We arrived safe and sound in Quito last night with all of our baggage. After a good night’s rest and some breakfast, we are headed out to do some site seeing and get ready for Emily’s visit with her sponsored child tomorrow.
You know you’re in Quito when there are roses in the airport!
If only it were that easy!!
We are now sitting in the airport in Houston waiting for our flight to Panama where we catch another flight to Ecuador. Our itinerary today is not quite as direct as the photo :0) but we will be there soon.
Praises
- all our suitcases were under the weight limit!
- we found a security line at DIA that allowed us to avoid the new body scanners.
- although Sara’s bag got pulled aside at security, the problem was quickly resolved when we realized that the questionable object was the electric teapot. oops!
- we got to sit together on our last flight and it went smoothly. We even had the entertainment of the loud family sitting behind us.
As time draws near for us to step on the airplane, our house has been a beehive of activity. We are packing all of our clothes, cosmetics, snacks, art supplies, and game supplies. Plus we are taking care of the million little things that need to be settled before we leave the country.
Our favorite kind of prep work has been brainstorming ideas for crafts, games, one-on-one activities, and themes that we can use while we are working with the kids. Every time we go over our list of activities we get more and more excited to see the kids!
The latest word on our lodging is that we will be staying in the 2nd floor apartment of a missionary who is on furlough. We are happy to hear that this house will be a lot closer to the orphanage than we had originally thought.
Our daily schedule will vary, but it will probably look something like this:
In the evenings we may have special activities for the kids like movie and story nights, or just take time to relax at home.
We have not heard yet if we will have internet access in our house, or if we will need to find it elsewhere. But we plan to post frequently to let you know how we are doing.
Dear Family and Friends,
We (Erin, Sara, Emily, and Luke) pray that you are doing well and that the Lord has been with you. We have all been doing well. Beyond the busyness of preparing for graduations (Sara, Emily, and Luke) and organizing multi-state tours (Erin) we are so excited to have the chance to return to Ecuador this summer to work with the children at Casa de Fe (house of Faith) children’s home. We are especially looking forward to having Emily join us this year!
While we are at Casa de Fe in Shell, Ecuador this summer we will be working with the children one-on-one, teaching classes, leading games and activities, helping with therapy and tutoring and working on the construction of the new school building. We will also work with the toddlers and babies, giving them as much love, touch, and smiles as we can. Most of all we are looking to deepen the relationships that we have developed over the last two years.
The dates of our trip are June 8th - July 13th, with Sara staying longer and returning on August 17th.
In order to make this five week trip a reality we need raise about $1,200 per person for a total of $4,800. This amount, which averages $28 per person per day, will cover the cost of airfare, lodging, food, and other expenses. Would you prayerfully consider sponsoring us for a portion of the cost of this trip? If you would like to make a donation, please make checks out to "Sara Benson" and send to the address listed on the right.
A lot has changed at the children’s home since we were last there. The biggest change is that the new house on the edge of the jungle has been completed and all the children are now living there! We can’t wait to see the kids using the finished building and to know that Luke had a hand in the construction of the house last summer.
We also ask for your prayers as we prepare for the trip and minister to the children. We are currently working on the details of the trip including travel and lodging. Please pray that all of the arrangements will fall into place, and that God will guide us while we are there ministering to the children.
While we are in Ecuador we will again be updating our blog with pictures and stories. If you want to receive automatic email notification when we publish a new post, enter your email in the box on the left.
Thank You!!
We miss the kids sooooo much….
So....
....we are going back!!!
Please pray for us as we finalize plans to minister once again to the children at Casa de Fe.
Erin- A beautiful little girl named Marley was my partner for the trip to the beach. She was very quiet and a little shy, but she warmed up to me quickly. It was such a treat to be able to focus on one child and to know that every other child had a buddy of their own. The children love that kind of attention –someone to run with them on the beach, to "ohhh" and "ahhh" over the crabs and shells that they found, to be there if they need something during the night, and to pray the Lord’s blessings on their lives. Oh yeah, and to hold them when they don’t feel so well on the long bus ride… "Teacher I have to barf" -Marley. Another of the fun things we did was hold dance classes at the house where we stayed. The children all love to dance to music –especially the little boys, they were hilarious! –and I thought I was going to teach them to dance.
Sara -Upon returning to Casa De Fe this summer I instantly felt like I belonged. The kids remembered me and we started back up where we had left off last summer. While I have so many awesome memories of our ministry with the kids, my favorite part of the visit was just spending time with the kids. As we took the kids to our house for cookies and games, went on errands in the community, or just being their buddy and joining in with whatever was planed for the day, we really got to know the kids and see their personalities. I especially found myself drawn Julisa, a 10 year old girl who came from an abusive home situation.
Julisa has the silliest personality and loves to make up stories and copy whatever anyone says. She is really sweet with the younger kids, but she can be mischievous at the same time. One day while I was talking with a group of volunteers she came up behind me and started her antics. After a tickle fight I decided that she had earned herself a new name. I told her that I would call her "Pippi" (for Pippi Longstockings) "Loma" (because she copied me like a parrot) "Jamón" (because she is such a ham). From that day on she would not let me call her Julisa, but would only respond to her new name, Pippi Loma Jamón.
Luke- One morning while I was working construction at the new property, the construction leader and most of the other volunteers went in to town to pick up supplies. While they were gone for the day I worked with one other volunteer and the Maestros (Ecuadorian workers). The Maestros spoke only Spanish, and between the other volunteer and I we had a handful of irrelevant Spanish words, most of which were learned years ago. As you can imagine that made communication very difficult! Through hand motions and our limited vocabulary we managed to learn how to plaster and complete other construction tasks. Although the language barrier was challenging, I grew to enjoy our basic conversations. Most of the work we did was hard manual labor without the benefit of heavy machinery. However, I was glad to do it because each hour of work brought the house that much closer to being ready for the kids.
As we got to know the children better we also started hearing their individual stories. The more we heard the more we were amazed that these little children who laughed and played with seemingly no care in the world had been through so many horrible things in their short lives. We felt privileged to partner with Casa de Fe as they care for these little ones and as they show them how much Jesus loves them.
Thank you once again for your prayers and financial support. None of this ministry would have been possible without your partnership.
As they say in Ecuador, "Dios se lo pague" May God repay you.
Erin, Sara, and Luke
