Me Amo Ecuador!

I love this place!  I am so overwhelmed by the beauty of God's creation and his beautiful people.  There is so much that I have learned and so much that I would love to share, but for now, I will just do a recap of the first five days of our trip.

Day 1: We arrived in Quito, stayed the night at a hotel, and then made our way to the jungle.  I am very thankful for our wonderful bus driver, because these are very crazy roads!  We stopped at a natural hot springs to swim and have lunch, and then continued on to the jungle camp in Tena.

The dining/meeting area at camp UNPES

Our view of the Jungle :)

Day 2:  We traveled from Tena to Misahualli in the back of a produce truck!  We got into canoes and traveled two hours down the Napo river to the small community of Santa Rosa.  We visited the church there, and then moved on to a church deeper in the jungle.  They graciously prepared a traditional Ecuadorian lunch for us, which was very different but very delicious.  After some time of fellowship, we eventually made our way back to camp.

On the back of the produce truck, riding through the jungle

The Napo River

Volcano 

Day 3: Today we divided into two groups and visited two churches in Tena.  The service and worship were in Spanish, but we had a translator for some of it, and two guys from our team had the opportunity to preach.  After church we moved our stuff from camp UNPES to a hostel in Tena, Los Yutzos.  We spent the rest of the day with the kids who had moved into the camp, and "sang" some VBS songs with them (in Spanish). :)

Day 4: We traveled from the jungle city of Tena to the mountain camp of Chacauco, but made several stops along the way.  We stopped in Shell to visit the Nate Saint house, one of five missionaries martyred in 1956 by the Waodani Indians.  Next we had a picnic lunch at a waterfall, and rode a "swinging basket" over the gorge.  Once we arrived in Chacauco our missionary host, Steve Thompson, showed us around the camp.

The Saint House in Shell

Camp Chacauco 

Our view from the Camp.  That is Mount Tungurahua, an active volcano.

Day 5: Today we toured the camp and the seminary that is under construction.  We visited Ambato, a town in the mountains, and some of the Baptist church plants there.  We will be having camp in Ambato for the rest of the week.  Next we went to a indian village high in the mountains.  Apatug has about 700 families, but only one percent of the village knows Christ.  The church has experienced physical persecution and is still experiencing other forms of persecution.  It was humbling to see their way of life and their love for Christ.

Apatug

The first church in Apatug.

Inside their worship building.  Our friend Mauricio, who is from Ambato has been helping us get to know Ecuador. 

Believers in Apatug.

The beautiful mountains :)

It is hard to believe that we are already halfway through.  Please continue to pray for our team and the whole camp.  We will be doing some construction and VBS for the rest of the week.  I can't wait to share more about our time in Ecuador and everything that God is teaching us, and all the ways He is blessing our hearts.