PICTURES AVAILABLE

Yes, finally, pictures are available... go to http://picasaweb.google.com/teamecuador07 to check 'em out.

More pictures will be added, so check back.

John

Arrived home safe!

Praise God! After two days of travel including a few bus rides, three flights, and many hours spent in airports the entire Team Ecuador 07 has made it home safe. Everyone is in generally good health. Some sore muscles, cold like symptoms, and possible pinched nerve, but considering all that we encountered the past two weeks I suppose that is to be expected.

I'm sure all of you will be hearing from the people you know on the Team regarding more details. Now that we're back to normal Internet connections I'll post some pictures of our mission serving the children on Sunday. They say a picture is worth 1,000 words... but it's impossible to express how we saw God during our two weeks merely in photo's. But I'll try...

Again, on behalf of the entire Team, we say THANK YOU for all of your prayers and support during this mission. Without it we would've been lost. Please continue to pray for the Team as we settle back into this luxury life in the States.

Blessings,
John Spence

Our Last Day with God's Children

Blessings to everyone,

Well the team is starting to prepare for two days of travel. This morning we'll be spending some time with the children, loving on them and saying good-bye. Thanks to all of you, our supporter donations, were also able to give each child a gift bag of clothes and shoes.

The children have all touched our hearts and taught us so many things these last two weeks. The love of Jesus is in their hearts. The children are so young yet thier strength and love for God is so deep in their heart. What an inspiration.

Our team is wraping up some loose ends on the projects we have worked on. One of the memories I will cherish is having the kids work with us on the various projects. They were so excited to push a wheelbarral, and to pick up a shovel. This home means so much to them and in many cases has saved thier lives.

God is big and God is everywhere. God is here! God is at work here.

Today, with saying good-bye, will probably be one of the hardest days yet for the team. We will miss them, but know God's arms are wrap around them and He will keep them safe.

Praises to our Lord, for He kept the team in high spirits everyday, which motivated us and gave us strength.

Thanks to all of you for your support and prayers. You are just as much apart of this journey as we are.

In Faith,
Mechelle

P.S. Kaity Jo :-) John and I love you and we'll see you in a couple days.

Such an irony

Greetings all post-readers,
John Spence here for Team KCC. After another (failed) attemp to upload pictures of our time here looks like I'll just write a message instead. It seems the wireless signal through the cell phone towers isn't strong enough to handle the photo's. But tomorrow I'll try uploading pictures through the local internet cafe here in San Lorenzo so you can see what we see. It seems a bit crazy that a small town in the midst of poverty would have an internet cafe, but they do. And the cost is $.70 an hour. Yes, that's right, 70 cents for an entire hour!

Today I realized the we have been Sun-less, Moon-less, and Star-less. With this being the winter season the sky's are constinuously overcast. This is good because it keeps the temprature down, but doesn't make for sunny days. In fact, the Team is in such despair for actual Sunlight that when a stray beam appears from the sky someone shouts "The Sun. The Sun. Look, it's the Sun." As quickly as it appears, it blends back into the gray, misty, foggy, dense environment.

The irony I find in the above description is that although we are receiving no direct sunlight, the smiles of the children are more than enough to brighten our day. The beautiful whites of their smiles greet us in the morning when we arrive riding in the back of the dump truck. As we begin to work around the property (of course with the kids working beside us, eager to shovel, use the pick-axe -ugh-, or push the wheel barrow) the smiles and giggles and sillyness get us through until lunch time.

It is just about then that the orphanage bus, which resembles something left over from the 60's, returns with the older (approx 8-12) children that are returning from their morning at school. Blessed are we with the smiles that come off that bus. The older kids then jump in to help, and quite honesty are a bit more productive as the shovels dig a bit deeper, the pick-axe's strike a tad harder, and the chances of a wheel barrow actually making it to the dumping point in-tact is higher. It really is quite fun and the children laugh and giggle at each other... and, well... at us also.

