Day 4 (2023)

Hey St. John’s, it’s Evan Kile. This was another great day in Ecuador. Today we went to a beautiful service at our host church, Carmen Bajo. As soon as we got there everybody was smiling and singing songs. The room where the service took place was gorgeous with a view of the mountains from the window. Collins gave a wonderful testimony in front of the whole church. 

Then we listened to a sermon from the pastor about loving God like a child rather than an adult. During the service, half of us went and taught a Sunday School for the kids, but I was with the group that stayed for the whole service. The Sunday school lesson our team prepared was about the Bible story David and Goliath (or David y Goliat in Spanish). We did a play about the story, and paired our team members up with an Ecuadorian child to read the lines in Spanish. Afterwords, we talked about how you can be small and without tons of visible armor, but if you have trust in God, and are armed with truth, courage, patience, and faith God will protect you. Then we helped the kids make a bumblebee craft, because bees (abejorro) are small and mighty just like David.

After church, we took a bus and had lunch at an amazing fried chicken restaurant. This was the best chicken I’ve ever had in my life. After lunch, we went to the actual equator and had an amazing tour. 

I wasn’t expecting to learn a lot, but there was a whole museum that featured Ecuadorian culture. I learned that Ecuador is split into four regions: the Coast (La Costa), the Highlands (La Sierra), the Amazon Rainforest (El Oriente), and the Galápagos Islands. We also learned about the different tribes native to Ecuador and some of their customs. At the end of the tour we got a science lesson about the equator and how Ecuador is such a unique place. 

After our tour, we went to an artisanal market to buy souvenirs and gifts. I bought a jersey, t-shirt, and gifts for people at home. It was fun to walk around and see all the different things that were being sold. 

We ended the day with a taco dinner at Caroline and John’s house. The food was amazing, but the passionfruit mousse made by Mika was the perfect dessert. 

We did our debrief at the Allen’s house and discussed yesterday’s visits to the homes of some young Carmen Bajo parishioners who receive scholarships from Education Equals Hope. This conversation really resonated with me because it helped me truly understand how lucky we are and how grateful we should be. The people we met were in some tough situations, but they were always greeting us with a big smile and eager to tell us their stories. 

Today was really fun and it had a lot of moving parts. I saw God today through all of the friends we made and the beautiful country around us. We are so blessed to be here and I am so grateful for this opportunity. Thanks for listening!

- Written by Evan Kile