Reunion and Debriefing

Happy Fathers Day to all the Dad's back home!   We have had a fun last few days.   Friday all the teams were reunited in Quito and over the weekend we had a chance to share our God stories and praises.   The Maderos/Sardines team had amazing dental clinics, finished details of construction, built a drainage system around the house to wick away water from the foundation, and enjoyed time with the children.  The El Coca team painted, did youth workshops, and worked on cleaning up Elohim Foundation grounds.  One highlight shared from El Coca was playing hide and seek with the children one night with glow stick bracelets.  We laughed at the stories of chasing children in the dark as they watched glowing circles of light bounce around the jungle.  Santo Domingo laid cement sidewalks, visited 3 public schools, worked on building a reading room at a public school, had 3 night services, and a VBS.  The Quito team had a wonderful time with children in VBS, a very special visit to a nursing home,  youth group exchanges, and painting the whole complex.  All the groups returned joyful, full of praise, and overflowing with all the work God has done.   This really is a remarkable group of students and all of us sponsors consider it a great blessing to be here with them.

Saturday we were involved in our last real ministry project as we had a play day and lunch with the children and their families.  It is such a privilege to be with open, loving, appreciative people who have so little and offer so much.  Many of us received gifts from friends we have made or have had from previous years.  We are truly humbled.   We finished Saturday with a visit to the market,  Pizza Hut dinner, and finally a tour of the Historic District.

Today we shared a beautiful worship service here in the church and went to a very modern, lovely mall to eat lunch and allow the kids to shop.  It was a little shocking to see the middle and upper class side of Quito since most people we have encountered are dirt poor.  This evening we spent 2.5 hours sharing stories, debriefing, and sharing God's goodness to all of us.  It was a wonderful evening of praise.  We have only one full day left and it will be spent recuperating at a hot springs resort, high in the Andes.

1 Chronicles 29:14 sums up our time here in Ecuador:
         "But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously
  as this?  Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand."

Full of praise and thanksgiving,
Zoe Schlenker

The "Friday Update" was written by me, Kasey Floyd ----

Friday Update

I arrived here in Quito later than the rest of the team getting in Monday night late. Tuesday, after a pretty much sleepless night (our bedroom is over a very busy intersection) I was completely overwhelmed by the tiredness, the extreme noise, the lack of privacy --the opposites of  pretty much everything I use to make myself comfortable. By Tuesday evening I was well blasted and to my horror began to quietly weep at the restaurant where we were enjoying a special pizza meal. I simply could not stop. The students on the team were immediately concerned and kind, trying to reassure me that everything would be alright.
Now I need to make you aware that besides being the oldest person to ever go on an Ecuador Missions trip, I also haven't been outside of the US in about 20 yrs  and haven't experienced the world outside my comfortable existence. So there I was, in a pizza hut, crying and putting a damper on everyone's celebration. In my heart I'm praying, please God, help! help! help!! When we got ready to leave and were  headed downstairs to the cars, I missed a stair and fell very hard on the concrete stairs. Julia said it was a big bang sound and all expected me to be seriously hurt with a head injury. Of course, I was totally mortified, embarrassed and crying even harder and in serious pain. After a while we all determined I was really banged up with a twisted ankle, hurt knee, hurt arm and a cut on my chin but nothing serious. This is nothing short of the sovereign protection of the Lord and probably nothing short of a miracle.
By the time we got back to the Elohim center, I was asking myself, "What did I get into?" and "Lord, why I am I here?" and "What am I doing here!?" I had about decided I had made a serious mistake and needed to get on a plane and go home. I talked with Perry on the phone and he prayed for me.
The next morning I wasn't feeling much better but Julia discerned that I was under some pretty serious attack and began praying over me. I also began to be aware that the Lord was stripping away many of the things I feel I need to be comfortable and happy. In my heart arose the song, "Give Me Jesus".  I realized I had to drop every preconceived notion of what I need to be happy and just receive Jesus along. After Julia prayed over me, I spent a couple of hours with the Lord in worship and prayer. That horrible oppression and condemnation began to lift and I felt the joy of the Lord begin to penetrate my heart. From that time on, I have had nothing but peace and joy in my whole being.
I think the best thing for me about the trip has been the students on my team. They are amazing! They work hard with nary a complaint, they are cooperative and kind, and they do everything they are asked with a remarkable attitude. I have heard the same thing from Perry who is with the Sardinas/Maderos team about his students. These kids are amazing. When we adults become worried about the future of our country, we simply need to remember to look at these students. They are our future and the future of our nation sure looks a lot brighter with them in it.
Thank you parents for being willing to forgo your fears and worries for your child's safety and well being and for allowing your student to go on this trip. You will not regret it. This is truly been a blessing and a life changing experience.

Another incredible day!--Julia Wofford

Hi Folks,
I'm not sure who else has been able to post, but I did hear from both the Santo Domingo team and the Sardinas/Coca teams and everyone is well and thriving.  Lots of work and play and praising God.

