Day 35 in Ecuador

July is here and that is very hard to believe. It's crazy how fast the time has gone down here! This morning, Dale and I worked on creating a business plan for Cumbre Alta and also projecting sales for the new 5v5 field at La Luz. I shared with Dale that this project was frustrating for me because I felt there wasn't enough directio and information for us to complete it properly. Dale, however, loves to work in this way and thrives off brainstorming. Though I may have felt the morning was unproductive at first, I now realize that we did a good amount of work that should help Cumbre Alta.

At lunch time, Dale and I walked to a local almuerzo store to meet up with a Cumbre Alta player named Edwards. He had messaged me on Facebook the other day and asked to learn English. The lunch ended up going really well. Edwards showed up on time, which is very unusual for Ecuadorian culture, and we were able to teach him some beginning English but also get to know him a little better. He was telling us that his family situation is rough (his parents are divorced and he lives with his aunt and uncle). Tomorrow we are planning on doing the same thing with him so be praying that our relationship with him would grow and that he would see Christ in us. He is definitely starting to open up more which is awesome to see because he was one of the more quiet kids at practice.

Cumbre Alta before the game on Saturday

After lunch, Dale and I spent the afternoon working more on creating financial templates for interns. This work session felt a lot better for me. Anna came in while we were working and said that what we were working on was actually something that a previous intern had suggested be done. It felt great to hear that affirmation and to know that our work will help the future interns out a lot.

Once we were done working for the day, we went up to a local restaurant called Capri burger with other interns and had one last meal out together before some of them are leaving for the coast. Dale and I then headed to practice at La Luz again.

Practice tonight was a lot of fun. I felt a lot more confident in my Spanish tonight and although I still was unable to understand some things, I didn't ever get discouraged. I ended up having a nice conversation with one of the players who I had never really talked to before. Apparently his wife is a karate instructor and she has a chance to participate in the next ol
ympics (I think this is what he was saying). The rest of the practice was a lot of fun, just getting to play 5v5 the whole time.

God is so good. Yesterday was a frustrating day for me and God yet again revealed His grace and encouragement in numerous ways today. Thanks for all your prayers, they really do make a huge impact!


Dios Bendiga,
Nico