A short-term mission team from the University of West Alabama’s Wesley Foundation will be in Ecuador May 8-15. Please pray for them as they serve the children and adults at Dulce Refugio in Villaflora, Quito. They will be posting throughout the week about their experiences.

May 12

On Monday night, one of our team members, Lauren, left Ecuador to head home.  We miss her and pray she is well and safe at home.

The entire team is the author of today’s blog.  We gathered for devotion this evening led by Melvin.  Dan led Communion, and the team members served one another.  Afterwards, we each took turns to write a bit for the blog.  The following documents what each team member has to say about the week thus far.

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May 11 – Body of Christ by Genevieve Baughman

The theme for today seems to be the body of Christ. Nearly everyone mentioned something to this extent during our evening devotion. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s look at the start of the day, and then we’ll work on up to the closing meeting.

We’re getting used to getting up around 6 am. Those who weren’t up this morning by then were woken with the phone call and the buzz saw outside the hotel. We gathered for our morning devotion given by Ashley, and then continued on to breakfast. Then it’s on to the bus to head to our work site. It seems a normal site to see the mountains every morning when we wake up and ride the bus to and from our destinations. It’s hard to imagine that we’re halfway through the week. We’ve become used to seeing the same smiling faces full of joy, full of God’s love and grace every day.

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A short-term mission team from the University of West Alabama’s Wesley Foundation will be in Ecuador May 8-15. Please pray for them as they serve the children and adults at Dulce Refugio in Villaflora, Quito. They will be posting throughout the week about their experiences.

May 10 – When is the Last Time You Drank Some Water? by Genevieve Baughman and MaeLee Taylor

Rise and shine, bright and early – without an alarm clock. There was a bit of a mix-up with the wake-up call.  Luckily, most of us were awake at some point before the morning devotional time. This morning, Rachel shared Scripture and a brief message.

Today was the first day on the work site. Our VBS and construction teams worked hard today alongside the Ecuadorian church members. The construction team on the roof was blessed by the songs the VBS team led for and with the children in the rooms below. The roof construction area was a tad bit on the warm side. However, the “water” person made sure the team was well hydrated and sun-screened. The construction team actually got a bit perturbed, in a humorous manner, by the constant barrage of “Make sure you drink your water. Have you reapplied sunscreen?”  The team worked on the infrastructure that will at some point be concrete pillars. This consisted of placing “S” bars, tying them onto the existing structure with rebar, and repeating the process many times over. The work was enjoyable though tiring to the team. We look forward to a good night’s sleep tonight.

The VBS team was truly blessed today, as we were able to share the Gospel with children from the ages of 1 to 14. The children are very loving and pay attention so well. It is amazing to see and experience God in this form of ministry.

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A short-term mission team from the University of West Alabama’s Wesley Foundation will be in Ecuador May 8-15. Please pray for them as they serve the children and adults at Dulce Refugio in Villaflora, Quito. They will be posting throughout the week about their experiences.

May 9 – Genevieve Baughman

Part of the team met early Saturday morning at the Wesley Foundation to pack the van and head out to Atlanta. Wilson, Melvin, Rachel, and MaeLee all met us at the airport since they drove separately. The trip to the airport was full of excitement and anticipation as we prepared ourselves for our 5:30 pm flight. It was also full of a few napping team members.  Scott mentioned that he was eager to witness the change in direction of the water. We passed through the normal checkpoints with only one hold-up: Ketia’s bobby pins.  We attempted to document this special occasion, but were warned by security that this was not allowed. The five-hour flight lasted what seemed to be well into the night. However, we arrived in Quito, Ecuador around 10:30 pm. Sleepy passengers waited in line to go through the South American customs to be joyfully greeted by Dr. Roberto and Nanny. After arriving at the Hotel Tambo Real, we were given a few instructions, room keys and permission to take our exhausted bodies to bed.

Sunday morning, we met for a devotion given by Ketia from a few chapters of 1 Corinthians. Her message relayed the importance of unity in being the body of Christ and serving in love.  Breakfast was delicious (as have all the meals been at the hotel). Our next order of business was the bus ride to the Middle of the World. We were able to spend some time on the tour learning about early tribes native to Ecuador. We were also able to witness the water flowing in three directions: straight down, clockwise and counter clockwise. A few team members were able to balance the egg, in addition to walking the equator without stumbling. The next stop we were allowed to visit the spot that was thought to be the original middle of the world, yet it was not so due to miscalculations many years ago. The bus rides throughout Ecuador have allowed us to view much that we have not before. On our last stop of the afternoon, we went to church at Mama Yoli’s and were blessed by the welcome we received. What joy it is to see so many worship the Lord and in so many ways! Rachel and MaeLee joined some of the women in praise by dancing. Ashley shared a bit of her testimony. Wilson translated the message given today.

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