I remember on Friday when Dayana came home from her morning at school with the type of smile a child has when their abstract picture gets posted on the fridge. She announced through her white smile that she received a GOLD Medal, and a few other 2nd places awards in the school field day!!! Think back to when you were that age and came home with exciting news, or when your child came home with something they were so proud of. Now imagine yourself or your child have no home to run to with and share with. ... ... ... That's the difference I see this orphanage making. These children of God have been given someone, something, to share their good news with. With fourteen fellow children, two house parents, their 24 year old daughter and 15 year old son, these once orphaned little-people (notice the past tense use of the word) have people - actual real, breathing, caring, huging, smiling, crying, laughing people - to share life with. As the comercial goes... PRICELESS.

Speaking of sharing... today we celebrated three of the kids birthdays. It was awesome. All the other children lined up at the entry way to the door and as the birthday celebrating God-child's walked through the door a rowdy randition of Happy Birthday in Spanish was sung. What joy! Then came the problem of keeping 140 fingers out of the cake while the candles were lit, blown, and removed. You can imagine the controlled-with-love chaos.

As our two week mission is coming to an end, the sadness grows. But thank God we are finally starting to see some items completed. The pantry has shelves. The school room is in it's final stages of painting (Jim and Joel are painting a mural designed by suggestions from the children themselves). Piles of rubble are bring moved away. Steps are being created. The brick wall and floor for the future skilled-training/maintenance area is near completion (after moving approx 15 yards of clay/dirt/sand/stone/rubble - this explains the shoveling & pick-axing). The volunteer home is almost ready to be lived in - all items are being moved into the creative round structure. There are many more items I can't think of right now, but you'll hear about them soon enough.

Oh, you really need to hear about the city dump we visited today. People worked and lived in the dump alongside pigs, burrow's, horses, voulchers, and who knows what else. I'll leave those details up to the next update.

Oh, Oh, you also really need to hear about how the team has grown some-what accustomed (and I stress the SOME-WHAT) to being near and sometimes intruded upon by scorpions, tarachulas, bats, huge grass hoppers, and the like. Don't worry mom's, these animals are more affraid of us than we are of them and usually run-n-hide and stay perfectly still. Come to think of it, we usually have that same reaction to... RUN like the wind, or stay perfectly still. Hmmmmm.

Thank you for all of your prayers and comments,

For Team KCC,

John

P.S. KJ and mom... Mechelle and I love you and miss you. will be home soon. hope you are well.

P.S.S. "I love you, Chalupa" from your mommy.

P.S.S.S. "Love ya Tracey, miss ya and see you soon". Bun.

Monday 20th

Yet another great day at the Orphanage. The team was split amongst several projects as we attempt to complete the most pressing priorities for Allan and Pearl, the directors, founders (please forgive my typos as this keyboard is quite a bit different than in the states). Several team members worked on the new classroom so that they may start using it once we complete it. Jim and Joel created a mural with ideas submitted by the children, the stairs are in the process of being built and shelving should go in tomorrow. A number of other team members helped to finish up volunteer housing which will be used this evening to house 4 guests. The work shop area is coming along nicely as we poured a footing for the retaining wall that is needed. This work shop area will be a central area for tool use and trade training for some of the boys. It´s exciting to know that some of the tools (router, dovetail jig) will be used by the boys to learn a trade as well as build cabinets for the Orphanage.

The team is doing well physically, mentally and spiritually. Thank you so much for the prayer support, it has clearly kept us in good health.

Yesterday (Sunday) was somewhat of a day of rest. We started the day by attending a small open air Church service. It was the first time I heard roosters crow throughout a church service. Many pigs, ducks, and dogs were in the area as well but kept a little quieter. After service, we took the children to the beach (by way of a harrowing bus ride on a narrow country road) for an afternoon playing games which included football, frisbee, twister, parachute games and soccer in the surf. All were wiped out by 4:00 but we did manage to regain our strength with an ice cream treat on the bus ride back to our hotel. The excitement continued as the bus broke down en route. Packaging tape proved useful to get the bus back on the road.

That´s about it for now, as I need to get back to the hotel for dinner. After dinner we will be assembling 100 care packages for people that work the dump in Manta. We plan to distribute them tomorrow morning before returning to the Orphanage to continue our work projects.

Good evening to all and I can´t say thank you enough to all of our supporters for making this trip a reality. I look forward to sharing in person with many of you when I return. Who knows, you may be writing a blog like this in the future.

