VAMOS A LA PLAYA

Vamos a la playa.....A mi me gusta bailar....el ritmo de la noche....sounds of fiesta!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Oq0CPXPtHs&feature=relmfu

Tomorrow morning we are leaving for the playa (beach)!! Bright and early but we are all excited! Due to all of our excitement, and CJ instilling the lyrics into our brains, the opening line has been sung multiple times in the past 24 hours.

Due to my lack of blogging the last couple nights (all for good reason), I will attempt to catch you all up on the past couple days of my life.

MONDAY: Got in a good morning run with Jenna and Courtney which included quiet time at the top of Las Peñas.  Had great spiritual conversations on campus as I went out sharing with Hannah.  We talked with 3 different Christians throughout the day which was cool because part of starting a spiritual movement on campus is discipling the Christians that are already on campus and getting them involved, not just bringing together new believers.  Monday night's dinner included this deliciousness:

a steak sandwich with plantains and avocados on a pretzel like roll with french fries! It is called the Guayaquileño.

TUESDAY: Ran again but minus Courtney so just Jenna and I.  Jason and I have discipleship on Tuesdays so we went out sharing beforehand. We had a spiritual conversation with a guy who chose to accept Christ as his Lord and Savior but the conversation had its complications. He had been fed a lot of different truths from other religions and denominations so he wasn't really sure what he believed.  He only spoke Spanish and was asking questions that would've been hard to answer in English so Jason and I tried our best.  We arranged a follow up to meet and talk more on Wednesday (which unfortunately fell through) but pray that God just speaks His truth to Tony and the rest of the new believers on the campuses.  It is very easy to get deceived or build a foundation of faith on lies during a new and exploring relationship in Christ.  Tuesday night was guys night dinner and then a Bible study that talked about being empowered by the Holy Spirit, our theme for Summer Project.

WEDNESDAY: Ran again (3 days in row...might be a new record!). Sharing on campus was great as Megan and I went out sharing with Carlos Luis and Alex...two of our new Ecuadorian friends at ESPOL.  While we didn't see anyone come to Christ, it was so awesome to go sharing with a student from the campus. Carlos Luis went with me to share and it is sooo helpful to have someone that speaks fluent Spanish and great English, it helps to make the conversation run smoothly! Then later Helen and I did a prayer walk through the campus which was so awesome. Dinner was with co-op groups which basically were small groups split up to encourage closer team bonding.  I was with Ashley and Ann, such a great group!  We went to this bakery/deli/restaurant place which served to our benefits as we had both dinner and dessert!  We spent quality time sharing each of our personal stories, which was awesome to hear how each of us got here.  God definitely picked a diverse team to be here, with all of us taking different paths, but Ecuador is right where we are supposed to be. God is doing great things here and his presence is definitely known :)

THURSDAY (TODAY): Ran some more but got CJ to tag along (I think I can officially say 4 days in a row is a personal record). Piña jugo for breakfast, one of my favorites!  I went sharing with Hannah and Ashley today as we had a conversation with a guy who said he didn't really have any religion. He listened to our Gospel presentation and after chose to accept Christ! He of course had plenty of questions (speaking very little English) but the Holy Spirit has definitely been feeding me the words to say as I have been more and more confident with my Spanish.  Pray that the language barrier wouldn't be an issue in sharing the Gospel, as about half the team doesn't know Spanish or very little. We helped with Daniel's Bible study today as we got to disciple the Christian students who came.  We went through the "millas" (miles) with them which are worksheets designed to help with understanding your personal walk with the Lord.  There are 10 "millas" in total which start with the basics and work up to some more personal evaluations.  The afternoon was well spent but unfortunately included a Germany defeat (sorry Megan) but it was still fun watching the game in suspense.  Dinner was as a team at the oh so wonderful TRES PEY(P)! The night concluded with project fun night which included fireworks, dance party, cards and FARCLE.  A new addicting game that comes with consequences.  It's all in the roll of the die but certain combination give points and last person to accumulate 10,000 pts is faced with a consequence. After losing in a game of farcle on Tuesday, I am now faced with the consequence of only being able to speak using sock pockets for the entire 4 hour car ride to the beach tomorrow....that should be fun! (sarcasm)....the secret is now out but everyone is asleep so they will all be surprised when I bust out my Golem (LOTR) interpretation for the right hand and Smoker Joe (made up character) for the left hand.  There were more than likely be videos...but wish me luck!

It is now time for SLEEP (my favorite 5 letter word besides JESUS)....Goodnight everyone!

Vamos a la playa.....A mi me gusta bailar....el ritmo de la noche....sounds of fiesta!
(check out the song and you can thank me later)

Pictures and Pray Requests

View overlooking the part of the city we live in (straight ahead)

One of the two hills that overlooks the city (Las Peñas)

Lighthouse at the top of one of the hills

Sorry for no posts the last two nights, I have gotten caught up in playing some intense games of rummi and speed with some of my teammates.  These past two mornings I have gotten up to run and these are some of the photos I took at the top of one of the Las Peñas.  Use these photos as a visual for the city that you are praying for.  

