Day 13 in Ecuador

Hanging with kids at COVI

Today turned out to be how I thought it was gonna be, a very busy day. At 8:30, Dale and I had a Skype meeting with Joseph Fisher. During this meeting Joseph gave us a quick tutorial on Quickbooks which will be very useful for future projects. He also thought we did a good job on the project we finished yesterday which is awesome to get positive feedback.

After this successful meeting, I met with Patrick and Anna (the Intern coordinators) to discuss my goals and schedule for the summer. This meeting went really well and got me even more excited about what the summer entails!

Once everyone was ready, we left to go to COVI, which is a ministry that some interns help with. This ministry is not connected with Inca Link but it is supported by an Alliance church in Ecuador so Inca Link likes to support it as well. This is a place where parents can send their kids before or after school. We went for about an hour and a half today to help out. It was awesome to get to spend some time playing and talking with the kids.

Selfie at the mall

We were all very hungry and tired after we were done there, so we ate some Shawarma and very delicious Gelato. After grocery shopping, we finally made our way back to la Casablanca. As soon as we were back there, we left to go to the Brown's house for pizza. It was fun to get to hang out with the Browns and get to know them some more.

The delicious Gelato place we ate at.

Dale and I went straight from the Brown's to soccer practice. It was a very good practice, but one of the most difficult practices I have ever had. It started off with some technical work and then the rest of the practice was a workout. This workout was so hard and felt like it was never going to end. It feels good now knowing that we got through it but it was one of the hardest workouts I have ever done.

Watching TV at Megamaxi.

I forgot to talk about Jonathan, who is a friend of Edgar's. Jonathan is here in Ecuador for about 3 weeks and is leaving tomorrow to go back to Peru, where he was born. He knows English really well and has come to all the Cumbre Alta events so Dale and I have gotten to know him pretty well. He has a heart for the Lord and really encouraged Dale and I with our involvement in Inca Link. It was awesome to get to know him the past two weeks and just get to share our passion for Christ together.

We said goodbye to Jonathan and then Mejia and his brother drove us home. Another ride in which we were able to learn more about Mejia and keep building the relationship we already have. Mejia is an awesome dude who Nate believes is close to accepting the Lord. Be praying that God would be impacting his life in miraculous ways and that Dale and I would continue to show him Christ's love.

Sneak preview for tomorrow's blog, we are going to climb Pinchincha. So there will be amazing pictures. You don't want to miss it!

Dios Bendiga,
Nich

Day 12 in Ecuador

Dale and I got up early this morning to do a sprint workout to start the day out. Of course it happened to be raining when we went (pretty much the first time since we have been there) but it was still a good workout. Breathing was a struggle but hopefully we will get used to the altitude which will make training in the US feel amazing. 

After a delicious breakfast made by Matt and Cheng, we were given a tour of la Casablanca and trained in how to do laundry and where to find things. After we were done with that, Dale and I had to finish taking some stats for the Cumbre Alta. 

In the afternoon, Dale and I started a project that Joseph had for us. He wanted us to track sponsors who were behind on pledges using Donor tools. This project seemed tedious at first but Dale and I figured out a way to make the process more efficient and we were able to get it done today which felt good. 

Later in the evening, Dale and I left to go to Edgar's house to watch film of the game on Saturday. When we got there, we hung out with Edgar's two younger brothers for a little bit. We then found out from Edgar's mom that Edgar was going to be late and that he told everyone not to come but us. However, he said he would still watch with us once he got there. He called again and realized that he wouldn't be getting there anytime soon and that we should just give him the video of the game and leave to go home. This may seem like a disappointing night, but Dale and I had a lot of time to talk to Edgar's brothers and parents, who don't speak English at all. They were so welcoming and hospitable for us and it was a great chance to get to work on my Spanish. His parents then offered to drive us home. It is just amazing to see the kindness of people down here and how the language barrier doesn't stop the love of Christ from spreading.

We got back early to la Casablanca and got to hang out more with other interns. Today turned out to be a very productive day which was very much needed. Thanks for all the prayers sent this way, they really do make in impact! 

Dios Bendiga,

Nich

Day 10 and 11 in Ecuador

Where the soccer game was played

This morning Dale and I were picked up at 8:00 by Mejia to go to the Cumbre Alta soccer game. As I said in my post yesterday, car rides with these players have always been a great time to get to know each other.  This was another one of those times. The game did not turn out well, Cumbre Alta lost 4-1. Dale took statistics of the game while I filmed it.