Joe

p.s. To Joey, mom would love to an email message or two or three or four.

The Real Jungle Book

Yesterday began with a breakfast of hot dogs and hard-boiled eggs.

We spent the morning continuing projects at the orphanage including welding a fence, painting the school room, and excavating more and more and more dirt. Some of us got very creative today through singing and drawing. The paint crew even composed a song in honor of Joel who was not feeling well today. Thankfully he is feeling much better now.

After lunch the boys of the orphanage led the entire team on an exciting adventure through the jungle. The boys came equipped with rope, knee-high rubber boots, and machetes. The two and half hour hike encompassed repelling, trekking through a river, climbing tall muddy hills, and running with screaming children (and some screaming adults) through bat filled tunnels! What an incredible experience! It was awesome to see the boys sense ofpride as they guided 14 adults through these extreme conditions! Not only did they lead the group, but they also made sure at least one of them was always behind us to make sure no one got lost or hurt.

Once we arrived back at ¨The Cave¨ we experienced our first Ecuadorian blackout and ate dinner by candle light. God is teaching us all much more about the meaning of flexibility.

Thank you for all your continued support and prayers. We love and miss you!

Con Amor,
Teresa on behalf of Team Ecuador 2007.

P.S. You rock Joey! Besos!
P.S.S. Jenn carried a beetle inside her shoe for 2 hours this morning before releasing him with her hand and squealing! She had thought it was just a hunk of dirt!
P.S.S.S. While walking through the town of San Lorenzo a young bopy passed and shouted ¨Hola Kelly!¨ as if she had lived here for years despite having met him just the morning before.
P.S.S.S.S. Today we really used Bear´s survival techniques as we followed the river out of the jungle and back to civilization. Thanks Kevo! Hi Nancy and the boys!
P.S.S.S.S.S. Looking forward to sharing pictures and catching up with all of you. Jimmy

Greetings From the Rainforest

Hola Amigos!

What a fabulous Friday in Ecuador! The morning began early for many of us as we woke to spend time alone, hiked to the top of a nearby mountain to see a lighthouse, walked along the beach, or traveled to town to play with the local children. Next we all gathered to participate in devotions and share breakfast. The food was once again fantastic! The orange juice is freshly squeezed and the fresh pineapple and watermelon can't be beat! To top it all off, as we ate we were able to again watch the humpback whales just yards away in the ocean! Today, two were flailing their tales in synchornized motion! What an amazing site to see!

Next we all boarded our traditional Ecuadorian transportation, an open air dumptruck with just wooden benches, for the short ride up the mountain to the orphanage. Along the way we saw burros and forests of bamboo. The higher we get, the more emersed we become in the beauty of the rainforest. It is truly incredible! Something I'm sure none of us will ever forget!

Each day as we travel down the long muddy driveway and the orphanage comes into site, the children are waving from all of the windows. There are shouts of "Hola!" and "Buenos Dias!" from all around. Our work day begins each day in prayer. Today's many tasks included excavation, painting, woodworking, and welding, as well as filming for a video for the Por Amor Foundation. Many of the children once again joined us in these tasks. It is such a blessing to have them beside us laughing and joking despite the language barrier.

One of the highlights of today occurred after I returned from an hour of prayer (a privilege each one of us is sharing in from day to day). During my "quiet" time I was semi-distracted by the shouts and howling of monkeys nearby. I asked some of the children, Leo and Eugenio, if they could show me where the monkeys were. Many of our team joined as we headed into the rainforest on a monkey hunt. Unfortunately we were unsuccesful and returned home. Just then the house father, Peter, shared with the boys where he thought the monkeys were, and we were off again on an adventure. This time we went deep into the rainforest through many trails. Leo was howling and shouting most of the time. In my mind I thought, oh no we will scare the monkeys away. Not so! Soon the monkeys were answering Leo in more howling! Soon we came upon a monkey in the tree! What an amazing site to see more than half of our team deep in the rainforest with these two young children!

On our way out, Leo noticed some oranges high in a tree and offered to retrieve some for us. Next thing we knew Leo was 25 feet up into the tree and tossing down green oranges to us. We split them open to find a delicious orange fruit inside! I don't think any of us will soon forget the day we spent in the rainforest with Leo and Eugenio eating oranges and watching the monkeys! As we returned to the job site we saw a multitude of beautiful butterflies and flowers aong with many gorgeous plants.

