5 week summary, in pictures :)

As I promised "hundreds of pictures" in my support letter, the time has come to upload some choice pictures (out of hundreds) that truly express my trip to Ecuador! Here it goes... :)

Me in front of the famous colored houses of Guayaquil :)

The view from Las Peñas

"Family bed:" Me and my three roommates pushed our beds together every night :)

My roommates Hannah, Jenna, and Jess!

Our first day in Ecuador we went to a Emelec vs. Barcelona soccer game!!

Iguana park!

                                                                Well, hey there.

Climbing the tree at the Malecon

Our "grupo" on campus... we met with them every day to study the Bible! Here Jenna is helping them with English homework.

My friends Gisela and Daniela

Jocelyn, Mirim, Andrea, Jose Luis, Me, and Cynthia

(Jocelyn, Mirim and Cynthia are leaders of Vida Estudiantil at UG, Jose Luis works for CRU in Rio Bamba, and Andrea is one of our project directors)

CJ and Oliver having a follow-up

Jenna, Courtney, Enrique, CJ

Lots of our friends at UG

Courtney and our friends

Worshipping at the Vida Estudiantil meeting

We went to the beach! This is how I spent most of the days...

Paradise!

Team photo :) Ashley, Jeremy, Helen, Hannah, Jenna, CJ, Jason, Linsey, Andrea, Chris, (front) Courtney, Me, Jess, Megan

Later we went to the mountains in Cuenca!

Me and Jenna :)

How our group REALLY is :)

Llama sweaters team photo!!!!

For the love of llama sweaters...

... also known as "the recap blog post."

I realize that it's been weeks since I've written. I could offer a variety of spiritual excuses (such as, "I've been so busy talking about my relationship with God with Ecuadorians"... which is true), or practical excuses (such as, "I don't have a computer here, and I have to bum it off my sweet roommate"... also true). But the long and short of it is... I still spend ALL of my afternoon free time napping. I figured that by week 4 the shock to the brain of a new culture and language would wear off. Wrong. I still take naps and fall into bed exhausted every night.

Last weekend we traveled to a beach, and spent 3 days reading in hammocks in the sunshine and tropical breezes. Whaaat. It was so quiet and restful, and definitely the most gorgeous place I've ever visited! Last week so many conversations, meetings, follow-ups, etc. took place, and I wish that I had time to explain them all to you. What it really comes  down to though is that God is moving in Guayaquil. Some days, even when I have a bad attitude and an inability to speak Spanish, God still uses me at the Universidad de Guayaquil. Seeing how hard everyone works to start a Cru movement down here is SO motivating! I no longer take our group at Bowling Green for granted... I'm so blessed by the staff and students there and I can't wait to go back. Please be praying that Ecuadorian students will be able to experience this great blessing as well :)

This afternoon we got home from a weekend in Cuenca, an absolutely GORGEOUS city in the mountains. Although we stayed in a loud party hostal (bumping music until 3am! ... good thing I can literally sleep through anything!), it was still restful and the mountains were so breathtaking. Check out my roommate Jenna's blog for more details about our trip.
However, the most EXCITING part about our trip was ... drumroll please... our project gifts... LLAMA SWEATERS. We have been talking about llama sweaters since day #1 of our trip, when we barely knew each other. I honestly don't have words to explain how much we love llamas, and how much we anticipated these sweaters. As we strolled through the art market in Cuenca, it was determined that the process of choosing a llama sweater was similar to the wand-choosing process in Harry Potter. The sweater chooses the person. It's true. The minute my rainbow alpaca sweater (with a hood and llamas on it) was pulled out from the stand, I knew it was mine. It called to me. I heard the hallelujah chorus. Needless to say, there were 14 gringos strolling around the cool, breezy streets of Cuenca clad in a variety of llama sweaters--some bright colors, some natural tones. Some have zippers, some are pull overs. Some are made of llama and some of alpaca. But all fit the wearer's personality and all are equally AWESOME.

So, now that I explained the title, it's now time for the sad part of the blog... :(. We only have ONE week left  in Ecuador! I'm not really sure where the time went, but it's a bittersweet thought. Our team is trusting God for the final week to connect even more students to the movement.

Tonight, we sang this, at the top of our lungs (all wearing llama sweaters, of course):
"You are more, You are more, than my words can ever say.
You are Lord, You are Lord, all creation will proclaim.
You are here, You are here, in your presence I'm made whole.
You are God, You are God, of all else I'm letting go."

Buenas noches, sweet readers :)
Ann

Mid way...

Hi sweet family and friends. 


