Con mucho amor,
Marymac Krause
Thursday, June 20, 2019
Day 3 (2019) - Buen Pastor
This morning we woke up at 9ish and Emi tried to make us French toast but the stove wouldn’t work (we figured out that we were using the wrong type of pan). So I made 2 pieces of toast and cereal. We left the hostel at 10 and had about an hour drive to Buen Pastor!! On the way, Emi gave the morning devotion :)
When we arrived, we were greeted by some of the members. I went on the mission last year, so it was so exciting to see all of the friends that I had made last summer. After we said hello, we heard a devotion from Michelle, a member at Buen Pastor. After her devotion we split into four groups to paint the church. One group painted murals in the Sunday school room, one group sanded in the back, one group sanded and painted a side wall, and my group (Grace, Caroline, and I) sanded the other side wall and painted a Bible verse on it. :)
We had lunch around one. We had FRIED CHICKEN & PAPAS FRITAS (French fries)!!!! AND we got COKE! After lunch we finished painting the murals and we played games with the kids outside. When I finished painting and went outside we played monkey in the middle, hide and seek, and tag.
For dinner we had a cook out at Juan Carlos’s house behind the church. Mary, Our team host Naomi, and I, went out back and helped flip the ribs on the grill. After a couple of minutes everyone came into the area where we were grilling and we had a dance party. A boy named Angel was playing the music, so he played some of their music for us, and then we played some of our music for them. (Everyone was a little confused when we all busted out singing "dancing queen"). For dinner we had chicken, ribs, sausage, and potato salad. It was so so so goood!! During dinner we shared English and Spanish tongue twisters, which was really funny! After dinner we had to leave, but on the ride home we sang abba songs from Mama Mia. :)
Con mucho amor,
Marymac Krause
Con mucho amor,
Marymac Krause
Wednesday, June 19, 2019
Day 2 (2019) - Orientations!
Today was our first full day in Quito– and my first day in Ecuador! I think it was a good day, although it’s a different day from the rest of the week (at least from what I’ve been told.) As far as getting to know the city, our team, and the organizations we’ll be working with this week, I personally can say I feel very prepared for the days ahead!
We started the day bright and early with a “crisp” (a favorite word of our group) 2-4 hours of sleep by waking up, eating breakfast, and getting ready for a big day of learning about our mission (doesn’t that sound fancy?!) My roommates made fun of me for going through my skincare and hygiene routine when I just done it a few hours ago, but you can never be too clean, in my humble opinion. We became familiar with the hostel– the creaky and warm bunk beds with a beautiful view of the city (and a soundtrack of children singing at the daycare next door!), the tap water and its different uses from bottled water (a crucial part of the morning!) and the wide variety of Ecuadorian foods our hosts, Sebastian and Naomi, had bought for us. One favorite (that has somehow disappeared by the time I’m writing this) was the chocolate wafers, called Amors, in addition to Noggys (tiny delicious chocolate balls). If you’re a chocaholic like me, Ecuador will definitely satisfy your sweet tooth!
We also got used to the altitude this morning. Living at cruising altitude along with the delightful effects of a few hours of sleep takes some getting used to! We drank many bottles of water and are heading to bed at a good time tonight (in the words of Daniel Tiger, as quoted by Cameron, “rest is best!!”).
When we were finally ready to go, we went downstairs and met with Cameron and her husband Roberto to learn about the organizations we’d be working with and about Ecuador as a whole. We learned about the history of Ecuador, the economy, population, language, and the regions of the country. Then we went around the circle and introduced ourselves in terms of age, grade/occupation, Spanish proficiency level, Ecuador experience (had we been here before?), pets, and favorite breakfast food! We got very well acquainted. And hungry for pancakes.
After that, we piled into cars and headed to the Education = Hope office. Cameron gave an excellent presentation about the different organizations and how they were started. They’ve come so far over the years and I’m really excited to be a part of the programs!
We took some pictures outside the office while we waited for the bus, and then we went to get empanadas for lunch. They were delicious, but also very easy to get on your clothes– especially if you’re wearing white pants or overalls like Kyndall and me.
Cameron and Roberto’s adorable kids, Graham, Liam, and Francis flew us to China after lunch on their “plane” (chairs in rows) and it was the best plane flight I’ve had all week! No turning around and going to Panama = success.
Our batteries were all feeling a little drained, so we decided to move our visit to the Basilica (a very old church overlooking Quito) to Monday and head home for a nap.
