Productivity (Part 2)

The other ministry that we have been involved with here in Ecuador is one that we felt burdened to start in the town we are staying in, San Lorenzo (Please note that in yesterdays blog I mentioned the kids club. This was in the town of Pacoche NOT San Lorenzo). This time in San Lorenzo has been such a blessing for the team to be involved in. Since I last mentioned it we have gone two more times with about 60 kids and teens participating. This is especially encouraging to us as before the snack time we have a small gospel presentation. The first time it was Lili, then David shared why he was in Ecuador and last night it was Christian. The night runs like this: we arrive by about 6:00 p.m. and the kids come running from all over the place. It is quite the sight. Once they all gather we start a bunch of activities. Some people do skip rope, Josh teaches some of the kids guitar, others play soccer in the street with a bunch of the teen guys (who are stupid good and make us look silly), Hannah has the kids line up and gives them an opportunity to try her violin (the smiles on their faces are worth more than gold) and last night Jeff taught a bunch of the younger boys how to play four square. After the games we gather everyone together and walk to a nearby church and have a brief message followed by a time of snacks. What is awesome about this is that it wasn’t planned for us by anyone. Some in the group felt we needed to use the time we had in San Lorenzo better and we got together and created this program. Here are a few pictures from the evening.

Preacher Man



This is a photo of David sharing his testimony at the San Lorenzo outreach we have been doing. It was an awesome opportunity for David to share why he was here in Ecuador and to tell everyone about the love that God has for them.

They Love Photos




Here Amanda is swarmed by a bunch of the kids. They absolutely love getting their pictures taken and as soon as the camera comes out they run over and ask.

Guitar Lessons



As soon as Joshua gets to San Lorenzo he sits down and is flooded by tons of kids wanting to listen and to learn how to play the guitar.

San Lorenzo

Just one of many photo’s of the children of San Lorenzo.



They Love Photos (Part 2)



Here Lili gets swarmed for a photo opportunity.

Music is the Universal Language




One of the huge attractions with our group is Hannah and her violin. Often times she will have a huge line of kids queued up for an opportunity to play her violin. She has demonstrated a huge amount of trust and patience and to see the looks on the kids faces as they ‘make music’ is a beautiful thing.

Pacoche Church




A group shot at the church in Pacoche that we have been using for our program.

The Group



More photos of some of the boys from San Lorenzo.

Mi Esposa





My wife, Amanda, getting in some snuggle time with one of the boys from San Lorenzo. It is amazing to see how we have been received in this community. There has been some tough things and a few struggles but ultimately we have been embraced with open arms as we try and reach out to San Lorenzo. Please pray for this ministry as we will have a few more opportunities next week.



And finally here is a picture of our whole group (excluding me as someone needed to take the photo) in one of the ocean coves we explored yesterday during some much needed down time.

Thank you once again, everyone, for your thoughts and prayers as we endeavor to do God’s work here in Ecuador. We are being challenged tremendously by the things that we are seeing and experiencing and we have only been here for a little over a week.