We are almost halfway done with this amazing adventure, and honestly I can't believe it. Every part of me wants to be here longer, to continue on in the work that God is doing on these campuses. Even here, life is busy, and lots is happening! We have lovely free time in the afternoon, but often I am napping away the stupor that overcomes my brain when I try to speak Spanish. I no longer take my ability to speak English for granted, because now I CAN'T speak it either! ... words no salen de mi boca and sometimes I pienso en dos languages and I am awfully messed up in the cabeza. "Code switching" (or using two languages in the same sentence) is a common occurence here! It allows me to feel success in expressing myself, when it's a struggle everyday to communicate.


I have absolutely loved this week because besides sharing with people, we've also gotten to do some follow ups and build some really fun relationships. Follow ups could include a short bible study, and questions to make sure that the person truly understands their relationship to and with God. The hope is that then, the students we meet with will then be able to share their faith, and disciple others. And so a Cru movement is built in Guayaquil, Ecuador. It's an incredibly exciting prospect!!! 


This verse from Philippians keeps popping up, in my time with the Lord and in discipleship today. It's so encouraging that we are not alone, and that God is constantly working in and through us:


For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. -Philippians 1:6 (NASB)


Well, my bed is calling and I still have some follow up emails to compose (in Spanish...)!


Besos,
Ann

Dos Semanas

So today marks the 2 week friend-a-versary of me and our amazing Ecuador team. I can't believe that I've already known them for 2 weeks, and yet I can't believe I've only known them for two weeks. You know, it's just one of those weird life things. We constantly share life and laughter together, building each other up and working through things together.

To catch up a bit, on Thursday our team had a break from going to campus so we had a free morning and afternoon. We were told that at 3:00 we were going to make sandwiches to take to a children's hospital, and I thought: Wonderful. What a lovely day off. My Spanish brain gets to rest, and we get to hug small children a a hospital. Wrong. God had much bigger plans for us that day. After assembling hundreds of sandwiches, we were told that our group was going to split up, and we were all going to take turns preaching the gospel in all of the rooms at the children's hospital!! US. Preaching. In Spanish. What?!

Now I know what you might be thinking: Ann, you know Spanish. You know the gospel. What's the big deal? No, preaching and translating and trying to speak love and hope into the lives of these families seemed to be a HUGE undertaking, perhaps even an impossible one. However, God proved to us ever so gently that He was in charge, and there was nothing to fear. I ended up being a translator for our Project Leader, Chris, as we went around to 5 different rooms and shared the hope of God's love with dozens of sick children and their families.

Translating would have been hard under any circumstances, but doing it in front of extremely sick children (from a range of ages and with a range of sicknesses) and their sad-eyed parents was heart-wrenching and scary. Somehow, Spanish words flowed from my mouth even when I was terrified, and although I knew I wasn't always correct- I think they understood me. After we shared, we invited all of the families down to the chapel for sandwiches and tea, and we graced them with several songs in Spanish and English (which we sang rather badly). The guys even got to share their favorite song, "Con Poder," which they have been practicing for the whole trip. Their hearty version of this Salvador song brought a lady to tears, as they sang about the powerful hand of God. I am thankful that we have a God who even cares about details like that! 

Then yesterday we got to spend the day in a nearby town with our friend Daniel, who took us to center where we played soccer and got to swim, then eat at his uncle's AMAZING restaurant! It was a lovely day off :)

Tomorrow we're back on campus, and we're making lots of connections with students, having lots of follow up appointments this week, and just generally loving our time with the people there! As for getting accustomed to the culture, I think our team is doing great. Occasionally we hint about wanting things that are particularly "United States-ian" (dark chocolate, clean tap water, starbucks, diet mountain dew, etc.) and get exasperated about some things that are particularly Ecuadorian (cat calls, staring, buying bottled water, the insane humidity, etc.)... but all-in-all, the beans and rice of Ecuador and the lovely people here suit me just fine :)

Besos,

Ana

Palabras?

Hmmmm. Day number 8 and so much has happened. I'm really struggling to find words to accurately express myself because God has been doing so much!

We've gone sharing on campus for two days, and talking to people about their beliefs is SO scary but everyone here is so gracious and very willing to talk :) we've had dozens of amazing conversations already! (And speaking Spanish has been sweet :). And last night we had our girls Bible study and we were blown away by the truth from Ephesians 1:1-14: we are redeemed by God, adopted as sons and daughters, and get to share in Christ's inheritance -and none of it by our own strength!! Beautiful.