Today in Quito, our group of possibly the nine most willing and sweet high school students on the planet, along with Kasey Floyd and myself, finished painting the church.  It was a marathon job and we are all bone tired, but happy and filled with joy.  I am so proud of our kids for their open spirits and ready attitudes that I could just burst. 

After the grueling paint job, we were treated to beef, mashed potatoes and rice followed up with star fruit and ice cream.  Our cooks are truly spoiling us rotten.  It was beyond delicious.  Anyway, after that supper we had youth group with eleven youth from here and our group.  We sang and shared, Michael Porter was able to share a beautiful testimony, and studied the great commission together.  Then we hit the crazy busy streets outside Elohim Foundation and passed out tracts and invited people to church tomorrow night.  It was really awesome to see the Ecuadorians partner with the Americans and engage the people with the message of salvation.  I got a marriage proposal along the way, but I am growing accustomed to that on the streets of Ecuador;)  When we all reconvened at the church to play a crazy game of human foosball with balloons.  All cultural barriers disappeared after only a couple of minutes of that.  It was a free for all and everyone had a blast.  We had to make the kids stop so that those who had walked could return home at a reasonable hour.  Everyone is happy and full of the Holy Spirit tonight.

Please pray for the teams that are on the road tomorrow returning from Santo Domingo and Maderos (the Coca and Sardinas teams are all together in Maderos tonight).

I'm sure that you will hear lots of reports from the teams coming in tomorrow.  Our group will be visiting a nursing home here while they are en route.

Que Dios les bendiga! (May God bless you all!)
Julia

ECUADOR 2012--A first hand look at the mission experience

ECUADOR 2012--A first hand look at the mission experience

I have seen photographs, I have heard stories, and I have listened to other people's accounts of past trips to Ecuador with our student body, but I finally was able to get a first hand look of what our students experience.  I just returned from a week in Ecuador with our students and sponsors, and it was a tremendously inspiring, humbling, hurtful, growing, exhausting, and totally awesome experience for me personally, spiritually, and professionally. 

I was fortunate enough to experience almost everything, as I was put on the fast track to see as much as possible in the time that I was there.  Julia did a fantastic job of organizing the trip so I was able to see most of the sites that our students visit and serve.  I first want to say that we have an amazing group of students on this trip, and I was able to visit with most of them and get to know them a little bit better.  They have a humble servant's heart and I never heard one of them complain about anything.  They were always willing to step and and help where needed. 

We had a fantastic day at the Equator with the compassion children, and I know that both the compassion children and our students were very blessed.  Andrea, the compassion coordinator, mentioned that the compassion children look forward to this day for months, and it is a very special experience for all involved.  Compassion supplies a interpreter for each compassion child, so the communication barrier is not present, and the students are able to have conversations with them. 

In the photo above, Hannah gives some of the gifts with her compassion child.  He (I don't know his name) is the newest addition to our compassion family.(5 or 6 years old)  We shared lunch together and then the student had a couple hours with their compassion child to play, eat ice cream, and spend some time together.  One of the parents of a compassion child brought some corn sweetened with sugar cane that she had made, and most everybody tried a taste.  Most of the compassion children came with a gift for the students as well, which were very special, as they have very little materially, but were made with a lot of love. 

The second day we spent at Carmen Bajo, with Pastor Fabian and Grace, a very special couple.  The day started with some praise and worship with the children and I was touched by how the children were so eager to receive hugs, and exchange smiles, and to climb up in your lap, even though they didn't know you.  The ministry of Carmen Bajo is in a very poor area, and the people live in extreme poverty.  Most of them living on 1-2 dollars/day, with many children, (many with 4-7 children) living in less than 100 square feet.  Homes made of crumbling cinder block, and leaky roofs.  As poor as they were, I never heard one person or child complain (that I know of...my spanish is very limited. :)  We worked most of the day on several different projects, as well as having some singing time, art time, and fun tim in general with the kids.  That evening, the church hosted a very nice dinner for us, on white table clothes, with silverware.  The most memorable time for me at Carmen Bajo was when pastor Fabian shared about how he went on a mission trip to Cuba, and was heart broken by the poverty and oppression that he saw in Cuba.  He said they had next to nothing, and he felt led to take a group to Cuba from Ecuador because his heart was broken for them.  Here I am, my heart broken for them (at Carmen Bajo), and Fabian was just as broken for the people of Cuba.  It brought tears to my eyes, and perspective to my world. 

The third day was spent on the road to El Coca, and 7.5 hours later, and 8 mudslides later,(evidently they occur regularly) we arrived at El Coca.   We arrived at El Coca, to many anxiously awaiting children.  Many of the students played in a 2-3 hour soccer game and a water fight that lasted forever.  The kids had a lot of fun, but a poor chicken met his maker when a soccer ball decided to find it's head.....of a beautiful cross. (I won't say who it was.....the chicken killer)  We compensated the owner.  5 Ecuadorian dentist and Dr. Cloud from Albuquerque put on a dental clinic for the kids, and worked hard to serve as many people as possible before it got too late.  There were a lot of kids still there after dark, and nobody had eaten since lunch.  The students decided to forgo their supper so the children could eat another meal instead of going home hungry that night.  (they needed it more than us)  About 8 of the indigenous children performed a dance for us in costume, they practiced just for our visit.  We left a group at El Coca, and the rest of us, with the dentists, loaded the bus to head off to Maderos and Sardinas, a 3 hour bus ride, we left about 8:30 pm. 