• Continue to pray that God does great things here in Guayaquil, as He has already been doing.
• Pray for the health of our team, as a few people from our team have gotten sick the past couple of days.
• Pray for the safety of our team as we will be making our first long road trip to the beach this weekend (4 1/2 hours).
• Pray for rest, as we have early mornings and long days on our feet.
• Pray for the Holy Spirit to speak through us on the campuses.
• Pray for opportunities and open ears on the campuses.
• Pray for God to work through the language barrier
• Take some time to pray for each of the team members bu name: Courtney, Megan, Ashley, Helen, Jessica, Hannah, Ann, Jenna, Jason, CJ, Andrea, Chris, Linsey and I...that our relationships with the Lord would continue to grow while we are here.
• Pray that we would keep our full trust in His timing and dependence on His works, not ours.  
• Pray for an eagerness to learn more about Him through our time in prayer and the Word.

I am sure I could conjure up some more prayer requests but that is all I have for now.  I hope to post a recap of the last few days and today at some point during free time tomorrow, so stay posted!  

Hasta luego!

Milagro or bust

Life Tip: Just because it's cloudy doesn't mean you can't get burnt

This morning 17 of us packed like sardines into a 17 person van.  8 o'clock in the morning is too early to get that friendly with your neighbors, but after some great jugo and with the excitement of the day planned ahead, we all managed for the hour long car ride.  Today we got invited by our Ecuadorian amigo, Daniel, to travel to his hometown, Milagro, to spend the day playing futbol and swimming.  Then after the morning festivities, his uncle agreed to cook lunch for us all at his restaurant.

We pretty much had the whole sports complex to ourselves which was pretty awesome.  We split into equal teams of 5 on 5 (ours had 6 but we subbed) with each team representing their campus.  ESPOL vs. UG....El Classico Junior.  After slipping, sliding, arguing, and laughing for an hour or so, UG pulled the upset 3-2 victory.  And yes...I meant upset...because let's be honest, ESPOL is the far superior team :) or maybe I am just biased.  But in all seriousness, it was a fun and evenly matched game.

Sweaty and covered in mud, we all changed into swimsuits to join the rest of the team in the pool.  The pool felt so nice after having spent the last week and a half adjusting to the hot and humid climate of Ecuador.  We spent the next few hours, playing water games, synchronized diving and just splashing around.  This is where the life tip mentioned previously comes in to play.  Today was cooler than it has been this past week and had cloud coverage as usual.  It even sprinkled on and off throughout the day.  The majority of the team and I, thinking because it was cloudy and not that hot out, failed to put on sun screen, and now our faces have to pay the consequences of rosey cheeks.

Lunch was amazing!! I was not really sure what to expect after not having seafood for the duration of the trip thus far.  Also I am not that big of a seafood fan in general.  But when they dropped that family (family meaning enough to feed a small army of Ecuadorians) platter of shrimp and fried rice in front of the 4 of us sharing, I had to dig in.  And dig in I did.  I was smart in sharing with 3 girls because that meant bigger portions for me, but they didn't mind as the urged me to eat more and more.  We finished the plate, a proud accomplishment for the day, leaving no desire for dinner.

I did end up passing on dinner....but I couldn't resist going out for ice cream tonight.  Let's be honest, ice cream definitely counts as a meal.

Church tomorrow bright and early so time for bed! Goodnight everyone :)

How Great is Our God

Words can't be used to describe how right it feels being here in Ecuador right now.  God is here. I am part of His plan and it is sooo wonderful.  I wake up every morning with joy, excited to see what the day brings.  I am experiencing so much growth and God is really working in my heart.  I don't know where my future is taking me but I am along for the ride!

This morning included a 6:45 wake up call to go for a run with Courtney and Jenna.  Being awake early and feeling groggy was not the desired feeling I wanted for my morning but turned out to be totally worth it.  We ran along the Malecon (river walk).  Climbed 430 stairs.  As if that wasn't enough, we climbed some more stairs.  But when we came to a stop, we stood overlooking the whole city of Guayaquil.  Standing in absolute awe atop a lighthouse.  We were at the highest point in the city.  We had seen God's work being done on the campuses, but to see how big the city actually was and how many people are in need of being reached just really had me at a loss of words.  God was using me in his plan to start a movement to reach the lost and hurting people of Guayaquil.  Out of all the billions of people in the world....He chose me.  This was definitely the best and most humbling morning of the trip so far.  So glad to have woken up.

My day continued with seeing a brother and sister come to Christ on the ESPOL campus, as Helen and I had the opportunity to share the Gospel with Franco and his sister.  PRAISE GOD!  With the help of Helen's fluent Spanish (SHOUT OUT TO HELEN! GRACIAS!) and guidance of the Holy Spirit, we were able to answer their questions on eternal life and the Holy Spirit.  We spent over an hour sitting in the grass just talking about God's goodness.  Afternoon well spent.

The night consisted of watching Dan in Real Life as a team which provided plenty of laughs to made for a great night cap.

Overall great day! and looking forward to tomorrow!!

Confianza en Dios

"EVERYONE, WELCOME TO BUTTCHEEK PARK!!!" as CJ bellows every morning during our stroll to campus.  Good thing the majority of the Ecuadorians can't speak English...and for those that do, we apologize!

