Loving Life!!!

Hey Everyone!! I am sorry that it has been so very long since I have written. I will not fill you in on all that has happened but it has been wonderful!! I am loving every second that I am able to spend here in Ecuador!!

I do want to tell you about my the new ministry that I am involved in. Inca Link has a house called Casa Elizabeth that is a place for pregnant teenagers, for a year it has been closed because of a paper from the government that we were waiting for.  About two weeks ago we got the paper so were able to open up and we have our first pregnant teen.  So, I have moved up to the house with Maria to be a big sister figure in her life.  I was told I was chosen for this position for my Spanish speaking ability, my love for others, and because I want to be a Social Worker.  It is very different from what I was doing before but I am excited to become closer with Maria and do all I can to help her while I am with her.  Maria is 16 years old and is about 4 months pregnant.  The very hard and sad thing is that she can neither read nor wright.  So we have began working on this.  On Monday, we spent about 2 hours learning M and A for Mama and Maria.  By the end she still could not 100% tell me which was which. She does not talk very much so that is also a hard thing.  She does love to dance though so when there is Music she loves it!! It has been great seeing in just the few days I have been with her how she has began to warm up to me and get closer. We know that she has suffered much abuse so this is very hard.  I ask that you please pray for Maria and that in the time she has at Casa Elizabeth that she will learn so much and hopefully even come to know Christ! I also ask for prayers for my relationship with her, that I may be able to make a good impact and help her in anyway I can! It is hard to not be with the other interns and teams but I am thankful that God is being able to use me to help Maria.

With this new work, I have free days on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in which I can be with the other interns.  Because we had no teams here and needed to celebrate the 4th year anniversary of Inca Link Ecuador, Gustavo, the Director of Inca Link Ecuador, Lisa Merrit, co-founder who mainly works in the states, and the 6 of us interns went to Mindo.  This is like my favorite place ever!! I was able to go on my trip 2 years ago and it was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip! We left on Tuesday night, had pizza/pasta when we arrived and then found a place to stay.  It was so incredible and beautiful. I cost us $15 a person, we had 4 rooms, hammocks hanging outside them and then and open area with table and chairs, we played dutch Blitz and then had a crazy game of spoons!! It was so much fun!! I love these people so very much!! In the morning we had breakfast which was included with our stay, and then started on our crazy adventures.  First we did Zip-lining which I LOVE!! Flying through God's creation is incredible!! So much fun and again only $15 dollars for like 13 different lines!! Such a great experience. We then went to a butterfly farm where they have all kinds of beautiful butterfly's, we were even able to see some come right out of their cocoon!! Amazing!! Next we pulled ourselves across the river in a little box hooked to some pully's, and then we were able to go tubing down the river!! They have 6 inner tubes tied together and it is so crazy fun!! You bump all over the place, over rocks, down dips, its so awesome!! Loved it even though the water was so freezing! We finished out our time at a beatiful waterfall!! I love waterfalls and there are so many in Ecuador, it is so wonderful!! God's creations amaze me! I saw so many incredible things today I can not really believe it!! Another crazy things is that we did all of this before lunch! It was a crazy awesome packed morning!!  We then came back to Quito as we have 2 teams arriving tonight, actually the other interns are at the airport now picking them up!

So as you can see I am definitely Loving Life!! My time is begining to come to an end though and that is very sad! I have less then one month left in Ecuador!! I pray that God uses every second to use me to further His kingdom!! I am so thankful for all I have been able to do and see thus far on this trip!

Thank you for your support and prayers!!

God Bless you!!
Jen

“Vamos Ecuatorianos, esta tarda, tenemos que Ganar!!!"

Man these last few days have been incredible, jam packed and so much fun!! 

Sunday began by us interns attending Church with the Brown Family. It was such a great service! We sang some very fun songs which I greatly enjoyed! The pastor was very fun and though I tried to do my best to understand, I was very thankful for Rich translating to us so I get get the full extent of the message. It was so great! I hope that we will return to that church often this summer.  

