(May 10-May17) My first week in Ecuador was incredible.....the Hendons were waiting on me when i got off the plane :) along with a very nice surprise...Cris Armas, my Ecuadorian brother was waiting on me at the airport too!! i havent seen him in over two years...I finally got to meet his family and hang out with him in Ecuador :) we left Quito on a 12 hour bus ride through tunnels, around/up mountains, over scary swinging wood bridges, and on terribly rocky roads to SUCUA--home of the Shaura Indian Federation! The drive was indescribably BEAUTIFUL....It was quite an exciting ride, i just stared out the window the entire time thinking about the next two months...and about how blessed i really am to have this opportunity to live with and learn from the Hendons.....about three hours into the trip, we were stopped on the side of a mountain for a while because there was a huge landslide that left rocks the size of a car in the middle of the road...luckily we didnt catch any rocks..just tons of dirt and dust :) For lunch we stopped at a park in Shell that had a model of Nate Saints "Yellow Bee" airplane in the middle courtyard....we also went by his house and the famous MAF airstrip.....after everything that i've read about Nate Marj and Rachel Saint...i was right there...saw the radio room, the brainstorming room where they strategically planned their efforts to reach the villages that had never heard the Gospel....cant even describe the feeling...the dedication/love they had for the lost was incredible...ive admired these missionaries and read about their adventures, trials, and victories....its super overwhelming to be in a place and see first hand the difference they made....anyways, :) Late that night, i moved into my room at the Hendons and went right to sleep....woke up at 4 and began our full days journey to Libertad,a village even farther into the jungle with no running water, no electricity, and no bathroom.....we rode on a bus to the port in Marona....there we (24 ppl including the MC team, the Hendons, Dr Orlando, Walter, Patricia and Efryn) packed into a canoe and went upriver 5 hours.....there was hardly any room to move at all.....to make the trip even more exciting, there was a hole in our canoe so someone had to be on water duty at all times scooping the water out of the canoe......
ok its church time, but i will finish this story later :)
