Keeping up with the Miller's : August 2015

Saturday, August 1: We said our good byes and flew out from Indiana. Our flights were all smooth. We landed in Quito, Ecuador at around 11 pm.

August 2: We went to a church in Quito and then went out to eat in the mall. We also went to the equator where we learned about some of the differences from being in the northern and southern hemisphere. Our hosts cooked us hamburgers and hotdogs for dinner and we hung out by the fire sharing stories. We could actually see the volcano with snow on top from the top of the Guest House. It would erupt for the first time in years 2 weeks later!

August 3: We went to the changing of the guard where every Monday the President of Ecuador comes out and they have a ceremony when the guards change shifts. We flew to Catamayo that evening. We then took an hour long bus ride up to Loja and moved into our new home for the next month. We had a blast listening to all of the sounds through out the night.

Aguust 4: Our Loja training begins! We spent the day going through an orientation and practicing Spanish by learning a few sentences and then going out to the streets to practice them. Danny and Julie Beasley cooked dinner for us. Julie is an amazing cook! Sophie and I had a great moment playing outside after dinner around a water fountain.

August 5 - Starting to feel the weight and challenge of our purpose for being here. I am learning how little we can actually do without God. We also had to shut off 1/2 of our apartment because of a mold issue so we are all sleeping in one room in the basement. It also took a while trying to figure out how to work the shower and the stove. We went out to the streets today to engage some people and practice our Spanish. We also got acquainted with our new pets!

August 6: We prayed and wrote out our expectations for our year. Although we have many goals and visions, we were careful about making expectations before we arrived here; however, there are a few things that I expect to happen this year.

We also went out to this event called Jueves Cultural. It is held in the town square and has live music. Great experience! Sophie met a little boy and he gave her a flower. We also got to practice our Spanish by taking a taxi.

August 7: We went to training in the morning and spent the afternoon in the park interacting with people. We got the rest of our bags in and got to cook a meal tonight with our rice cooker. (hotdogs and black beans)

Saturday, August 8: We went to a teen event at one of the Churches that our mentors from OMS started (Mark and Nubie Vogan). Sophie made a couple new friends.

Sunday, August 9: We went to the Sunday Market. It was a great experience. The smell was amazing. We bought a lot of fresh fruit. Then we went to Mark and Nubie’s house church. Once we move out of the city, there will be no churches to go to so we will have to have our own worship time as a family. We had lunch with them afterwards and then went to visited some other places. We got to see some amazing views.

Tuesday, August 11: I had a great prayer session and read Luke 6. Then we spent time practicing Spanish by engaging people in the market and at the parks.

Wednesday, August 12: We ate at a great restaurant. Then we bought a basketball and talked with the salesman. We took a taxi to Jipero park. It is a really nice park in Loja. We started to take a bus home and thought we were getting off near our apartment; however, we soon realized that we were lost. Someone gave us a ride home and we had a chance to share with them.

Thursday, August 13: Sophie and I hung out in the morning after our Bible time. We had a great father/daughter time. I have been able to watch the Highlands prayer service. It has been helpful. I made a list of everything that we want to pray for. We also pick a few specific people to pray for each day.

Friday, August 14: Our trip to the jungle was canceled due to rock slides and protests. We decided to stay with our friends in Catayamo which is about an hour away from Loja. Lacey and Sophie got to go swimming and Sophie made a new friend (Cookie).

Saturday, August 15: We headed to Chuargapumba to visit. It was a 2 hour bus ride from Catayamo. It was a great experience as we walked through the small town praying and talking to some of the locals.

The ride home was interesting. There was no room on the bus to Loja, so we decided to hitch hike. All 8 of piled up in a tiny truck weaving in and out of traffic going around steep cliffs. That same day a bus that we could have rode in was in a head on collision and fell of the side of a mountain.

Sunday, August 16: This was our first official off day and we enjoyed it hanging out as a family. We also found a cool new playground right by the river. All the playgrounds have an out door gym. We did our weekly family prayer and debrief.

Tuesday, August 18: Sophie and I played with the kids in the neighborhood. She is a little timid to play with others because she can't understand them. The language has been a bit of an adjustment.

A lot of our plans are being canceled or are in limbo due to all of the things that are going on here:

The roads are closed off to most areas due to the volcano erupting last week.
The protests that are going on which is leading to a lot of violence are happening in areas where we were supposed to go for ministry. One of the Pastors that OMS works with was also put in jail.
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There have also been a lot of mud-slides and we can't get to certain areas.

Wednesday, August 19: We walked around the city looking at all of Catholic churches. Lacey went out to eat with her mentor (Andie Williamson)

Thursday, August 20: I did a prayer walk through out the city. Lacey and Sophie went to the zoo and then learned how to cook Ecuadorian food.

Friday, August 21: I went on a day hike with the others from OMS. It was a five hour hike. We started out at about 9,000 feet and reached the top at 11,000 feet. I was amazed at the change in temperature! It was freezing at the top and the wind gusts were about 40 - 50 miles per hour.

Saturday, August 22: We went to Vilcabamba today. It is a hippy tourist town about 45 minutes from Loja. We then went to the park and I got to play basketball with some guys. I had a great time bonding with them and hope to see them again.

Sunday, August 23: We went to Chaguarpamba to research some places to live there and talk with the community

Monday, August 24: We are focusing on priorities this morning (check our priority blog) and want to make sure that we do not loose focus of our priorities. We want to be careful in making sure that our #1 priority is God and then our family and then ministry.

Tuesday, August 25: We got to go out into the community and do intentional evangelism. Lacey had a great experience sharing with a store owner. I had an opportunity to share with a guy in the park. He was strong in his Catholic beliefs and we talked for over an hour. He wants to meet and talk more.
Saturday, August 29: We got up early and took a bus to Balsas. This is the town that we will be living in. We spent a few hours walking around the town talking to people and praying. We looked at an apartment and it was in our budget so we are praying that we can get it.

Sunday, August 30: We stayed the night in a hotel and headed to Machala in the morning to work on our visas. Machala is on the coast so we got to go to the beach. We also got to eat at a Carl’s Junior (Hardees). It was the first burger I have had since we been down here.

Keeping up with the Miller's