Today was and is an absolute scorcher but we are in our rooms now which makes it somewhat better other than the fact that the cleaning ladies always turn our air off...so we come back to a hot room.  It is almost always cloudy but that doesn't stop the sun from getting through.

So today was campus sharing after taking a break yesterday to do church outreach.  *FLASHBACK* In our first day of campus sharing on Monday we were able to share the Gospel with 3 students but couldn't finish the booklet with them so we arranged to meet again on Tuesday.  Tuesday came and left us discouraged as they were no shows.  But we couldn't keep our heads down, because it's not that uncommon.  All I could do was pray that maybe we got through to them in the short time we had or that our paths would cross again.  *FLASHFORWARD*

Hannah and I were exploring the campus, looking for undiscovered hot spots for sharing when lo and behold behind us we hear...."Hannah! Jeremy!"  We turn around to see one of the 3 guys...unfortunately we could not remember his name but I'm surprised he remembered ours!  He went on to apologize for the no show and I think it was because of class or miscommunication.  He speaks really fast in Spanish.   He went on to explain he still wanted to talk more.  He showed the booklet to his sister and she was interested in hearing more as well! Long story short, he wanted to come to campus tomorrow with his sister, despite having no classes, to talk some more!  Can I just say praise God?! Oh and he speaks English...we find this out after I struggled for 5 minutes to communicate plans with him.

And He said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.” (Acts 1:7)

His timing is perfect.  God is at work on the campuses and it's awesome to be a part of His plan!

Pray for our time on campus tomorrow :)

48 hours in review

The past 2 days have consisted of so many conversations, thoughts, emotions and Spanish that my brain kinda hurts.  I couldn't even blog last night because of not even knowing where to begin.  But I am going to attempt to give a spark notes version of the last 48 hours just get some stuff down in writing....don't judge the flow 

Starting with yesterday morning at 8:45am → skipped morning shower, gulped down breakfast in 5 minutes (Jose knows to be rapido when we walk in) → bus ride to ESPOL → shared the gospel with a student, he prayed to accept Christ, PRAISE GOD! → got some jugo de maracuyá (passionfruit...add that to the list...yum!) → had some discipleship time with Jason → got 2 empanadas con queso for $1.50 (I call that a steal) → talked with a student about religion, arranged a followup to share the Gospel → got stood up by the 3 amigos I previously talk about (slightly discouraged, but chin up) → bus ride home (didn't get lost this time) → NAPTIME at the hotel (great part of every day) → had some wonderful lomo off a sizzling grill for guy's night dinner → bible study on the Holy Spirit → tried to blog but epically failed → SLEPT → slept in but was able to sit down for breakfast (we have had scrambled eggs every morning for the past week...) → walked the girls to do laundry meanwhile racked up some puntos → got some lunch (beans, rice and pollo....all day er'y day) and jugo de naranjilla (which is a green orange....awkward) → NAPTIME :) → crammed 14 people into a van to do some church outreach → made some sammiches (I am currently filling out my application at Jimmy Johns) → ate some Dominos pizza with which they labeled the boxes "gringo carryout" → learned some Spanish songs → dressed to impress in matching yellow hats and t-shirts → shared the Gospel to patients and parents at the local childrens hospital...in Spanish....no notes....exhausting → washed and tried dishes...and couldn't finish until they were judged to perfection and approved → made it back to the hotel safe and sound → blogged → now I am about to sleep! Buenas noches!

Punto count: 18....estoy ganando!

***I promise better upcoming blogs...I have been slacking

La Misión Comienza

Today was showtime! Woke up in time to catch some breakfast which I gotta say, those huevos y pan are starting to grow on me....oh and the jugo this morning...phenomenal!  I have been making it a personal goal to try as many of the different jugos that are available.  Luckily the campus I am sharing at, ESPOL has some primo jugo for very cheap with a wide selection.

(more pictures to be included in the future)

As stated in my previous blog, I have been chosen to be part of the team used to reach students through the Gospel at ESPOL.  We embarked on our normal walking route towards the UG campus before having to split ways towards the ESPOL bus stop.  It was a sad moment because up until that moment, we had participated in activities as a whole group and this would be a first for splitting up.  I gotta look on the bright side though, we can reach a larger group of students by splitting between the two campuses.

Even though the bus ride is long (45 minutes or so) it goes by quickly.  Many of the students are curious as to why we are on the bus and often strike up conversation or are eager to talk when we make the first move.  Needless to say, the bus will be a good place for sharing on the way to ESPOL.  During the bus ride today, I was able to talk with a student named Pedro about his faith.  He shared with me how he is Catholic but doesn't really have an established relationship with God. The bus ride ended before we could pursue further into the conversation but out of it I had learned two things.

1. Be quick yet effective in your time spent sharing the Gospel with students because time is limited and you might not see them again.
2. Students are open to talking about their faith, at least so far, so that was encouraging!