Today we have a free morning (dropped off our laundry to this little hole in the wall place were they dump your dirty underwear into a laundry basket in front of everyone, then we cone back in 6 hours and hope everything is still in that basket, but nice and clean!). This afternoon we're going to help this church with some outreach project and tomorrow I'm helping with an English class on campus, because everyone wants to talk to a "real American" (Whatever that is!)

To finish, i just wanted to share a quick excerpt from Comforts of the Cross, by Elyse Fitzpatrick:

"Draw near (to God);know that you have needed cleansing but have been cleansed. Know that you have deserved wrath but have been fully loved... run now, to the Lover of your soul."

Besos y abrazos,
Ann

(Sorry about the serious post... I promise a funny one soon :)

¡Cuan grande es Èl!

"Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. How 

awesome is the Lord most high, the great King over all the earth!" Psalm 47:1, 2 

 Today we went to church and every time I worship in Spanish I am totally moved to some combination of goosebumps and tears because our God is not some local, small god from only our minuscule part of the globe. He is the same great, worthy God in any and every language. Realizing that yet again today was beautiful!!

I decided that we need to learn a lesson from the ladies who greet at the church here... they kiss everyone coming in, telling them how beautiful and lovely we are, and say "God bless you"! It made me so happy that I've been walking with an extra spring in my step today :)

So after a few hours of clapping, trying to sing, and trying to follow the spanish sermon, we went to a mall to buy peanut butter (Jif is expensive here, but TOTALLY worth it!) and tonight we get to have a night of prayer and praise and plan for the week ahead. Our team is splitting up between the two campuses, and this upcoming week is our first week of sharing on campus. People willingly share their views on spirituality, and are very welcoming to hear your's. Hopefully this week I will be able to meet lots of sweet ladies and begin hanging out with them during their breaks between classes. Also, they have this AMAZING fresh squeezed orange juice for only 50 cents! Mmmm.

Speaking of food, no one has gotten too sick yet, which is good new :). We've starting taking a few mores risks in where we eat (Tres P!), and sometimes I forget we can't eat what everyone else does. But it's only a matter of time before we try some food from street vendors :) Last night all 14 of us went to Pizza Hut, and all of the locals got a good show. How stereotypical, right? 14 gringos and some pizzas. Totally delish.
At breakfast every morning at the hotel they give us a different kind of "jugo" (juice)... we've had mango, pineapple, watermelon, blackberry, naranjilla, and others. Maybe my favorite part about Ecuador so far ;)

Well, that's all for now. Feliz Dia de Padre (Happy Fathers Day) to everyone!

Un Besito,
Ann

Otra vez :)

Buenas noches, from Ecuador :) Just wanted to share a few pics from my friend Megan, so you all can see a few things that we've done :) http://megwalters21.tumblr.com/ Besos, xoxo

Life, in Latinamerica (day 4 in Ecuador)

Buenos dias :)

Sorry sorry sorry (lo siento un monton) that I've been so bad about writing! Computers are short and the Internet is spotty and often I do all of my typing on my kindle fire, which I'm still learning how to do effectively (long nails and hot dog fingers don't love a touch screen). Hence, I've been doing a lot more journaling than blogging, but I really need to update my beloved readers :P

On facebook I linked a few of my teammates blogs, who have been very faithful about writing and have quite a sense of humor, and a heart for the Lord at the same time. So check them out for some laughs and some funny stories that I am too late to share! We finally have a free day today (which is much needed), and my lovely roommate is letting me borrow her  computer, which does NOT have a touch screen. Gracias a Dios!

But I'm rambling. There have been so many hilarious, touching, and meaningful moments here so far, that I'm simply blown away that it's only the beginning of day 4!!! We spent a day touring the city and meeting some friends that help with the Cru movement here (called vida estudiantil). Marta is one of the ladies who heads up the movement and she is such a gem! There are a few Ecuadorians  guys who are very involved with the movement, who take us around everywhere and make sure that we are safe and culturally aware... we are so thankful for Enrique and Daniel! Plus, our team is simply fun. Funny, hilarious, precious, and I run out of adjectives for the combination of these 14 wonderful souls. I seriously have never laughed so much in only 7 days of knowing anyone. After just a few games of French Charades where everyone is crying, snorting, aching from laughter... you  can't really help but love each other!