After the game, we went to Edgar's house, who is the assistant coach taking over head coach duties while Nate Taube is in the US. We got pizza here and were able to watch the Champions League final. It was awesome to get to watch soccer with such passionate fans, which the US lacks.

Eating the dinner that Brad and I cooked

We then made our way back to la Casablanca where we found out that we were going shopping as soon as we got back. Here we got food to cook for the next 2 days, splitting up who was cooking for what meal. Brad and I signed up to cook dinner that night. It was Brad's idea to cook a chicken pesto pasta that turned out to be very delicious! We then hung out for a bit and ended up watching a movie before going to bed.

Sunday started off great after I woke up from one of the most satisfied sleeps I have had in awhile. We had a delicious breakfast cooked by Dale and Alex and then headed off to church at La Luz. It was a great service today. We sang some songs that I knew the English words to and it was fun to get to sing the Spanish words to them. It is cool to see how energetic and passionate the church was to worship Jesus. 

Where the 5v5 soccer field will go.

A 5v5 soccer field is going to be built behind La Luz  and Dale and I got the chance to see where it is going. We will be helping out a lot at this facility so it was cool to see what it looks like now compared to what it will look like in 7-10 days. This field will be generating revenue for Cumbre Alta, which needs money to get its own field. When talking with Nate, he says that what Cumbre Alta needs most is fields and coaches, so it's sweet to be able to help the club get closer to purchasing a field for themselves.

Chilling with the kids after playing soccer.

We then headed to Quicentro mall where we ate lunch at the food court and got ice cream as well. After getting back to la Casablanca, I was able to Skype with my beautiful girlfriend, which was very nice since we hadn't got to talk for over a week. Later that evening, we went out to this awesome dirt soccer field close to la Casablanca. We found a group of Ecuadorians already playing soccer here who then invited us to play also. There were also a bunch of kids there who loved playing with us. It was a blast to play some soccer and hang out with the kids.  

The rest of the evening consisted of hanging out, eating dinner, getting to Skype my parents as well, and watching the Finals game. Dale and I have a lot of work to do this week for Joseph and other work for Cumbre Alta as well, so right now I am feeling a little overwhelmed. Please be praying for the Spirit to bring peace to me and that I would trust that I would be able to get done what needs to be done. 

Thanks again everyone for checking in and your prayers sent this way would be much appreciated!

Dios Bendiga,

Nich

Day 9 in Ecuador

Should I have bought this?

Today was a day of rest for us interns after a lot of activities over the past couple of days. Early in the morning, before breakfast, Dale and I had a skype meeting with Joseph Fisher, the CEO and CFO of Inca Link. We had a very productive meeting as Joseph went through many different projects he has lined up for us to do this summer. This was very exciting for me to know that we will always have things to do and that we will be able to help Inca Link out a lot this summer with our financial knowledge and expertise.

We then ate a quick breakfast and headed to the Middle of the World for a fun tourist activity. Dale and I had gone there last year with the soccer team and we actually had the same tour guide this year. After our tour, we got Chilean Empanadas at a restaraunt that were very delicious. The rest of the afternoon was for free time. This consisted of playing Euchre, hanging out, and playing some worship music.

Dale and I in opposite hemispheres.

Before dinner, the Intern coordinators (Patrick and Anna) decided to do an affirmation circle. We went around the circle focusing on one person and multiple people would talk about things that they appreciated about that person or gifts they saw in that person. It was awesome to see how many good things everyone had to say about each other. Rich Brown kept commenting on how unique of a group of interns we are and how cool it is to see how close we have become in such a short time. It was really helpful to hear words of affirmation from the many friends that I have made while being here. Pray that God would bring those to mind whenever I start to doubt myself or doubt the person that God made me.

Katie trying to balance on the Equator.

Dinner was followed by the Peru interns having to leave to catch their bus. It was definitely hard to say goodbye to these interns, knowing that we may not see each other for awhile. As I keep saying, we had such a dynamic group of interns and it's hard to see that get split up. Nevertheless, God has great things planned for them this summer and I need to be grateful for the relationships God has blessed with me so far!

A cool pic of a totem pole at the equator.

The rest of the night we were free to hang out with the interns staying in Ecuador. Be praying that this relationships would continue to get stronger. Also be praying for the rest of the interns going to Peru and Colombia!

