Hi Dad, Mom, Khoi and Khoa!! Haha I'm so excited to be back in Ecuador! I moved some rocks and did seperated some hay today. Although it was tiring I'm glad I was able to help out around Casablanca :) I miss you guys! Happy 12th Birthday Khoi! Love you all! :D -Natalie

Hey Mom, Hey Dad, I doing fine and I am so excited to be back serving in Ecuador!! I am looking forward to the new experiences that God will bring. -Vania

ECUADOR!

Today has been great so far! I have not gotten sunburned yet and we got to work alongside Ecuadorian people in helping them make grass rolls to go on top of a roof! I am really excited to see what else this trip brings! -Ashley Fanjoy :D p.s. hi mom and dad!

Ecuador Adventure!

Doing some manual labor, having some worship during our rest time, and returning to work for a couple hours really opened my eyes to how effective we can be. Our construction may be difficult, but it is fulfilling God's purpose for us committing to this mission trip. I feel our group growing closer together by really putting in our best effort and encouraging each other. Seeing some really disgusting, scary bugs was terrifying but it is also part of the experience! I feel that God will really do great things with this group that is full with so many varities of talents that glorify Him.

Our first day

Hi everyone, this is Joanne. (I'm sorry if this is not coherrent, we are all exhausted right now.) Although the clock reads 1:30pm, it feels like this day has been so much longer. This morning started out with breakfast that our cooks had carefully prepared for us. Then we gathered in the living room for devotions that were led by Sra Kadle. She shared a poem written by a past coworker called "Heaven's Grocery Store." We also read today's devotions you all wrote for us. (Thank you!) Then we closed with prayer for today, for the team and the symptoms we are experiencing due to the high altitude.
The rest of the morning was filled with construction projects at Casablanca. Our team was divided into three groups: group 1 planted flowers and prepared soil for a garden, group 2 moved heavy logs up a hill in order to create a wedding ceremony area, and group 3 moved large rocks from one area to another. The morning flew by quickly as we worked hard and gave our 110%. After we finished our projects, we were assigned the task of moving those same large rocks to another pile across Casablanca's property. In order to do this we formed an assembly line so no one person would need to carry one rock a long way. After working for about an hour, the pile had been moved halfway. Luckily, we were allowed to stop for lunch at 12:45pm to replemish our energy levels. Now it is time to head back out and move rocks. Thank you for all your prayers, we love and miss you all! Picture will be up soon. Love, Joanne

Hi Mike, I miss you. Love, Bettie

HI EVERYBODY! Joanne says hi....we all arrived safely, made all our connections, and are now at Casa Blanca enjoying a cloudless morning! Thank you for all your prayers for our travels, we really had an uneventful day and only were delayed a hour in coming into Quito. Gustavo, along with the two interns, Abby and Annie, welcomed us to Ecuador and briefed us on our "contract" for the week....which included: choose joy, be here and now, give a %110, challenge by choice, and love covers all. We were all challenged to encourage one another in these aspects and keep one another accountable throughout the week. Today we will be participating in construction around the house and getting used to the altitude... Stay tuned for day 2's events!