Ecuador 1

What’s up everybody? So I’m here with 4 other Taylor students; Josiah Hatfield, Jacob Rufenauct, Jordan Elwell, and Brittany Hughes. We’re staying with host families in Cuenca (Ecuador’s 3rd largest city at about 400,000 people) while we take language classes at the church we’re connected to; complete our practicums, take business classes at a local university, and participate in ministries in the church so we’re definitely going to be busy this semester.
The family I am supposed to be staying with has plumbing troubles, so in the mean time I’m staying with a lady named Lucia. She’s very nice and hospitable. It’s too bad her kids are in the United States right now or I could hang out with them. Next week I will move in with Morris and Maria de Lourdes Abad. They have two kids Carolina who’s 11, and Sebastian who’s 15 and also in the United States in Indianapolis (he was at Taylor sometime this week I think).
This week we just have some meetings with various people to get adjusted and set everything up. I am really enjoying the relationship aspect down here; getting to know people and learning about each other is very interesting. It is frustrating at times not being able to communicate and express yourself the way you want, but I know that I will get better and also grow from this experience. The food in Ecuador is really good. Breakfast and dinner are usually just a little something with coffee and lunch is the main meal of the day. Lunch is usually soup for the first course and then another course of meat, rice, and fruit. I have tried everything that I have been offered just to be polite and enjoy the experience, the whole “When in Rome” mentality. For some reason, even though Ecuadorians grow some the best coffee in the world, Ecuadorians love Nescafe coffee. I don’t really drink coffee at all because I don’t like the taste and after expecting the world’s best cup of coffee and getting powdered junk, it was a disappointment.
At the airport I was reading my Bible and came across Joshua 3:5, “Joshua told the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you,’” and I felt like God was speaking to me in that. Many of you know that a terrible bus accident happened in the area, killing three men my age from the church. Today I talked with a guy who said that he felt the Holy Spirit tell him to switch seats on the bus with one of the guys that died and that he knew God had awesome things in store for him. He also said that the youth group was ripe and ready to grow tremendously because of what happened. The ministry that I am doing is working with the youth group, so if you could keep me in your prayers for that I would me much appreciative.
Another thing that you could pray for me about is my practicum. I am working with a company called Advanced Consulting. I do not know much of anything about consulting and my boss is really hard for me to understand. Pray that I can learn what I need to do and also that I can be a light because I have the opportunity to be a witness of the Mighty God.

I will leave you with another passage of scripture that has spoken to me this week:
(It was Sunday at church hours after the tragic bus accident):
Romans 14:7-9, “For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.”

Feel free to give me a holla while I’m down here (by email, facebook, or Skype) because although I’m pretty busy I love you guys and would love to catch up a little.