 Dios Bendiga,
Nich

Day 8 in Ecuador

Today turned out to be a more relaxing day, which was very nice since we didn't have much down time the past two days. After breakfast, we were told that we would be cleaning the house for about an hour, but with a twist. The leaders were going to take on a personality that sometimes exists in Short Term Missions teams such as the boss, the complainer, or the over-enthusiastic person. The purpose was to learn how to deal with these personalities when leading teams over this summer. It made cleaning more fun, although the complainer was really annoying.

We had some down time after our cleaning in the morning until lunch. Then we went to the Brown's apartment for some more training. We took a leadership/personality test and it was interesting to see how accurately it defined my strengths and weaknesses.

We then went out to eat at a Chinese restaurant for some delicious Chinese food. Rich shared a story that's main point was that at the end of the summer, we are going to be feeling happy and sad. Happy to see the many ways God worked over the summer and sad that we didn't do more in situations where we felt we should have. He encouraged us now to truly seek the voice of God and to be obedient to His spirit wherever that may be. It was a helpful story for me to remember to keep submitting to God's will throughout the summer and not my will.

Dinner was followed by practice with Cumbre Alta. Dale and I thought that we might have some problems because we had just eaten a lot of Chinese food but we turned out to be okay. We had a good talk with the assistant coach, Edgar, who is taking over for Nate while Nate is in the States. Edward splits up the first teamers and the second teamers and only focuses on the first team. So we were left with a crappy drill and with players that didn't want to play. We talked to Edgar about this after practice and he said that he is fine with us leading those players in some drills and having them work hard. It was an encouraging talk with the coach and helpful to know that we are able to lead these players and hopefully influence them positively.

Tonight, we rode back to the Casablanca with Sebastian and David Mejia (we call him Mejia). Dale and I have been saying how these rides back have been our favorite parts of the day. It is a great opportunity to get to know the players better and to practice our Spanish and for them to practice their English. It has been awesome to see how receptive they have been with us and I pray that our relationships will continue to deepen over these next two months.

The night was finished with watching the Cavs lose (sorry mom and Ohio family), hanging out, and playing worship music with the other interns. Tomorrow will be our last day all together as interns, which is depressing to say the least. Please be praying for these interns, especially for one named Bonnie who is gonna be the only intern in Colombia for two weeks!

Sorry I don't have any pictures today, but hopefully you will still read!

Dios Bendiga,
Nich

Day 6 and 7 in Ecuador

A cross we hiked to with an amazing view

The race continued today as we traveled to a camp about 45 minutes away called el Refugio. Here we participated in many different activities such as touching a lama blindfolded, hiking up a mountain, catching water balloons, throwing axes, and drawing the creation story using chalk. This took the whole morning up until lunch. My team consisted of Matt, Josh, and Elena.

After a delicious lunch, everyone worked together in an event that they call todo lodo, which is similar to a tough mudder. We had many different obstacles to go through, some requiring teamwork. We had to get in ice cold water at one point, but other than that it was a blast!

After we completed todo lodos!

We all washed up and had some hangout time before dinner where we played volleyball, soccer volleyball, and card games. Dinner was great again and after dinner, Patrick, Anna, Dale and I traveled back into the city of Quito for practice with Cumbre Alta. This practice was extremely challenging for me. The drills that I was involved in were frustrating and lasted a long time, doing the same thing over and over again. After these drills, the coach took us through an ab, arms, and legs workout. This workout, along with the todo lodo today, were very physically demanding and I will definitely be feeling it in my leg tomorrow. All those things aside, the end of practice brought more opportunities to interact with some players. One of the players, Daniel, invited us over to his house to play FIFA. It was cool to see this relationships continue to be built and to see God working despite the frustrations of practice.

Once practice was over, we headed back to el Refugio and called it a night. Today was another awesome day with the interns and I have been amazed at how quickly the interns have bonded through the things we all have gone through. God has blessed me with amazing new friendships that I never foresaw happening.

That’s it for Tuesday. Wednesday started with us eating breakfast and then completing two activities that the camp offers. The first one we did was called Leap of Faith. What you had to do was climb a pole that had climbing rocks on it. Once you got to the top you had to stand on top of it and then jump off to grab a trapeze. The leader wanted us to think of insecurities that we had that could inhibit us during our internships this summer. Once we got to the top of the pole, we were to write our insecurities on the pole and leave them behind as we took our leap of faith. This exercise was fun but intimidating at the same time.

Brad chilling with a llama

The other exercise was called the Phoenix, which was basically a huge swing. The leader told us how a Phoenix represents new life in Christ and how when we were at the top of the swing we were to think of what was holding us back from having new life in Christ. Another fun activity added with deeper meaning. After we were done with both of these activities, we talked about them as a group. Myself and others shared about the insecurities that were holding us back and it helped a lot to get to share that and hear others share as well.

