May 2016 Update

Hasta luego Balsas!   On Saturday, June 4, we said farewell to our family in Balsas and started our debrief process for the remainder of our time in Ecuador. We could not speak any Spanish and did not know a single person when we first moved here 8 months ago. However, it did not take long for the people to invite us in to their homes and lives. When we moved here, we wondered if Balsas would ever feel like our home and as we left; we wondered if any other place could give us the love and joy that Balsas has brought us.   What happened this month? Visiting friends in Guayaquil

We had the wonderful opportunity to visit with missionaries Pablo and Rebecca and their three children in Guayaquil. They have recently started a new Church in a small community called Chongon and we had the pleasure of visiting a few families while walking through the neighborhoods. We were inspired with their ministry and hearts for the community. We also visited Iguana park and the beautiful riverfront walk. Guayaquil is the most populated city in Ecuador and also one of the hottest cities.     Our visit to Camp Pallatanga   The next stop on our journey was visiting the beautiful camp in Pallatanga ran by missionaries Guido and Kim Orellana and their three daughters. Sophie loved the animals and free space to run and play! The Orellana's have a daughter (Sophia) and is Sophie's age. They both got to experience their first sleep over and they had a great time playing together. In addition to the camp, The Orellana's have also started a church plant in town. Their vision is to create an environment in which the whole community will feel loved and welcomed to come and grow in their faith. We were able to join with them in some of their outreach events and also take part in their Mother's Day service. We were also invited to the High school from one of the Orellana's friends to have a question and answer session and assist the students in their English pronunciation. We really enjoyed spending at the camp and can see ourselves running a camp one day.     We visited Manta with our friends from Pallatanga Manta Our last stop on our travels was Manta. Manta is the largest city that was affected by the earthquake in April. OMS works with a Church in Manta and  has set up a soup kitchen in which we were able to help serve over 100 meals a day to families who were affected by the earthquake. It was a great experience to prepare food and watch the young members of this Church step up by going out and sharing the love of Christ with their community. Jesus replied, "Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life." John 4 The real gift was not the food, but giving hundreds of people an opportunity to have peace through their worse moments while receiving eternal fulfillment and never having to thirst again.   Who wants cookies? With help from our friends (the Beasley's) from Loja, we baked and packaged over 250 cookies to share with our friends in Balsas. We attached a note of gratitude for their friendship as a small token of our appreciation for everyone who made our stay in this wonderful community so special. We could never give them enough cookies to share our gratitude for the way they have accepted us.   Despedida (farewell dinner)   We threw a farewell gathering for many of our friends we have made over our time in Balsas. We were able to share with them why we chose to move to Ecuador and thank them for how much they have meant to us during our time here. God thank you for these people that you have placed in our lives. We will pray for them just like we pray for our family in the States.   Last trip to our favorite pool in Ecuador   We took a trip to the pool in Marcabeli to say goodbye to some dear friends. Sophie throughly enjoyed playing with her friend and Lacey went out in style by almost dying when she went down the water slide and banging up her head pretty good on the way down. It is probably the best picture of the year. Samulito decided not to to go down. These people were some of the first to meet here. They always cook for us and take care of us. We love you and miss you.     Dinner with our family   A special good bye dinner with some very special friends! This wonderful family took us in as one of their own, they invited us over for Christmas dinner, taught Lacey how to cook authentic Ecuadorian meals, and have helped us out greatly with our Spanish. They cooked us some amazing food for our farewell dinner! We will miss them terribly and hope to be able to come back and visit them one day!

Farm life with Sophie's best friend and her family There is nothing like eating pig while being surrounded by  his family! All home schooler's are invited to Balsas for a trip to the pig farm!   I think this trip could count as a field trip for Sophie (but Clint and I too). We went to their family pig farm and got an up close and personal tour. Afterwards we enjoyed a wonderful meal consisting of (of course) one the pigs. Sophie and Leslie became fast friends in school and have remained close. It is a precious thing to see how well they get along despite the language barrier. Now the whole family is precious to us and we thoroughly enjoyed spending time with them and getting to know them better!   Family Photo   We had one last get together with this wonderful, welcoming family. They initially invited us into their home for Christmas and have since remained wonderful friends! We went to their "finca" or farm land and made empanadas for our final farewell. Señora Laura is Sophie's abuela (Grandmother) in Ecuador. She has seven grandsons, so she did not mind spoiling her only grand daughter. They own two tiendas (small grocery stores) and we will deeply miss them as we stand in line at Walmart.   Final Thoughts In many ways this is not the end of our journey, but the beginning of something even bigger that we can not explain right now. We do not know what will happen after this year, but we do know that God has done something amazing and we will never forget it. At this point, Lacey and I do not feel led to come back to Ecuador as full term missionaries. However, we cannot overlook the reality that is in our hearts. We have family here! We have built real relationships! It will be a huge priority to keep in touch with our family here and visit them when God will allow it. This will not change because our location changes. I say these last words in tears as I look at all of the pictures of our family from Balsas. Thank You God! Thank You for inspiring our family to want to GO. Thank You for surrounding us with the right people in the States who encouraged us, prayed for us, equipped us, prepared us and invested in us so that we could come here. Thank You God for placing us in Balsas. Thank You for introducing us to our new family. Thank You for being there when we did not think that we could do this. You have used us to  prove that you do exist. We are nothing without you and can be anything with you. We cannot reach people in our own language without you, but can witness to other cultures with different languages with You. I pray that you use  and inspire others to do the same. I pray that you raise up people from Balsas who will be inspired to GO and reach out to other places in Ecuador and around the world. We will risk everything we have to see your name be glorified and to witness people who love You and change their life to live for You. We did not come here to help average Christians, but to inspire and equip extraordinary Christ followers to GO an DO amazing things in your name.