Next came the great Soccer Game. When we heard about the game we were very excited and hopefully of going but when it actually happened it was amazing! It was also a very important game so it was packed!! It was such a crazy experience that you have to experience for yourself, but I will do my best to describe here.  We meet up with Gustavo at the mall and grabbed some foot and then walked to the stadium.  When we arrived the teams were pulling in so they had closed the doors so we had to wait outside.  Being a big group of gringos (white people) all of the vendors came directly to us first to try to sell their things.  After we had waited awhile and they still had not opened the doors, people started yelling and hollering. Finally one door opened and everyone rushed, pushing and shoving trying to get in.  So we climbed under this bar, past some police men and we were in! It was already so full, but we were still able to grab great seats.  Our section was close to behind the goal so a bit hard to see, but we were front row so it was awesome!! There was also a band in our section so it was a very fun and rowdy place to sit! Our section also had a giant flag that we would start and pass up and it covered the whole area, so very cool!! 

For the game, we painted our faces with the Ecuadorian flag and had on our Jerseys and scarves so we were very legit! I was so much fun being all together, it was such a great day,  It was filled with dancing and chants like “Vamos Ecuatorianos, esta tarda, tenemos que Ganar!!!”  So great, loveed it soo much! And we won 1-0 so that was awesome!! Great Day!!

So I am very behind on writing as my days have been so important and great!! I will continue to write about my days and post them as I get them done. Thanks for reading and know that I am enjoying my time and loving every second here!!

Gracias a Dios

Today was so great! Painted at a new missionaries house, loved getting to help them! Had tons of fun in the little girls room splatter painting with pink! Then we were able to go down to outside of the stadium and get some Ecuador jerseys so we are prepared for the game tomorrow! Yea, we are going to the Ecuador vs. Colombia Soccer Game!! It is going to be so crazy!! We are all super excited!!

Then when we got back to Casa Blanca, I checked my email, and I had a response from Profe Clark saying that they were still in Quito until 8:30pm when they had to leave for the airport.  I thought that they were leaving this morning so I thought the possibility of seeing them was long gone, nope, God had it all under control. So it was about 7 at this time and so I got Aaron and Derek and we got permission and then headed to catch a Taxi! That Taxi ride seemed like it took forever, I was a little worried since they didn't know we were coming, and I wasn't for sure how long the ride to get there would be. It was so great to be back in the neighborhood that I was in all the time 2 years ago! Loved it!! So we got to the Hotel and I asked for Ricardo Clark, but before the guy responded I saw Liz Kester and like freaked out and then because we were loud, girls started showing up everywhere!! It was so great and I got a lot of hugs but Profe was still not there, so they showed me his door and so I knocked and when he opened the door it was so great!! I got a big Jencita and an amazing hug!! It was so great to be able to see each other in this place that I was able to come to with him two years ago. I am so thankful for that trip and all God showed me and that he has brought me back this summer. Even though the visit seeing them was very short since they had to get to the airport it was so great and I am so thankful that God made it happen. We had all pretty much given up hope that we would be able to see each other before they left, but God had it in His plan and I am so thankful for that! Familiar faces and great Ecuadorian hugs can make all of the difference in the world!! So yea, I'm sorry that was very rambled and may not have made much sense, but thanks for reading and know that I am am very thankful for getting to see Profe and hope that they have a great trip home and enjoyed there time in Ecuador so very much!! I love this place so much and want everyone to be able to experience it!!

Thanks be to God for making all things Possible!!
Love you all!!

My Crazy Life - I LOVE IT!!!