We rested at home and then had dinner of rice, chicken, and avocado! We discussed the trip last year and the interesting participants. After dinner, we went downstairs and heard from Cameron about the five F’s of post-mission (Fun, Flee, Fight, Fit and most importantly Fruit!) and the four prejudices to avoid. Finally, we did the debrief I had heard so much about from last year’s team– it was a lively discussion of our expectations of the mission versus our reality. So far, it’s not as cold as we thought it would be – but definitely not humid – and the roads are not bad at all! I’m looking forward to forming a mutual, sharing relationship when the Ecuadorians we meet tomorrow at Buen Pastor as opposed to a solely giving, charitable role as I’d pictured before coming here.
We’re heading to bed now, but I can’t wait for the days to come and all the surprises and excitement they’ll bring!
With love,
Abby Schnittker
Day 1 (2019) - Travel Day!
Eventually, we made it to the airport where we took a shuttle to the international area. Once we had gotten there, we found our boarding passes and checked our bags so that we could head to the right gate. When we got to our gate, we had about 20 minutes where we were able to go get food. After we had gotten food (I got a cheese quesadilla, yum!), we went back to the gate to start boarding.
When we got on the plane we all found our seats and got ready for our five hour flight. When we were taking off and getting into the air, we hit a tad bit of turbulence; but when we hit cruising altitude, most of the rough air was over, or so I thought. As we continued to fly, we hit more turbulence, but overall it was ok. When we had been in the air for the five hours that it was supposed to take, we were told that there was volcanic ash cloud over Quito and that we would have to turn around and head to Panama because they couldn't land the plane safely. This added an extra 3 hours to our plane ride. As soon as we got into Panama, we sat and waited as our brutally honest pilot told us that he had no idea what was going to happen and that they were trying to find a plan.
After sitting in our plane in Panama for about 20 minutes, we were told that the plane was going to fueled up and then we would be on our way back to Ecudor. When we left Panama, we again experienced turbulence which got better when we hit cruising altitude. About an hour into our flight back to Ecuador, we hit even more turbulence which was quite bad. Then after a good 8 or 9 hours on our plane we finally landed in Quito.
As soon as we got off the plane, we headed to customs where we were asked questions upon arrival. After customs, we grabbed our bags and headed out to meet our hosts. When we got to our hosts, we waited another 10 minutes for our bus to arrive. When the bus arrived, we quickly put all of the luggage in compartments under the bus and piled into the bus for an hour drive to our hostel. We arrived at the hostel and went straight to sleep. We finished our first day of travel with 19 hours under the belt!
- Written by Sibley Shippen
Monday, June 25, 2018
(2018) - Thank yous and transitioning home
There’s no better way to end a long, tiring week of service
than a red-eye flight followed by a seven hour layover. As we flew those many
hours late at night we all remembered what an amazing and once-in-a-lifetime
mission this was. We thought about all the caring people from the church that
we gave a long goodbye to, and the moving moments that we experienced. In one
week, we went from a team to a family that will always be connected by this
mission. The goodbyes were definitely not final, whether that means coming back
with St. John's or becoming a team host in Quito (which many people now have
interest in). For me, the small things will stick with me the most - like
playing soccer at the hostel, singing random songs while painting, or starting
impromptu dance parties in the street.
We thank the chaperones who made this trip both safe and
fun. Caroline, Mrs. Strayer and Julio all brought something special to the
table making a perfect team. They gave amazing emotional support, listened to
our requests, and made sure we were all very safe. This trip would not have
been what it was without their patience, organization, and care.
We also thank the incredible team hosts who made this trip
what it was. Pablo and Danishi are both incredible people who were always on
top of everything. They connected with each one of us and were the ones who
really made us a family. They were somehow strict with the schedule while never
being rude and always having fun with us. We would be lost in the middle of
Ecuador without their planning and organization.
We thank all the members of Buen Pastor who opened their
church and home to us. They provided us with amazing meals and new ways of
thinking. They made us all feel included whether it was giving us paper roses
or teaching us how to dance (which is much harder than it looks). They most
definitely trusted us a little too much with our painting abilities, but
somehow we pulled through - meaning we thankfully did not destroy any rooms
there. A very moving moment came when the youth minister told us we are her
family and she would die for any of us at the end of the week. She didn’t even
know all of our names, and with a language barrier hadn’t been able to have a
full conversation with many of us. Yet she truly meant what she said, and we
could feel the love behind it.
