Hey everybody! We have had such a great first day. We got to sleep in until 9 even though it didn’t feel like a good night sleep because we got in at 4:30 this morning. We had a wonderful breakfast and all got full for the day to come. On a personal note, mother I should have listened to you when you said wear sunscreen, for now I have tattooed on my face the shape of my sunglasses… I’m burnt… back to the rest of everyone else. We all jumped in Carlos and Jeanette’s van and car and drove for 30 minutes to Bolivar. I’m sure there will be pictures but we we’re all packed in there like a can of sardines. Once we arrived we all went to the church there and they opened the garage door and all of these children ran out with signs that said,” welcome brothers and sisters!” It brought tears to all of our eyes. I’m not one for exaggeration but it was LITERALLY the cutest thing I have ever seen!!! For those of us returning to Ecuador, we rekindled our friendships and those who it was there first time made instant friends. The games and piggy back rides commenced, and we all played around the village until it was time for lunch.
– Carly
After lunch a large group of us took a walk down to the beach along with some of the children. There we got to play in the water and talk to a bunch of the children and locals. After our trip to the beach we had our church service which was led by both Carlos and Jeanette. We got to sing worship songs in both English and Spanish and Carlos also gave his sermon in both languages. The service was especially significant to me because I felt as if the community and our team really got to connect through it. After the service we got to just play and interact with the children and it was so fun! Then we got to eat another delicious meal that consisted of chicken empanada (my personal favorite) and potato soup (also delicious). It was time to head on back to the house after this, but the best part of the day hadn’t even happened yet. As we were standing on the side of the road waiting for the city bus to pick us up, a glorious fluorescent caterpillar train came around the corner, and of course we took it all the way home. Although it probably never exceeded over 15 mph it was still the most exhilarating thing I have done in a very long time. Once we got back home we did our devotions and shared how we saw God throughout our day. Though we may have been exhausted from our long travels from the day before, our first day here in Ecuador was a success and it’s all thanks to God!
-Brai
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