| Was not something I would have said as I layed in my bed my first night back. I missed my Ecuadorian family. I had an amazing time in Ecuador this summer, and it became my home. As I came back, I was caught between knowing whether or not I even wanted to be in America. My trip started with my stepping on the plane bawling because I had to leave my friends who dropped my off at the airport and fly alone. Flying was kind of awkward because I was frightened I wouldn't make my planed because I had never flown alone, but even with some gate changes, I made it safely there to see Sandi and Steve [the founders of Compassion Connection, the missions organization I stayed with] and their shining faces at the airport to pick me up. I felt like my second pair or parents were there to greet me. Once settled into the house, I was reunited with all the staff from the previous year, a boy from my church, and some new students and staff. Rachel was my roommate, and I loved her. We always got into shenanigans due to our awkwardness and clumsiness, like painting a table without paint thinner and having to go to the store in Spanish to find some all the way to missing our bus and being stranded and late for dinner. haha. The day after I arrived, Rachel, Amie [a leader] and I shipped off to the jungle to visit people who would eventually become our home stays. A home stay is where you spend 2 weeks with an Ecuadorian family alone. I didn't know I was going on one, but I got the lovely surprise later. As we were there, the fourth of July passed and I didn't feel myself missing America at all. The following weeks consisted of classes in Spanish and the Bible for the Potter's Wheel student [the kids staying 6 months] and a few classes for myself when I wasn't doing intern work. As an intern I spent lots of my time keeping the house office in order, like burning cd's with an audio Bible on them by chapter and book and organizing pieces of IBCI, the Bible school they run down there. I felt like a college student, but also like a secretary, which was good, because I go crazy if I'm not kept busy. After about a month, many classes, and numerous jungle trips, small groups arrived. These were teams from America that had come to learn about missions work through the Missions 101 program, which I participated in last year. A girl from my Church came, which brought a feel of home to me, and a team of about 10 from NY. This year, some Ecuadorian youth were included in the group, which made it a little bit harder with the language divide, but opened our eyes to their side of the world. We mainly worked in the jungle town if Chichicorumi helping build an out house for their church, discipling the kids through a Vacation Bible School, and much more. We faced much adversity there because many of the people there are Indians and are into witchcraft and such. Some children were even beaten so that they couldn't go to the Bible School. This posed a problem as if to continue or not, but we knew the Lord would work if He wanted us there, so we continued, and His glory really did shine as more and more children arrived everyday. Back at base after the return from Chichicorumi, the teams got together and talked about how we were touched by how much the community had given us, although they had nothing. One night we all sit around a fire with the Indians and just sang worship songs in their native language which I could not even try to spell [Quichuan, maybe?] along with Spanish and English. It was beautiful. The team's 2 weeks had ended though, and it was time to go home. I had to say goodbye to my friend Jazmine from home, which was when I started to miss America. Home stays were next. That meant the 3 Potter's Wheel students, one new leader, another intern and myself all had to be separated for the first time to go spend time with a family who only spoke Spanish to learn more about their lives and their piece of the Kingdom. -Story will continue later today- |