We arrived at the campus and split into smaller groups for sharing.  I was paired with Hannah which it was good to be paired with a girl because then we would be able to share with both genders.  It is discouraged to share the Gospel with the opposite gender because it could distract away from the message trying to be shared.  Hannah and I walked around until we found a student studying on his own.  We approached him, introduced ourselves and asked if he had the time to talk.  Realizing that he couldn't speak English, the conversation was put all on me since I was the Spanish speaker of the two of us (Hannah and I).  Although Hannah couldn't participate in the conversation, she contributed greatly by praying for us as we talked.  I was extremely nervous to share the Gospel in Spanish because they may have questions that I can't answer in Spanish.  Spiritual vocab was never covered in Spanish class.   The conversation went smoother than I could've asked for as we went through the booklet and even side tracked a little bit to explore questions in more depth.  All the while, we were able to effectively communicate back and forth.  God was with us :)  One thing that happened, which I guess is quite common, is that as I was sharing the Four Spiritual Laws booklet with him, more students would crowd around to listen to what I had to say.  After the first couple minutes of sharing the booklet, the crowd had built up to 4 students [one was an evangelico (evangelist) as well].  I kept stopping periodically to make sure they understand everything and would go the extra step to highlight the main points.  Unfortunately, reverting back to lesson 1, they had to leave for class.  We had gotten all the way through the booklet to the point of accepting Christ as Lord and Savior, so I wasn't going to let this great opportunity go to waste.  They all seemed very engaged so we arranged to meet again tomorrow at 1:30pm to hopefully pray about a decision and for them to start a spiritual relationship with God.  So definitely keep Hannah, myself and my 3 new friends in your prayers as God is definitely at work on the campus of ESPOL.

Following that, we approached 2 girls sitting on a bench.  There was a definite language barrier but Hannah still gladly shared with them as I served to help translate as needed.  The girls were definitely reading along as they would help Hannah from time to time to correctly pronounce certain words.  One of the two girls was Christian while the other was Catholic.  There is a difference between Catholicism in the United States and Catholicism in Latin America.  The majority of the population is Catholic which they dissociate themselves from Christians.  Christians and Evangelists are grouped in a similar boat here as they both focus on developing their relationships with God through studying the Bible, prayer and fellowship as well sharing God's love with others.  Catholics in Latin America are very passive in their faith where many of them label themselves as Catholics because of their family background.  Some go to church on Sundays, know who God and Jesus are but they don't have personal relationships through the Holy Spirit.  Many of the Catholics in Latin America assume they are saved through good works, loving others and by attending the church.  My Spanish is not up to the level of being able to communicate all of that effectively.  While there was still some confusion, Hannah finished reading through the booklet and we parted ways, once again because of class.  Our hopes is that we opened a door for conversation between the two of them and hopefully the Christian girl, Michelle, can answer and bring to light some of the questions that her friend had.  

On the bus ride home, Megan used her bubbly personality to strike up conversation with a stranger about futbol which eventually was directed into a spiritual conversation.  A stranger no more, Stalin was given an invitation to attend a Bible study that our friend Daniel hosts on Fridays in which he said he would try to attend.  The other friend I made on the bus, Leonardo, said that he was Christian and we invited him to attend the Bible study on Thursdays (still hosted by Daniel, just a different place and time).  There were definitely a lot of new people that we met today so I've started to keep a journal with me to help remember names and conversations.  

Unfortunately while Hannah and I didn't see anyone come to Christ today, we still had very positive and encouraging conversations and were able to share the booklet with 5 students today. There was one girl who accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior today at ESPOL and 7 in total between the two campuses! PRAISE GOD!!  In total, the Gospel was shared with 19 students today.  It is definitely more exhausting than I thought it would be, trying to effectively communicate the Gospel in Spanish.  Day 1 got off to a hot start! Thanks everyone for your continual prayers :)  

Excited for what tomorrow brings!

Jeremias

P.S. for updates from the Universidad de Guayaquil campus sharing, check out Jenna's blog (http://jennareallyspeaking.blogspot.com/), CJ's blog (http://thereandbackagainagringostale.blogspot.com/) or Ann's blog (http://ann-in-ecuador.blogspot.com/) as they are all part of that team

El Padre

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there! and a special shout out to Papa Bernas! For those concerned with that previous statement, we exchanged emails earlier today so that is not my only show of appreciation for my dad.  We have also adopted one of our project leaders, Chris Boeyink, as our team padre so a special shout out goes to him as well...thanks for putting up with us!

I am going to be brief with my daily recap today to get to a greater message that I want to talk about.  8-bro-uno got off to a late start again today which resulting in missing breakfast and the much talked about fresh jugo de maro (blackberry juice).  We made it to lobby to find everyone dressed to the 9's (may or may not have used that correctly) in their church attire.  Took a nice stroll to the Iglesia Biblica Christiana de Guayaquil where we attended church.  The church was very sweet in welcoming us all.  The majority of the team took seats in the back but a few of us thinking we could actually follow the sermon, bravely sat in front. I loved taking part in the worship as we sang some new worship songs and then a few that were familiar but translated to Spanish such as "Mighty to Save" and "How Great is Our God."  It was so awesome to praise God with a community of people on the other side of the world.  The sermon started and I was able to hold my own for about the first half hour, understanding about 80% of the message.  But after he kept going, I was soon lost and just turned to nodding occasionally and reading the Bible that Courtney brought.  This is where my story will get hazy because I could go on and on but I will direct you to my amiga Jenna's blog at http://jennareallyspeaking.blogspot.com/ for a full recap of the day.