We arrived in Maderos (sorry if the spelling is wrong) and initiated the new building that was just completed the week before we arrived.  In fact it was so new, we took the plastic off the new mattresses, and put up shower curtains the next day.  The next morning, some students stayed in Maderos, and Talia and I went down with the Dentists and Mrs. Wofford down to the dental clinic in Sardinas.  All of the people live in the jungle, and we only saw the ones that lived by the road that provides access to the community.  The dentists serviced about 40 people that day, and many were saved from severe pain and tooth decay.  Mrs. Wofford gave a great rundown on what happened in Maderos and Sardinas so I won't go into too much detail.  It was amazing to see how these people lived.  We are very blessed in the United States.......very humbling. The picture below is the new Maderos Foundation Sight. 

On Sunday, the group headed off to the the local school in Maderos to hold a dental clinic and the morning service.  Mrs. Wofford, myself, and Alejandro headed back to El Coca, to catch a plane back to Quito.  The bus ride that took 7.5 hours, took 25 minutes in a plane.......We met up with the Santo Domingo and Quito group in Quito, took a bus to a Chinese restaurant, and had a wonderful meal (about 40 of us).  The Santo Domingo group headed off from the Chinese restaraunt, and the Quito group caught a different bus back to Eloheim.  We played a little soccer with the local kids, and shared for a couple hours about some expereiences, and also had a bible study, until I had to leave for the airport.  Pictured below is the group at the Chinese restaraunt. 

 
I was so priviliged to be able to be a part of the trip and see first hand what is happening in Ecuador.  I can see why our students have come back changed and their "DNA" has been altered forever.  The Lord is being represented and glorified in so many ways:through the work, testimonies, music, worship, play, listening ears, helping hands, a smile, a hug, tears, and most of all through open hearts.  I am still "disgesting" it all, and I have seen the many good things that are happening because of our relationship with Alejandro, Fabian, and many others that we have partnered with.  It is neat to see the reciprocity of a trip like this.  Our presence blesses the people of Ecuador, and the people of Ecuador definately bless us.......and most importantly the Lord is glorified. 

I John 3:17--"If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?" 

   
---Terry Heisey

Santo Domingo update and photos

Santo Domingo Update & Photos

Our team has had an amazing 2 days here in Santa Domingo. The past two mornings we have gone to public high schools here and shared dramas, testimony, and how the students can resist drugs and alcohol through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Kristin and Shelby shared their personal stories with the students.  The administrators and teachers are so appreciative of us coming.  In the first school, we had 700 students and the area psychologist happened to be visiting.   She told Katty how touched she was by our message and how other schools need to here this same message.  The school this morning was much smaller but equally welcoming.   The director of the school gave us each a piece of unusual fruit when we left.   Very special for all of us.  

Upon returning to the Foundation, we started right into hard work.   We have hauled rocks and sand  up hills, mixed concrete, laid a sidewalk and painted inside and outside the buildings.  Our translator, Daniela, told me how very hard our students work.  I am so proud of them.

Last night we had a service with parents.  Aaron, Seneca, and Kristin led worship and Robert Wright preached on how to walk like Christ.   The most meaningful part of the evening was when Adelia shared her life story about growing up a daddy's girl and her father's demise into severe alcoholism that eventually cost him his family and his life.  It was so painful and yet so powerful because of the problem with alcoholism in this country.  Katty followed up with the lesson of how much alcohol abuse impacts children.  I have tears in my eyes as I share with you how brave and powerful it was for Adelia to share.



Today we had many children come to the feeding project.   We were able to hand out donated clothes, shoes, and candy.   These Ecuadorian children are so beautiful.  Elohim Foundation has added a second story this past year and they now have a childcare facility for babies and preschoolers of single, impoverished mothers.  They are so precious!  We had many infant clothes donated but are lacking in toddler and school age boy clothes so we know what to bring next year.







It is very hot and humid here and we ran out of water last night before completing showers.  Not one of these kids complained!  I was SO impressed   I had already had a shower and can't help but think of how grumpy I would have been without one.  Wonderful privilege to be their sponsor here.

Many Blessings,
Zoe Schlenker


For more pictures go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/Elohim-Santo-Domingo/295459110491167

Swing Dancing~Desiree

After a long day of work, the Quito group finished their night off by swing dancing! Porter is a great coach. He was very patient with me and I quickly learned some fancy moves including the candle stick:) God has placed so many wonderful people in my life and I am so thankful for that. All  of you parents out there who are reading this, you raised some awesome kids who are out doing some amazing things in the world. They are changing lives and strengthening their testimonies all in the name of God. It's a sight to see.