Missionary update from Ecuador

Time in Quito

TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2011

After getting back at 1:00am to Quito on Saturday night, we spent Sunday and Monday recovering from our time in the jungle and got to play a little in Quito.

We spent Sunday morning at church with Tim Anderson (our missionary host) and his Teen Challenge ministry. Tim works with young men who have been involved with drug and alcohol addition throughout Quito. It was a really neat experience for our team to worship with these guys and see the power of redemption only found through Jesus. Two of our guy got to share their testimony as well.

After church, the guys played a little basketball....Ecuadorian style. Our team found out really quickly that there are no rules or fouls on this court.

After leaving Teen Challenge, we grabbed a quick burger and headed to the Indian Market for the guys to buy some souvenirs from the trip. Later that evening, we took two gondolas up to the top of the volcano Pichinchia. We couldn't see the lights of Quito because of the fog, but it was still a great memory for the guys.

On Monday, we headed to the equator. We just happened to be there on March 21st which is the spring equinox. So, at noon the sun was directly above us with no shadows. The guys got to watch water spin both ways, balance eggs, walk the equator, and enjoy other fun science tricks.

For lunch, we were able to finally enjoy the Ecuadorian delicacy of Qui...or guinea pig as we know it. The guys were a little skeptical at first, but soon devoured the entire thing.

We finished our final day with a great dinner at Tim Anderson's house with his family and other missionaries from Quito. We also spent some time talking about what the Lord did in our lives this week. It was really neat to see the impact that this trip had on each team member. The Lord's hand of blessing and protection was so evident the entire week!