We concluded the night with prayer and praise.  During this time we were told our ministry teams, with which one will go to ESPOL and the other will go to Universidad de Guayaquil for sharing the gospel each week.  My team consists of: Helen, Ashley, Hannah, Megan and then Jess, Chris and Andrea who will be floaters between both campuses since they are part of staff.  I am really excited for what tomorrow will bring as it is our first official day sharing on the campuses.  So as you read this, keep our team in your prayers :) and a blog post about our experiences can surely be expected for tomorrow.  Finally I have reached the main part that I have been wanting to post about.  As you can imagine, a lot of spiritual thinking gets done throughout the day while I am here as I engage in conversations with my teammates and spend quiet time in the Bible.  I wanted to try and externalize some of those thoughts through the blog, the first having a theme of Father's Day.  Multiple posts may start to get posted each day to give some separation between my thoughts.  Well here it goes...

I wanted to touch upon my gratitude to the greatest father of all....my Father and God.  As I was processing my thoughts about how our spiritual conversations might go tomorrow, I was compiling a list of Bible verses that would come in handy, a lot of which are already included in the booklets.  

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him." John 3:16-17

Our God loves us all soooo much.  Our Father took the punishment for something that we did.  He created us to love Him, we turned away and yet He still chose to love us after all the pain we caused Him.  For some mind blowing stuff, read Genesis 15 as God makes a covenant with Abraham.  God walked through twice announcing his future payment for our sins.  There aren't even enough adjectives to go on describing the awesomeness that God is.  God is my role model.  I am striving to live my life for what he calls us to be.  We say it is impossible to live up to all that he commands us to be because he can't possible understand the temptations of sin.  But he sent Jesus to be that walking role model.  He faced every bit of temptation we do and then some but never once faltered.  Yes we will never be able to reach full perfection but our steps should be in the footsteps of our Father.  So in light of Father's day, thank you God for leading the way and guiding me in my actions.  And thank you for your never ending, unconditional love.  

I understand that must have come across as a crazy tangent, which is generally how my thought process works but hopefully as I start writing it all out more, there will be more structure to my thought process.

Ciao :)

A Feeling of Independence

So with today being our 7th day together, and our 5th in Ecuador, it was time to do laundry.  After a late night of team bonding and blogging, I slept in until 11:30am which was a great way to start my Saturday.  Minutes after waking up, Chris, one of our project directors, called our room inviting us to go do laundry. Deciding I didn't want stinky clothes all week and needed to know where the laundromat was, I got out of bed and joined.  The laundromat was a lot closer than I thought and an interesting process.  Clothes are placed in a basket, they determine a price based on the size of the load then you pay and are given a receipt for pick up.  It's not that the process was hard, I am just used to doing my own laundry.

Lunch consisted of some good ol' shawarma at tres pey (3P), my new favorite food here, only to find out that it's Persian and not Ecuadorian....darn.  We spent some quiet time in the rainforest park, only to learn that there are 3 new rules to add to the list of forbidden activities.

1. Shoes cannot be removed...
2. No laying down...
3. No sitting on rocks...

The "..." is to indicate the stupidity of the rules and my disagreement but no matter what we seem to do, the Ecuadorian police find ways to ruin our enjoyment and fun.  The rules are interesting and hard to understand when there are couples openly making out on the benches but whatever.  I was able to correctly navigate us to the grocery store, back to the hotel, and later back to the laundromat.  I have for now been chosen as the team navigator which is pretty cool role considering I enjoy leadership positions.  Being able to navigate through the streets of Guayaquil is a proud accomplishment with having no sense of direction whatsoever.  I've just been able to remember the streets that run perpendicular and parallel with each other and a decent feel for the number of blocks between places. 

Feeling independent thus far is a great feeling because I wasn't sure how I would adjust to the new setting.  I originally fell in love with the idea of STINTing in Ecuador in between transferring but decided on a 5 week trip first.  STINT is a program with Campus Crusade for Christ where students intern overseas for a year to help with a partnering campus ministry.  Many students who STINT do so after they finish college degrees prior to entering the job force or joining staff with Cru.  I wanted to STINT for a year after I graduated from COD and before I transferred to a 4-year university.  The reasons why to finish my education first (without breaks) were greater.  

I have been wavering with the idea of entering full time ministry, maybe joining Cru staff but before possibly doing any of those, I need to get a potential backup degree first so that is what chemical engineering is doing for me.  How's that for a backup major...fun.  But I really do enjoy the major, just unsure if I will pursue a career in that field.  This trip is a great opportunity to explore those ideas.

Keep me in your prayers

Buenas noches desde Ecuador (good night from Ecuador!)

*for a different view on today check out my teammate's blog at jennareallyspeaking.blogspot.com.  We have tried to blog together the past few nights to avoid any potential overlap in our posts to save us some time.

The Mission

"Our vision is that one day every student at La Universidad de Guayaquil will know someone who truly loves Jesus Christ" - Vida Estudiantil UG (loosely quoted)

That statement is the reason why we are here in Guayaquil, Ecuador: to share the Gospel with the students on campus with the hopes to start a spiritual movement and aid the growing efforts of Vida Estudiantil UG (their version of Cru).  It has been really easy to get sidetracked with the excitement of exploring a new culture and city.  All of my blog posts so far have been focused on those two things.  I don't want anyone to get the wrong picture for why we are here, but with it being my first trip overseas, it is hard not to get excited about the culture! Don't worry, I will still make sure to share fun stories as they happen and new cultural experiences but, starting Monday, we will begin our mission, the reason why we are here (we aren't on campus during the weekends).

