The Group from Grace Chapel in Lancaster, Ca

Grace Chapel from Lancaster, CA brought a team to Ecuador from the 31st of March to the 10th of April.  What an incredible time we had with them!  They were such a joy to get to know and I am so excited to have even more familiar faces the next time we visit Lancaster.   We had the opportunity to go to Shandia with them to work and  build relationships with the people (especially the children) of Shandia.  On Friday we played some games with the kids and then went down to the river to swim.  On Saturday we spent most of the day shoveling dirt.  On Sunday we worshiped the Lord together singing in English, Spanish and Kichwa and Eric delivered a sermon.  Some of the group also went and did Sunday School with the children. Monday we went on a little river trip and then headed back to Quito.

I was encouraged to see many familiar faces in Shandia and actually be able to communicate a little better this time.  I also had the opportunity to taste my first chicha... can't say I enjoyed it much.  But, I did love the sugar cane. 

When we returned to Quito, we spent the remaining time at El Refugio.  The team did a lot of hard work and also participated in some team building activities.  

We sure had a wonderful time with Grace Chapel, Lancaster and we can't wait for them to come back!

At El Refugio, the team also did the ropes course and some team building activities.  Mikala and Nick participated in both and enjoyed it tremendously.

Nick and many others were painted with a dye derived from plants.  The red only lasted a day, but the black stayed on for a week!

We celebrated my 39th birthday in Tena, near Shandia.  We had an incredible downpour and thunder and lightning show.  The electricity went out.  It was a lot of fun.

Shoveling sand from one side of the river and carrying it over to the other to load in wheel-barrows to be taken down the road about a 1/4 mile to the church.

Cynthia and Halley enjoying the sugar cane.

My friend Carolina!  It was so great to see her again.

Nick and Dario playing on the Napo river with the kids from Shandia.

Mikala and Kimberly (One of the girls she met when we first came down with our youth group in 2004.)

Kayaking

At the end of March, we took our interns kayaking down the Napo River!  What a blast!  Next to Megan and Chelsea, Matt and I were the ones that tipped over the most!

On the bridge in Tena

Right before I fell in!

Criste, Hannah, Me and Chelsea.  Where's Emily? 

A New House

In March we found a house to move into!  It was a bit difficult to even think of leaving our other house, being that it was a mansion and in really great condition in comparison to this new one, but we will be saving close to $400 dollars a month!  So, along with some extra help from some of our supporters and a new church partnering with us, we are now getting really close to meeting our budget!  Thank you all for your prayers and support and thank you Lord for helping us find a house! 

The outside of our new house.  The yard to the left is our neighbors and the one in the back is ours.

This goes to our front door.

The staircase.  The lawn out the window is our backyard.

Dining room and kitchen.  We removed the cabinet that is hanging to make it more open.

Our living room.  

The window to the right looks right out into our neighbors yard and house.