Kids, Statues and Dominos!

It's Tuesday and I can't believe how slowly the week is going. I mean that in a good way. The culture here allows you to be more laid back and relaxed which is pretty refreshing. We had a full day today. We picked up 4 translators from the Compassion office and took an hour long bus ride to Iglesia Evangelica Bilingue La Nueva Jerusalem. To the right are 2 of our beautiful translators - Malena and Carolina. Real sweethearts.

The Jerusalem building serves 2 purposes for Compassion - one is for a regular facility for the Compassion kids to eat, learn and play; the other is for their Child Survival Program (CSP) for children under the age of 4. We were warmly welcomed by the staff and were given a tour of the facilities. To the right are 3 of the beautiful kids I met - Jorel, Chiide and Andrea.

The photo to the right shows 5 of the mothers involved with the Child Survival Program who came out and presented a special dance (baile) just for us. Very cool. Upstairs, we saw a room where several women were sewing clothes. These were mothers who were earning their way for their children to be involved in the CSP. The quality of clothing was just like anything you would find in one of our department stores.

After we served 125 Compassion kids lunch, we headed off to visit the household of a family who was in the Survival program. We visited Lillian, whose house was about a 10x12 area divided into a bedroom/living room and a kitchen (pictured). They had a fridge, small gas stove, no running water and no bathroom. The pastor of the project spent time with the kids playing and reading with them. Then we gave them a box full of food (rice, mush, noodles, crackers, butter and chocolate). After our visit we prayed for Lillian and her family. I would pray a phrase in English and Calrolina would pray the translation. It was very moving.

On the bus ride back, Craig, Jeremy and Bruce decided to throw candy in front of some local children as we sped 35 mph down bumpy roads. Screams of "Niños!" (no, Heather, that doesn't mean 'candy') and "Caramellos!" had most of us in tears picturing them accidentally beaming the kids in the head with the sugary treats. We then traveled up a mountain called El Panecillo (9895 ft above sea level) to view the awe-inspiring Virgin Mary statue pictured to the right. The statue was a gift from Spain in 1976. It's made of 7,000 pieces of aluminum and stands 134 feet tall. The Ecuadorians say the statue is unique in that it may be the only portrayal of Mary with wings. The 360 degree view of the city from atop this hill was incredible - especially with thunderstorm clouds rolling over the Andes.

Dinner tonight was something special as we had 3 graduates of Compassion's Leadership Development Program as well as their director join us for some good old American Dominos pizza. These young men and women grew up being sponsored through Compassion and continued on to the university (normal sponsorship ends when the child turns 18). They each shared about how grateful they were to God and to their sponsors for the opportunities they had growing up in the program. More importantly, they shared their dreams about how they want to impact their communities in a positive way after they graduate. Jonathan wants to be a math teacher and encourage kids not to shy away from difficult subjects; Jose' wants to study Artificial Intelligence in Japan and come back to Ecuador and use technolgy to improve their water supply system; Fanny wants to open a business where she teaches women to sew. It was a very emotional night. Pictured from left to right are: Craig (not in the program), Jonathan, Jose', Fanny and Yesenia.

We finished the night off with Shirley's homemade chocolate chip/oatmeal raisin cookies and ice cream. Muy delicioso!

OK, the team is hounding me to death to publish this blog already since I started it an hour and 1/2 ago. They obviously don't appreciate the time put into research, formatting and using proper grammar!

Alright, buenos noches, Ohio!

Ray