After many hours of work we returned to "The Cave" where many of us went into the ocean. The waves today were perhaps the strongest thus far. As you stood just knee deep you could taste the salt of the water and had to be careful of the incoming waves and undertow. We had a blast getting tossed around and cleaned by the sandblasting of the ocean! Then we enjoyed another fabulous meal with the missionaries who oversee the orphanage, Pearl and Alan Jackson, and their four children. They have amazing stories to share with us about the children of the orphanage! We look forward to being able to share these with you when we return.

WOW! Another absolutely incredible day in Ecuador! This trip has been so much more than I ever could have imagined it to be! Thank you again for all of your support and for making this trip possible for each and every member of our team!!!

All of our love from San Lorenzo,

Jennifer, on behalf of Team Ecuador 2007

P.S. Kevin, thanks so much for having me watch the rainforest survival show with Bear! I almost had to use some skills out there today! ;-)

P.S.S. Te amo Jelly! Did you lose your tooth? XO Salami -from Teresa

P.S.S.S. Tracey, everyone here now calls me Bunny. Thanks! -love, Roger

Dirt is Fun.

After a quick breakfast at our hotel, we were back at the orphanage, greeted by the smiling faces of all our new ecuadorian friends. Each new day brings new projects and new surprises.

Today activities included landscaping part of a building and painting the inside of another. The children have been helping out too, digging right along beside us. I don't think anyone left the worksite without some mud on them.

Some key Spanish words: lodo - mud, tierra - dirt, piedra - rock, pala - shovel, oso grizzly - grizzly bear (something to do with snoring?).

Looking forward to more fun tomorrow.

P.S.
To Ann and Erin Maskill:

All is going well. Lots of mud. Lots of kids. Lots of fun. Tell you more about it soon. Love, Tim.

P.S.
To Kaity Jo:
John and Mommy send our love and miss you. We pray for you every day and hope your having fun in Florida. :-)

P.S.
To Mom:
Mechelle and I love you. We are both doing great and loving this time serving Our Lord. You, Grandma and the Aunts are in our prayers.
Love you, John & Mechelle

P.S.
To Joey:
Mommy loves & misses you.

P.S.
Teri, in case you are checking this, I love and miss you. Michelle & Roni

P.S.
T.C. I love you and mis you. Thanks for the encouragement! Your Bunny.

ALL CLEAR!!!

Praise God!
Were are all fine, safe & blessed. After a late night bus ride up the mountian and (the men) being called 'grizly bears' we are back at our main lodging for breakfast. The warnings were canceled and we could see several fishing boats of the coast before we left we still sought refuge at the orphange.

Several things came to me as we were blesed from our Saivor. First, the kids 'have' to stay at the orphanage, but we 'got' to stay there. Many blessings can come from our discomfort and inconvience as the Lord continues to work on all of us as His own. This morning, the bus that took us up to the orphange with the 15 of us with our pack & bags to our american standard was packed. Add to that 14 children we picked up along the road to take to school. Their smiles and confused looks as to who are these gringos are on their bus that is usally just them was another blessing. The smiles of these little children are so precious. I myself consider it an honor to share the ride to school with them. As well as give a new appreciation to the SMART bus system and our own personal transportation.

Thanks you all for praying for our saftey and we were praying for family & friends as well for their peace too. God bless you all!

Roger Canzano

p.s.
I love you & miss you Tracey, you the best!

Weather Update

"A powerful earthquake shook Peru's southern coast on Wednesday. The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a ``regional tsunami warning and watch'' for coastal areas of Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia as well as a tsunami advisory for the U.S. state of Hawaii. But the center stressed that it did not know if a tsunami had been generated."

Since the team is located on the coast of Ecuador they are moving to higher ground. They are relocating to the orphanage 5 miles inland and uphill to spend the night and wait out the storm.

The team is in high spirits and doing well. As soon as the storm passes the team will send an all clear update. Please keep them in your prayers. There is no better place for this team to be than in God's will doing God's work at this time in history!

Karen Nicholas for the Ecuador Team