Finally, I would like to thank my whole youth team, which
were the fourteen other youth who went on this mission. Each one of them worked
very hard and showed a side of themselves I had not seen before. I was able to
make new friendships with members of the team that I had known for years. We
all had a connection with one another by the end of the week that has bonded us
together. Before we went on the mission there were a few different groups of
friends all going, but by the end it was one big, loving team.
This Sunday morning many of the mission team members
attended the 10:00 am service that Caroline had invited us to the night before.
During the service many moments reminded us of the work we had done. A
particular moment was in the Psalms, “The Lord will be a refuge for the
oppressed, a refuge in a time of trouble.” This reminded me of the two women I
met during the home visits. Both were going through very hard times, yet were
very faithful in God. At first this confused me, how could they struggle so
much, yet be so calm in Him. But after hearing this Psalm, it all clicked. The
Lord does not leave us during these hard times. He is the one pushing us
through and comforting us during the hard times. Instead of the women thinking
about why God would put them through this, they instead turned to God, knowing
he would be the one who would help them through it.
As we adjusted back into our life in Tallahassee and the
heat, our mission has not ended. We are all changed in some way and have
brought this change back home with us.
(written by Annika Strayer)
Saturday, June 23, 2018
Day 7 (2018)
Dear Reader,
I’m currently sitting in our plane about to take off from Quito. I have been assigned the task of recapping our day.
Our group boarded the bus at 8:30 a.m. sharp and left for Buen Pastor. Upon arrival, Tommy, JH, and Jack took the altar and conducted a morning devotion. The guys discussed the importance of helping those in need through the use of personal anecdotes. It was quite clear that they were speaking from the heart.
Once the devotion had concluded, next on the schedule were home visits. Basically, we divided into groups and each group would visit the home of a parishioner of Buen Pastor who benefitted from some hopeful moments.
My group visited the home of a 91 year old Ecuadorian woman located not far from the church. Her situation was especially unfortunate. Due to the fact that the woman had owned the home for more than 40 years, the landlord could not legally evict her from the property without paying the woman somewhere in the region of $15,000 to $20,000. Unsurprisingly, the landlord refused to pay this hefty price and opted to go with the alternative option, which is to simply wait for the woman to die. Unable to cultivate plants, the woman depends on her 60 year old son to pay the rent. All things considered, the son does not currently have a steady job, as his only source of income is offering labor at the local markets. He pulls up to the market and asks vendors if he can help them unload rice or skin chickens in exchange for a small wage. One thing that stood out to me about these people was that despite the tough situation they were in, I could detect that they still had faith in God. Looking around the place, the only picture she had in her bedroom was a small black and white illustration of Jesus on the cross.
Once all the groups had returned to the church, we sat down for lunch. Much to the delight of several of my fellow missionaries, the chefs served us fried chicken and French fries.
After lunch, we all went into the church. It was there that the people of Buen Pastor bid their last farewell to our group. The Ecuadorians suddenly began blessing our feet in what would be a very touching display of compassion and prayer. Hugs were exchanged, tears were shed, and before we knew it, we were on our way to the Artisan Market as the bus left Buen Pastor for the last time.
The market was an experience that I’m going to assume the majority of the people on the trip were not used to. There, we were able to bargain with the vendors over the price of their products. Personally, I was impressed with my bargaining skills, as I was able to get a $22 sweater down to $11, but decided not to buy it in the end. Our time in the market would eventually end. We returned to the hostel looking like the true American tourists we are (many of us were dressed in the new Ecuadorian clothing we had just purchased).
After showering up, we gathered for the final debrief of the trip. We spent a good chunk of our time reminiscing on all the things that had happened since we arrived on Friday night. It wasn’t until the end of our final debrief that we started to discuss the serious stuff. One of the questions asked was whether or not we felt as if we were blind before this trip to the harsh realities of poverty. The majority of the group said that they were indeed blind before the trip and this week in Ecuador had exposed them to levels of poverty that are practically unheard of in Tallahassee.
Once again, tears were shed as Pablo and Danishi, our team leaders, expressed how much they have grown to love us throughout our week in Quito. Shortly after that, the bus was here and it was time to go. At the airport we said our final goodbyes to Pablo and Danishi, as more crying ensued (tears were a very common theme today).
We then checked our bags and hoped on this plane, from where I’m currently writing to you. We are now 36,017 feet above Panama going 526 miles per hour. It’s 1:41 a.m. and I’m absolutely knackered. Can’t wait to see you all tomorrow.
(written by Danny Killeen)
I’m currently sitting in our plane about to take off from Quito. I have been assigned the task of recapping our day.