During briefing we had a training session on evangelism in which we explored how to use the Four Spiritual Laws booklet (similar to the Knowing God Personally booklet).  The booklet is half in English and half in Spanish but each student practiced reading through the Spanish text for enunciation and an understanding of what the conversation would cover.  It was cool because I didn't need to read over the English half of the booklet to understand the text, as I was able to translate the Spanish pretty easily besides a few new vocab words.  I had previously used the KGP booklet when sharing the Gospel in Manhattan and luckily the two shared similar concepts.  I trusted my Spanish enough for everyday conversation but was still unsure about how a spiritual conversation would go.  Each of the students wrote down a number for how many people they wanted to share the Gospel with this summer.  I immediately jumped the gun, crunching numbers for how many hours we would spend on campus for the duration of our trip.  3-4 hours per day, 4 days per week, 4 weeks of campus time....so about 50 hours of time to share the Gospel.  I went with a safe number of 30 assuming that I would spend some time discipling students I previously talked to or in case I engaged in conversation longer than an hour.  We then pooled together everyone's goals to get a team goal of 550 students.  Based on that number, we hope to bring the good news of Christ to 550 students during our 5 week stay.  Challenge accepted.

It's important not to just do a hit and run but to really engage with each student.  To spend time explore their thoughts and questions.  To get them connected to Vida Estudiantil.  To spend time studying the Bible with them.  Lastly, to hopefully build relationships with some of them.  I am definitely excited to see how this summer goes.  We start sharing on campuses on Monday and will continue to share Mon-Thurs for the rest of the weeks that we are here.

There are two campuses in Guayaquil that our team will be split up between.  There is La Universidad de Guayaquil which is within walking distance from our hotel and ESPOL which is located in the highlands and requires a 40 minute bus ride.  We had the opportunity to tour and familiarize ourselves with both campuses on Thursday.  First stop on the tour was UG.  The walk to the campus was gorgeous, as we strolled through multiple parks to get there.  Once arriving though, a less appeal campus was revealed.  It wasn't that the campus was ugly, it was just obvious that it was located in the city.  During my time at UG, I was able to engage with multiple students, some who knew English and some who did not.  But it was a fun challenge to use my Spanish as we chatted about the weather, city and other odd topics.  I apparently missed out on the much talked about fresh orange juice that is sold on campus, as all my other teammates were walking around with it in hand.  There was definitely a good vibe on the campus though with good conversation!

The second campus we checked out was ESPOL, which required a 40 minute bus ride that flew by like nothing.  The way there included Spanish conversation with Courtney and a new amigo and the way home included a nice heart to heart with Ann :).  Unfortunately on the campus we didn't have any conversations that day but we did get to still tour the campus.  The campus was sooooo nice and green and tropical and advanced and I would totally go to college there if I could.  It was up in the highlands which meant it was surrounded by mountains.  The nice thing that I've heard about the campus is that there are more English speakers at ESPOL than UG.  The way I look at it though, I want to improve my Spanish so I don't necessarily want an easy way out.  I will be glad to share at which ever campus I am chosen to go to and serve to my fullest :)

Please keep my team in your prayers!

"...and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8

Things I Have Learned..

To kind of stray away from the long posts I've been posting lately, I thought to mix it up with some things I have learned since being here:

1. "Me: Getting all these coins makes me feel like a pirate. Jenna: I feel like a jinglemonster." Sacajawea has been rediscovered in South America as the $1 coins are quite popular as well as 50cent coins and the rest of the bunch.
2. Goat stew is not as bad as it sounds....it is actually quite tasty.
3. Futbol fans LOVEEEE their futbol and that a well spent afternoon for them consists of cutting up newspapers for confetti, obtaining rolls of receipt paper and blowing up balloons.
4.  There are no rules of the road.
5. Indian dancers frequently prank call the hotel we stay at.
6. Climbing trees is frowned upon!! :(
7. If the food looks sketchy, eat it.
8. Ecuadorians are not as crazy about Justin Bieber as folks from the US...and that's a good thing
9. VAMOS AZULES! nuff said.
10. PB stands for peanut butter, not primer bajo.
11. Iguanas are not as friendly as they should be but that won't stop us from testing customs.
12. It is possible to eat a full breakfast in 4 minutes....that's how 8-bro-uno does it.
13. Agua con gas no es bueno....lo siento Carlos Juan.
14. You can't flush the toilet paper.
15. Always carry a hidden $10...in case of getting mugged.
16. Colorful buildings are the best buildings....and so we'll end here....16 is a good number....and I am tired....and I like sleep....zzzzz.....