So the past few weeks have been totally crazy!! I am loving every moment and am so thankful for my opportunity to be here.  Well since I have not written a blog post or even had time to Journal yet on my trip, I am going to refer you all to some of my new amazing friends blogs.  http://chosenbylove.wordpress.com/ - http://bethanynecuador.blogspot.com/ - http://aarondeboer.wordpress.com/ - http://reelchristianity.blogspot.com/ - These blogs are all from my fellow Ecuador interns who I will be spending the summer with. I already love them all so much and cannot wait to be able to spend my summer serving our Lord with them.  The Peru inters whom I had become very close with had to head back to Peru a few days ago which was very hard. They were so great and I know that God has amazing plans for them in Peru but a part of me really wished that we could all stay together the whole summer. I am so thankful that God placed them in my life even if it was only for a short time.

Yesterday was to be our free day, but it ended up being pretty busy. When there are not teams from the states here we are in charge of cooking all of our own food so thus we went on an adventure to the mall and MegaMaxi to go grocery shopping! We also then went out to see the neighborhood and get a better look at where we are living.

Today we went to Ganas which is a place for children to live whose parents are in prison. It was a very interesting experience. The whole story is very long, but in short, the home they are currently in, is a convent and they have to be out by the end of the month, thus IncaLink is working to buy an incredible big house that will be called Tesoros. There is still much funding needed, prayers are greatly appreciated!

I am so thankful for this opportunity!! Prayers are greatly appreciated for all that is happening with the ministry of IncaLink!!

God Bless you all!! Thanks for reading!!!

Written on the plane - 5/25/12

I am currently in route to Lima, Peru. I am so excited for all that is to come!! We just finished supper on the plane, pasta, salad, a roll, and a very delicious brownie. The Vow just finished playing and now Big Bang Theory is on. My new friend Ana is sitting right behind me and a girl on her way back to Peru to visit her family is beside me.  She is going to celebrate her quincinera while there which is very exciting! When we land tonight we are staying in a motel and then in the morning we leave for Trujillo on a 10 hour bus ride. Saying goodbye to everyone was very hard, but I know that this summer will be worth being away from my loved ones. I had a good flight to Denver where I met Derek and Aaron. When we got to Huston we had some lunch and then met Kyle who will be serving in Peru this summer when we are in Ecuador. I am so excited, yet the nerves are definitely present as well. I ask for prayers for my friends and family as they spend the summer and deal with my leaving. I am so thankful for all of the support I received for this trip and want to say a big thank you to all of my donors and prayer supporters. It means so much that people believe in me and the work I hope to accomplish this summer with God's help. Please pray for my team as we meet tonight and as everything begins tomorrow.  I do not know what the future hold, but I know who holds my future, and that is very great news for me! I know the Lord has amazing plans for my team, me, and the ministry of Inca Link! I am so very thankful to have this amazing opportunity!!!

Transitions... and my First Blog Post :)

So I have officially finished my junior year of college!! Cannot believe it, it was a very tough semester, but I succeeded and feel very accomplished.  I head home tomorrow and am very excited to see my family and friends! Can't wait to soak up all the love I can in this time I have.

I have roughly 14 days until I leave for the first leg of my journeys. I am so excited and cannot wait to find out all God has planned for me. I am beging to feel nervous but I know it will all be alright, I just have to remember to trust in our all mighty God.  I am so thankful for the opportunity I have to go and serve in Ecuador, and for being able to return to the place I fell in love with two years ago.  Crazy to think that just 2 years ago I would be leaving this Sunday for the amazing experience I had that helped to begin this entire process. This years group leaves then and I am so excited and happy for them.

It will be so different this time not being with my same group, but I am very excited to meet the rest of my team for the summer. I pray that we are able to become very close and form unbreakable bonds! I know we will do great things and pray that we are able to praise God and lift up His name through it all!

Well, this is my first blog post so hope its good and I continue to get the hang of it.  I greatly appreciate your prayers and thoughts of me and my future work with the ministry of Incalink. Pray I rely on God for everything and remember that through it all.  Pray that the time with my family and friends is well spent and the good bye's are not too hard.  I know it is all worth it to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Thanks for reading!!  Love, Jen