Last day in Quito

 Here we are, packing. Tomorrow is the day we will fly home. 

Breakfast with pancakes, and then we had a moment of worship and devotion. We heard about the story of the 5 missionaries who were speared in 1956 in the same jungle we spent 4 days in. 

They were young men who gave their lives for a greater good. Like what we remember today on Good Friday. Our Savior gave himself to us so we can be free, so we can love the way he loved us. We remembered that love is sacrifice, and in order to live fully and bear fruit, like the seed, we are called to die to ourselves. 

Then we headed for our day in Quito - Museum of the center of the world was our first stop. Here are few pics (now your kids have their phones so we have less pics, ask them they will show you !)

It was great to experience the culture insights but also we did experiments while in the exact line separating the 2 hemispheres. It was very cool !

more bananas

Delicious empanadas for lunch !

The afternoon was dedicated to some shopping in both the artisanal market and a large grocery store where we bought coffee and chocolate !

Our hearts are full and we will need a little time to process all what happened and all the things God taught us. We pray you can have good conversations with your kids and that they really had a good time here in Ecuador and that the Lord worked in their hearts for the good. 

Thank you for your trust and for raising wonderful kids, We had lots of compliments from the people about their behavior and their heart to help and serve, and the respect they had for people. 

Glory to our God ! He is the One who makes all these things happens, the One who uses us even if He doesn't need us, in order to change our own hearts. 

We hope you will have a wonderful Easter time celebrating the resurrection of our Savior. 

✞ Team Ecuador ✞

Ninawachi to Quito !

 We made it back the the big city !

The day begun with our devotion in the Prayer Hut, where Mr Hardy exhorted us to 3 things in order to live for God : gratitude, generosity and love. 

On the fire pit, there are words engraved - yesterday was Gozo (joy) and today was "Paz" (peace). This was what we felt, going in peace after such an intense time in Ninawachi. The peace that only God can give. 

"paz" written at the bottom

The we gave some gifts to the team there, students and staff. We also received Ninawachi tee-shirts! 

Then, after breafast, one last tour of the property...

Macheta and cocoa beans

One of the students with the painting of her tribe and our sophomore girls

Helping one last time with the dishes !

Group picture

The TKA staff :)

Good bye Ninawachi ! 

Thank you for the moments, the opportunities to love and to serve, for all the love and all the joys received.

Then we drove back this long road through the jungle, absorbing all the beauties of the creation around us.  Here are some of it :

a donkey

a beautiful waterfall

A parrot !

the Andes

cows

Quito !!!

After a good dinner we did a moment of devotion and shared about our stay in Ninawachi. We also affirmed each other about positive things that happened during the week. It was so encouraging !

Tomorrow will be a day in Quito. But for now, good night :)

🫏 Team Ecuador 🫏

Day 4 in Ninawachi

 Our last full day in Ninawachi was quite a day ! Our morning devotion set us up for JOY (aka Gozo)... It was indeed a joyful day...

Our first team had a mission - to catch and prepare 3 chicken for dinner. Here they are looking for the chicken in the property. (not easy)

Another team was helping with the wire and some cleaning as they were building a new road on the site.

Another team with the pole remodeling. It begins to look like trees !

Another team went fishing... Spearfishing and handfishing !

Team chicken step #2 - chicken death 😓

Another team added the flags from 4 new countries that helped in Ninawachi : Guatemala, Switzerland, Korea and Norway. Way to go Andres, Lillah, Jiwoo, Jay and Sammie.

Team chicken step #3 - feathers removal

the poles ...

Team chicken step #4 - chicken are ready to be cleaned

Fishing in the mud - helping each other !

The poles

Team chicken step #5 - cleaning the chicken

After lunch we went to 3 different places for the VBS. Some were very remote, we even had to finish by foot...

more bananas :)

Team chicken step #6 - cooked !

Team chicken step #7 - chicken in the plate... with rice, salad and manioc

After dinner we had the last devotion in the prayer hut. We heard testimonies (Sammie did one for TKA) and words of encouragement. 

We prayed and sung songs, in a lot of languages. Here are the words of a song you all know in the language of the tribes of the jungle :

We even learned a dance form the Quechua tribe (video will be on the Google Photo album available after the trip)... Then we said our goodbyes and there was lots of laughter and hugs. 

It is so precious to realize how we all are a family in Jesus.

Now we pack and get ready for the departure tomorrow morning. We will leave for Quito after breakfast.

Good night !

🐟 Team Ecuador 🐟