Partido del Futbol

Partido del futbol translates to "soccer game" for all you English speaking folks.  This morning we got news that the biggest futbol game in Ecuador known as El Classico was taking place today...and were told that we had to get tickets.  The two club teams from Guayaquil are EMELEC and Barcelona (not to be confused with the team in Spain).  This match up featuring these two teams is a rivalry unlike any other in the United States because futbol is like a religion to the natives here.  Choosing a team for me was going to be tough because Megan from our team likes EMELEC due to the influence from her amigos on her previous two trips and my first amigo upon arrival, Antonio (he works at our hotel as the shuttle driver), is a fan of Barcelona.  We got news at lunch that the tickets were purchased so we had to leave at 5pm for an 8 o' clock game because the crowd would be that wild that early.  We were told not to wear any yellow (the colors of Barcelona) because the game is at EMELEC's stadium so that would not be a smart thing to do.  So EMELEC fan it is, decision made.  We all split up among 5 different taxis, Hannah and I got split up from the group into our own taxi.  Our taxi driver drove like a nascar driver flying through the city streets at 40+ mph.  We almost killed multiple people as they crossed in front of us but nonetheless we reunited with the team and made it there safely.  Upon waiting for entrance, street vendors spotted us in the crowded and kept heckling us to buy their products which mostly consisted of tickets and apparel.  I wanted a jersey so I bargained with a vendor to get a $5 blue and white striped EMELEC jersey.  We got past the ticket collectors and were twice inspected by two different security personnel who gave us aggressive pat downs.  I am going to sum up the next 2 hours prior to game start as CHAOS.  Inflatable freebies and nose makers were being passed left and right until my hands were full....then the chanting began...and it never stopped.... VAMOS! VAMOS AZULES! ESTA NOCHE! TENEMOS QUE GANAR! but of course they mixed the chants up.  I picked out multiple swear words as fighting chants were thrown back and forth between rival fans.  They had the different sets of fans split between two sections.  Every form of security was present at the game, regular security, policia, SWAT, you name it.  All of that security made us feel safe but scared that they would need that much.  The match start and the stadium grew even loader than the pregame.  There was one thing that was for sure....these fans definitely love their futbol.  It was sooo much fun joining along in the crowd and getting in to the game.  The game play unfortunately seemed less organized than my high school playing days as the players would make 2-3 passes before trying to advance the ball (most of the time failing).  It definitely wasn't like the European style of play that I've gotten used to watching on TV and also the playing style was aggressive.  Players were being taken down (many times forcefully) every time they touched the ball with no fouls being called, which I guess was a good thing because it would've slowed the game down a lot.  The futbol match had turned in to football right before our very own eyes.  Barcelona ended up capitalizing on a cross with a header at the start of the second half to take the lead 1-0.  The score never evened out but we had to leave early to beat the crowd and get home safely.  I am never going to forget this day and or experience of the match.  I apologize for all the long posts but I just want to make sure I don't forget any of the good stories and experiences.  After one cranky complaint (cough cough Krista Hougsted cough cough), my posts should start to get shorter.  I am just on an experience high right now so I just want to share everything!  Once things die down posts could become less enthusiastic and detailed but I'll try to stay on top of things.  Buenas Noches!

Can I move here yet?

I don't know if I would be able to just pick up and move here (quite yet) but after spending the morning and afternoon taking the city, I have already fallen in love.  Wayyy different the United States but different is good.  Different is culture and boy did we take in the culture today.  Our morning began with a mental reminder to not open my mouth during the shower and it didn't help that I was sooo thirsty.  We met some of the girls down at breakfast in the hotel which consisted of hard boiled eggs, bread and some banana/strawberry/watermelon juice that hit the spot with my thirst.  I think we plan on eating with the girls most meals because we get all the food they don't eat so its a win win...no food gets wasted.  We got to meet Martha who is a staff leader with Cru at La Universidad de Guayaquil and she shared her passion for the ministry there and her extreme gratitude towards us being here.  First stop on the tour was Iguana Park which I was thinking there might be a few iguanas here and there just lounging around in the trees but noooo, they were everywhere! Some were in the trees, some were crawling around, some were just sun bathing on the walkways and for the most part they all seemed quite tame.  It literally seemed like we were at the zoo.  The word on the street is that come night time the park becomes filled with cats so I am not sure if they are were(cat)wolf iguanas or what but it seems legit.  We then walked some more to a museum which if you read Jenna's blog at http://jennareallyspeaking.blogspot.com/ she will fill you in on our wonderful (or not so wonderful) time there.  It was then lunchtime which brought us to the river boardwalk which seemed to be a real touristy location except we were still the only standouts.  We found a McDonalds which conveniently was next to the rest of the food selections.  Choosing food was an easy decision as I quickly put McDonald's in the rear view mirror and walked towards the vendor that was slow cooking what looked like chicken on a rod.  Sketchy but hey...YOLO.  I ordered the "shawarma y patacon" and of course "una botella de agua" from this stand known as "3P" or as I call it "tres pey."  The shawarma ended up being that chicken looking food (google it, it looks pretty cool) and the patacones were fried plantains which both were really good...and as I type, I feel parasite free so fingers crossed.  We didn't make friends with the security as we would instantly begin climbing on all the cool trees, rocks and sculptures so after a few times we had an officer following behind us.  The boardwalk turned in to an awesome and exotic garden pathway.  We saw a cute little stray kitten, some way too friendly ducks and a bunch of little school kids who just stared at us.  We reached the mountains of Guayaquil which are consumed with many houses and small shops.  After climbing up 100 steps we decided to retire and return down to sea level.  But some of us plan on returning for a run to conquer the 450+ steps to the top.  Finally we finished our tour at the grocery store to get our much anticipated purified agua!!!!! We all got like 5 liter jugs to store up for the next few days and when I got back to our room, I punched the goat and the rest was history.  That water tasted sooooo good.  Alright I am being summoned down to the lobby to depart for the partido del futbol!  I was definitely post on that upon return!