Our group boarded the bus at 8:30 a.m. sharp and left for Buen Pastor. Upon arrival, Tommy, JH, and Jack took the altar and conducted a morning devotion. The guys discussed the importance of helping those in need through the use of personal anecdotes. It was quite clear that they were speaking from the heart.
Once the devotion had concluded, next on the schedule were home visits. Basically, we divided into groups and each group would visit the home of a parishioner of Buen Pastor who benefitted from some hopeful moments.
My group visited the home of a 91 year old Ecuadorian woman located not far from the church. Her situation was especially unfortunate. Due to the fact that the woman had owned the home for more than 40 years, the landlord could not legally evict her from the property without paying the woman somewhere in the region of $15,000 to $20,000. Unsurprisingly, the landlord refused to pay this hefty price and opted to go with the alternative option, which is to simply wait for the woman to die. Unable to cultivate plants, the woman depends on her 60 year old son to pay the rent. All things considered, the son does not currently have a steady job, as his only source of income is offering labor at the local markets. He pulls up to the market and asks vendors if he can help them unload rice or skin chickens in exchange for a small wage. One thing that stood out to me about these people was that despite the tough situation they were in, I could detect that they still had faith in God. Looking around the place, the only picture she had in her bedroom was a small black and white illustration of Jesus on the cross.
Once all the groups had returned to the church, we sat down for lunch. Much to the delight of several of my fellow missionaries, the chefs served us fried chicken and French fries.
After lunch, we all went into the church. It was there that the people of Buen Pastor bid their last farewell to our group. The Ecuadorians suddenly began blessing our feet in what would be a very touching display of compassion and prayer. Hugs were exchanged, tears were shed, and before we knew it, we were on our way to the Artisan Market as the bus left Buen Pastor for the last time.
The market was an experience that I’m going to assume the majority of the people on the trip were not used to. There, we were able to bargain with the vendors over the price of their products. Personally, I was impressed with my bargaining skills, as I was able to get a $22 sweater down to $11, but decided not to buy it in the end. Our time in the market would eventually end. We returned to the hostel looking like the true American tourists we are (many of us were dressed in the new Ecuadorian clothing we had just purchased).
After showering up, we gathered for the final debrief of the trip. We spent a good chunk of our time reminiscing on all the things that had happened since we arrived on Friday night. It wasn’t until the end of our final debrief that we started to discuss the serious stuff. One of the questions asked was whether or not we felt as if we were blind before this trip to the harsh realities of poverty. The majority of the group said that they were indeed blind before the trip and this week in Ecuador had exposed them to levels of poverty that are practically unheard of in Tallahassee.
Once again, tears were shed as Pablo and Danishi, our team leaders, expressed how much they have grown to love us throughout our week in Quito. Shortly after that, the bus was here and it was time to go. At the airport we said our final goodbyes to Pablo and Danishi, as more crying ensued (tears were a very common theme today).
We then checked our bags and hoped on this plane, from where I’m currently writing to you. We are now 36,017 feet above Panama going 526 miles per hour. It’s 1:41 a.m. and I’m absolutely knackered. Can’t wait to see you all tomorrow.
(written by Danny Killeen)
Thursday, June 21, 2018
Day 6 (2018)
This day started with me opening up my window and being partially blinded by the Ecuadorian sun. This week has been very rewarding and challenging for all of the team members.
Today we went to Buen Pastor to finish up some service work for the week. We walked in and greeted all of our new friends. We walked into the church and had our devotional. Today's devotional was lead by the youth minister Señora Ana. She talked about her ministires and how God has impacted her life in wonderous ways. She is resigning and is not going to be the Youth Minister any longer. She was very emotional and so were her youth. She talked about how God calls each of us to serve in different ways. She mentioned that her calling was towards the youth. The reason why is because the youth are the people who change the community. They are the people who change the world around them. This really spoke to me because I realized the immense value of what I came here to do. I am the youth and I am here to help change the world.
The day went along and we were assigned to our jobs. I was put in a group with Madeline and a Quito Quest intern named Destiny. Mrs. Strayer also accompanied us for the job. Our job was to paint the office green, so we moved all the furniture and got to work. We began painting the walls, and as we started to get into the job, Destiny and I had a very meaningful conversation that consisted of ways to be a better person. This talk really made me realize that I am more than just an oxygen-breathing, walking chunk of flesh. I am a human being who has a purpose. We finished the talk on a happy note, talking about our family history and culture. The room was almost halfway done and Destiny put on some old Disney channel hits. It was so much fun to sing and dance around while getting our work done.
