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