ECUADOR!! FINALLY!!

After a very rough 5:30 AM awakening, we began our embark to el aeropuerto (airport).  The shuttle bus in and of itself was an experience as our driver treated us all to a "cash cab" experience which concluded with a karaoke sing along of Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger."  With it being my first time traveling internationally, I expected O'Hare to be a madhouse but luckily we were able to check-in and get through security with ease....maybe because it was 6:30 in the morning.  With our flight not being until 9:45, I had some good time to use for calling my family which made me start missing them already.  Boarded the flight and it went smoothly filled with some nice bonding time between CJ, Ann, Jenna and I :) I love my team! We had a layover in El Salvador which I can't describe in words how awesome it was flying over the Pacific Ocean onto a runway surrounded by volcanoes and mountains.  The hour wait wouldn't have been so bad if the airport had better air flow or air conditioning but I guess I've gotta get used to this humid weather since it will be my home for the next 5 weeks.  The flight into Guayaquil was what we had all been waiting for.  The sun sets at 6 PM every night there so when we were flying in around 6:30, we got to see the whole city lit up.  The wheels struck the landing strip and we were finally at our destination: Guayaquil, Ecuador.  Immediate excitement was quickly followed with worried thoughts of lost luggage or trouble with customs.  A not so friendly Ecuadorian was in charge of stamping my passport.  I greeted him with a friendly "Hola, como estas?" that was returned with a glare and silence.  So from that point, I really had no idea what to expect.  My bag was of course one of the last ones through which had me sweating it out for a while but it all finished with a good conclusion as I was given a green light pass through customs and could proceed to the exit.  Travel could've ended up ten times worse than it did so I just have to praise God for getting me and our whole team here safely and with ease.  I am exhausted after a full day of travel but stay posted for updates that will most likely include stories about the sketchy food and the city as we'll spend the next few days acquainting ourselves to Guayaquil and our mission. Adios amigos!

Prayer calendar

This is just a cool prayer calendar that one our staff leaders put together to keep our team in your daily prayers :)

Keeping it Brief

I thought my title was a little punny considering I am at briefing right now haha. But I do want to keep today brief since I'm writing during our lunch break so I can catch some early zzz's tonight. We have to meet in the lobby at 5:45 AM tomorrow and then fly out to Ecuador at 9:30!! So far today has just mainly consisted of going over trip policies and norms for our comfort and safety. We also have spent some good time with ice breaker questions to get to know one another on the team...there are 11 students and 3 adult staff leaders. The most controversial question was: would you rather have regenerative hot dog fingers or scissor fingers...after much back and forth debate we recreated the scenario so that everyone agreed. We decided that mini elves as fingers would be the way to go and they could act as your little minions and would be detachable. Yes we must all seem pretty weird but that's just gonna make for an even more awesome trip! And without our weirdness Charlie the finger puppet elf would not have been created...who now might be traveling with us to Ecuador :p oh and I think I lied about keeping this blog short but the next time you hear from me, I will be in Ecuador!!

Briefing day 1

Hopefully I will start to be able to come up with more creative titles as the trip goes on but this is what I'll roll with for now..."briefing day 1." I'll be honest for as much excitement as I had coming up to today, the nerves did a pretty good job of hiding, although they were still there. I guess the realization hit me that I was going to be away from home and comfort for the next 5 weeks as soon as I stepped on to the train and said goodbye. Finding a lovely note from my dad and Nicole really calmed all my anxiety so I guess I owe them a shout out....love you dad and Nicole! Siblings, you're really gonna need to step it up for a shout out haha. We spent this past evening bonding, laughing and crying from so much laughter. I am really excited to build relationships with everyone on this trip. A night of telephone charades and apples to apples BIBLE EDITION really did a great job in starting that off. There is way too much to write so from here on out, I'll just stick to the highlights. Gnight everyone!

Introduction: Packing

Saturday's agenda includes a day full of packing.  As always I waited until the last day before leaving to pack but I work best when I procrastinate.  I just hope that I don't forget anything!  We were given a list of stuff to pack, both suggested and required, so it's all a matter of just going through and crossing off the list.    My emotions are definitely a mixture of nervousness and excitement!  This will be my first time leaving the country and the longest period I will have ever been away from home.  I am excited for the opportunity to experience a new culture and the plans that lay ahead of us in Ecuador.  I am looking forward to seeing God work through each of us to reach out to the Ecuadorian students through evangelism and discipleship.  Not only am I looking forward to seeing growth in others but also growth in myself.  This is a great learning experience and this trip has the opportunity to allow me to grow closer in my relationship with God.  I plan on using this blog for daily posts to share my experiences!  Sunday will be the first day of briefing for our team as we are all meeting in Chicago for two days before flying out to Ecuador on Tuesday.  Well it is time for bed, so I'm signing off for now.  I have a full day of packing ahead of me!