from the Paster of the church here. We talked to him about it Wednesday and then confirmed it on Thursday, and then we go over to get the keys and his car in the morning. And he had left that morning to go 6 hours away and took his keys with him. He said his wife had a spare set of keys, but then she couldn't find them... so we ended up not being able to go there... (like I said, you just learn to not depend on people, and ALWAYS have a plan B and C). So we decided to go to the mall and then we went to the Teleferiquo, which was a railcar things that brought you up to one of the highest mountains in Quito at about 14,000 feet. We got off, and it was hard to breath. It was an absolutely beautiful view. So at least we got to do something yesterday. We were so high up that my nose was actually bleeding from the alititude, and it was so cold, we could see our breath, yet back down off the mountain (at 10,000 feet, it was 65-70 degrees.

Then, once again, Ecuadorians don't respect your time. We were planning on going to see Pirates of the Carribean at 6, and some people were supposed to come over to pick up some things that they bought at 1:30, well, they didn't show up until 4:30, and we were planning on leaving for the movie at 5. Needless to say, we tried to get everything out to them as fast as we could, but then we couldn't even take the car - we had to take a taxi because we moved everything out into the road, and they still had to load it all up. We didn't leave until about 5:45 and we were rushing but we got there right as the movie was starting. It is just absolute chaos here. Today was the garage sale, thank goodness, so it's all over, and people won't be here constantly for the next week. Please be praying for our sanity! We will be leaving to go back to the coast in a week.

It's a small world!

Today, we went to the seminary to sit in on one of Denise's classes and go to the chapel. It was very interesting, and they were commissioning a group of about 15 students to go and do mission work for the next 4 months or something. What I thought was crazy though, was on the way home, we met a guy who went to the semenary on the bus, and he was from Guayaquil, and so we were talking to him, and I had told him that I had been there with my church 3 years ago to work at an orphanage called Principe de Paz, and he was amazed, because he worked there for a summer in 2001. It was very random, we were very surprised about how small of a world it is. Please keep praying!

Feeling better...but keep praying!

So thank you so much for all of the prayers to whoever was praying for me. I am feeling a lot better. I slept all the way through the night last night from about 10:30 to 7:15 and then went back to sleep from 7:30 until 9. It was amazing... I haven't slept like that since I got here. Please keep praying that I will continue to be able to sleep because I'm not feeling 100%, just better, I need to be able to sleep more to get fully better, but please please pray. Also, Tori is another girl who is here, and she is starting to feel like she has a cold too, so please pray for her to feel better as well. Corey is still healthy, but surprise since he never gets sick! Thanks for you prayers.

Today we will probably just translate more journals for Michael's Doctoral work, and then we will probably continue to help the missionaries pack up everything and get stuff ready to sell. They are moving from their HUGE house in Quito (5000 feet) down to three apartments on the coast (900 feet), so they are definitely downsizing, but they are very content. Thanks for your prayers. Keep them up.

Pray!

Please pray for me, because I have a terrible cold, and I just do not sleep here in Quito. We have been here for 5 days, and I have been nothing but sick, and I have not been able to sleep more than 4 or 5 hours a night. I know I would get better if I could sleep, but I can't. Please pray. I even took Tylonol PM with a sleep aid in it and couldn't sleep until 4:30 AM, so please please pray. I feel that it is an attack from the enemy to keep me from serving, so please pray that I will be able to sleep and feel better.

Sick....

So, I am not feeling very well (but surprise, huh, for all you who know me). I've had a stomach ache for a few days now, and my back is starting to hurt like it may be a kidney stone or something, so please pray that it is not a kidney stone and that I will feel better. We aren't doing too much that I can't do right now though. I laid in bed all day yesterday, because I was really not feeling well, and I ate chicken soup all day, but today I've been able to be up a little bit, and I ate the japanese food that we ate for lunch. Mike the missionary is doing his doctoral work, and in it, he is training 60 "disciples" to go out and do work on Ecuador and on the Galapagos Islands. What we are doing is translating their journals from Spanish into English. It's hard work, on the mind at least, but not strenuous, so I can do it right now. They are having a couples conference at the church in Quito tonight, so we are putting something on for the kids. Probably just a movie. Please be praying for my health. Thanks.