Yesterday was one of my absolute highlights of the trip for a few reasons... we got to work with IJM (International Justice Mission) and I got to hang out with little kids! The leaders of this IJM branch are so faithful and practical in serving this community, because there is a devastatingly staggering number of domestic and sexual abuse here, much of it unreported and unpunished. They showed us a short video and presentation, which filled me with so much sadness and anger I wasn't really sure what was going to happen. (It turned out later, that I got to cut grass with a machete and meet some sweet girls, which helped). This ministry is such a practical way to show people God's love by legally prosecuting the abusers and supporting the abused families. So yesterday our team split into two groups and our group went to help build a bathroom for this sweet single lady with four daughters. IJM had built her a new house, but it got burned down, and her new house had no bathroom. Imagine for a minute... one woman, four daughters from ages 3-10. No bathroom. I take back every complaint I ever said about sharing 2 bathrooms with 6 girls!

So we heaved a lot of dirt, moved huge piles of bricks, and tried not to think about the fact that we had no bathroom access for 7 hours. The neighborhood dogs were mostly under-fed and mangy, but this lady and her four daughters kept this tiny brown puppy named Mariposa (butterfly) for a pet, so we got to snuggle with puppies and 4 year olds in our sweaty breaks from working :) When we left, my little friend Bianca said "No te vas Ana! (which means "don't leave!")... I wish I could have told her I could stay and give her piggyback rides forever. But even though we were only there for an afternoon, I think our presence was encouraging to the family, and part of our support money went to fund the completion of their bathroom. So thanks to everyone who was a part of that heart-wrenching, praise-giving experience.

On a happier note... these are are my favorite things about being here:
1. Riding in the back of pickup trucks is totally legal (even on the highway!!!)
2. The trash trucks sound like ice cream trucks.
3. Sometimes Spanish and English come out of my mouth together, unnoticed and uncontrolled.
4. To quote Andrea, "It's like we live in a terrarium" because EVERYONE stares at us. Some people have never seen a gringo before, and they make that clear. Blue eyes are a novelty, and don't even get them started about blonde hair. I get self-conscious about the staring, but its totally acceptable in this culture!
5. Everyone on campus wants to meet you and talk to us... practice their English and encourage us in our Spanish usage.
6. CJ's laugh. Singing. laughing in general.
7. Family bed!!!
8. Andrea's weird facial contortions that are hilarious.
9. There are iguanas everywhere!!!
10. Apparently I get more dramatic when  I speak Spanish.... and here that is TOTALLY acceptable :)

Oh... and 11. cutting grass and weeding with a machete is SO inefficient! Just a little mental picture to bring you a smile today. Me, swinging a machete in 95 degree sun... sweat, blisters, and slowly clearing patches of land.

Well, much love.
Abrazos y besos :)
Ann

safe and sound!!!

I have been in Ecuador for about 24 hours now...and it's fabulous! Today we got to see the city and walk along this boardwalk thing that runs along this inlet of the ocean!! It totally feels like the tropics here, us "estadounidenses" (people from the US) can't handle it, haha :) Our project team is amazing and I feel really close to everyone already! There are 14 of us total, and today we got to meet some people who are going to help us at the campuses! We have really nice hotel rooms with 4 girls each :) my roommates are totally sweet and even though we have our own beds, we decided to push them all together to make a "family bed " :) we're still getting used to not being able to brush our teeth with the water or flush our toilet paper, but we're learning!! I'm still not quite in Spanish language mode yet, but I'm getting there :) tonight we're going to a soccer game which is supposed to be really crazy because there is a huge rivalry!! Besos, Ann xo

26 days!

Well friends, all of my support is raised. PRAISE GOD and THANK YOU to everyone who supported me with money and prayer!!!

I am leaving in less than a month, and I'm starting to realize how much I still have to do!!!!! :/

Besos,
Ann

New Update!

$3675!

Easter updates :)

3/4.

I am officially have over 3/4 of my support raised. I am totally astounded!

So, Happy Easter everyone :) bask in the blessings!

"I am a wilderness explorer!!!"

$1870!!

Updated total! wooohoooooo! :D

Overwhelmed.

Friends,

I just checked my support page and I'm blown away by the amount I've raised already. Over 25%. WHAT?

I'm not going to lie.. I haven't checked my page in awhile because I've been scared. Clearly I forget that it's not up to ME to raise the money... it's up to God (thank goodness!). I am utterly blown away by God's goodness and everyone's support already.

This song was on as I looked at my support page... it seems appropriate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3tkUKVAlBk

:)

Support web site!

http://www.arkpages.com/ecuadorsp/

This is the super user friendly website I am using to raise support! You can read my bio, along with the rest of our team, and donate to my trip!!

And the countdown begins!

I'm sending out support letters today... I'm nervous and excited and trusting God to provide $4000! :)