The afternoon consisted of a test that concluded the Amazing Race. After the test, Rich and Elisa

Brown, the founders of Inca Link, told us their stories and trained us for our upcoming summers. We then ate a quick dinner and were driven back for practice by Rich and Elisa Brown. It was cool to get to talk with these two and share how we got here and just a little about ourselves.

This was from when we went to Panecillo

Practice was frustrating tonight due to the fact that my legs were sore from the hard workout yesterday and the team I was on didn't want to play defense and we lost 4-0. However, after practice we caught a ride home with Daniel, a player who Dale and I have had the chance to get closer to. On the ride home Daniel asked us if we were Christians and we told him we were and we found out that he was too. He wants to hang out a lot with this summer which will be awesome to get closer to him and hopefully prepare him and help him spread Christ throughout the team. 

After another long day, I look back and see the many ways God was at work despite my frustrations. It has been amazing to see all the different relationships I have been able to build so far this summer and it has only be a week. Keep praying that I would continue to surrender my all to God and put my full trust in him, despite the struggles and trials I might go through.

Dios Bendiga,

Nich 

Day 5 in Ecuador

View from Panecillo

Today was packed full of activities, which is why this blog isn't getting posted until 1:00 ET. In the morning, we ate breakfast at 8:00 and were divided into new teams (I was with Dale, Brad, and Matt - all Ecuador guys). Our first task was to go a park where we were to climb a big white ball. This sounds weird but it was awesome the view from the top was incredible, as you can see from the picture.

On top of the white ball with Bonnie and Josh

Next, we made our way to a beautiful cathedral, called Basilica, where we were to count all the gargoyles on it. After that we made our way to la Plaza Grande, where many different activities were planned for us, such as finding out all the names of the Ecuadorian presidents, trying to catch a pigeon, and eating a unique sugary candy. We also visited a beautiful church called la Iglesia de San Francisco. 

The next place we went to was Panecillo, the pit stop for this leg of the race. We had gone their last year with the soccer team, but this year we went during the day. The view is stunning and once again my words don't do it justice. Here we prayed for the city of Quito.

Basilica

I'm gonna reverse time here a little and talk about a cool event that happened on the bus to the park. We were talking with each other and this Ecuadorian man asked to talk to us in English so he could practice his English. His English was very good and it was neat to get to hear about him. Eventually we asked him if he knew Jesus and he pointed to his heart signifying that Jesus was in his heart. We found out that his wife was sick and once we left the bus, we prayed for her quickly before he had to go to work. It's amazing how many lives I have already seen impacted. God has been working in so many wondrous ways.

After the race was over for the day, we ate lunch at a marketplace and then left to go back to la Casablanca. Dale and I had to quickly finish the statistics for the Cumbre Alta game on saturday, which Nate asked us to do before the film session which was at 7:30 tonight. We barely got done in time, ate dinner quickly, and left to go to Nate's house. 

La Iglesia de San Francisco

At Nate's house, we watched film of the game with some Cumbre Alta players. Then one of the players offered to take us home and we got the chance to talk with him in Spanish and English. He is the most committed player to the team and Nate said he thinks he is very close to becoming a believer. It'll be awesome to get to know him more throughout the season.

Once we arrived back at la Casablanca, we got to meet two new interns who came down this evening. We then played an awesome game of mafia and headed to bed. 

I just remembered that our first task this morning was actually to go to Casa Elizabeth, which is a pregnancy home that partners with Inca Link. Here we had three challenges to complete: get your fingernails painted, hold one of the babies for 10 minutes without it crying, and memorize all of the teenage mom’s names. I volunteered to get my fingernails painted (mine are the red ones in the picture), so the rest of the day I was self-conscious of where my hands were placed so people wouldn’t notice. I managed to get the nail polish off right before we went to watch film, which was nice so that the Cumbre Alta players didn’t judge me forever. It made for a very humorous day.

God is continuing to teach me that I may feel weak or useless at times, but He will prepare me for His work. Just looking back on the many different stories of people we have had the chance to impact already has made me realize how powerful God really is. He is at work down here at Ecuador and it's an awesome thing to see.

I may or may not have internet access tomorrow, so my blog will most likely be delayed. Keep praying over this trip and the many relationships being built! They are very much appreciated!

Dios Bendiga,

Nich