June 4-5, 2016

Maggie Leigh and Roberto each attempt (unsuccessfully) to
balance an egg on a nail at the equator.

Bailey is the first to successfully balance the egg! Look
closely so you can see the perfectly balanced egg.  Mariah
and Mrs. Justice also managed to earn the coveted egg-master
certificate.

After visiting the equator, the team drove a short way to an old
volcanic crater.  After running through a sudden rainstorm,
Jesus, Matteo, Pancho and Danny pose for a photo. 

Maddy took this amazing picture of the walkway
to view the crater.  The sky was beautiful after the rain storm.

It is Sunday evening, around 10:30 pm, and all the students have gone up to bed after a spontaneous game of charades.  The home in which we are staying has been filled with laughter and fellowship since we arrived.  The Lord seems to be bonding the team and preparing us to serve the students at Amor y Esperanza this week.

We have spent the last two days preparing as a team, acclimating to the climate, and experiencing the culture of Ecuador.  Tomorrow morning we will rise early, have breakfast, and leave for the school and our first day of teaching.

It is exciting to see how the Lord has gifted the students and prepared them for this experience.  I am excited to see how Bailey's flying pterodactyls turn out and how the second graders receive the creation story taught by Emma.  The house is overflowing with hot glue, colored paper, beach balls, materials for stomp rockets, and even a bed of nails for a balloon pop experiment.

Yesterday, we realized that no one brought a hair dryer, and I heard William say, "But I really need a hair dryer!"  Looking at his closely cropped hair, I questioned him -- turns out it is for one of the science experiments that he and Daniel have planned for their class!


Pancho and Pity and their three children, Danny (almost 14), Matteo (12), and Maria Victoria (8), as well as the family's friend Jesus, have been excellent hosts!  I have enjoyed talking to Pity about La Fundacion Amor y Esperanza.  The Lord is in the midst of their work, but they also are facing many challenges and seeming road blocks, especially in regards to the new school building that they are working toward.

Please continue to pray for the team and to check back to see what the Lord brings for us each day!

This is a view looking down over the crater which is now mostly farmland.  

On Sunday, the team left after breakfast to travel to Otovalo to the market.  We stopped for a group photo along the road for a picture with one of Ecuador's many active volcanos in the background.  Notice that Jesus has adopted Nkosi's signature photo pose -- thumbs up!

After shopping in the market, eating a great lunch out at a
restaurant in Cotacachi, and visiting the leather market, we
travelled to this lake in the Cotacachi Cayapas Ecological
Preserve.  Here Maria Victoria and Maggie Leigh are
throwing rocks into the lake.

At Maria Victoria's suggestion, we took a boat ride around the lake.  Cuicocha Lake was formed after volcanic activity in the area many years ago.  The bottom of the lake is lava, and there are no fish in the water as the oxygen content is very low and the lake is isolated from all other bodies of water.  

We hiked up to this overlook over Lake Cuicocha.  Well, most of us walked up the trail slowly, gasping for breath in the high altitude.  Pancho and Pity's children, who are used to the altitude of course, ran ahead -- Adria's track and cross country training paid off and she sprinted ahead with the native Ecuadorians!  

The Lord's beauty was all around us, and we were blessed
with perfect weather for the day.  

Nkosi and Henry 

We managed to all ride the boat together!  The Lord is
truly multiplying our blessings so far -- our rest, our time,
and our fellowship with one another as we prepare to teach.

Danny and Matteo -- son's of Pancho and Pity.