We went downstairs for lunch and smelled the delicious Ecuadorian cuisine. We ate our lunch and had a quick break after lunch. This "quick" break actually lasted for about one hour. In this break, we danced salsa and bachata with the Ecuadorians. Personally, this was one of my most favorite parts of the entire day. I was partnered with my now good friend Jorge. He taught me how to correctly salsa and bachata. Along with Jorge, I also danced with Pablo. This was a great experience for me because I was really able to immerse myself into my Latina heritage and culture.
The break ended and it was back to work. I continued working on my painting and finished quite quickly. I went downstairs and saw my favorite little boy in the whole wide world. His name is Jamie and when he saw me he ran up to me and gave me a giant hug. He kissed my entire face for a solid thirty seconds. It was the sweetest thing ever.
As time went on, the day got harder and hotter. Once Jamie left it was time to start youth group. Our youth group lesson was about dancing and how we can praise God through our dancing. I taught the Ecuadorians a little dance that I had learned at my dance intensive from the previous week. They caught on pretty quickly, and it was fun to see them dancing.
Our day ended with going into Father Juan Carlos's house and dancing even more. This was the best part of my entire day becasue we were all in one small space enjoying the magic of the music. We had a delicous grilled dinner that filled our hungry bellies. We said our goodbyes and got on our bus. We got back to the hostel and had our nightly debrief. All of us talked about how our day went and how we can work even harder.
Now that this blog post is coming to a close I am realizing the importance of what we have done this week. I am so proud of our team and all the things we have accomplished together and by ourselves. Now as we depart from this outstanding country I hope we can all use the things we have learned to make a difference in our hometown and the world around us.
(written by Emilia Minton)
Today we went to Buen Pastor to finish up some service work for the week. We walked in and greeted all of our new friends. We walked into the church and had our devotional. Today's devotional was lead by the youth minister Señora Ana. She talked about her ministires and how God has impacted her life in wonderous ways. She is resigning and is not going to be the Youth Minister any longer. She was very emotional and so were her youth. She talked about how God calls each of us to serve in different ways. She mentioned that her calling was towards the youth. The reason why is because the youth are the people who change the community. They are the people who change the world around them. This really spoke to me because I realized the immense value of what I came here to do. I am the youth and I am here to help change the world.
The day went along and we were assigned to our jobs. I was put in a group with Madeline and a Quito Quest intern named Destiny. Mrs. Strayer also accompanied us for the job. Our job was to paint the office green, so we moved all the furniture and got to work. We began painting the walls, and as we started to get into the job, Destiny and I had a very meaningful conversation that consisted of ways to be a better person. This talk really made me realize that I am more than just an oxygen-breathing, walking chunk of flesh. I am a human being who has a purpose. We finished the talk on a happy note, talking about our family history and culture. The room was almost halfway done and Destiny put on some old Disney channel hits. It was so much fun to sing and dance around while getting our work done.
We went downstairs for lunch and smelled the delicious Ecuadorian cuisine. We ate our lunch and had a quick break after lunch. This "quick" break actually lasted for about one hour. In this break, we danced salsa and bachata with the Ecuadorians. Personally, this was one of my most favorite parts of the entire day. I was partnered with my now good friend Jorge. He taught me how to correctly salsa and bachata. Along with Jorge, I also danced with Pablo. This was a great experience for me because I was really able to immerse myself into my Latina heritage and culture.
The break ended and it was back to work. I continued working on my painting and finished quite quickly. I went downstairs and saw my favorite little boy in the whole wide world. His name is Jamie and when he saw me he ran up to me and gave me a giant hug. He kissed my entire face for a solid thirty seconds. It was the sweetest thing ever.
As time went on, the day got harder and hotter. Once Jamie left it was time to start youth group. Our youth group lesson was about dancing and how we can praise God through our dancing. I taught the Ecuadorians a little dance that I had learned at my dance intensive from the previous week. They caught on pretty quickly, and it was fun to see them dancing.
Our day ended with going into Father Juan Carlos's house and dancing even more. This was the best part of my entire day becasue we were all in one small space enjoying the magic of the music. We had a delicous grilled dinner that filled our hungry bellies. We said our goodbyes and got on our bus. We got back to the hostel and had our nightly debrief. All of us talked about how our day went and how we can work even harder.
Now that this blog post is coming to a close I am realizing the importance of what we have done this week. I am so proud of our team and all the things we have accomplished together and by ourselves. Now as we depart from this outstanding country I hope we can all use the things we have learned to make a difference in our hometown and the world around us.
(written by Emilia Minton)
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