Day 1 (2024): Arriving in Quito

We started the day with an early flight from Tallahassee to Miami, where we started our trip with laughter and smiles as we explored the airport.

A view of the sunrise from the airplane window

Nearly four hours later, we landed at our destination: Quito, Ecuador, where we were welcomed by John, Caroline, and our two hosts: Abby and Esteban.

The mountain peak behind us is taller than the highest point in the US by about 1,000 ft

We started our journey in Ecuador with lunch and a bus ride to our hostel, where we had icebreakers to introduce everyone. 

We said our name, age, Spanish level, mission experience, religious background, a boring fact about ourselves, and the weirdest song we listen to

A delicious cow foot soup was on the menu

We ended the day with dinner and debrief, concluding our first day in Ecuador with Bible scripture.

The scripture we discussed today was John 15

This scripture really stood out to me as it underlined the concepts of bearing fruit. A frequent theme of the mission trip to Ecuador that you will hear is the fruit that you grow post Ecuador. It describes how things change as you return to your normal life of warm showers, electronics, and other luxuries. More importantly, it describes what you do with the changed perspective you have seen in your time in Quito. Whether this be expressing gratitude, sharing your story and experiences, or encouraging others to go on missions such as this, the things that missionaries do after their journey are some of the most important aspects of mission. This is underlined in the scripture of John 15, our debrief, as it shares the importance of remaining loyal to God as you bear these fruits. A particular section of this reading that I believe summarizes this is: "If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit."

-Sadie Bowersox